Urine Confused, Too much calcium?

[Megaredize]

I have just flipped over my fleece flippers the other day and now that it is on the purple side i have noticed a couple of white spots. There is a picture. There are no spots under their hides which is odd since i thought they peed more there. The spot is soft and fleece just like the fleece, not gritty or powdery.

I give veggies twice a day. I dont measure but i think they get more than a cup at each feeding. I use the super pet lettuce bowl. im sure alot of people know of it or have it. its ususally full for both feedings. I feed Green leaf, red leaf, boston lettuce when i can, raddichio, cilantro, green bell pepper, cucumber, cherry tomato and baby carrots. Baby carrots they get around once every 2 to three days and its two baby carrots cut in half. They get a lot of lettuce, that is the staple to their veggies the rest are things i just add in and switch up every day. I have fed Belgium endive but i looked at the fruit and vegetable guide again and see it is high in calcium so i wont be buying it again most likely.

Im confused because everything i feed shouldnt be a problem, all the veggies are not that high in calcium. I can only think maybe stop feeding pellets, I feed oxbow pellets and oxbow orchard grass hay because timothy bothers my fiance and I. I dont really want to stop the pellets but if i have to i guess i will. Maybe cut down on the veggies and give very little pellets.

Here is a pic of one of the white spots.

 

[CandyApple]

Hi,
Almost all guinea pigs will get white spots, no matter their diet. In the picture, there appears to be a healthy amount of calcium deposits. I have had far worse, so I don't think there is anything to worry about. If you can, feel the dried calcium spots and check if it is gritty, or powdery. Gritty spots usually indicate bladder stones, where as powdery spots means its just normal calcium deposits.

 

[Megaredize]

it feels like neither, lol it is weird, all i can feel is the softness of the fleece, yep i just got up and checked all the spots, all i am feeling is soft fleece

 

[Megaredize]

could it just be the pellets? i just read somewhere that the oxbow pellets can cause the excess calcium, but being canadian i dont have much of a choice to switch to a different pellet. there is martins but i think the calcium content is higher in that one.

 

[bpatters]

It's definitely calcium, and you may or may not be able to get rid of it. Some people say there's no problem as long as it's powdery and not gritty, but my theory is that the excess calcium is a factor in urinary tract stones, and the prudent thing to do is to try to get rid of it.

As far as your diet goes, Oxbow pellets definitely cause some pigs to excrete excess calcium. Others do just fine with them. Whether it's something in/not in the pellets, or something about the pig, no one knows. Some people have had success in switching to pellets from KMS Hayloft -- they're lower in calcium and also use a different calcium compound than Oxbow.

Both of my pigs will secrete calcium like crazy when fed cilantro, so I've had to totally take it away from them. They're very disgusted, because it was their favorite food, with the possible exception of watermelon rind. Someone recently pointed out to me that the food chart is wrong about belgian endive, and it actually is very low in calcium. If you look up its nutritional values, look under witloof, which is another name for it.

I've had to take my pigs off pellets and cut way back on the veggies, and while there are still calcium deposits in the cage, they're much smaller and fewer.

Some pigs will just excrete calcium and/or form stones, no matter what you do. I'm beginning to think one of mine is that way, although the other, her litter mate, doesn't appear to have the same problems. I'm just hoping I can avoid another stone surgery for her.

 

[Megaredize]

ok, i can get rid of the cilantro that isnt a problem. i would order from KMS but its too expensive to ship heavy items to Canada, so i will try limiting the pellets and taking the cilantro out. TY for the info

 

[bpatters]

@CanadianComforts is in Canada, you might PM her about pellets there. I know she's looked around and compared several sources.

 

[Megaredize]

I might just do that, I just found a different brand fro ma canadian website that i will be ordering hay from so i can order thsi food to. the brand is Harlan. here is a link i found about the food 2041 Teklad Global High Fiber Guinea Pig Diet

 

[bpatters]

Here's the ingredient list for those Teklad pellets:

Ingredients (in descending order of inclusion)- Dehydrated alfalfa meal,wheat middlings, dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, soybean hulls, ground
wheat, soybean oil, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, L-ascorbyl-2-
polyphosphate, calcium carbonate, kaolin, magnesium oxide, vitamin E
acetate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity),
manganous oxide, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, niacin, calcium
pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, calcium iodate, thiamin
mononitrate, vitamin A acetate, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid, biotin,
cobalt carbonate, vitamin D3 supplement.

Their main ingredients are alfalfa (no good for adult pigs), wheat middlings, and soy (no good for pigs of any age). Corn is way up there, and corn is too sweet to feed to guinea pigs. They also use calcium carbonate, which is somewhat more likely to be implicated in urinary sludge than other calcium compounds in pellets.

I think I'd keep looking for something else.

 

[Megaredize]

ya i saw that after too, I sent a message to Canadiancomforts maybe she will know of something else.