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Help With Diet Rich In Iron For Guinea Pig Who Has Just Had Spleen Removed.

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Stewybus

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Hi, 4-year-old plus sanctuary girl Bitsy had a splenic tumour & had her spleen complete with tumour removed on Thursday. As a result of this she is anaemic & will need an iron rich diet for rest of her life. I am giving her plenty of spinach which is iron rich but it is also rich in calcium. Can anyone suggest anything else iron rich with less calcium that she can eat. Has anyone used iron supplements for their guinea pig. She is doing really well after what turned out to be a large op. I've added picture which showed what was removed with a syringe approx. 10cm long next to it. Thanks for reading. I'm going back to vets for her second post op check on Wednesday. Any answers would be appreciated before then so I can discuss with my vet x

Bitsy's Splenic Tumour 2017-01-12.jpg
 
Most dark green leafy veg is unfortunately high calcium, too (curly kale, spinach, beetroot leaves, pak choi, chard, watercress, dandelion leaves).
Peas (mange tout) and some green beans seem to be recommended cooked for human consumption for better absorption, but it may be something you could feed on a daily basis?

Fruits and Vegetables High in Iron
Guinea Lynx :: Nutrition Charts (doesn't have iron, but calcium contents)
 
And something else to bear in mind is that iron uptake is closely linked to vitamin C levels, so when feeding iron rich foods you can optimise the uptake by combining them with vitamin C rich food.

Good luck with it all - that is one hell of a spleen!
 
Dark fruits such as blueberries, blackcurrants etc contain iron. The spleen isn't involved in producing blood, its a store for blood, and is important in preventing bacterial infection (humans who have had s splenectomy may be given lifelong preventative antibiotics and extra immunisations). I don't think iron deficiency would be a problem long term (obviously it is in the short term as she would have lost a lot of blood). More important will be to treat her promptly with antibiotics if she has any signs of infection. Poor piggy x
 
My sister had her spleen removed & as far as I know she doesn't have to take iron supplements, however she does have to take a low dose antibiotic daily for the rest of her life in case she gets infections x
 
The extra iron is hopefully just a short term issue. She is on Baytril at the moments as is usual with most major ops. I've worked out a feeding plan at present so she gets plenty of spinach without Rhubarb getting it as she is suffering from diarrhea at the moment & I've cut back on her greens. I'll discuss further with my vet on Wednesday. Thanks for all your replies x
 
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