Can Guinea Pigs Choke — Everything You Need to Know to Save Them

Guinea pigs are a creature that loves to eat. You will see them munching on stuff that their nose approves. But sometimes, this munching habit leads them to eat things they are not supposed to.

Can guinea pigs choke? Yes, guinea pigs can choke. Since the guinea pigs cannot vomit, they can choke to death if not taken care of immediately.

Nevertheless, you must be ready for such a situation and get as much knowledge as possible to save your piggy. This article will talk about guinea pigs choking and how to overcome it. So let’s get to it:

Can Guinea Pigs Choke?

Yes, guinea pigs can choke. Since Guinea pigs have no gag reflex, they can’t vomit or throw up the food, making choking a serious issue for them. Additionally, their throat muscles are too weak to vomit. The lack of gag reflex implies that the caregiver or pig parent must assist them if choking occurs. You should remove food that is blocking their airways.

Moreover, you should always be cautious when giving them fruits, treats, or other stuff. Ensure you cut the fruit or other treats into small pieces to prevent choking. But still, these rodents can sometimes eat things they are not supposed to swallow, such as bones, trash, and other stuff leading them to choke.

In addition, when you see your pig choking, please call your veterinarian immediately. Your veterinarian might instruct you to check your guinea pig’s throat for any food or other extraneous objects. Moreover, you can also consider giving your pig a hot shower so they can breathe in the steam and loosen muscles to remove the obstruction causing the choking.

Furthermore, you should talk to a vet to prevent harming your guinea pig during choke rescue. It is wise to bring your guinea pig in for an examination by a vet once the choke has been relieved.

How to Prevent Guinea Pigs from Choking?

When you pet a guinea pig, you must ensure that the choking incident never happens. The following are the strategies to prevent guinea pigs from choking:

Cut Fruits and Veggies into Smaller Pieces

You should not give pigs bigger pieces of fruit or vegetables. Try not to provide them with carrot heads or hard vegetables. These things might easily get stuck in their throats, leading them to choke.

Provide them Hay Carefully

You should also refrain from offering your piggy bigger chunks of straw. It is better to weed out big pieces of hay from your pig’s feeding to prevent accidental choking.

Offer Smaller Meals

Consider feeding your pig smaller meals instead of full meals. This tip might seem weird to you, but it works. A guinea pig can sometimes choke if it eats too quickly out of excitement.

Provide Water with Every Meal

When you feed your guinea pig, place clean and fresh water close to your guinea pig’s dish. Since pigs can also choke because of dry mouth, it will lessen the likelihood of a guinea pig’s mouth becoming dry while eating.

Take Care of the Dental Hygiene of Pigs

Besides the dry mouth, the dental hygiene of your guinea pig can also lead to choking. A guinea pig’s bad teeth make it difficult to chew food, leading to choking and other gastrointestinal problems.

Check for Choking Symptoms

And finally, make sure to check your guinea pig at least once a day to ensure he is not choking. There are times when symptoms like a runny nose, troubled breathing, and gagging noise indicate the guinea pig is choking.

What to Do When Guinea Pigs Choke?

When a guinea pig chokes, seconds matter, so you should prepare several strategies to cope with the situation. Since every pig is different, having different approaches is smart because what may not work for one might work for another.

In other words, you might need to combine many methods. But before proceeding to choke rescue methods, remember these few points:

1. Whenever you see a pig choking, seek other people’s help since two people can better help a pig than do it alone.

2. Next, you have to overcome your fear of losing your piggy. We understand that it s a lot to ask, but your pig can be saved from choking with your mental clarity.

3. You should never give up on your pig’s life, even if your pig is lifeless and not breathing. You should keep helping him.

Rescuing A Choking Pig

To rescue a choking guinea pig, you must disengage the food from his airways. Check the inside of your pig’s mouth, and if you see any food that is stuck, attempt to carefully remove it.

For clearing the airways, you can:

Use Fingers or Tweezers:

You can use your fingers if the food piece is visible to you; you can easily retrieve it with your fingers. However, if you cannot do so, you can use tweezers.

While trying to remove the food from the pig’s mouth, proceed with caution, as the pig might bite you. Moreover, you should also use tweezers with steady hands to prevent hurting the pig’s throat during the process.

Use a Plastic syringe or Nasal pump:

Using a plastic syringe without a needle or a newborn’s nasal pump can also help remove the stuck food. You can pull back the stuck food with the help of these tools.

Spinning the Guinea Pig

It’s possible that the above approaches do not clear your pig’s airways. In this situation, you can use the following method:

1. Place the guinea pigs carefully in between your arms.
2. Now, lift your guinea pig securely in your arms. Make sure that your pig must not move or wriggle.
3. The next thing you should do is gently lower your arms. Doing so will help your pig to clear its airways due to pressure on the lungs from the internal organs.
4. With pressure on the lungs, the pig will inhale deeply enough to release the strangled object.

For best effects, repeat this process two or three times.

What to Do If the Guinea Pig Has Stopped Breathing?

Don’t stop rescuing your pig if he stops breathing. You can do the following to resuscitate him:

Abdominal Thurst:

You can do the abdominal thrust or Heimlich maneuver to clear the upper airways from foreign objects. However, you have to be mindful as this method comes with the possibility of damaging the brain.

But don’t worry; with steady hands and proper attention, you can save your piggy’s life. Do the following to apply abdominal thrust:

• First, you should carefully hold your piggy by your body while covering him from the neck up.

• Now, face your guinea pig’s nose downward.

• Next, you should rub your guinea pig’s tummy from the bottom of the belly to the ribs. Make sure you use a gentle hand in the entire process, as they have a very tiny body. Moreover, if you push too hard or apply too much pressure, you can fracture their ribcage.

• Applying gentle pressure to the guinea pig’s lungs will aid in generating an airflow.

After this procedure, your piggy can get the stuck object out of the throat and start breathing.

FAQs

Below are some of the most frequent questions that you might have in mind. So let’s get to it:

In the End

Guinea pigs can choke on things, and the lack of gagging reflex makes this issue worse. You need to be careful when feeding your pigs. Make sure to give them smaller pieces of veggies and fruits and other food.

However, above, we listed some ways to rescue a choking piggy. We hope you find them useful. Nevertheless, after such an incident, you must consult a vet to assess the well-being of your pig. Moreover, a vet can also help you if some foreign objects are stuck in the throat.