forgotten how to swallow?

[saylor]

i have three 'goos (flick, flibbertigibbet and robin). flick and flibbertigibbet are sisters, and robin moved in with them in 2011 when her sister (batman) died.
everything has gone really well, but recently it's like flibbertigibbet has somehow... forgotten how to swallow. no other signs, other than being on the thin side, but when she eats most of the food that goes in falls out all chewed up. she has a healthy coat, bright eyes and is as spirited as ever. when she does eat, she chews then will tilt her head back a little and shake it, as if she can't get the food down her any other way.
i've separated her for feeding into a small travel cage where she'll eat quite happily (with it on my lap so she won't be in there for longer than normal) because it means robin, who's a bit of a greedy bossyboots, won't interrupt her and she will eat until she doesn't want to any more, but any advice on getting her back to normal is awesome.

[deguconvert]

I recommend taking her into your Vet to have her mouth checked out. It could be that her molars in back are over grown and blocking her ability to swallow her food adequately . . . or perhaps something else even. I don't think you can put together a successful weight recovery plan for her until you know why she is losing so much food out of her mouth, as well as tilting her head back and shaking it. You description gives me genuine concern for her, and I really think you need to have her looked at. You may need to have her given some gas to knock her out for adequate access into her mouth. You may wish to ask your Vet about this as well.

[saylor]

i'm planning to- the main issue is that most of the vets in my area have no clue about degus, and i'm pretty poor. but i'm gonna hopefully use my mother's friendship-thing with a local vet to get her checked out- she's a spirited little thing, so i feel kind of sorry for him, having to hold an animal that is determined to go where no degu has gone before.

[deguconvert]

I hope it will work out well for you both. Please let us know what you find out?

[moletteuk]

Yes, that sounds like a definite vet trip unfortunately. She might need knocking out with gas for the vet to be able to properly examine the molars.