Hello, I'm an old member that never posts on here anymore but just wanted to share my experience incase it helps anyone in a similar position!
I have two neutered sows, 4 year old Rowan and 4.5 year old Poppet. Both have had the odd sludgey bladder flare over the past 2 years, but nothing horrendous. They have eaten science select grain free for years with low calcium veggies.
Around 2 months ago Rowan became unwell. She was found to have a very inflammed bladder and was bloated. She was eventually put on the highest dose metacam for the bladder and gut stimulants for the bloat, as well as fibreplex and a new bladder supplement that had extra ingredients to the one she was already taking. I increased water intake , littered their home with hides and started a pet remedy plug in in their room to reduce stress- this can be a factor in bladder pigs.
Over the few months I was unable to reduce the metacam or the gut stimulants as Rowan remained bloated with a very sore bladder.
She has had test after test, several scans x-rays and even bloods. No stones and kidneys working well. She continued to lose weight began to have terrible thick sludge in her urine despite all my efforts.
In a last ditched attempt I took the girls off of pellets - removed the bowl from the cage and offered a teaspoon each before bed- 5 tiny pellets.
In less than a week rowan stopped producing all the horrible sludge, gained weight out of nowhere and is now completely gut stimulants free- with not a pop of gas in sight! They are now on an oxbow vitamin c supplement as Rowan doesn't eat pepper, to make sure they don't end up deficient.
I am making up a forage from hop to forage, consisting of tummy soothing and bladder inflammation easing flowers and herbs which will become their pellet replacement. I feel like giving them nutrients from another source is important with the lack of pellets, as their veg range is limited due to the bladders.
I am emailing science select today to ask if their ingredients have changed , as this is a new batch they have been on recently. It is now 100% clear these where the problem, despite eating the same food for years.
If it helps one other person struggling with bladders and bloat out of the blue then it's worth it !
Their cute faces for tax.. petite poppet (brown) and big momma Rowan ( lilac and red)
I have two neutered sows, 4 year old Rowan and 4.5 year old Poppet. Both have had the odd sludgey bladder flare over the past 2 years, but nothing horrendous. They have eaten science select grain free for years with low calcium veggies.
Around 2 months ago Rowan became unwell. She was found to have a very inflammed bladder and was bloated. She was eventually put on the highest dose metacam for the bladder and gut stimulants for the bloat, as well as fibreplex and a new bladder supplement that had extra ingredients to the one she was already taking. I increased water intake , littered their home with hides and started a pet remedy plug in in their room to reduce stress- this can be a factor in bladder pigs.
Over the few months I was unable to reduce the metacam or the gut stimulants as Rowan remained bloated with a very sore bladder.
She has had test after test, several scans x-rays and even bloods. No stones and kidneys working well. She continued to lose weight began to have terrible thick sludge in her urine despite all my efforts.
In a last ditched attempt I took the girls off of pellets - removed the bowl from the cage and offered a teaspoon each before bed- 5 tiny pellets.
In less than a week rowan stopped producing all the horrible sludge, gained weight out of nowhere and is now completely gut stimulants free- with not a pop of gas in sight! They are now on an oxbow vitamin c supplement as Rowan doesn't eat pepper, to make sure they don't end up deficient.
I am making up a forage from hop to forage, consisting of tummy soothing and bladder inflammation easing flowers and herbs which will become their pellet replacement. I feel like giving them nutrients from another source is important with the lack of pellets, as their veg range is limited due to the bladders.
I am emailing science select today to ask if their ingredients have changed , as this is a new batch they have been on recently. It is now 100% clear these where the problem, despite eating the same food for years.
If it helps one other person struggling with bladders and bloat out of the blue then it's worth it !
Their cute faces for tax.. petite poppet (brown) and big momma Rowan ( lilac and red)
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. I was also seeing a lot of calcium deposits on the fleece when there had been none previously, id changed nothing else apart from the pellets. The rest of them all passed away within a quick succession from frankie, however I'm not sure if this was bad luck as they were older ones at the time. Ive no scientific evidence but ive always blamed those pellets, i feel like the calcium phosphorus ratio is wrong or something. Now i feed Burgess oregano and blackcurrant and have had no further issues.
