Pawing at mouth?

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KayleighDUCK

Kayleigh
Joined
Sep 1, 2012
Messages
8
Location
Upstate New York
My chinchilla, Penelope, has been constantly pawing at her mouth lately. I took her to the Vet and they took x-rays and examined her but couldn't find anything; her teeth and everything else is perfect. Whenever I scratch at her jaw and chin area she acts like it feels wonderful and almost like it's alleviating pain or something. Is it just something that my particular chin does, or is there something wrong that my Vet didn't catch? I've been going to my Vet for years and he's fantastic and is great with animals, including chinchillas. I'm just confused because she acts like her teeth are bothering her. I haven't changed her food or hay or anything else since I've gotten her a year ago. Thoughts/suggestions/concerns? :\
 
Sometimes they can get something stuck between the teeth/in the gums that causes them to paw at their mouth. She also could have cut her mouth on something. As long as she is eating/drinking okay, just keep a close eye on her. If she continues to paw at her mouth, I would get a second opinion.
 
Did they sedate her and look in the mouth or just xray? Sometimes there can be a spur on the teeth that an xray won't catch, or something stuck in there like a splinter in the check. Occassionally I'd have a chin do that and I'd gently swab the inside of the check with a cotton swab to make sure there wasn't anything "hanging on" and that would sometimes help.
 
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