Some interesting bladder stone info?

[TwoTeenyPeegs]

* quick warning, i am not an expert in bladder stones, i am not a vet or doctor. I haven't looked at studies or read hundreds of articles, so this might be one big mistake *

... But i think this might be very useful to someone with a bladder stone pig.

I came across this interesting video about kidney/bladder stones in humans. The video sums them up nicely, as far as i can tell

Accordind to the video, stones get created because of oxalate, not calcium. Yes, gpigs aren't humans but after all, we do have some similarities. And it does just so happen that some calcium-rich veg is also high in oxalate, such as spinach and dandelions. But still. Let me know what you think xx

 

[sport_billy]

I have approved your post as it links to YouTube rather than an external site

How many pigs do you have? Have you pigs had bladder issues? What are their names?

 

[piggieminder]

The vet who operated on Rusty's stone told me about this. The advice I was given was avoid spinich and root veg. Low calcium diets should be avoided as they cause more problems, if they don't consume enough calcium it will be taken from the bones and can still cause stones as well as weakening bones. Oxalate is the real baddie. A small piece of dandelion leaf a day is a good thing as it's a diuretic and encourages them to urinate and pass any crystals in the urine and to hopefully drink more.
I also avoid pellets containing soy as this is high in oxalates.
Have more or less followed this advice and he's not had another stone (2 years on), could be diet, could be luck!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Thank you for your link.

Our forum diet recommendations promote a diet that is essentially low in oxalates, which long time experience has shown really works.
I have had only one guinea pig with a bladder stone in the last 8 years and about 50 piggies - and that stone was most likely caused by the supply issues at the start of the pandemic where a balanced diet was not possible for several weeks; not with my number of piggies!

The UK is essentially a hard water (i.e. high calcium) country, so we have to take that into account in our diet recommendations, too. While calcium needs to be part of a diet; too much can also contribute to stones. There is a bit of a soft spot between too much and too little calcium in the diet in combination with the oxalate. Local factors mean that you cannot just follow US (mainly soft water country) recommendations in the UK (mainly hard water country), for instance. Several of us longer term owners have tried that and ended up with stones; so it is all a bit more complex, as usual when it comes to anything to do with diet.

You may find this link here helpful: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets