Urine Unusual colour of pee!

MalaM · Jun 4, 2015

I've never seen this colour of pee for my guinea pig. Is this normal or not?

bpatters · Jun 4, 2015

It's a LOT of calcium in the urine.

How old are they?

What exactly do they eat? What kind of hay, and how much? Which brand of pellets, and how much? and which veggies, and how much of each?

MalaM · Jun 4, 2015

bpatters said:
It's a LOT of calcium in the urine.

How old are they?

What exactly do they eat? What kind of hay, and how much? Which brand of pellets, and how much? and which veggies, and how much of each?

He is I think about 5 months old. He's having unlimited access to Timothy hay. Living World pellets (actually seed mix with pellets). All kind of veggies twice a day, I am following some chart that I found on line what to give and how much. Usually he gets 3 or 4 types of veggies every day. I think it may be the problem water that we are giving him (tap water).

bpatters · Jun 4, 2015

No, the tap water may be contributing to it, but it's not the only thing going on.

Nothing with a seed mix is good for guinea pigs. They have extremely narrow throats, and can easily choke on hard seeds/nuts. Additionally, the main ingredient in pellets should be hay, and the main ingredient in Living World pellets is peas. They also use calcium carbonate as the calcium source, and that can cause some guinea pigs to excrete large amounts of urinary calcium, and that has been implicated in bladder stone formation.

At five months of age, he does need some extra calcium, but depending on what veggies you're giving him and how many, he may be getting too much. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List for what you can feed and how often, and what the calcium (and other nutritional) content is.

At his age, he needs no more than a cup of vegetables per day, and possibly not that much. Hay is the most important thing in his diet, because it's what keeps his molars ground down and his gut moving properly. If you're feeding too many veggies, cut back on them and see if the urine clears up any. Even normal urine will be slightly milky, but not nearly as much as the picture above.

MalaM · Jun 4, 2015

bpatters said:
No, the tap water may be contributing to it, but it's not the only thing going on.

Nothing with a seed mix is good for guinea pigs. They have extremely narrow throats, and can easily choke on hard seeds/nuts. Additionally, the main ingredient in pellets should be hay, and the main ingredient in Living World pellets is peas. They also use calcium carbonate as the calcium source, and that can cause some guinea pigs to excrete large amounts of urinary calcium, and that has been implicated in bladder stone formation.

At five months of age, he does need some extra calcium, but depending on what veggies you're giving him and how many, he may be getting too much. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...vy-Nutrition-Charts-amp-Poisonous-Plants-List for what you can feed and how often, and what the calcium (and other nutritional) content is.

At his age, he needs no more than a cup of vegetables per day, and possibly not that much. Hay is the most important thing in his diet, because it's what keeps his molars ground down and his gut moving properly. If you're feeding too many veggies, cut back on them and see if the urine clears up any. Even normal urine will be slightly milky, but not nearly as much as the picture above.

Thank you very much for this info. I am first time owner of a guinea pig and I am still learning what is best for them.

Which brand of pellets do you recommend then? I am in Canada.

What about those treat stick is that the same as mixed seeds?

bpatters · Jun 4, 2015

Nix on the treat stick also. No hard seeds for guinea pigs, of any kind, ever. No hard nuts. You don't want to lose your pig by having it choke to death.

The absolute best treats you can give are bits of herbs and occasional fruit.

The best pellets in the US are KMS Hayloft, but I think shipping to Canada is pretty brutal. Maybe some of the Canadian folks on here will weigh in on what the best brand is there.

Popcorn321 · Jun 4, 2015

@MalaM I'm also in Canada, the best you can get is Oxbow pellets, I find them at many pet stores, they are the second most recommended pellets, (right after KMS Hayloft) , and aren't more expensive than the other kinds... @bpatters recommended Oxbow to me after I was feeding the wrong pellets as well.

sallyvh · Jun 4, 2015

Oxbow would be the best brand available in Canada. However if your pig is having calcium troubles you are better off feeding no pellets.

If you are interested in making the investment you can get KMS into Canada. I purchased a 50lb box and with shipping, conversion and duties I paid about $145. Yes it's expensive but with 4 pigs the 50 pounds should last about 11 months. To me it was worth it and I will definitely order the pellets again once I am running low.

MalaM · Jun 14, 2015

Thank you guys for the recommendation. We've bought Oxbow pellets and what a difference. They actually eat them. The old ones were so hard and they were eating other seeds. I have noticed that my older guinea pig what I thought was sneezing was probably coughing because of seed and he doesn't do that any more. Now they are so happy when they get their pellets. Thank you for advice, now I have to happier piggies.

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