General guinea pig choking???

[Guinny]

This evening I gave my pigs a small amount of their daily veggies, and one of them started, what looked like choking? He was sitting there gagging (but I've heard they can't vomit) so im scared something will happen, and he's been doing it for a couple minutes. What do I do??? Panicking

 

[bpatters]

He'll probably hack it back up. There's not a lot you can do.

But, if you're dicing veggies in small pieces, don't do that. It's much easier for them to get choked that way. I feed mine in large chunks. They've got razor knives for teeth, and can easily bite off what they need. That way, they eventually work a large piece down to one small piece, so there's less danger of choking.

 

[Guinny]

Okay, thanks, he's already started to calm down

 

[Guinny]

Well he hasn't completely stopped, he isn't eating or drinking too much and he is rubbing his paw on his face. It doesn't seem like it got out yet. How long will this last?

 

[bpatters]

We have no way to know. Can you look in his mouth and see if something is caught on a tooth?

 

[Guinny]

Not really,he's very skittish.

 

[ibeabluedevil]

I had the same thing happen to my piggy Remmy. He got a piece of green pepper stuck in his mouth sideways and he was choking but he couldn't cough it up. It really freaked me out, he was really having a hard time, I thought he was gonna die! So, I acted fast and grabbed the straw out of my juice box I was drinking and used it to dislodge the piece of green pepper. I admit it probably may not have been the best idea, but it I was freaking out and I seriously thought he was going to die, but it worked and he is perfectly fine.

 

[Amanda Marie]

Sometimes when they rub their paws toward their mouth its not that they are choking its like they have a piece stuck in their cheek or even on a tooth causing them irritation and things it happens often to my pigs but a after a bit they get it out and continue eating.

 

[Guinny]

Yes, he's fine now.

 

[PopcorningPig]

Hi! It's good to hear he's better! My little guy once choked on some carrots. He coughed for awhile, but he was fine. I read that if your GP is choking, to hold your guinea pig around his tummy and extend your arms, facing him down wards and start spinning around. Apparently it's the motion of spinning dislodges it. I haven't tried this before, but if it is a life or death situation, then I'd try it. Anyway, hopefully your piggie won't choke any more! Have a wonderful day.

Edited by bpatters: Don't try that, please. You can't possibly spin fast enough to exert enough outward force on the diaphragm to get any food out of the pig's throat. Until someone comes up with a reliable method to do a heimlich maneuver on a guinea pig, you'll just have to let them work it out.