Calcium in diet

[KnedloVeproZelo]

Hello!
Based on a white powderish residue in one of my guinea pigs pee, i believe she has too much calcium in her diet. I tried to keep it down, but I just cannot pinpoint where the problem is.
I feed her homemady hay, Complete pellets (cavia), pea flakes just as a treat (like 5 to 7 a day) and from vegetables i mainly feed them tomatoes, bell peppers, grass, carrots and cucumber.
Can it be the homemade hay? I fear bladder stones...
Thank you for the tips!
(Only one girl from my herd has this problem, she is also the oldest)

 

[Wiebke]

Hello!
Based on a white powderish residue in one of my guinea pigs pee, i believe she has too much calcium in her diet. I tried to keep it down, but I just cannot pinpoint where the problem is.
I feed her homemady hay, Complete pellets (cavia), pea flakes just as a treat (like 5 to 7 a day) and from vegetables i mainly feed them tomatoes, bell peppers, grass, carrots and cucumber.
Can it be the homemade hay? I fear bladder stones...
Thank you for the tips!
(Only one girl from my herd has this problem, she is also the oldest)

Hi

How much in pellets do you feed? And what about the water? Are you filtering, especially in a hard water area?
Most calcium in a piggy diet is actually from pellets and water.
Please be aware that even no added calcium pellets still contain more calcium as the same weight of kale, the veg highest in
calcium. We recommend to feed only one tablespoon per piggy per day.

Please review your veg diet. Carrots are like feed block chocolate - they should only ever be a special treat. The acid in tomatoes on a daily basis can lead to tiny lesions in the skin of the lips and a lip infection (cheilitis) in guinea pigs with a greater sensitivity to fruit acid (tomatoes are technically a fruit); like with bumblefoot (skin infection of the feet), it depends on what kind of bug gets into the crack. The more you can keep your diet green and leafy, the better although I would still recommend to feed a slice of pepper daily. And don't overdo peas; it adds up.
Keep in mind that pellets, veg and treats all together only fill the supplementary role that wild forage used to have. The closer you can keep the diet, the better.

Please take the time to read our diet guide. It looks at all food groups (including water) as to their role in the diet and at each food group in helpful detail and with further links. We have included a link to a pellet chart in the pellet chapter. You will hopefully find the guide helpful.
Here is our diet link: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Be aware that over three quarters of what a guinea pig eats in a day should be unlimited hay and fresh grass (when available) - it doesn't matter so much whether that is timothy, meadow or orchard hay or a mix thereof but the hay should be ideally good quality.

 

[KnedloVeproZelo]

Hi

How much in pellets do you feed? And what about the water? Are you filtering, especially in a hard water area?
Most calcium in a piggy diet is actually from pellets and water.
Please be aware that even no added calcium pellets still contain more calcium as the same weight of kale, the veg highest in
calcium. We recommend to feed only one tablespoon per piggy per day.

Please review your veg diet. Carrots are like feed block chocolate - they should only ever be a special treat. The acid in tomatoes on a daily basis can lead to tiny lesions in the skin of the lips and a lip infection (cheilitis) in guinea pigs with a greater sensitivity to fruit acid (tomatoes are technically a fruit); like with bumblefoot (skin infection of the feet), it depends on what kind of bug gets into the crack. The more you can keep your diet green and leafy, the better although I would still recommend to feed a slice of pepper daily. And don't overdo peas; it adds up.
Keep in mind that pellets, veg and treats all together only fill the supplementary role that wild forage used to have. The closer you can keep the diet, the better.

Please take the time to read our diet guide. It looks at all food groups (including water) as to their role in the diet and at each food group in helpful detail and with further links. We have included a link to a pellet chart in the pellet chapter. You will hopefully find the guide helpful.
Here is our diet link: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Be aware that over three quarters of what a guinea pig eats in a day should be unlimited hay and fresh grass (when available) - it doesn't matter so much whether that is timothy, meadow or orchard hay or a mix thereof but the hay should be ideally good quality.

Hello!
Thank you so much for the response, sorry for not replying, but since then i looked more into the diet and feed them more accordingly now. I definitely see improvement.
I never overfed pellets, but i tryed to minimize the pea flakes, i break them into small pieces and they receive like 2 each a day if even
As for the water, i am still working on it, but we are def getting somewhere.
Thank you for the response!♡ hopefully they will be healthier nowd

 

[Wiebke]

Hello!
Thank you so much for the response, sorry for not replying, but since then i looked more into the diet and feed them more accordingly now. I definitely see improvement.
I never overfed pellets, but i tryed to minimize the pea flakes, i break them into small pieces and they receive like 2 each a day if even
As for the water, i am still working on it, but we are def getting somewhere.
Thank you for the response!♡ hopefully they will be healthier nowd

I hope so and I hope that you will enjoy the result!

 

[BabyBears]

Hello!
Based on a white powderish residue in one of my guinea pigs pee, i believe she has too much calcium in her diet. I tried to keep it down, but I just cannot pinpoint where the problem is.
I feed her homemady hay, Complete pellets (cavia), pea flakes just as a treat (like 5 to 7 a day) and from vegetables i mainly feed them tomatoes, bell peppers, grass, carrots and cucumber.
Can it be the homemade hay? I fear bladder stones...
Thank you for the tips!
(Only one girl from my herd has this problem, she is also the oldest)

I have lost two pigs to bladder stones and vowed that this wouldn’t happen again. I keep them on a very low Ca diet and also feed them Oxbow Urinary Health biscuits - it is beyond adorable that Strawberry comes up to me for her biscuit every morning

Seriously, I adopted a couple of pigs last year and the sludge in their wee was concerning to me. And then one of them did bloody wee. She was fine, she wasn’t in pain (obviously I would have taken her to the vet if she was). I decided to flush her out with cucumber, celery and watermelon - and it worked! I have been loathe to take guineas to the vet with bloody wee because in my previous experience they have said that they have to take them in for an ultrasound (£££) and blanket prophylactic antibiotics.

Last week my other adopted piggie started doing little patches of bloody wee. Although she is fine in herself I thought it was best to get her checked out. I live in a small country town and was aware that the good piggie vet had left, so I was really worried. I didn’t need to be though…

The new vet (I hope he isn’t just a locum!) was brilliant. Before he even examined Pebble he showed me the correct IV torch that you can buy on Amazon to check for porphyrine in urine and diagnostic sticks to check for blood. He was so cool - he said that basically you are just paying for vet time when diagnostic urine sticks will cost you pennies.


He then went on (still before examining her) to say that a big healthy wee can be accompanied shortly after by a small bloody wee. This is apparently because the bladder has a first flush and due to gravity, the bloody wee comes out afterwards. He then went on to examine her and he was so kind to her - she is nervous even by guinea pig standards! At first instinct he couldn’t detect bladder stones and he was honest about that. He gave her the usual health checks: heart, teeth, ears.


I was a bit reticent but I told him that Strawberry had done bloody wee previously and I could relate it to a high Ca thing that I had given them. I gave her loads of cucumber, celery, watermelon etc. to flush it out - which worked! This vet completely endorsed this. He is totally against blanket prescribing of Baytril (and antibiotic resistance)- we had a joke about how disgusting Baytril tastes - this vet is a keeper.

According to the vet’s advice, Pebble has to eat cucumber, celery and watermelon - poor Pebble

 

[BabyBears]

Pebble’s diagnosis was viral cystitis as opposed to bacterial cystitis because bacterial wee smells really bad apparently - she doesn’t have that. The vet said that the bloody wee could go on for up to 6 days. I am cautiously hopeful in that since she has been eating her dream diet of cucumber, celery and watermelon, there has been a little bit of pink wee but nothing more sinister

 

[KnedloVeproZelo]

I have lost two pigs to bladder stones and vowed that this wouldn’t happen again. I keep them on a very low Ca diet and also feed them Oxbow Urinary Health biscuits - it is beyond adorable that Strawberry comes up to me for her biscuit every morning

Seriously, I adopted a couple of pigs last year and the sludge in their wee was concerning to me. And then one of them did bloody wee. She was fine, she wasn’t in pain (obviously I would have taken her to the vet if she was). I decided to flush her out with cucumber, celery and watermelon - and it worked! I have been loathe to take guineas to the vet with bloody wee because in my previous experience they have said that they have to take them in for an ultrasound (£££) and blanket prophylactic antibiotics.

Last week my other adopted piggie started doing little patches of bloody wee. Although she is fine in herself I thought it was best to get her checked out. I live in a small country town and was aware that the good piggie vet had left, so I was really worried. I didn’t need to be though…

The new vet (I hope he isn’t just a locum!) was brilliant. Before he even examined Pebble he showed me the correct IV torch that you can buy on Amazon to check for porphyrine in urine and diagnostic sticks to check for blood. He was so cool - he said that basically you are just paying for vet time when diagnostic urine sticks will cost you pennies.


He then went on (still before examining her) to say that a big healthy wee can be accompanied shortly after by a small bloody wee. This is apparently because the bladder has a first flush and due to gravity, the bloody wee comes out afterwards. He then went on to examine her and he was so kind to her - she is nervous even by guinea pig standards! At first instinct he couldn’t detect bladder stones and he was honest about that. He gave her the usual health checks: heart, teeth, ears.


I was a bit reticent but I told him that Strawberry had done bloody wee previously and I could relate it to a high Ca thing that I had given them. I gave her loads of cucumber, celery, watermelon etc. to flush it out - which worked! This vet completely endorsed this. He is totally against blanket prescribing of Baytril (and antibiotic resistance)- we had a joke about how disgusting Baytril tastes - this vet is a keeper.

According to the vet’s advice, Pebble has to eat cucumber, celery and watermelon - poor Pebble

I ma

I have lost two pigs to bladder stones and vowed that this wouldn’t happen again. I keep them on a very low Ca diet and also feed them Oxbow Urinary Health biscuits - it is beyond adorable that Strawberry comes up to me for her biscuit every morning

Seriously, I adopted a couple of pigs last year and the sludge in their wee was concerning to me. And then one of them did bloody wee. She was fine, she wasn’t in pain (obviously I would have taken her to the vet if she was). I decided to flush her out with cucumber, celery and watermelon - and it worked! I have been loathe to take guineas to the vet with bloody wee because in my previous experience they have said that they have to take them in for an ultrasound (£££) and blanket prophylactic antibiotics.

Last week my other adopted piggie started doing little patches of bloody wee. Although she is fine in herself I thought it was best to get her checked out. I live in a small country town and was aware that the good piggie vet had left, so I was really worried. I didn’t need to be though…

The new vet (I hope he isn’t just a locum!) was brilliant. Before he even examined Pebble he showed me the correct IV torch that you can buy on Amazon to check for porphyrine in urine and diagnostic sticks to check for blood. He was so cool - he said that basically you are just paying for vet time when diagnostic urine sticks will cost you pennies.


He then went on (still before examining her) to say that a big healthy wee can be accompanied shortly after by a small bloody wee. This is apparently because the bladder has a first flush and due to gravity, the bloody wee comes out afterwards. He then went on to examine her and he was so kind to her - she is nervous even by guinea pig standards! At first instinct he couldn’t detect bladder stones and he was honest about that. He gave her the usual health checks: heart, teeth, ears.


I was a bit reticent but I told him that Strawberry had done bloody wee previously and I could relate it to a high Ca thing that I had given them. I gave her loads of cucumber, celery, watermelon etc. to flush it out - which worked! This vet completely endorsed this. He is totally against blanket prescribing of Baytril (and antibiotic resistance)- we had a joke about how disgusting Baytril tastes - this vet is a keeper.

According to the vet’s advice, Pebble has to eat cucumber, celery and watermelon - poor Pebble

I am glad Strawberry is okay! Also having a vet you trust is a must! I am glad you found that
I took my girl for a check up to a vet, that is amazing with roddents and thankfully she does not have bladder stones! But i still worry and i try to change her diet for something better