Romaine lettuce-good or bad for bladder sludge?

Josie_lg

Josie_lg

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Good evening. Unfortunately one of my girls has been diagnosed with bladder sludge. It’s not severe but enough to cause discomfort and an infection which she is being treated for.
I have to ask what are the best foods for me to feed her, I’m cutting out pellets for now, I’ve just purchased a water filter to filter our hard water, but I am so confused whether romaine lettuce is good for this or not? If not what other lettuces and veggies are best for this?
Thank you xx
 
Pewter had a bit of bladder sludge (& she has IC) and we feed romaine lettuce daily. I wash it with filtered water and leave it really wet so she gets some extra water to flush all the nasty stuff out. Other than that, we feed a chunk of cucumber, some green pepper & a couple of sprigs of coriander every day. Very boring diet, I know, but that’s the only things Pewter can eat that don’t cause an instant IC flare. Bless her. I hope your girl is feeling better soon! x
 
Caramelchip18 said:
Dandelion leaf/dandelions (in bloomed of course!) romaine lettuce should be fine
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Dandelion leaves are high in calcium so I don’t think that they’re a good idea in a piggy with bladder sludge.
 
Siikibam said:
Dandelion leaves are high in calcium so I don’t think that they’re a good idea in a piggy with bladder sludge.
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Okay, I just read an old thread on here that said it was caused by low calcium not high calcium so I didn’t know
 
Which thread is that? That doesn’t sound right. Pellets and unfiltered hard water are actually the biggest contributors of calcium in piggy diets, even more than high calcium veg.
 
Siikibam said:
Which thread is that? That doesn’t sound right. Pellets and unfiltered hard water are actually the biggest contributors of calcium in piggy diets, even more than high calcium veg.
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It’s an old one from 2017 I think but if you want I can try find it again and link it?
 
I’m assuming that knowledge has moved on from then. As far as I’m aware it’s high calcium that can cause bladder sludge. However, I’m not experienced with this so would say take my thoughts with a pinch of salt. I’ll tag @PigglePuggle who knows more than me.
 
Bladder sludge and stone formation is quite a complex physiological process, but mostly the sludge is deposits of calcium oxalate. So minimise high calcium foods and high oxalate foods (spinach, broccoli, also pellets- even low calcium pellets contain 4x as much calcium as high calcium veggies!), and also feeding extra watery veg like romaine lettuce and cucumber to help flush the calcium out is recommended. This isnt a quick fix though and many other factors are in play- genetics, stress levels etc- but, most people with bladder piggies feed a low calcium diet with a lot of water-rich veggies.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Bladder sludge and stone formation is quite a complex physiological process, but mostly the sludge is deposits of calcium oxalate. So minimise high calcium foods and high oxalate foods (spinach, broccoli, also pellets- even low calcium pellets contain 4x as much calcium as high calcium veggies!), and also feeding extra watery veg like romaine lettuce and cucumber to help flush the calcium out is recommended. This isnt a quick fix though and many other factors are in play- genetics, stress levels etc- but, most people with bladder piggies feed a low calcium diet with a lot of water-rich veggies.
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Thank you for your reply. She is improving just very very slowly. She is still crying when weeing as the sludge I assume keeps rubbing against the bladder and re causing cystitis so the bladder isn’t getting a chance to heal. An exotic vet also told me that most piggies have a small amount of sludge present with no problems. So I hope she starts to improve soon❤️
 
Have you tried Cystease? One capsule a day. It takes a while to build up in their system, but it coats the bladder & protects the bladder walls from inflammation.
 
Mclayton said:
Have you tried Cystease? One capsule a day. It takes a while to build up in their system, but it coats the bladder & protects the bladder walls from inflammation.
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Hello! It’s been a while since I viewed this thread. My sweet girl ended up developing a stone and having surgery on it in October. It’s still something we dealing with every day. She’s on nutracyst for her bladder. But I may see if cystease is better.
 
Fresh dandelions (all parts) can be fed when in season as long as it is in combination with other watery fresh food like grass, lettuce, cucumber or other wild forage. It is somewhat diuretic and will propagate stronger bladder flushing pees, which is what you want in the case of bladder sludge; dandelion is not a problem food because of its diuretic qualities. Dried dandelion or dandelion on its own is not recommended, though.

Romaine/Cos and gem lettuces are all fine to feed.

PS: Please be aware that any dietary changes will take several weeks to come through the body. Sludge that is too tightly packed may not be flushed out naturally.
 
Josie_lg said:
Hello! It’s been a while since I viewed this thread. My sweet girl ended up developing a stone and having surgery on it in October. It’s still something we dealing with every day. She’s on nutracyst for her bladder. But I may see if cystease is better.
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Its really helped my piggie. Takes several weeks though. Maybe 2 capsules daily, for couple weeks, until it built up in their system
 
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