Information And Advice Please

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JackJack1

JackJack1

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My guinea pig Joe has had a few bouts of interstitial cystitis and currently going through a bout at the moment, so is on Metacam, Baytril and Cystophan. He has blood in his urine and has been investigated for stones with ultrasound, but does not have stones. The vet has recommended a low calcium diet and timothy hay and timothy hay pellets. I have found the timothy hay and he is eating this, although he has been losing a bit of weight. I am weighing him daily now and responding to this part also, so have this in hand. Cannot find timothy hay pellets, as Pets at Home do not sell them.

My question is - Joe is a picky eater anyway. He loves his cucumber, has the odd bit of broccoli, we have stopped his parsley now. He does not like carrot, bell pepper, don't want to give celery as it can be stringy and don't want to cause more problems. I am at a loss at what to feed to ensure he has variety and interest in his diet but low calcium. He does have grass and the odd bit of dandelion occasionally which he loves.

Can anyone point me in the right direction, as my husband had to take him to vet this week, due to me being at work and he did not ask the right questions so that I know what to do for the best in giving him a low calcium diet. Joe is about 5 and half years old.
 
With regards to veg, what about, green beans? Spring greens? Cabbage? Sweetcorn? Hope your piggy is ok
 
It's just big leafy leaves lol
 

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A low calcium diet available is called the I.C diet which prevents sludge and cystitis.
It consists of (fed twice a day per pig)
-1 slice of cucumber
-2 slices of celery
-1 slice of green pepper
-1 sprig of coriander
-1 slice of spring green
-1 green bean

When I feed spring greens I buy the finely chopped version which is available from tesco. If you find feeding all the above is too much you could change the proportions and remove the extra bit of celery.
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
A low calcium diet available is called the I.C diet which prevents sludge and cystitis.
It consists of (fed twice a day per pig)
-1 slice of cucumber
-2 slices of celery
-1 slice of green pepper
-1 sprig of coriander
-1 slice of spring green
-1 green bean

When I feed spring greens I buy the finely chopped version which is available from tesco. If you find feeding all the above is too much you could change the proportions and remove the extra bit of celery.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. He does not like pepper, I have tried a few times, but he just sniffs and does not touch it. I can try coriander for him, spring greens and green bean. Are there any other herbs that he can have? I know not to give parsley now. Also the local asda has carrots with their carrot tops on. Are these Ok to feed to him as not sure if it is low calcium?
 
JackJack1 said:
Thanks for the reply. He does not like pepper, I have tried a few times, but he just sniffs and does not touch it. I can try coriander for him, spring greens and green bean. Are there any other herbs that he can have? I know not to give parsley now. Also the local asda has carrots with their carrot tops on. Are these Ok to feed to him as not sure if it is low calcium?
Click to expand...
There's dill? Not to feed everyday though.
Carrot should only be fed several times a week because it is high in calcium. :)
 
for mollie's IC, the vet recommended her fresh food be mainly lettuces. she can have small amounts of cucumber for extra water, and eventually we can add in other low calcium veggies, although it's quite hard to find leafy greens that are low calcium. she can also have her usual unlimited meadow hay and timothy hay, and fresh grass aswell. no pellets but possibly at some stage she may beable to have one of the newer concept ones, like bunny or vitakraft. she was on oxbow which are timothy hay based, however they contain some ingredients which are not good for bladder piggies in particular so she can't have those either.

lettuces are a great one for bladder piggies though :)
 
biscandmatt said:
for mollie's IC, the vet recommended her fresh food be mainly lettuces. she can have small amounts of cucumber for extra water, and eventually we can add in other low calcium veggies, although it's quite hard to find leafy greens that are low calcium. she can also have her usual unlimited meadow hay and timothy hay, and fresh grass aswell. no pellets but possibly at some stage she may beable to have one of the newer concept ones, like bunny or vitakraft. she was on oxbow which are timothy hay based, however they contain some ingredients which are not good for bladder piggies in particular so she can't have those either.

lettuces are a great one for bladder piggies though :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Asda do living lettuce which is planted and you can pick it fresh, so will try him with this.
 
JackJack1 said:
Thank you so much, I will give these a try.
Click to expand...

they're really great. i contacted the company a while back to ask how they make them and they just compress the timothy hay using steam so nothing else added :)
 
JackJack1 said:
Thanks for this. Asda do living lettuce which is planted and you can pick it fresh, so will try him with this.
Click to expand...

luckily for me, mollie loves her lettuces so hopefully joe will too. all my piggies have loved lettuces actually :)
 
I can report that Joe loves the lettuce and the sprig of coriander I gave him. So this has given him a bit more variety in his diet.
 
Have you tried red or yellow sweet peppers? Rolo doesn't care for green peppers but loves red and yellow. So happy Joe enjoyed the lettuce and coriander you gave him! :)
 
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