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Frustrated Guinea Pig Calcium too high...help

mauvemoth

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Okay so I adopted another guinea pig after my other recently passed away. I now have 3. They all get a low calcium diet. Red or green leaf lettuce, a baby tomato, a baby carrot, and bell peppers daily/and or cucumbers and some fruit once or twice a week as a treat. I have already taken Weiss to the vet twice regarding this issue. She is a long haired Peruvian pig. She went to the vet for a uti. Since then we keep her bum shaved. But lately she has been having a lot of calcium build up (my other two pigs are fine) to the point where she wheeks when she pees again. I will be taking her to the vet however I am not sure what is causing the calcium build up. I recently bought a good water filter and have switched to bottled water ( lower calcium then my tap water) and have been giving her that. I wanted to get some peoples opinion on reverse osmosis water for guinea pigs. It kills me to feel hopeless and I don't know where she is getting all this calcium from.
Should I begin to force feed her water to try to flush out her bladder? ( I am experienced with force feeding and have the correct syringes but I just don't know if that is the right call). I can't keep bringing her to vets for the same issue over and over again. I want to find the cause and I am running out of ideas. Is reverse osmosis water safe for guinea pigs because I am planning on getting some tonight. I've done research on it and it seems okay but there's not a lot of people who give it to their pigs therefore research is limited.

Thank you everyone.

Also she gets a small amount of pellets (maybe a tablespoon) and unlimited timothy hay.

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LittleSqueakers

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Wait, are you saying that she's always had problems with heavy calcium deposits or did it develop recently? Or has she always had problems but they've just gotten worse recently? Also, what kind of pellets does she eat? Some pigs are just genetically predisposed to developing stones/sludge/heavy calcium deposits.
 

mauvemoth

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Wait, are you saying that she's always had problems with heavy calcium deposits or did it develop recently? Or has she always had problems but they've just gotten worse recently? Also, what kind of pellets does she eat? Some pigs are just genetically predisposed to developing stones/sludge/heavy calcium deposits.
I've only had her since Nov 2017. The calcium deposits have gotten worse since then to the point where she only pees thick white stuff and blood. Her bladder seems to be constantly irritated. The vet ruled out stones. Which is good. But I know that if I don't figure out what is causing such an intense calcium build up that she will develop stones. I feed her oxbow cavy cusine for adult pigs. The only thing I can really think of is my tap water. I've heard success with reverse osmosis with stone pigs on the internet but thought I should consult other opinions on here too.

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mauvemoth

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I've only had her since Nov 2017. The calcium deposits have gotten worse since then to the point where she only pees thick white stuff and blood. Her bladder seems to be constantly irritated. The vet ruled out stones. Which is good. But I know that if I don't figure out what is causing such an intense calcium build up that she will develop stones. I feed her oxbow cavy cusine for adult pigs. The only thing I can really think of is my tap water. I've heard success with reverse osmosis with stone pigs on the internet but thought I should consult other opinions on here too.

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Also she had a uti and we treated that a couple weeks ago. Its quite possible that she has a uti again but I really believe that her bladder is just so irriated by the sludge that it's bleeding. I am careful to wash her bum whenever it gets dirty and keep her hair shaved so I doubt there is bacteria. I can see the white dripping from her bum sometimes and feel so bad.

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bpatters

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A bunch of people have used reverse osmosis water. It would definitely be worth trying.
 

LittleSqueakers

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She should definitely go to the vet (which I know you said you are going to) and get another x-ray for stones. Stones can sometimes form very quickly, even in as little as a few weeks.

What you are describing with thick, white pee and blood sounds pretty extreme to me. Now, I'm not too experienced in this area and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but are you absolutely sure it's calcium and not pus? Do you see the dried white powdery or sandy material left behind after the pee dies?
 

mauvemoth

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She should definitely go to the vet (which I know you said you are going to) and get another x-ray for stones. Stones can sometimes form very quickly, even in as little as a few weeks.

What you are describing with thick, white pee and blood sounds pretty extreme to me. Now, I'm not too experienced in this area and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but are you absolutely sure it's calcium and not pus? Do you see the dried white powdery or sandy material left behind after the pee dies?
Yes I do. I am not at home right now. But i can post pictures of that helps later on

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scoottie

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I personally use bottled water to prevent calcium issues.
 

bpatters

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You've got no guarantee at all that bottled water has less calcium than any other water.
 

mauvemoth

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You've got no guarantee at all that bottled water has less calcium than any other water.
But I've heard the reverse osmosis takes out most of the calcium. That's what I want at this point. Is that correct in saying that?


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mauvemoth

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I personally use bottled water to prevent calcium issues.
Yeah. I was using bottled water (recently switched to ro water). The label said 40% calcium for the whole bottl. Pigs drink usually 1/5 if not less of that a day lol... But I still was not seeing the results I need so I am currently trying reverse osmosis water. Hoping it helps. Will update

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bpatters

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Reverse osmosis does remove most of the calcium. But most bottled water is not reverse osmosis.
 

LittleSqueakers

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Something else you could try too if you have access to it: you could try switching pellets from Oxbow to the pellets made by Kleenmama's Hayloft. Oxbow is a good brand, but they use calcium carbonate for their calcium source in their pellets, which is just providing the raw material for stones, especially in pigs who are susceptible. KMS pellets use a different calcium source that is thought to be less associated with sludge/stones. The percentage calcium in their pellets is also lower than Oxbow's.
 

mauvemoth

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Something else you could try too if you have access to it: you could try switching pellets from Oxbow to the pellets made by Kleenmama's Hayloft. Oxbow is a good brand, but they use calcium carbonate for their calcium source in their pellets, which is just providing the raw material for stones, especially in pigs who are susceptible. KMS pellets use a different calcium source that is thought to be less associated with sludge/stones.
Yeah I have heard about them before. Shipping is just crazy expensive for me as I love in Canada but if this reverse osmosis does not work I won't hesistate in paying for the shipping. I got some other pellets for them in the past from shearwood farms. Good company but my pigs did not like their pellets. So I am resistant to spend so much money on pellets again but like I said if the RO water does not work I will give it a shot. Thank you :)

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bpatters

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@LittleSqueakers, Oxbow stopped using calcium carbonate more than year ago. The percentage of calcium in Oxbow and KMS is roughly the same.
 

spy9doc

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There are several Canucks here on the forum who may be able to offer suggestions.

As an aside, several of us here on the Form are experimenting with feeding Sherwood pellets. My cavies don't like them either, so I'm mixing them with their old pellets so as not to waste them.
 

Oreo and Peanut

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What pellets do you feed some have hidden alfalfa Hay I'm the ingredients

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bpatters

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There's no hidden alfalfa in any pellet ingredients I've ever seen. It's listed as alfalfa or lucerne -- different names for the same thing.

What you want is a pellet that has timothy hay as the first ingredient.
 
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