Guinea Pig Pee Won’t Change Back to Normal Color

[A Guinea Pig]

Please help!

Hi, I have a 2.5 year old female guinea pig. She has been having some milky white pee for the past few months, I am guessing about 8. I am aware that this is due to excess calcium. I have noticed that after several changes in her diet, it wouldn’t change back to the normal yellow I see in her other 2 cages mates. The other 2 guinea pigs are 1 year or less of age and we’re eating Oxbow baby guinea pig pellets for the first few months I had them. The guinea pig who had the problem had also eaten a few table spoons of those pellets in that timeframe. Now they are all eating Oxbow garden select pellets. That is mostly likely where her calcium has been coming from. But, I ran out, and they haven’t had any for about 3 weeks, (due to abnormally long delivery) she is still processing the same chalky pee. So I have about ruled out that the pellets are the problem.
Now I am looking at the hay, I have never feed Alfalfa. They do all eat Timothy. I looked up the calcium content of all hay and my local pet store had some Orchard Grass which was the lowest calcium and still nutrient hay they had. I got some of that and they have been having a mix of both Timothy and Orchard ever since.
After some even more, future, better research I learned that phosphorus is something that guinea pigs also need to grow properly just like calcium. I got some celery which I cut up into little chunks and feed them since the ration was 1.5:1 in Calcium in Phosphorus. I did give that to them in moderation since celery does have some oxidation.
Back when I first got my Guinea pig with the abnormal pee, I had gotten her from Petsmart with another female guinea pig. Then, I feed them pellets filled with corn, nuts and seeds. That is what leads me to the conclusion that the other one I had died. She had lost lots of weight, back then I just thought is was good she was getting less fat, but she may have died due to that food. My hypothesis is that crystals formed and she could no longer pee. However she never had the same white and gritty pee that my guinea pig has now. Very confusing.
Also, they are feed fresh veggies daily. Mostly things like carrots and strawberry tops.

Now my Guinea pig is losing weight.
In grams:
910
December 1st 2022

920
January 7th 2203

908
February 1st

907
Feb 25th

840
May 29

830
June 9

824
June 10

837
June 11

842
June 12

825
June 13

833
June 15

820
June 16

815
June 17

There has been very little difference in how she feels. Her hips are now able to be felt with a slightly form touch, meaning she is slightly less fat.
The change in weight has been very slow which is why she has not been taken to the vet.
Note: she has only been taken to the vet once due to her and her old cage mate having a fungal infection when I bought them.

Other notes: she is definitely not bullied by the other pigs, probably not a reason due to weight loss.

Please help! I don’t know what I am doing wrong!

 

[Piggies&buns]

In terms of her weight loss, she is losing weight because she is no longer eating enough hay. Any weight loss over 50g becomes cause for concern. She does need to be seen by a vet.
In the meantime, you must step in and syringe feed her to stop the weight loss.
Weigh her daily to ensure you are feeding enough syringe feed into each 24 hour period to stabilise her weight.

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Milky pee -

Excess calcium is excreted in the urine so seeing milky pee and white chalky deposits on bedding is normal.
If the deposits are gritty then that is of concern for crystals and you need to have a vet check carried out and review the diet.

Most calcium does come into the diet via pellets and drinking water. We recommend that water is filtered and that pellets are kept limited to just one tablespoon per pig per day. Too many pellets will introduce too much calcium as well as risking other health issues such as lack of hay intake and dental issues.
Do be aware that a diet too low in calcium will also cause the same chalky pees - the balance in the body is still wrong. The calcium process is a complicated one.

Please check the veg part of their diet. You mention they are mostly fed carrots and strawberry tops. Neither of those things provide the nutrition they need. Carrots are far too high in sugar and actually should not be in the diet as anything other than a very occasional treat.
Safe daily veg are lettuce, cilantro, bell pepper and cucumber.

Feeding a good leafy diet can really help keep the bladder flushing through and help to ensure crystals don’t form. Make sure fresh filtered drinking water is available in multiple places around the age

We don’t tend to use ca:p ratios because they don’t take the whole of the diet into account.

You do not need to look into hay too much. The nutrient content is also affected by the soil it is grown in and you may never be able to find out about that. Just feed unlimited amounts of a good quality hay and instead focus your attention on the veg part of their diet and ensuring pellets aren’t overfed.

The recommended diet is unlimited hay and some fresh grass if you have access to it, one cup of leafy veg and herbs per pig per day and one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day.
You do not need to feed pellets daily (I don’t) - they are the expendable part of their diet - but you would then want to make sure their veg proportion of their diet is a nutritious and varied one to cover everything they need.
My piggies get lots of fresh grass and fresh forage instead of pellets.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

However, given you have concerns and she is losing quite a bit of weight, she does need to be seen by a vet and syringe fed as a priority.

We can’t know what your other piggy died from, but unless you saw gritty pee, pain when urinating, blood when urinating then her death was likely caused by something other than untreated bladder problems and probably not linked to that food alone. Any illness or genetic condition can cause then to stop eating enough hay and consequently they will lose weight.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

Thank you so much! I will get my Guinea pig checked up on right away.