Oxbow or science selective urinary care?

[Gadzy]

Hello all,

Body clock is all over the place currently due to work! However, I was wondering what people’s thoughts are on these products?

I read that the oxbow urinary support tablets are better? I also read on the packet of the oxbow ones that it’s not intended for growing Guniea pigs? Does that mean you can’t use them until they’re a full adult? Mine are young but not sure their fully grown yet

Thanks,

 

[WWDrew]

Yes when a product is saying that it's not recommended for growing pigs it usually means that it has high calcium content which increases changes of kidney stones. I believe these products when it says this usually okay for adults piggies 1 year or older.

I would be nice to know what is your goal with using these products usually most people use this to prevent kidney stones and UTI's. Or just Guniea Pigs in general who might get similar symptoms like sludgy pee, or crystals in their pee.

One of the best things you can do is just give piggies low calcium veggies (prevents stones) and clean out their cage/spot clean. (Prevents UTI's) A clean dry cage goes a long way.

I'm so happy to meet you because you're being preventative and really care about your piggies.

Take care,

WWDrew

 

[Piggies&buns]

You don’t need to use them at all, particularly if your piggies do not have issues (although I’m not sure we have any evidence whether they actually work either).

If you are looking to prevent bladder issues then the best thing is to concentrate on diet rather than give any commercial supplements.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water so keep pellets limited to one tablespoon per pig per day, choose good pellets (Piggie parcels are well recommended) and filter drinking water. Feed low calcium veg.

My approach is slightly different. I don’t feed pellets and instead feed a slightly higher veg content, filtered water. They get the four safe daily veggies but I give slightly more and I also do feed calcium veg due to them not getting pellets. I have never give any supplement at all to any of my animals (and haven’t in over 30 years of keeping small animals). We have a balance in their diet and don’t have any bladder issues here and I believe that is due to them getting a lot of grass and wild weeds, more veg and no pellets.

 

[Lisanjake]

You don’t need to use them at all, particularly if your piggies do not have issues (although I’m not sure we have any evidence whether they actually work either).

If you are looking to prevent bladder issues then the best thing is to concentrate on diet rather than give any commercial supplements.
Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water so keep pellets limited to one tablespoon per pig per day, choose good pellets (Piggie parcels are well recommended) and filter drinking water. Feed low calcium veg.

My approach is slightly different. I don’t feed pellets and instead feed a slightly higher veg content, filtered water. They get the four safe daily veggies but I give slightly more and I also do feed calcium veg due to them not getting pellets. I have never give any supplement at all to any of my animals (and haven’t in over 30 years of keeping small animals). We have a balance in their diet and don’t have any bladder issues here and I believe that is due to them getting a lot of grass and wild weeds, more veg and no pellets.

Hi there

sorry to butt in, can i ask what 4 veggies you generally give please?
currently having a piggy with IC and she does pass quite a few white wees. i know there is a difficult sweet spot with how much calcium to give etc.
I already filter her water, she has a mix of peppers on rotation each day + a little lettuce (usually ruby lettuce)
ive also started her on feliway cystease and sherwood urinary support which is meant to help dissolve sludge and lower Ph. though shes been on them a few weeks and still produces white patches.
Ive done alot of reading on what is best to feed. do you also suggest giving food like Kale or Coriander occasionally so not to stop all calcium?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi there

sorry to butt in, can i ask what 4 veggies you generally give please?
currently having a piggy with IC and she does pass quite a few white wees. i know there is a difficult sweet spot with how much calcium to give etc.
I already filter her water, she has a mix of peppers on rotation each day + a little lettuce (usually ruby lettuce)
ive also started her on feliway cystease and sherwood urinary support which is meant to help dissolve sludge and lower Ph. though shes been on them a few weeks and still produces white patches.
Ive done alot of reading on what is best to feed. do you also suggest giving food like Kale or Coriander occasionally so not to stop all calcium?

Some White wees aren’t necessarily an issue. Their urine is naturally milky. What you are really looking for is that they aren’t gritty.

The four veggies mine get every day are lettuce, coriander, bell pepper and lettuce.
I do add other things in - I do feed kale, spring greens etc but mine do not get pellets.

There is no guaranteed way to lower urine ph - it’s quite hard to do in piggies and I don’t believe there is any evidence there the Sherwood does anything.

They do still need calcium so you don’t want to cut everything but it also depends on whether she has pellets etc as to what else you can change.

 

[Lisanjake]

they can be a bit gritty when I have felt them, i think its gotten smoother though recently.

thats really good to know, i think ill give her a little kale now and then.
I did think it was a bit of a hit and miss thing with the tablets, i read some good reviews so thought id try at least

Pellets wise i actually give her Protexin pro fibre for rabbits, which i got when she started producing softer poops. but have kept her on them ever since.
I bought burgess indoor pellets a few months ago but have stopped them since the bladder issues, as i want to keep her diet plain to see if it helps.
I do also feed her a small handful of wheatgrass once in the morning and evening (sometimes lunch if I'm working from home) but also wonder if to cut them out. my vet says they are fine but i keep reading online its not the best?
I also tried her on timothy grass but her tummy went mad so ive stopped that too! so much trial and error haha.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Pellets wise i actually give her Protexin pro fibre for rabbits, which i got when she started producing softer poops. but have kept her on them ever since.

So to my knowledge this is just a supplement and a probiotic, it’s not an actual feed.

So if your piggy isn’t being fed piggy pellets and only low calcium veg then it’s possible her calcium intake is too low (we cannot say for definitive as you know it’s different for everyone).
Mine are not fed pellets so I do give kale etc

 

[Lisanjake]

So to my knowledge this is just a supplement and a probiotic, it’s not an actual feed.

So if your piggy isn’t being fed piggy pellets and only low calcium veg then it’s possible her calcium intake is too low (we cannot say for definitive as you know it’s different for everyone).
Mine are not fed pellets so I do give kale etc

ahhh okay that makes sense actually, i didnt think of it that way. I will give her a little more calcium and see how she goes for sure.
Do you think the daily wheatgrass that I grow is okay?

 

[Piggies&buns]

ahhh okay that makes sense actually, i didnt think of it that way. I will give her a little more calcium and see how she goes for sure.
Do you think the daily wheatgrass that I grow is okay?

I don’t believe wheatgrass is a daily thing, more suitable for once a week - I think it’s high in calcium/oxalates.
You have to take the diet as a whole so if she is given wheatgrass in a week, I probably wouldn’t given kale as well.