Nutrition KMS Pellets vs Oxbow Pellets

CavieGuy · Sep 26, 2017

Hi Everyone,

When I first got my guinea pigs I was using Oxbow Pellets and one of my guinea pigs developed stones and later found out that Oxbow Pellets could of been one of the factors along with genetics. My vet suggested that I put my herd on a low calcium diet and switched to KMS pellets.

I've been on KMS pellets for years now ordering 50lbs at a time, but recently heard some chatter that Oxbow has changed their pellet formula and now is safe for stone prone piggies is that true? Anyone else have made the switch back to Oxbow?

miniver · Sep 26, 2017

I switched back about a year ago. KMS is no longer available in Canada. I've had no issues with the new Oxbow formula; no calcium spots and no new stone issues.
For what I've read here, the new Oxbow formula has solved the previous problems.

bpatters · Sep 26, 2017

Oxbow pellets no longer contain limestone, so Oxbow and KMS are very comparable. They're very close in price where I am, but the KMS pellets are so much fresher, and my pigs like them so much better, that I'm not switching.

CavieGuy · Sep 26, 2017

That is great to hear.

I been comparing prices this morning and order in bulk and KMS seems to be cheaper (including shipping cost as well) than Oxbow.

sallyvh · Sep 26, 2017

I also switched to the new formula of Oxbow as KMS doesn't ship to Canada.

My stone girl has had zero stone or sludge issues since the change (she eveb developed stones on limited KMS pellets). I even give her more of the Oxbow pellets now and she has been great for months!

My girls didn't have any issues switching. They all eat them the same way they ate KMS. And for me here in Canada, Oxbow is obviously a better deal.

CavieGuy · Sep 26, 2017

sallyvh said:
I also switched to the new formula of Oxbow as KMS doesn't ship to Canada.

My stone girl has had zero stone or sludge issues since the change (she eveb developed stones on limited KMS pellets). I even give her more of the Oxbow pellets now and she has been great for months!

My girls didn't have any issues switching. They all eat them the same way they ate KMS. And for me here in Canada, Oxbow is obviously a better deal.

Do you buy yours online or a store? I'm trying see if it might be cheaper at the store but haven't taken a drive over yet.

bpatters · Sep 26, 2017

You're close enough to the KMS Hayloft farm that they should be cheaper than Oxbow.

lisa325 · Sep 26, 2017

If you buy Oxbow pellets online from Foster Smith and spend over $19.99, shipping is free. If you order a 25lb bag it's $31.02. If you order a 25lb bag from KMS it's $25 plus $27.09 shipping ( for my area) for a grand total of $52.07 KMS versus $31.02 Oxbow.
I'm seriously thinking about switching back to Oxbow, this last batch of KMS pellets I currently have looks different, the pieces are much longer, and a couple of our pigs just don't seem that taken with them. I also haven't noticed any difference in the frequency of calcium spots on the fleece from a couple of pigs.

bpatters · Sep 26, 2017

It definitely depends on the shipping costs as to whether Oxbow or KMS is cheaper. They're always within 10 cents a pound of each other where I am, and often less than that.

Guinea Pig Papa · Sep 26, 2017

lisa325 said:
If you buy Oxbow pellets online from Foster Smith and spend over $19.99, shipping is free. If you order a 25lb bag it's $31.02. If you order a 25lb bag from KMS it's $25 plus $27.09 shipping ( for my area) for a grand total of $52.07 KMS versus $31.02 Oxbow.
I'm seriously thinking about switching back to Oxbow, this last batch of KMS pellets I currently have looks different, the pieces are much longer, and a couple of our pigs just don't seem that taken with them. I also haven't noticed any difference in the frequency of calcium spots on the fleece from a couple of pigs.

WOW! 25lb bag for $31.02?????????
A 10 lb bag of Oxbow Essentials Cavy Cuisine is $26.99 at my local Petsmart. 10lbs. They don't carry anything bigger here, and I would hate to think of what it would cost, anyways.

I did find that I can get Small Pet Select 2nd cut Timothy Hay from Amazon.ca. It's a 10lb box, and the cheapest I've found it in that size is $83.99 Canadian. The other sellers are at around $140 a box.

(edit) just checked shipping at the $83.99 price point. Shipping is $52. Brutal.)

lisa325 · Sep 26, 2017

Yeah, check it out at fostersmith.com

lisa325 · Sep 26, 2017

Awwwww, I just looked up their free shipping and it says it applies to the 48 states only, I forgot you were in Canada.

lisa325 · Sep 26, 2017

If you could find out how much it would cost to ship to you and if it would be worth your while, I would be happy to order it ( free shipping for me ) and then send it on to you.

Guinea Pig Papa · Sep 26, 2017

lisa325 said:
If you could find out how much it would cost to ship to you and if it would be worth your while, I would be happy to order it ( free shipping for me ) and then send it on to you.

I appreciate the offer very, very much, @lisa325. But the baby fellas LOVE their Oxbow Western Timothy, and the only one it would be worth it for would be Sly. @spy9doc was tremendously kind a couple of months ago, and sent me a sample of the KMS for Sly to try as he had decided he had no interest in hay any more. That holds true today, he might nibble at some regular hay from time to time but the only hay he'll eat now is alfalfa. He'll eat his timothy pellets like there's no tomorrow, but I've tried every type of hay I can get my hands on to no avail. He'll eat alfalfa, and that's pretty much it. I've even tried local farm fresh, and he couldn't care less.

sallyvh · Sep 26, 2017

Guinea Pig Papa said:
WOW! 25lb bag for $31.02?????????
A 10 lb bag of Oxbow Essentials Cavy Cuisine is $26.99 at my local Petsmart. 10lbs

Regularly check amazon for the Cavy Cuisine pellets. A few months ago I scored a 25lb bag with free shipping for $35. They also had the young pig version, so I purchased a bag and donated them to my local shelter as they had many baby pigs this summer.

You're located Niagara way correct? If you ever come to the Burlington area you can check out Ren's Pet Depot. They are a pet supply chain and it's where I buy all my pig supplies. You can special order 25lb bags of Oxbow pellets, they sell for $46.99 I believe. For the special order, you can call it in on the phone and it then generally takes about a week to come in. They also carry the 50lb boxes of Timothy hay for $79.99 and I special order in 50lb boxes of orchard grass too. They are an awesome store!

They are about to have a 20% off Oxbow sale this weekend or next as well!

Guinea Pig Papa · Sep 26, 2017

sallyvh said:
Regularly check amazon for the Cavy Cuisine pellets. A few months ago I scored a 25lb bag with free shipping for $35. They also had the young pig version, so I purchased a bag and donated them to my local shelter as they had many baby pigs this summer.

You're located Niagara way correct? If you ever come to the Burlington area you can check out Ren's Pet Depot. They are a pet supply chain and it's where I buy all my pig supplies. You can special order 25lb bags of Oxbow pellets, they sell for $46.99 I believe. For the special order, you can call it in on the phone and it then generally takes about a week to come in. They also carry the 50lb boxes of Timothy hay for $79.99 and I special order in 50lb boxes of orchard grass too. They are an awesome store!

They are about to have a 20% off Oxbow sale this weekend or next as well!

That is AWESOME, @sallyvh ! I will definitely check into that, those are far better prices than I get here in Niagara and I'm in Burlington on a regular basis. Thanks very very much for the tip!

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Nutrition KMS Pellets vs Oxbow Pellets

CavieGuy

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lisa325

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