Vitamin C Tablets

[Butterfluf]

Hi,
Recently I had to have my Guinea pigs on a course of Baytril and Ronaxan antibiotics to clear up a respiratory issue. They've been off it a week and are a lot better but I noticed still a few sneezes and very slight runny noses on some piggies. I took them back to a standard vet who rang an exotic vet who said to put them back on the same combo for another week.

They also recommended that I get 1000mg vit C soluable tablets and take a pinch off a tablet and mix it with some water and syringe that to them. (I have 1ml syringes).

I also do have Vetark Pro C probiotics that I want to give them but should I give both the Vit C and probiotic or just one or the other.

If you recommend both or just the Vit C which brand should I get? I live in Ireland but there's a Holland and barrett near me and also a Tesco, Aldi and Lidl. Thank you for any advice! I will also attach a pic of my meal plan that I have for the piggies but I have to change it soon as they really don't seem to like courgette or bell peppers much. Any suggestions to change my meal plan I will also take on board! I am getting a lot of Spinach lately for myself so I can incorporate that too

 

[PigglePuggle]

There is rarely any need to give vit C supplements at all, and if you are giving pro-C as a probiotic that is definitely enough.
Too much vit C from an artificial source is not a good thing.
Your diet plan looks fine except maybe a bit heavy on the brassicas- broccoli, cabbage, kale- which can cause bloat. There's no suggestion here that piggies eating that diet might be vitamin C deficient though, far from it!

 

[Butterfluf]

There is rarely any need to give vit C supplements at all, and if you are giving pro-C as a probiotic that is definitely enough.
Too much vit C from an artificial source is not a good thing.
Your diet plan looks fine except maybe a bit heavy on the brassicas- broccoli, cabbage, kale- which can cause bloat. There's no suggestion here that piggies eating that diet might be vitamin C deficient though, far from it!

OK thank you i will only give the probiotic thank you I was thinking it was a little gassy looking I don't eat Cabbage much myself so I'd probably remove that, how gassy is Spinach do you know? Is it similar? I just need to find replacements for courgette and peppers... Typical they don't like some of the best veg for them!

 

[Butterfluf]

I'm open to giving them more fruit if there's any good ones. They get apples every now and then, once or twice a week

 

[Wiebke]

I'm open to giving them more fruit if there's any good ones. They get apples every now and then, once or twice a week

Hi!

Please don't go and throw the kitchen sink at it! You are just going to open another can of worms instead.
You can either do a 2-3 weeks booster course with artificial vitamin C or do it naturally, but you need not do either. That is overkill!

The best high vitamin C food is actually fresh grass; it is what piggies have evolved on as their mains source of food and why they have never had the need to make their own vitamin C in the first place.
Unlike most veg high in vitamin C grass is not also high in calcium and can therefore not cause bladder problems in the long run or - in the case of too much fruit (or fruit and tomato fed too often) - potentially fatal lip infection (cheilitis) and digestive issues from dysbiosis (the wrong kind of gut bacteria overgrowing).

Even hay still contains some vitamin C which is why piggies on a mainly hay and grass based diet don't usually suffer from scruvy (vitamin C deficiency) issues. If you want to supplement with natural foods, just feed a bit more fresh herbs (but not too much, see reasons above; they are also high in calcium if they are high in vitamin C).

By far the best diet is really what your piggies have lived on for hundreds of thousands of years. Because grass and hay are not foods we humans eat, they tend to be treated as non-entities without any nutritional value and are simply blended out of any diet considerations.
Here are our tips in how to best introduce fresh grass on an unaccustomed gut in order to avoid diarrhea or potential bloating:
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time

Please keep in mind that if you give vitamin C on a permanently high level the body accustoms to that and will then ironically react with scurvy symptoms as soon as this high level drops for whatever reason. Because of this, we strongly recommend to just contuct a short-term booster course if needed but to please keep your diet balanced and healthy so you do not create more health issues in the long term. Too much is as bad as too little.

 

[Butterfluf]

Hi!

Please don't go and throw the kitchen sink at it! You are just going to open another can of worms instead.
You can either do a 2-3 weeks booster course with artificial vitamin C or do it naturally, but you need not do either. That is overkill!

The best high vitamin C food is actually fresh grass; it is what piggies have evolved on as their mains source of food and why they have never had the need to make their own vitamin C in the first place.
Unlike most veg high in vitamin C grass is not also high in calcium and can therefore not cause bladder problems in the long run or - in the case of too much fruit (or fruit and tomato fed too often) - potentially fatal lip infection (cheilitis) and digestive issues from dysbiosis (the wrong kind of gut bacteria overgrowing).

Even hay still contains some vitamin C which is why piggies on a mainly hay and grass based diet don't usually suffer from scruvy (vitamin C deficiency) issues. If you want to supplement with natural foods, just feed a bit more fresh herbs (but not too much, see reasons above; they are also high in calcium if they are high in vitamin C).

By far the best diet is really what your piggies have lived on for hundreds of thousands of years. Because grass and hay are not foods we humans eat, they tend to be treated as non-entities without any nutritional value and are simply blended out of any diet considerations.
Here are our tips in how to best introduce fresh grass on an unaccustomed gut in order to avoid diarrhea or potential bloating:
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time

Please keep in mind that if you give vitamin C on a permanently high level the body accustoms to that and will then ironically react with scurvy symptoms as soon as this high level drops for whatever reason. Because of this, we strongly recommend to just contuct a short-term booster course if needed but to please keep your diet balanced and healthy so you do not create more health issues in the long term. Too much is as bad as too little.

I see so I won't change their diet too much. I would give them grass it's just there are a lot of wild cats that come in our garden and I would be probably over worried that they'd pee in the grass and if I gave it to my piggies it'd poison them. (I know I just worry way too much ). If you don't think that's a big risk I'd be happy to start giving them grass! I think the vet was just saying the extra vit c for their recovery but as another user was saying the probiotic should be fine to help with that while their on the antibiotic. Thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

I see so I won't change their diet too much. I would give them grass it's just there are a lot of wild cats that come in our garden and I would be probably over worried that they'd pee in the grass and if I gave it to my piggies it'd poison them. (I know I just worry way too much ). If you don't think that's a big risk I'd be happy to start giving them grass! I think the vet was just saying the extra vit c for their recovery but as another user was saying the probiotic should be fine to help with that while their on the antibiotic. Thank you!

Hi! Cat pee is not a problem; only dogs. If you worry, just give the grass a rinse before you serve it.

You can give the vitamin C enriched probiotic for 2-3 weeks; there is no harm in that. But you do not completely need to overload your diet.

Please be aware that juicy fresh grass counts towards your veg diet. Dry summer grass that has stopped growing in the heat counts more as hay. If you have the access, then adding some fresh grass to your diet daily from now on would be perfect for your piggies. You can reduce the amount of veg accordingly and according to season.

 

[PigglePuggle]

And you can always grow fresh clean grass just for the piggies in windowbox planters, that's what we do in spring and summer as we only have a small city patio garden- I am hoping to get planting tomorrow, window box planters with clover, grass, coriander, parsley and nasturtiums, then I pop one in the piggies playpen and let them help themselves, then pop it back on the windowsill to regrow!

 

[Butterfluf]

Hi! Cat pee is not a problem; only dogs. If you worry, just give the grass a rinse before you serve it.
You can give the vitamin C enriched probiotic for 2-3 weeks; there is no harm in that. But you do not need to overload your diet completely. Please be aware that juicy fresh grass counts towards your veg diet. Dry summer grass that has stopped growing in the heat counts more as hay.

That's reassuring to know thank you! I would feel safer to replace some of the gassier veg like broccoli and Kale and Cabbage with grass if I can

 

[Wiebke]

That's reassuring to know thank you! I would feel safer to replace some of the gassier veg like broccoli and Kale and Cabbage with grass if I can

Guinea pigs need some calcium in their diet. As long as you feed only 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day, you can feed a little kale, greens (which are a relative of kale) or herbs like parsley or dill with enough high fluid veg like fresh grass, cucumber, lettuce or celery. Keep in mind that even low calcium pellets still contain more calcium than kale and that they induce your piggies to eat less hay - and they should eat plenty of that for optimum dental and gut (and therefore overall) health.

Here is our illustrated diet guide: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

That's reassuring to know thank you! I would feel safer to replace some of the gassier veg like broccoli and Kale and Cabbage with grass if I can

Grass is the very best thing to feed them!

 

[Butterfluf]

Grass is the very best thing to feed them!

I'll try introduce it slowly so