Oxbow or Sharwood?-Scurvy advice?

[Brookielizz]

Hello! I have an elder pig who is getting over a case of scurvy. She had a mild case that required her to get a vitamin C shot and take some liquid vitamin C. While I feed them unlimited hay, veggies at night, and pellets, she still somehow got scurvy. Now my vet said it has to do with her age, but I think it also has to do with the fact that she doesn’t eat her pellets. She might eat like a single pellets and move on. She eats a lot of hay. More hay than any of my pigs. And she eats veggies wonderfully. On a normal day I feed a leaf of green leaf lettuce, a part of a bell pepper (colors change), and I’ll switch the other veggie up from cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, and parsley lately. So, I feel like their diet is otherwise okay. I was watching a SkinnyPigs1 video where she suggested Sharwood pellets. I wanted to know how people felt about these pellets vs oxbow. Also, any suggestions as far as the scurvy would help too! Thank you in advance!

ps, I wanted to note that I have 5 pigs in total. Two in one cage (that’s with the elderly pigs) and three in the other. So if I switch, it would be with all of them.

[bpatters]

Sherwood's original pellets were made with alfalfa hay, and were very high in calcium. I wouldn't give them to an adult pig for fear of the pig developing bladder stones.

Sherwood has put out a new line of pellets made with timothy, which should be lower in calcium. But, as far as I know, Sherwood doesn't release the nutritional values of their pellets, so they may be too high in calcium in spite of being made with timothy.

I'm not a fan of Sherwood pellets, for several reasons. Lack of research is one big one. If I still had guinea pigs, I wouldn't be feeding them Sherwood pellets.

But your vet is probably right about the age of the pig affecting vitamin C metabolism. Aging of any animal affects how vitamins and minerals (and any other foodstuff, really) are absorbed, and every senior pig I ever had needed a C supplement after about age six.

Oasis Vita Drops makes a liquid preparation of vitamin C (stored in a light-proof container, so it won't degrade) that's easy to administer by syringe, and my pigs really liked it. Just don't follow their recommendation to put it in the water bottle. Vitamin C degrades very quickly when dissolved in water and in the presence of light, and within a very few minutes all you've got is funny tasting water.

The additional vitamin C should take care of any scurvy.

[TinyFarmRescue]

I honestly would stick with the food you are feeding them right now. I have only ever heard bad things about Sherwood. I don’t have any personal experiences with it but have always just stuck with the few brands I found I liked, Oxbow being one of them.

[rosspiggys]

Bell peppers have a lot of Vit. C. maybe give her a bit more.

[spy9doc]

I tried Sherwood pellets when they first came out, and was not impressed ... neither were my cavies. I feed a brand of pellets that is relatively unknown, and have been quite happy with them.

Insofar as Vitamin C is concerned, I'm a big proponent of daily dosing. As I've mentioned in other posts, I use the Oasis Vita drops vitamin C, and find it quite easy to dose on a daily basis . My Sparky was diagnosed with CHF and he was losing copious amounts of hair. I subsequently began vitamin C daily and can easily see that it was a great benefit to him. He occasionally goes on strike and doesn't eat his peppers so this is a way to avoid any anxiety for both of us

[Kelsie]

I appreciate @bpatters input on the new Sherwood Timothy pellets. I was going to post and ask her what she thought of them. I originally tried the pellets when they first came out and was disappointed in them. I tried to gradually introduce them and no matter how many times I tried my pigs just refused to eat them. The thought briefly crossed my mind to at least try the Timothy-based pellets from Sherwood but after reading some of the comments above I won't take that chance.

My pigs have done very well on the Oxbow Essentials and I see no reason to change. As far as supplemental Vitamin C, I have always given it to my pigs. I take a 100 mg tablet and break it in quarters and each pig gets a quarter. They view it as a bedtime snack along with a little piece of one of their favorite veggies. It makes them happy and I feel they are getting something that they need.

[ItsaZoo]

Mine likes the Oxbow Natural Science treats. Each has 25 mg. of vitamin C. Oxbow also has Garden Select pellets that have herbs added, so they smell and taste different than the original pellets. I don’t know if your guinea pig would like those better. Mine did for a while, then she didn’t like them anymore. She gets bored with the same thing all the time so I have to switch it up a bit.