Pro-C Probiotic. Opinions?

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PiggyLoon

PiggyLoon

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Hi.

Ive just bought some Vetark professional Pro-C probiotic from Pets at Home to give to my girlies. I noticed a long time ago P@h put it into their water bottles (its a greeny colour). I was actually looking for some liquid drops to put in their water bottle but could only find some for rabbits and hamsters. My pigs normally eat 'Burgess supa guinea excel' along with a bit of cabbage, carrot, cucumber, brocolli etc to add to the variety. But I just thought as extra 'backup' I would introduce extra Vit C into their water. ;)

I was just wondering if anybody else uses it, what your opinions are (good and bad) and can you give guineas too much Vit C? Has using this probiotic caused any problems to your guinea's digestive system? My 2 guineas are a year old. Is this too young to be having it? Ive seen baby pigs in the shop drinking it so thought it may be ok for my pigs. It does say on the label its used to support older animals.

Ive put in slighty less than what they've instructed to put in just in case it upsets them!

Many thanks O0
 
I only use this for Ton and mixed in with his syringe feed. I personally wouldn't use this for any of my other piggies unless they were old and had a bout of illness. They all should be getting an adequate amount from their fruit and veg. :)

P@H probably give it to their piggies as they only get a little veg once a day :-\

That's just my opinion :)
 
Thanks for that Kelly.

I was thinking that they should have enough in their diet already. My little Ruby pig has been found to have calcium crystals in her urine you see. This means I have to cut out all stuff thats high in oxalate such as spinach and strawberries (surprisingly enough - but thats what my vet said!). They dont eat either of these anyway but they do eat parsley (which is also high in oxalic acid) which they adore. Its also very high in vit C, one of the main reasons I give them it. As its gonna have to be cut down quite drastically - I thought I would use a vit C suppliment. They arent that interested in those vitamin blocks you can buy. Ive tried those!

PerfectPiggies said:
I think its a load of poop to be honest ;D
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Thanks for your view - Very much appreciated! ;D ;) They havent tried it yet so we'll see how it goes! Might just put it in their water once a week or something
 
;D ;D ;D No probs!

I got some samples of it from somewhere...cant remember where ?

I think if they are eating fruit and veggies and are healthy, there is no need for drippity drops! ;D
 
PerfectPiggies said:
I think its a load of poop to be honest ;D
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LOL to the point! ;D

PiggyLoon said:
I was thinking that they should have enough in their diet already. My little Ruby pig has been found to have calcium crystals in her urine you see. This means I have to cut out all stuff thats high in oxalate such as spinach and strawberries (surprisingly enough - but thats what my vet said!). They dont eat either of these anyway but they do eat parsley (which is also high in oxalic acid) which they adore. Its also very high in vit C, one of the main reasons I give them it. As its gonna have to be cut down quite drastically - I thought I would use a vit C suppliment. They arent that interested in those vitamin blocks you can buy. Ive tried those!
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Thing is, the powder gives the water a flavour and Ruby might not drink it. I guess you can't be too sure on the outcome of it.

She needs to be on a pretty high vit c diet - maybe a human vitamin tablet, crushed dail would be more beneficial?
 
A much higher vit C diet than a normal guinea (without crystals) should be on? Is that what you meant? 98) sorry!

To be honest my vet hasnt said anything about giving her extra - because Rube has veg and a good propriatory feed. Just thought it might be a good idea as the parsley has to be cut down.

Is it safe to use a whole human vit C tablet? I have 2 piggies so they'll both be drinking from the same bottle. Their indoor bottle is a 500ml (I use this as it came with my nero cage although its a bit big for the amount they drink) - they hardly ever get to 3/4 full in a day. But they are outside for most of the daytime - which they use a small earthenware bowl (as their run is toblerone shaped and bottle nozzels are at a awkward angle)

Ive got to at least try and use it cos it was quite expensive (4.99 for 100g). But like you said they might not even like it. Hey-ho... I'll give it a go! :D
 
PiggyLoon said:
A much higher vit C diet than a normal guinea (without crystals) should be on? Is that what you meant? 98) sorry!

To be honest my vet hasnt said anything about giving her extra - because Rube has veg and a good propriatory feed. Just thought it might be a good idea as the parsley has to be cut down.

Is it safe to use a whole human vit C tablet? I have 2 piggies so they'll both be drinking from the same bottle.
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Yeah that's what I meant :)

Have just had a look in piglopeadia - it's called UROLITHIASIS (page 119/120) says vitamin c (100mg) daily may prove 'helpful'. So in effect, a human vitamin tablet is the same (as in they are 100mg vit c). :)

As Ruby doesn't drink all her water everyday, then she won't benefit much from the probitotic in the water. Wouldn't really be much of a supplement if you get me
 
Ok thanks for your help! Its probably a waste of time but I thought Id give it a go. Both Ruby and Dilys dont seem to notice the different taste and are drinking as normal which I suppose is a good thing. They have a lot of 'waste water' because their bottle is so big for just 2 piggies.

As Rube is on Metacam and Bayril at the mo, I might leave it and see how she gets on with that. Thankfully she hasnt got stones (kidney or bladder) and her blood result was clear. Was a bit worried about her cos she had blood in her wee. So it could be just these crystals irritating her insides. Dil seems to be fine tho she's more of a poopy pig rather than one that needs a wee all the time like Rube! Dont see Dil wee very often to notice if she has the same prob.

PerfectPiggies said:
so you would be better saving your money and giving her a carrot! ;D
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:D ;D They get plenty of those already!
 
The problem with drops and water additives is that any benefit they had is gone within a few hours. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) degrades in light which means that the drops do nothing except feed the bad bacteria in the water bottle.

The main reason P@H put the probiotic/vitamins in the water is, like another person said, because they don't get vegetables and would probably have diarrhoea from the stressful conditions they're kept in otherwise.

If you want to use a probiotic for the piggy on Baytril the best one to use is Bio-Lapis made by Protexin as it's formulated for pigs and rabbits. It can be mixed as per instructions and fed by syringe.
 
Thanks for that dsl! Will look into it on the web O0 Will keep that in mind about feeding bad bacteria too.
Like I said before I was actually looking for vit C drops - not the probiotic stuff. Suppose the assistants at P@h want you to go away with at least one thing! Fell for it today... just wanted to try something! The only thing for vit C were those mineral block things which Ive tried.

Many thanks for all your help and views - like to know what other peoples experiences are. ;)
 
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