Bladder stones

[frenchi700]

Does anyone know how long it takes for a bladder stone to form in a Guinea pig?

 

[StayGold86]

It depends on a couple things. If they're pre exposed to them through their genes, then it could be as soon as they're 1 years old. They can reform after surgery within weeks. It really depends on their diet and genes. Look into Sherwood Pet Health diet/tablets. There are a lot of reviews about their effectiveness on dissolving stones (calcium carbonate stones).

 

[Piggies&buns]

Does anyone know how long it takes for a bladder stone to form in a Guinea pig?

It depends on genetics and how much out of kilter the balance and calcium absorption is - it is a very complicated process. You can obviously only control the diet portion of the situation.

The recommended diet is unlimited hay, fresh grass, around one cup of vegetables, and no more than one tablespoon of low calcium pellets per pig per day. Drinking water should be filtered.
A good amount of veg including a good variety of leafy vegetables and cucumber daily will help keep the bladder flushing through.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets (hence keeping them limited and trying to go for grain free, low calcium pellets - we have several brands available to us here (Science Selective grain free is the main commercial brand recommended but Haybox and Piggie Parcels now make their own which are grass based), and in our hard drinking water hence the need to filter their drinking water.

A diet too low in calcium is as bad as a diet too high so ensure you dont accidentally remove too much. There is a spot at which everything is balanced and it’s about finding that which suits your piggies. course

Are you asking in relation to your boy in your other post?

 

[frenchi700]

It depends on genetics and how much out of kilter the balance and calcium absorption is - it is a very complicated process. You can obviously only control the diet portion of the situation.

The recommended diet is unlimited hay, fresh grass, around one cup of vegetables, and no more than one tablespoon of low calcium pellets per pig per day. Drinking water should be filtered.
A good amount of veg including a good variety of leafy vegetables and cucumber daily will help keep the bladder flushing through.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets (hence keeping them limited and trying to go for grain free, low calcium pellets - we have several brands available to us here (Science Selective grain free is the main commercial brand recommended but Haybox and Piggie Parcels now make their own which are grass based), and in our hard drinking water hence the need to filter their drinking water.

A diet too low in calcium is as bad as a diet too high so ensure you dont accidentally remove too much. There is a spot at which everything is balanced and it’s about finding that which suits your piggies. course

Are you asking in relation to your boy in your other post?

Morning,
Yes I was just curious because he had his last x Ray on nye and he was clear but I wondered how quickly they can grow.
He’s on the grain free nuggets but I’m gonna start giving them filtered water as we have a filter in the house.
Just trying to think of everything to try and stop him getting another uti.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Morning,
Yes I was just curious because he had his last x Ray on nye and he was clear but I wondered how quickly they can grow.
He’s on the grain free nuggets but I’m gonna start giving them filtered water as we have a filter in the house.
Just trying to think of everything to try and stop him getting another uti.

Stones can form in just a couple of weeks

UTI is caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract.

 

[Swissgreys]

Morning,
Yes I was just curious because he had his last x Ray on nye and he was clear but I wondered how quickly they can grow.
He’s on the grain free nuggets but I’m gonna start giving them filtered water as we have a filter in the house.
Just trying to think of everything to try and stop him getting another uti.

With bladder stones I found it helped a lot to switch to filtered water (we just use a standard Brita jug) and also feed all veg rinsed with filtered water so they are eating it quite 'wet' if that makes sense.
I know it's hard not to panic, but after Ruby had surgery for sludge (which ended up causing a full blockage) I was warned it was likely to come back.
I immediately switched to filtered water and followed the Forum diet guide lines (including grain free pellets fed in moderation), and the problem never did come back.
Ruby went on to live another 4 years without any bladder issues.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[frenchi700]

With bladder stones I found it helped a lot to switch to filtered water (we just use a standard Brita jug) and also feed all veg rinsed with filtered water so they are eating it quite 'wet' if that makes sense.
I know it's hard not to panic, but after Ruby had surgery for sludge (which ended up causing a full blockage) I was warned it was likely to come back.
I immediately switched to filtered water and followed the Forum diet guide lines (including grain free pellets fed in moderation), and the problem never did come back.
Ruby went on to live another 4 years without any bladder issues.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I’ve given them filtered water today.
Thanks for the tip about washing the veg with it too.