how to help the calcium pee?

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dan2sl

Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi all,

I didnt know if I should put this in the food section or not but since I have a few general questions I thought I'd add it here.

Recently, (once or twice over the last few weeks) ive noticed white stains in the guinea pig's cage and I read somewhere on here that it will be calcium deposits in their wee. I'm confused as to what veggies I should be giving more of and what I coud be giving too much of in order to stop this happening.

Is it a bad thing? can it cause problems in the future? when i first got them i read up on the Ca:P ratios in veggies to try to give them the most balanced diet, but i ended up avoiding giving them things like kale and parsley more than once every two weeks. but now I'm wondering if i was doing the right thing, as i always did find it hard to get my head around the whole thing!

I just want to check that they're all ok as, as some of you may know, 3 of my babies are going to live with Jools (PiggiePooh) in Leciestershire next week and I just want to make sure all is ok!

Also I have heard people mention bum impactions in male piggies. I have one neutered boar but I'm not sure exactly what this is or how to check if he has it. I was just worried because I heard it can be quite common and BJ is a very independant piggy and one of the hardest to catch so I don't tend to handle him as much as some of the others.

Thank you

Danielle xx
 
hi i have the same problem although my piggies have a very wide range diet so i don't think my pigs would have that i actually suspected it was something to do with there man bits maybe the got to excited although normally that comes out solid.....sorry I'm rambling can anyone enlighten us?
 
It is normal for piggie pee to be creamy/white in colour. Some white stains are also normal, but do feel them once in a while to make sure they are smooth - not gritty or sludgy.

Bonnie, boar glue is usually recognisable as being more solid. Many an owner has had to cut chunks of hair off heads or backs as a result of an overexcited boar. :))

What veggies are you feeding them at the moment, Danielle? Did you read about the Ca: P ratio in the Food section here, or was it one on another website?

Impaction is nothing to worry about, it's not a medical problem as such. Older males especially find it harder to completely expel the soft caecal poops (that they eat), so they can build up in the anal sac and eventually become a thick, sometimes slightly hardened 'ball' of poop. The sign of this would be a bulging sac, the bum appearing to be a little swollen and weighed down. I have found it is more common in intact males (my theory is the weight of the testicles weakening the muscles!) but it does happen in neutered boars too.

Treating impaction is simple, just pop on a pair of gloves (I use Vinyl or Latex, bought a big box especially for the weekly "cleanout" sessions!) and gently tease the sides of the anal sac apart. The poop tends to come out pretty easily - though not necessarily tidily, and it does stink to high heaven! Some people use a bit of Vaseline or olive oil in the front of the sac to encourage the poop out easily, but it's not necessary. I find the best method is to just use your fingers to get it all out - hence the gloves.

It's worth offering what you removed to the pig, some will eat it (as they would normally do directly from their anus), some won't. Some people found probiotic helps reduce/control impaction. The basic idea to try and 'prevent' impaction is plenty of exercise, to keep the muscles strong, and plenty of fibre (in the form of hay).
 
Last edited:
CCC4 said:
It is normal for piggie pee to be creamy/white in colour. Some white stains are also normal, but do feel them once in a while to make sure they are smooth - not gritty or sludgy.

Bonnie, boar glue is usually recognisable as being more solid. Many an owner has had to cut chunks of hair off heads or backs as a result of an overexcited boar. :))

What veggies are you feeding them at the moment, Danielle? Did you read about the Ca: P ratio in the Food section here, or was it one on another website?

Impaction is nothing to worry about, it's not a medical problem as such. Older males especially find it harder to completely expel the soft caecal poops (that they eat), so they can build up in the anal sac and eventually become a thick, sometimes slightly hardened 'ball' of poop. The sign of this would be a bulging sac, the bum appearing to be a little swollen and weighed down. I have found it is more common in intact males (my theory is the weight of the testicles weakening the muscles!) but it does happen in neutered boars too.

Treating impaction is simple, just pop on a pair of gloves (I use Vinyl or Latex, bought a big box especially for the weekly "cleanout" sessions!) and gently tease the sides of the anal sac apart. The poop tends to come out pretty easily - though not necessarily tidily, and it does stink to high heaven! Some people use a bit of Vaseline or olive oil in the front of the sac to encourage the poop out easily, but it's not necessary. I find the best method is to just use your fingers to get it all out - hence the gloves.

It's worth offering what you removed to the pig, some will eat it (as they would normally do directly from their anus), some won't. Some people found probiotic helps reduce/control impaction. The basic idea to try and 'prevent' impaction is plenty of exercise, to keep the muscles strong, and plenty of fibre (in the form of hay).
Click to expand...

thanks i thought it was normal i knew that it was solid lol but was a bit confused that there wee looked creamy colourind occasionally,yes i have unfortunantly witnessed the piggy deed i think the smell is the worst lolxxxxx
 
Hi Thanks for the info. I read the Ca:P ratio thing on a different websie i think, although I have seen the one on here and its the same. I think the one on the other website was also posted by you (CCC4) :-)

my 5 guineas have veggies every morning and evening. out of those 14 "meals" they usually have Romaine lettuce for 6 or 7 of them and for the other veggie times they have celery, cucumber, peppers, mixed salad bags (chard, endive etc) corriander (or a mix of all of the above!) they also have carrot once a week and apple, kale and parsley but only once or twice every two weeks. and some occasional blueberries.

thanks Laura (i think its Laura? I remember asking about your C&C cage on another forum when I was getting ready to get mine :-) ), i know you're an expert on guinea pig veggies, so i look forward to hearing what you think,

d xx
 
dan2sl said:
Hi Thanks for the info. I read the Ca:P ratio thing on a different websie i think, although I have seen the one on here and its the same. I think the one on the other website was also posted by you (CCC4) :-)

my 5 guineas have veggies every morning and evening. out of those 14 "meals" they usually have Romaine lettuce for 6 or 7 of them and for the other veggie times they have celery, cucumber, peppers, mixed salad bags (chard, endive etc) corriander (or a mix of all of the above!) they also have carrot once a week and apple, kale and parsley but only once or twice every two weeks. and some occasional blueberries.

thanks Laura (i think its Laura? I remember asking about your C&C cage on another forum when I was getting ready to get mine :-) ), i know you're an expert on guinea pig veggies, so i look forward to hearing what you think,

d xx
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am Laura. We have obviously bumped into each other before, I've been in a few places in my time so you've remembered well. Although I wouldn't call myself a veggie expert, I'm nowhere near as good as some others. :)

Do you know which forum/website you saw my Ca: P post on? I've only posted it here and on my private forum so would be intrigued to know if it has ended up elsewhere...!

The only thing you might like to do with the veggies is to up the amount of higher calcium veg a little. Too little calcium can be as bad as too much calcium - although from the sounds of things, they are on a good diet overall, and they all look very healthy. As long as their pee dries smooth, you should be okay. You should be able to even things up by making sure you have either one very high calcium veg daily (dill, basil, pak choi, rocket etc.) or three in the higher ranges. Coriander, endive and celery are in the higher ranges, so even just giving more of those would be sufficient to even things up a little. All in all, the foods you are giving are fine, no major changes needed at all. :)
 
Last edited:
Stalks are okay when chopped up, the strings are risky if left long but are usually fine chopped up. The thinner the slices/chunks the better, I don't leave them bigger than 1cm myself. Some people have mastered the trick of removing the strings. I tried but got fed up after two strings and just cut it all up. :))

Leaves do go down much better with most piggies though!
 
Thank you :-)

I do give them the celery leaves and the stalks but i pull off as much of the strings as i can and chop them into small pieces so they wont choke, as far as i know this is ok for them.
 
Mine have cloudy pee stains too hun, I asked about it on here recently actually ;) When your three come here they will pretty much be on the same diet you give except I also give spinach leave and the odd cherry tomato and broccoli :)
 
PiggiePooh said:
Mine have cloudy pee stains too hun, I asked about it on here recently actually ;) When your three come here they will pretty much be on the same diet you give except I also give spinach leave and the odd cherry tomato and broccoli :)
Click to expand...

Oh yeah i forgot about the broccoli, mine like that too and spinich which they have occasionally, i tried giving them cherry tomatos at first but they just ignored them! they'll probably gobble everything up though when they see your lot eating it because they'll think they're missing out! :))

- On a separate note me and Glyn are going to take some lovely individual portrait photos of them all tomorrow to put up in frames after they have moved :0

I'll know i'll see lots more photos of them in the future though xx>>>
 
Aw thats a lovely idea Danielle :) I will of course send pics in the future though ;)

I got some of the Oxbow hay in for your 3 and it turns out its the only hay my boar will eat so now considering changing the rest over to it too as it smells much nicer and is also easier to dish out than the stuff I usually get ;)
 
I think the idea of a "picture gallery" is excellent! I'm always doing with the piggies that have left me for the rainbow bridge. That way, they're always with me, not just in my thoughts.
 
"celery stalks are dangerous for piggies as the stringy bits can make them choke most members will advise leaves only "

Since when? I have never heard that before, mine get celery every day.
Two of the boars, who are 4 next month would eat nothing but celery if I let them, as it is I restrict them to one complete stalk each per day.
Has anyone ever had a pig choke to death whilst eating celery?
 
Last edited:
alcesterpigs said:
"celery stalks are dangerous for piggies as the stringy bits can make them choke most members will advise leaves only "

Since when? I have never heard that before, mine get celery every day.
Two of the boars, who are 4 next month would eat nothing but celery if I let them, as it is I restrict them to one complete stalk each per day.
Has anyone ever had a pig choke to death whilst eating celery?
Click to expand...

i never said i had heard of a death from it,but i have been warned about it from lots of people.Even if there is slight doubt about something its better to be safe than sorry.You give your piggies full stalks?
I hope for your pigs sake that what i have heard is wrong.Now can we please stop hijacking someone elses thread.
 
Pleasehelp etc
What you have heard is wrong.
Every pig owner I have told about the "dangers of celery" thought it was a joke!
How about the stringy bits in bamboo leaves, pineapple leaves, thick grass, corn on the cob leaves etc?
They are exactly the type of foods they need to keep their teeth worn down.
Mine also enjoy eating apple tree twigs in the summer.
Full stalks of celery? Yes.
A guinea pigs posterior teeth are designed to grind everything to a pulp so that food is easy to swallow.
 
Last edited:
alcesterpigs said:
Pleasehelp etc
What you have heard is wrong.
Every pig owner I have told about the "dangers of celery" thought it was a joke!
How about the stringy bits in bamboo leaves, pineapple leaves, thick grass, corn on the cob leaves etc?
They are exactly the sought of foods they need to keep their teeth worn down.
Mine also enjoy eating apple tree twigs in the summer.
Full stalks of celery? Yes.
A guinea pigs posterior teeth are designed to grind everything to a pulp so that food is easy to swallow.
Click to expand...

Fair enough I'm just saying you won't be seeing me feed my piggies whole celery.
 
Why not?
Who chops the stringy bits off the food that wild guinea pigs eat!?
I must get the OH to cut the stringy bits off the celery I eat, because I don't have gps teeth.
 
Last edited:
in response to why not its because i value my piggies lives.
you never know how many of those wild piggies die fom things like texture of the food,alot of people do cut the strings so i am inclined to agree with the majority that do.
there is no point debating about this anymore it is stupid and leading nowhere
i won't reply again in this thread because it just wont stop!
 
Fair enough, it was a reasoned discussion until you decided it was stupid and leading nowhere. I have yet to hear of any pig choking to death.
I just guess that those of us in mother England will put it down to an Australian urban myth.
 
look i wasn't going to reply but please do not make comments about my country just because i am not giving you the satisfaction of winning all i can see from each thread you post in is you like to pick on and be mean to people well i wont put up with it!
 
Good for you. Take it easy. Since I have only heard of the problem from your country I naturally assumed it was purely an Autralian urban myth, you have taken offence where none exists.
We do have urban myths in England but we retain our sense of humour, sometimes!
Best regards.
 
I must say that I am very wary of what I feed my piggies too. The main concern I have is that I lost my little Connie due to bladder problems and I am convinced that the reason it all started was because she was fed to much calcium before she came to live with us. My girls are also very much Queens as everything I feed them has to be chopped up neatly :)) The first time I fed them celery (which they didn't like) I cut the stringy bits off. This is because I am a natural born worrier though x
 
Spinach seems to have a bad reputation for being involved in bladder stones but, yet again, is this an urban myth? I have yet to read of any studies which have looked at this problem.
 
The pigs eat, sleep, eat and sleep and whatever....if only they knew the problems they cause.
 
PLEASEHELPBoris - I've heard the same thing about celery, and I don't think that cautions such as this come out of thin air so. Personally I'd rather cut my celery into "bite sized pieces" (of about 1/2cm each) for my pigs than give them an entire stalk. It's nothing to do with being Australian or British - it is to do with not throwing caution into the wind and watching it float away because you have "never heard of a guinea pig choke and die"

On another note: celery is moderately high in oxalic acid which has been linked to the formation of bladder stones. You may want to be careful to make sure you aren't feeding any other vegetables high or moderately high in oxalic acid alongside it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top