Where did they come from?

[Lil Fella's Mom]

Twilightwheek, I wish you wouldn't be so offended by everyone's posts. We are all friends trying to help each other care for our piggies and do our best to make them happy. If you cut everybody's throat that has a different opinion or makes a suggestion, soon nobody will answer you at all.
You are certainly entitled to your own opinion and i have no doubt you love and care well for you piggy, however, politely disagreeing with somebody has stress on polite around here. I feel like your responses are a bit gruff. Maybe you could reconsider the tone.

[foggycreekcavy]

How is your guinea pig doing? I'd like to express concern about the use of the Pramoxine-- it's a topical analgesic, and from what I've read on Guinea Lynx, not safe for the guinea pig to ingest. I read on some cat forums that it does cause toxicity in some cats. Pramoxine is not to be used on children under two.

Mostly, though, my concern here is that it may mask the pain from mites. Even though you feel your vet checked thoroughly for mites, it's common for vets to miss them. Treating for mites is painless and easy to do, and won't cause your guinea pig any harm even if she doesn't have mites. You can even do it yourself, following the directions at Guinea Lynx.

[twilightwheek]

She's doing really well, actually. :) The medicine has worked really well and her skin isn't as dry any more. No flakes for a few days, and no more scratching!

Thanks for your concern!

[Paula]

Speaking of, I don't understand your fancy terminology, and she certainly doesnt have a "menu"... but she gets a variety of things, but usually leafy green lettuces, red & purple lettuces, parsley (is her favorite), spinach, dandelion and on occasion kale.

I'm going to reiterate what akstrohm suggested, as it's an excellent suggestion and you seem to have a problem not throwing a temper tantrum when it comes from another member.

Parsley, spinach, and kale are not appropriate for feeding daily. Parsley really is something you should only feed in moderation once or twice a week, the same is true with kale. Spinach is something I wouldn't feed at all, as it's very high in Vitamin A and oxalic acid.

I want to include more fatty acids in her diet, which I know will help with her skin but I don't want to do the pellet thing again, since she wont eat her hay when there's pellets.

Have you considered giving her a small amount of pellets - perhaps only a tablespoon? She'll eat her pellets then have none left and, presumably, return to the hay.

She doesn't like cilantro & I'm not going to force her to eat things she doesnt like... and she doesnt need ratios and all of that fancy junk, she is fed the way I feel she should be fed.

Unfortunately, the way you "feel" she should be fed isn't necessarily the best for her, and while she may seem perfectly fine at the moment, that doesn't necessarily mean that she is - or that she wouldn't benefit from you either doing some serious research to determine what's actually appropriate for her or feed her a high quality pellet (in moderation, yes) until you can work something out that you know is what's best for her. Ratios are not "fancy junk" - they're something you'd give a little more serious consideration to if you were interested in making sure your pig has a balanced diet rather than doing what you want because it suits you best at this point.

[akstrohm]

She doesn't like cilantro & I'm not going to force her to eat things she doesnt like... and she doesnt need ratios and all of that fancy junk, she is fed the way I feel she should be fed. She's happy and playful and as of Wednesday, perfectly HEALTHY. Just like us humans are different, not every piglet is going to do well on the same diet.

You are doing this because it's more difficult to plan a proper menu and to get your pig to eat a proper diet, not because it's what's actually best nutritionally for her. Every pig needs a proper Ca:P ratio; not doing so can lead to stones which can be fatal. A vitamin C deficiency leads to scurvy in all pigs. These things aren't optional. Simply feeding no pellets and what veggies she eats readily is easy, but it's not good for her in the long run. I encourage you to reconsider.

[twilightwheek]

Well, she is getting Cavy Cuisine pellets as of Saturday, I'm starting with about a tablespoon... hoping she wont gain more. She already gets Oxbow hay, and I took parsley away. I thought about cilantro at the store today but it smells completely different and she just doesnt eat it. I'm sure she'll forgive me for only feeding parsley every now and again. Today she ate lettuces and a piece of carrot and bits of pepper. and an incy wincy apple slice for a treat. Along with hay, her new pellets and water, I consider that a top meal!

I don't think her diet is necessarily wrong, and it's certainly not convenience as to why she gets what she gets! If I was going for convenience I'd toss her some cheap-o pellets and call it a day. Thanks for your input, hopefully after all this she will finally feel better and the added fats from the pellets will heal her dry skin!

[akstrohm]

I hope so too. Let us know how she does!

[twilightwheek]

It's been a while since I visited here, and I just wanted to say that Tabytha Sue is now 2.9 lbs, but has been steady at that weight for almost 2 months now. She eats up to one cup of veggies -lettuces, peppers, tomato, cucumber carrots etc... She only got parsley a few days in the week of her birthday- and a little more than 1/8 pellets daily. She seems happy, healthy and only itches every once in a while.
In fact, now that it's getting more humid she doesn't itch hardly at all. Next winter I will be prepared with a humidifier for this pigs dry skin!

It makes me laugh that she has dry skin NOW, when she was born and spent the first year of life in dry Denver Colorado!

Silly thing, but she is happy and healthy, even though she weighs almost 3 lbs! :)

[PiggiePaws]

Glad to hear she's doing good! Has she tried eaten any green pepper or cilantro yet? Just curious.

One of my sows weighs 3lbs, she's a big girl, but not chubby.

[twilightwheek]

It makes me feel better to hear there are bigger girls out there too. :) She is perfect in every weigh. ;)

She doesn't like cilantro, and will eat red pepper on days that she feels like it. Sometimes it has to sit there all day, but she likes green peppers too.