Low Calcium Food Suggestions Please

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Hi everyone,

One of our piggies has had blood in her urine for the last couple of days. We took her to the vets and he was fairly certain she had a UTI and she is now on Baytril antibiotics. If this doesn't clear it up, she will need blood tests, and if nothing shows up she'll need an x-ray. The vet had a good feel of her tummy and couldn't feel anything untoward, and she has perked up a bit already in the last 24 hours, which is encouraging!

However, she IS prone to problems with calcium. We have noticed if she has even a little broccoli or cabbage it is enough to cause problems; she lets out an odd squeak when she pees and there are calcium deposit in her wee. No blood usually though, not until now. We have tried to avoid high-calcium foods for her but I have just read online that Romaine lettuce can be quite high in calcium?! This was always touted as something that guide pigs could have an 'unlimited' amount of, so I was quite surprised! Additionally I have just read the thread about Burgess nuggets having alfalfa in them! Argh! We only buy the green bag (mint I think?) for them, as we were warned by the rescue that the blackcurrant & oregano nuggets should only be fed to younger piggies, as they have a higher fat content and can cause older piggies to put on weight. We'll be switching to either P@H or Harringtons as soon as their current bag of Burgess runs out!

I'd like to know if anyone has any suggestions for low calcium foods that we can feed her. She is incredibly picky and goes off foods really quickly. It's really hard to know what to try with her that won't cause her any problems! All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks in advance. :)
 
I feed round lettuce, green leaf lettuce, cucumber, sweetcorn, bell peppers and the occasional sprig of coriander. Fruit wise they get a bit of apple once a week or so, melon once a month or less. As far as I'm aware all the fruits and veggies I feed are low in calcium, I also filter the water which seems to help lessen the calcium deposits left on the fleece. Pellets I feed are oxbow cavy cuisine, 1/8 cup per pig per day, my older boy who has had bladder issues in the past has had no problems with them. I do feed dried forage, a little bit twice a week; I figured that a lot of herbs are quite high in calcium and it's probably still got quite a bit in it when dried, hence me not feeding it everyday to the boys. Hope this helps :)
 
I have a boar with bladder issues - had bladder stones removed in the past - and passed a kidney stone - pears and apple can be fed in moderation (my specialist piggy vet recommended this to help get Bumbles weight up after an operation- she also keeps pigs herself) -
I feed Vetcare plus multi modal guinea pig food from vet uk - also recommended by my vet as it is very low calcium - timothy hay and my vet has put Bumble on a special medicine that is used for humans to hep prevent bladder stones - she has managed to get instructions from the states to make the tablets into an oral suspension that can be made up for a guinea pig - it only cost me about £7 and it lasts for a couple of months - this makes the body excrete the calcium,so you see more white spots around the cage (better out than in and turning into a stone or bladder sludge) it is called Moduretic - my vet is happy to give the instructions to other vets if you wanted to try it - Vale Vets Dursley - Rachel Mowbray 01453542092 -
You can also try putting 1/2 a capsule of cystophan for cats in the water bottle as this will help to coat the walls of the bladder,but you might need to add an inch or two of cranberry juice to disguise the taste (this is also used by a few of us on here and is thought to have anti oxidant properties and also help the bladder)
 
Calcium Content of Raw Vegetables per 1 cup
6 mg Peppers, sweet
10 mg Alfalfa sprouts
15 mg Pumpkin leaves
16 mg Coriander (cilantro)
18 mg Chard, Swiss
19 mg Radish seed sprouts
20 mg Lettuce, Romaine (per 100g serving)
20 mg Squash, zucchini
21 mg Jerusalem artichoke
24 mg Pumpkin
26 mg Endive
26 mg Squash, summer
28 mg Asparagus
28 mg Cauliflower
28 mg Purslane
28 mg Radishes
30 mg Carrots
30 mg Egglant
32 mg Arugula
32 mg Cabbage
32 mg New Zealand spinach
34 mg Kohlrabi
38 mg Lettuce, looseleaf
39 mg Turnips
40 mg Cress, garden
40 mg Watercress
42 mg Broccoli
44 mg Celery
46 mg Beet greens 56 mg Spinach
58 mg Mustard greens
59 mg Dock
62 mg Peas, edible pod
65 mg Rutabagas
68 mg Celeriac
74 mg Chinese cabbage
78 mg Parsley
82 mg Borage
82 mg Okra
94 mg Kale
103 mg Dandelion greens
105 mg Turnip greens
137 mg Kale, Scotch
180 mg Chicory greens
218 mg Collards
309 mg Lambsquarter
315 mg Mustard spinach
 
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