Piggies keep having excess calcium pee, but their diet isn't very high in calcium. Not sure what to do.

h.h.lovecraft

h.h.lovecraft

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Both or one of my six week old guinea pigs keep having excess calcium pees (large white chalky spots) and sometimes even white pieces in their poos. I'm trying to figure out why. They've been having excess calcium pees since I got them, which was a little over a week ago. They've been getting a small amount (4 ish grams each) of really good pellets in the morning, unlimited meadow hay I got from a local farm, and usually some romaine, zucchini, green pepper, and cucumber in the evening as their staple diet along with the occasional small piece of carrot, blackberry leaves, or another treat veggy. Our water hardness was tested last year and we have soft water so I don't think that's a big issue either.

According to my research none of these things are super high in calcium, so I don't know what the problem is. I know calcium pees are normal, but I don't know if I should be concerned that they seem to have a lot of excess all the time. The only things I can think to do would be to stop the pellets completely or exchange the romaine for another lettuce. The only lettuce I found at the store today was chicory which I got for them to try but I'm not sure if they can have that every day or not. They were just at the vet and she gave me some extra vitamin c pills to combat it, but other than that she didn't seem to concerned. They have another vet appointment next week so I might ask again, but I am feeling a bit frustrated because I can't figure out what the issue is.
 
It’s quite normal for piggies to pass some calcium in their pee, even if they are on a low calcium diet. Unless it is gritty or lumpy, I wouldn’t worry too much about a bit of a calcium deposit. Are your pellets low in calcium? If you want to post photos so we can take a look at the extent of the deposit, please feel free to do so.
 
We have variable calcium... sometimes there is a worrying patch but I try and combat this with lots of water bottles! My pigs drink when they eat pellets so I have bottles near the pellet bowls, but I also have bottles which point into the hiding places where they sleep. This way they can drink at night without coming out into the open when it is dark. I hope that the water keeps things flushing through!
 
Free Ranger said:
We have variable calcium... sometimes there is a worrying patch but I try and combat this with lots of water bottles! My pigs drink when they eat pellets so I have bottles near the pellet bowls, but I also have bottles which point into the hiding places where they sleep. This way they can drink at night without coming out into the open when it is dark. I hope that the water keeps things flushing through!
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I've been feeding them a lot of cucumber recently for water intake to try to flush it out as well. They love it and their poops still look perfectly good so I think it's good for them. My piggies don't drink very much water in general. I'm just always assuming they get enough from their veggies. A few hours ago I saw both of them pee and it looked clear, so I'm hoping either the cucumber or the vitamin c pills I got from my vet are working!
 
I wouldn’t give the vitamin c pills simply because they don’t need them. They get their vitamins from hay and veg. The pellets are also fortified. Giving extra vitamin c can lead to its own issues later on. The body will get used to a certain amount and if it falls below that (whether it’s normal or not), the body will think there’s a deficiency.

There’s also water in their veg and a lot of piggies get it from the veg. Some drink a lot and others don’t drink much at all. They’ll drink what they need ☺️
 
Siikibam said:
I wouldn’t give the vitamin c pills simply because they don’t need them. They get their vitamins from hay and veg. The pellets are also fortified. Giving extra vitamin c can lead to its own issues later on. The body will get used to a certain amount and if it falls below that (whether it’s normal or not), the body will think there’s a deficiency.

There’s also water in their veg and a lot of piggies get it from the veg. Some drink a lot and others don’t drink much at all. They’ll drink what they need ☺️
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That's interesting because the vet I go to is a guinea pig specialist and told me that you can't overdose on vitamin c. 🤔 They only get 1/4 to 1/2 of a pill and it's not meant to be forever. Maybe she knew that and just didn't even bother talking about it because she only gave me a few. The pills are actually to help boost their immune system because both of my little babies are pretty sick with ringworm right now 😞 so I am inclined to keep giving them. She said it might help with the calcium pee as well though which is why I included it in my post.
 
Aaah - be brave poor ringworm piggies 😢 your caring owner is working things out for you x

I know people can pee out their xs vitC if they take it (I once accepted what I thought was a fortified orange soda at someone's house and it was one of those fizzy vitC tablets in water... and I was peeing 'orange soda' all day!) In some countries people who buy piggies are commonly told to give extra vitC all the time as tablets or as a water additive. Here in the UK we occasionally give vitC as a supplement for a poorly pig (although we never add to water bottles in case they stop drinking!) but I think the warning is that if you give vitC all the time the pig's body gets used to the high dose and then any fall in that can cause symptoms - whereas a pig that had not been 'supplemented' wouldn't have a problem. But we understand you are giving this supplement for their illness.
 
Yes, vit c can be given as a short course to boost the immune system during a period of illness But it’s not recommended to give it long term. Too much can cause the body to become used to higher levels and then if there is a drop cause scurvy even though the levels are higher than would otherwise be considered normal.
Also, excess Vit c is simply excreted in the urine so sometimes giving vit c when they are eating a good diet (and hay and pellets contain vit c as well as a good veg diet) simply makes i it a waste of money if it is just coming straight out their other end!
 
Good that it’s short term. Hope they’re better soon.
 
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