Sludge !

[Stella&Pepper]

Hi

Suspected bladder sludge is driving me crazy!

I recently moved my pigs from being outdoor to indoor piggies and switched them onto fleece. I noticed some white spots and observed. No squeaking or blood in pee (touch wood) Narrowed it down to just the one of my two who does it. Not in every pee, just the odd few.

They are fed harringtons which they absolutely love (0.8%) calcium - the higher end. I did try switching to multimodal (0.5%) but it was so messy and they hardly touched it. As soon as I put harringtons back in they wolfed it down!

They are fed home bargains cheap meadow hay in a litter tray so they can pee and poop on it to their hearts content and Oxbow timothy hay from a hay rack (they eat a full rack a day they love it)

They drink plenty of water between them probably around a 100ml a day.

Veggies I feed for the two of them 6 slices of cucumber, 4 slices of red pepper a day then the odd bit of tomato and apple.
They also go outside on the grass in dry sunny weather.

Cut out cabbage and kale.

I know harringtons is quite high I've looked at other food recommendations like Bunny but at £22 for 4 kg if they don't like it its just a waste!

Am I stressing over nothing?

 

[lawellgreen]

I notice this on my fleece occasionally too, not sure who it's from though. Is it from too much calcium? I feed science selective.

 

[Wiebke]

It looks like too much calcium but not like sludge, as it doesn't look like there are any hard bits in.

Excess calcium is normally excreted in the pee and dries to a powdery patch; this is not a sign of bladder problems.

Crystals form hard bits when the pee dries. If in doubt, test with your finger and contact the vets accordingly if necessary.

 

[Ma7ie]

I have this a lot with my two. They are on a mixture of burgess with mint and science selective, but they don't eat many pellets between them. They have meadow hay, and a dish of veggies which usually has cucumber, peppers, a herb such as coriander, mint or basil, celery mainly. They have other veg but more sparingly and occasional grapes, apple, tomato.
I'm not sure how to reduce their calcium. I thought I was doing everything right.

 

[Wiebke]

Diet tips (not necessary unless your guinea pig has really got bladder problems or you have got calcium patches nearly every day):
- filter your water, especially if you are in a hard water area (info available from your council) - just this measure will make a huge difference and can really contribute to limiting the amount of calcium and minerals that can build up in a bladder
- feed pellets low in calcium; the best are 5 pellets per piggy per day from Bunny; not cheap, but you are feeding only comparatively little.
Just reduce your veg to the ones listed under "daily veg" (which is basically the balanced low calcium IS diet): https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...or-a-balanced-general-guinea-pig-diet.116460/

 

[Abi_nurse]

This looks like normal calcium deposit in the urine. Check that it's not gritty or too much. Guinea pigs (and rabbits), naturally secrete any excess calcium in the urine and if they have a little excess. It is completely normal to occasionally see the odd white deposit providing it isn't full of sediment and the piggies are healthy and happy as you have described.

x

 

[lawellgreen]

I tried filtering their water for a bit to see if it made any difference but not really any huge amount, my other half witnessed me filling up the bottles and thought I was crazy! He already jokes they are spoilt and now Brita filtered water too

 

[Stella&Pepper]

I bought one of those Brita jugs to filter their water as we live in a very hard water area can't really comment if it has made much difference either