Long term affects of eating soft foods?

[TheGuineaPigOverload]

Hi guys long time lurker here but I made an account to ask 2 burning questions I have which I will post separately.

My guinea pig doesn't eat hard pellets. Weird? Yes. But he does recieve unlimited hay.
The reason being that he was diagnosed 5 days after I got him at 4 weeks old with partial paresis (paralysis)of the back legs, swelling of the lower vertebrae on his spine as someone at the pet shop had dropped him, misshapen tibia, narrow pelvic bones, a ghost heart and a calcium deficiency as well as complete refusal to eat. He was also having seizures and broke his teeth 4 times. He also couldn't walk properly and would scream/cry in pain throughout the night, wouldn't walk to eat and would bunny hop and limp. Yes I know it's a lot but I gave him around the clock care. His prognosis at 4 weeks old was very poor and the vet suggested 2 weeks of treatment of painkillers,anti inflammatories, calcium orally and to syringe feed pellets and puree veg and euthanasia if no improvement but I'm happy to say he's 7 months old currently, no seizures and is walking normally even popcorning. And we have adjusted all feeding to match his teething issues as he has broken teeth from eating normal food even from harder food like carrots

Ultimately after having to syringe feed mashed pellets when he broke both top teeth and kept dropping pellets and veg out of his mouth and he physically couldn't hold them in his mouth which made him stop eating. We decided to serve a mash pellete...porridge so to speak. Basically his normal pellets soaked in water to become softer on his teeth. I also mix his multi vitamin supplements in this mixture and add a bit of carrot puree as he will not eat it without the carrot as he got used to the puree as a baby. He's been having this for months and no more broken teeth! His teeth have not overgrown as he eats a huge amount of hay and has softer chew toys. We also grate all harder veggies like carrots and pepper but give him cucumber and greens normally as they are soft

I am worried about serving this long term. I did try to get him back onto pellets recently and he would nibble them, drop them out his mouth and walk away so when we gave his normal porridge he happily ran up and ate away. I know his case is very specific to him but if you want to provide some (polite) insight I would really appreciate it

 

[TheGuineaPigOverload]

I should also say that one of the reasons I'm nervous to stop giving this mash porridge is because the vet said his pelvis is extremely narrow and we can in future experience issues with passing poo successfully. Which as we all know is an issue if they cannot poop/pass Gas. The vet said this might cause a build up of poo, constipation and Gas as it can be hard for him to pass the poo as is due to the structure of the pelvis. So this soft food has been helping him pass more poo and softer poo whereas on the pellets he would poo a lot less and have very hard poo. I always add a bit ofwater to the pellets before serving it so he stays as hydrated as possible though both his water and his food. I don't know I suppose I'm just conflicted.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi guys long time lurker here but I made an account to ask 2 burning questions I have which I will post separately.

My guinea pig doesn't eat hard pellets. Weird? Yes. But he does recieve unlimited hay.
The reason being that he was diagnosed 5 days after I got him at 4 weeks old with partial paresis (paralysis)of the back legs, swelling of the lower vertebrae on his spine as someone at the pet shop had dropped him, misshapen tibia, narrow pelvic bones, a ghost heart and a calcium deficiency as well as complete refusal to eat. He was also having seizures and broke his teeth 4 times. He also couldn't walk properly and would scream/cry in pain throughout the night, wouldn't walk to eat and would bunny hop and limp. Yes I know it's a lot but I gave him around the clock care. His prognosis at 4 weeks old was very poor and the vet suggested 2 weeks of treatment of painkillers,anti inflammatories, calcium orally and to syringe feed pellets and puree veg and euthanasia if no improvement but I'm happy to say he's 7 months old currently, no seizures and is walking normally even popcorning. And we have adjusted all feeding to match his teething issues as he has broken teeth from eating normal food even from harder food like carrots

Ultimately after having to syringe feed mashed pellets when he broke both top teeth and kept dropping pellets and veg out of his mouth and he physically couldn't hold them in his mouth which made him stop eating. We decided to serve a mash pellete...porridge so to speak. Basically his normal pellets soaked in water to become softer on his teeth. I also mix his multi vitamin supplements in this mixture and add a bit of carrot puree as he will not eat it without the carrot as he got used to the puree as a baby. He's been having this for months and no more broken teeth! His teeth have not overgrown as he eats a huge amount of hay and has softer chew toys. We also grate all harder veggies like carrots and pepper but give him cucumber and greens normally as they are soft

I am worried about serving this long term. I did try to get him back onto pellets recently and he would nibble them, drop them out his mouth and walk away so when we gave his normal porridge he happily ran up and ate away. I know his case is very specific to him but if you want to provide some (polite) insight I would really appreciate it

Hi and welcome

What a saga, but what a lucky piggy to have found you!

Pellets are the one part of the diet that is disposable. Please keep in mind that pellets soften very quickly when in contact with saliva (i.e. they turn to mush in the mouth before they are swallowed) and that they contain surprisingly little fibre. We recommend to feed only 1 tablespoon per piggy per day because the more pellets you feed, the less hay your piggy will eat (actually proportionally noticeably less hay since pellets are mor calorific). Hay is the crucial food while pellets are mostly calorific empty fillers with only a few but by far not all vitamins and trace elements added.

There is basically little difference whether you serve pellets dry or as a mush because what really grinds down the crucial chewing back teeth is the highly abrasive silica in hay while the self-sharpening front teeth in a balanced dental system are used for picking up and cutting food. As long as the back are OK, the front teeth will have a nice even edge and ideal length.
As long as your boy is able to get over three quarters of his daily foot intake in the form of hay or fresh growing dog pee free grass (which is actually high in vitamin C and the reason why guinea pigs have turned off the vitamin producing gene cluster), he should have both healthy teeth and a balanced gut microbiome, which is crucial for his long term health and extending his longevity. Please introduce any free grass slowly at first as too much too quickly can cause diarrhea or potentially fatal bloating and aim for a mainly green diet. Carrots are like serving a bar of chocolate to guinea pigs. There is a difference between edible veg and healthy veg; the stance on what makes a good diet has changed with more recent research.

Veg, pellets and any forage treats together only replace the supplementary role of wild forage in the diet that guinea pigs have evolved on over tens of thousands of years.
Please be aware that when you give high dosages of vitamins for the long term that any drops in the level can result in acute symptoms even though the actual levels are in fact still above normal because the body gets accustomed to the high artificial levels. Most scurvy cases that we see on here are actually caused by a sudden drop on long term high supplementation (often through illness) and not by an actual vitamin C definiciency through malnutrition.

Your boy has initially obviously suffered badly from general malnutrition but this is no longer the case and you want to look at very gradually over the course of several months finding a good balance between supplementation that is not necessary in well kept guinea pigs and a normal diet which provides all nutritients, including vitamin C (which is in practically all foods that piggies eat).
I once adopted a several malnourished guinea pig (she was just 400g at one year old after being fed only rabbit pellets without vitamin C and no hay) with advanced scurvy after her teeth and her vitamin C deficiency had been treated. Teggy lived for another 5 years to the good age of 6 years on a normal diet without supplementation and was never ill during that time nor did she ever display any scurvy symptoms again.

What worries me is your ongoing calcium supplementation. Please be aware that too high calcium in the diet can contribute to the formation of bladder stones in the long term. You want to hit the soft spot in the diet where the balance is just right. Next to hard water, pellets are actually the greatest supplier of calcium in the diet because even no added calcium pellets are still significantly higher in calcium weight for weight than the veg highest in it, kale.

 

[weepweeps]

I should also say that one of the reasons I'm nervous to stop giving this mash porridge is because the vet said his pelvis is extremely narrow and we can in future experience issues with passing poo successfully. Which as we all know is an issue if they cannot poop/pass Gas. The vet said this might cause a build up of poo, constipation and Gas as it can be hard for him to pass the poo as is due to the structure of the pelvis. So this soft food has been helping him pass more poo and softer poo whereas on the pellets he would poo a lot less and have very hard poo. I always add a bit ofwater to the pellets before serving it so he stays as hydrated as possible though both his water and his food. I don't know I suppose I'm just conflicted.

Hello and welcome to the forum. Well done for taking on this special boy.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello and welcome to the forum
What an amazing transformation, all down to your care. Your little piggie is so lucky to have found you, glad he is doing so well. Hay is the most important part of their diet to keep the teeth from overgrowing. I give pellets very sparingly about 3 times a week if they are lucky because if the calcium content