Picky pig won't take oxbow tablets !

[madelineelaine]

So I'm thinking izzy might be pregnant, and the vet recommended we give her a little bit of extra vitamin C because it's very likely she is.

So I went and got oxbox vitamin C tablets, and I plan on giving her half a tablet (25 mg) + all her veggies.
Problem is, she refuses to eat the tablet ! I spent a good 20 minutes trying to hand feed it to her, I wrapped it in veggies, I tried to crumble it a bit and give it to her on lettuce, and she would have NONE of that. When I did manage to get the tablet into her, she spat it back out

Any techniques I can use? The only other thing I can think of is maybe dissolving it in water with a pellet or something, and just syringing it into her. It would be a really small amount, and I'd add a pellet or two so it isn't runny and there's less chance of her chocking.
I really need to get this vitamin C into her, I don't want her to become malnurished if she is infact pregnant.

[madelineelaine]

I keep typing oxbox -.- I meant to say OXBOW
I mis read it once, and now I confuse the two.

[PrincessAngel]

If she is refusing the tablet, I would just give her more of a veggie with higher vitamin C. Maybe increase her bell pepper intake. But I thought that pregnant guinea pigs needed more Calcium, in which case I would give her some sprigs of parsley.

[sdpiggylvr]

I used to feed the Oxbow tablets to one of my foster guinea pigs when she first came to my house and was malnourished. At first, I had to kind of put it down her throat so she wouldn't spit it out, and soon she figured out it tasted good and would gobble it up just from my hand.

[madelineelaine]

She will not let me get it in her mouth, she's biting me too. Should I just dissolve it in a bit of water and syringe it ? I give her bell peppers twice a day, and parsley every other day.

[madelineelaine]

I feel bad, she really does not like me trying to force it into her mouth.

[sdpiggylvr]

You could crush it and syringe it into her mouth with water. If she won't let you put the tablet in her mouth, though, I feel like it would be hard to get her to take the syringe too and then some might fall out of her mouth... It's tricky. Have you tried crushing it and sprinkling it on her pellets? Maybe she would eat it then.

Tomatoes also have a good amount of C, by the way.

The guinea pig website Happy Cavy gives their guinea pigs crystallized vitamin C on a favorite vegetable each day. Here's the kind they use: Amazon.com: Solgar - Vitamin C Crystals, 4500 mg, 4.4 oz powder: Health & Personal Care. Worth a try, maybe?

[madelineelaine]

I managed to get some into her, sprinkled on a dandellion green. She did drag some off with her foot though.

[piggi_zone]

there is also an oxbow vit c table that is papaya flavored.

[madelineelaine]

the papaya one is just enzymes I thought ?

[madison45]

you can give her more veggies also if she is start feeding her alfalfa hay