Vegetables: Mushrooms?

[piggers_sienna]

Can GPs eat mushrooms at all? And what kinds if they can?

[guineapigluver1]

Do NOT feed avocados, coconut (both too high in fats), iceburg lettuce (low nutrition, high in nitrites, high water), tomato stems or leaves, potatoes, rhubarb, taro, mushrooms, peanut butter, hot peppers, hot herbs and spices, dry beans and peas, nuts, jams, jellies, fruit preserves, sweetened fruit juices, pickled vegetables, coffee, cola, milk or dairy products to include yogurt, cake, cookies, baked goods, fried, frozen, canned or cooked foods.


Taken from Ly's chart.

[Amsley246]

If you want to give then juice, make sure you don't give them anything that says cocktail on it, it means even though it's healthy (like cranberry juice) it's still loaded with sugar! My Dietian told me that when I was preggo!

[guineapigluver1]

You could only give plain cranberry juice with nothing added to it once in a while. and when I say once in a while I mean not very often at all.

[Tserisa]

I would argue that juice isn't very healthy at all, even the non-cocktail kind. Most of the good stuff has been taken out, leaving mostly sugar. It has some vitamins, yeah, but it has a negative impact on blood sugar levels and so on. Fruit, because of fiber and so on, does not negatively impact the body in the same way. A lot of people don't realize, but fruit is MUCH healthier than its juice counterpart.

Plain cranberry juice is low in sugar, as far as juices go, but it tastes absolutely nasty to most people. Guinea pigs may or may not like it. Heh.

Vegetable juice is healthy. (Not V8 -- they add sugar and salt!)

[Amsley246]

There's a few sites that say some cranberry juice is ok when they have bladder infections, as long as it's pure, no additives or anything like that. They say your not suppose to give it to them often, like mentioned before, but you can occasionally.

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by Amsley246

There's a few sites that say some cranberry juice is ok when they have bladder infections, as long as it's pure, no additives or anything like that. They say your not suppose to give it to them often, like mentioned before, but you can occasionally.

You are correct. In cases where pigs are prone to bladder infections or other bladder problems, unsweetened all natural cranberry juice (not cocktail) can be given. I used to give my pigs diluted cranberry juice about once a week as a UTI preventative and they loved it. Then they stopped carrying that brand locally and I can't find another brand to replace it.

[auburnmare5]

Can you but the acceptable cranberruy juice at a Shaws or Stop and Shop?
Is Ocean Spray an ok brand to use?

[Tserisa]

Ocean Spray is sweetened. It must be only cranberry juice -- the ingredients should only be "cranberry juice" or "water and cranberry juice". The two brands I use are "Just Cranberry" by Knudsen's, and "Pure Cranberry" by Lakewood.

Sugar, besides being very unhealthy for us and pigs, can lead to a spike in blood sugar that actually encourages the growth of bacteria in the bladder and defeats the purpose of taking cranberry juice.

Unsweetened cranberry juice has about 9g of sugar per 8 fl oz. (Unsweetened apple juice has about 30.)

[Amsley246]

Don't forget Diabetes. My step mom's dog had it and the poor thing went through a lot! Before we put him down, he was going blind, losing his teeth, and shaking an awful lot. He had to have 2 needles a day. Image a poor Guinea pig going through the smae thing, they're even smaller!

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by auburnmare5

Can you but the acceptable cranberruy juice at a Shaws or Stop and Shop?
Is Ocean Spray an ok brand to use?

You won't be able to find acceptable juice at either of those places. Ocean Spray is cranberry juice cocktail, so it's not acceptable either. You may be able to find something acceptable at a health food store or in frozen form at a grocery store.

[5guinea5pig5]

I found a juice that is 50/50 cranberry and apple juice is that OK to give to them?

[guineapigluver1]

Only if it is pure juice no sugar or anything else added (except water of course), but I wouldn't give it unless they had a UTI (so hopefully you/I wouldn't ever need to give it) and I would only give cranberry (unless of course I could only find 50/50 cranberry and apple).

[akstrohm]

Actually, Ocean Spray does make unsweetened 100% cranberry juice. It can be harder to find than the cocktails, however.

[auburnmare5]

akstrohm- Where did you find it?

[akstrohm]

Originally Posted by auburnmare5

akstrohm- Where did you find it?

A local store in Madison, WI.

[Ly&Pigs]

I've never seen anything but the Ocean Spray Cocktails, so didn't know about the pure cranberry juice they make.

I wouldn't do apple/cranberry juice. If you use cranberry juice to help with a UTI or as a UTI preventative (note that it doesn't always prevent UTI's either), then you need plain unsweetened cranberry juice. You could always add plain fresh cranberries to your pigs diet too. I'd say 1-2 per pig about 1-2 times per week.

[Tserisa]

I also would not recommend the cranberry/apple. It certainly wouldn't work for a human UTI, and I expect it would be similarly ineffective for a piggie one. As I mentioned earlier, apple juice has 30 g of sugar per 8 fl oz. That's a lot. And it doesn't contain the fiber that helps negate the effect on blood sugar (which can lead to UTIs as well as raising the risk of diabetes, and so on) that the whole fruit of an apple would have.

And look at that! Ocean Spray does make a 100% cranberry juice. I've never seen it either. Did you find it in the juice aisle, akstrohm, or was it in with cocktail mixers?

[akstrohm]

Originally Posted by Tserisa

And look at that! Ocean Spray does make a 100% cranberry juice. I've never seen it either. Did you find it in the juice aisle, akstrohm, or was it in with cocktail mixers?

I found it in with the cocktail mixers, although that could certainly vary between stores.

[MapleOwl18]

I've seen it too at groceries stores in Ohio. I remember it from when I had a UTI.