Gritty Orange Smudges

[PipSqueak20]

Hello,

I’ve noticed over the past few days, gritty orange smudges on my pigs fleece bedding. I know it can be through bladder sludge that the vet did say she had a little of.

Should i revise her feedings? Once a day instead of twice. I got rid of a lot of calcium rich food a while ago and only give her a hand full of veg each day.

-She has not urinated blood

- She has not shown signs of pain when urinating

- Her urine is not overly stinky.

- Her urine has only been like this for the past few days.

I am going to the vet tomorrow to pick up some pain relief so I might ask for some antibiotics as well.

 

[Piggies&buns]

This deposit looks to be calcium. Gritty or sand like suggests sludge.

Keeping her hydrated is a good thing but you can feed her veg how often as you wish, if you would feel better changing it to twice a day then it’s fine to do that (make up her portion , then split it in half).

When you say yon got rid of a lot of calcium - what is her diet now?
How long ago did you make the changes? I’m asking this as changes take a while to have an effect but cutting calcium too low is just as bad as it being too high

 

[PipSqueak20]

This deposit looks to be calcium. Gritty or sand like suggests sludge.

Keeping her hydrated is a good thing but you can feed her veg how often as you wish, if you would feel better changing it to twice a day then it’s fine to do that (make up her portion , then split it in half).

When you say yon got rid of a lot of calcium - what is her diet now?
How long ago did you make the changes? I’m asking this as changes take a while to have an effect but cutting calcium too low is just as bad as it being too high

Due to my previous piggie Peanut having several issues with her bladder, I took out things like basil, broccoli, cabbage and spinach.

Every day/week diet:

- a few sprigs of coriander/parsley/mint

- a small romaine lettuce leaf

- a small slice of cucumber/celery (I alternate)

- a small slice of pepper (red, green or yellow)

- I offer kale in small amounts a few times a week

- A small slice of carrot once a week

- string green beans twice a week

- fruit such as apple, banana, blueberries, strawberries once a week week in a small amount


They get a teaspoon amount of cunipics alphapro pellets which has 0.5% calcium (the lowest I’ve found)

They get an unlimited selection of hay from haybox as well as a handful of oat hay every day.

 

[PipSqueak20]

This deposit looks to be calcium. Gritty or sand like suggests sludge.

Keeping her hydrated is a good thing but you can feed her veg how often as you wish, if you would feel better changing it to twice a day then it’s fine to do that (make up her portion , then split it in half).

When you say yon got rid of a lot of calcium - what is her diet now?
How long ago did you make the changes? I’m asking this as changes take a while to have an effect but cutting calcium too low is just as bad as it being too high

I cut them out around 6 months ago. I had to swap back in unfiltered water as she wouldn’t drink it if it had been filtered

 

[Piggies&buns]

What I would say is that kale (which is the highest calcium containing veg) and parsley are both high calcium so if you are feeding kale a few times a week and feeding parsley then that might be a lot of calcium. I would only ever feed kale once a week and never in the same week that parsley is given.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water so add the unfiltered water and potential for there possibly being a lot of calcium in the veg it might be an issue - I say might because you have to work out what works for your piggies.
Eg I filter their water and barely give pellets (they get literally 5 pellets on a Wednesday and 5 pellets on a sunday) so I have leeway their veg and tend to feed a bit more than one cup per day so they have a rather wet diet which encourages plenty of urination.

Fruit and carrot - these are basically the same thing so if you give carrot once a week and fruit once a week then that is two portions of fruit in a week. It’s recommended that fruit and carrots are an occasional treat and no more than once a week. Personally I dont give it at all routinely - mine get a slice of apple once a year!

Those pellets are pretty low on calcium but they do actually contain alfalfa.

Nugget Comparison Chart

 

[PipSqueak20]

What I would say is that kale (which is the highest calcium containing veg) and parsley are both high calcium so if you are feeding kale a few times a week and feeding parsley then that might be a lot of calcium. I would only ever feed kale once a week and never in the same week that parsley is given.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water so add the unfiltered water and potential for there possibly being a lot of calcium in the veg it might be an issue - I say might because you have to work out what works for your piggies.
Eg I filter their water and barely give pellets (they get literally 5 pellets on a Wednesday and 5 pellets on a sunday) so I have leeway their veg and tend to feed a bit more than one cup per day so they have a rather wet diet which encourages plenty of urination.

Fruit and carrot - these are basically the same thing so if you give carrot once a week and fruit once a week then that is two portions of fruit in a week. It’s recommended that fruit and carrots are an occasional treat and no more than once a week. Personally I dont give it at all routinely - mine get a slice of apple once a year!

Those pellets are pretty low on calcium but they do actually contain alfalfa.

Nugget Comparison Chart

Okay thank you for your feedback. I’ll definitely cut back on kale and parsley then. I’ve had issues finding good pellets which are affordable and low in calcium.

I’m just going to go back to the drawing board. I think once a day feed would be okay and then just top up with hay when they expect a feed later on.

I think I might have to write a day to day feeding diary as it will be clearer for me.

I think I’ll look at what you do with pellets and give 5 one day and 5 another. I’ll have another go at filtered water and see if she’ll drink it

Thanks for your response