Loss Guinea Pig got Bladder stones.. did I do something wrong?

[reefsharkdaddy]

Recently I had to put down my beloved pig Mildred. She started acting strange and went I noticed blood in her urine I rushed her to the vet the next day. They did an x-ray and she had a bunch of tiny bladder stones all over her bladder. I talked to the vet and the most humane corse of action was to put her down. I fed the girls a diet of orchard grass hay (I am super allergic to timothy hay and orchard grass is the best alternative), Adult guinea pig pellets (1/8 cut per pig), 1 Oxbow vitamin C treat a day and fresh veggies. Her absolute favourite was lettuce so she ate a lot of it (romaine or green leaf). She would also eat red pepper, cucumber and carrot and some herbs. Anything else she was rather picky with. So I'm wondering if maybe her diet had something to do with the build up of the stones or was it something I couldn't control. I would even use reverse osmosis water in their water bottles just because tap water can have too much calcium for them. If there is anything I should avoid for my three other cavies then please let me know because if theres anything I can adjust I will gladly do it?

 

[Soecara]

The only things I can see listed in her diet that may have had a fair amount of calcium in them were the herbs. Also some guinea pigs, for some unknown reason, have problems with excess calcium in their urine when fed Romaine lettuce despite Romaine not being any higher in calcium then other lettuces.

However in my personal experience I do believe the biggest aspect of bladder stones may be genetic. Some guinea pigs seem to form them not matter how you tweak their diet or limit calcium, others seemingly can be fed high calcium food their whole lives and never have an issue.

 

[reefsharkdaddy]

Thanks for the info. She never had that many herbs so I doubt that would be the biggest problem. I will keep the romaine lettuce thing into consideration but as of right now her sister who was on the same diet is thriving so it may have been genetic for her.

 

[ItsaZoo]

I'm so sorry you lost Mildred. Stones are a problem and there really isn't a sure-fire way to prevent them. You were feeding her a good brand of hay and pellets, but some pigs are just more prone to stones.