Sludge

[nicolalulu]

Hi, I just wanted some advice. A few weeks ago my female guinea pig who is 4 1/2, started screaming when she was peeing. I found a lump and took her straight to the vet who removed it & told me it was sludge. He said to get her to drink more and get more floor time. Both my piggies get the run of my living room for most of the day and she drinks loads, a lot more than my other piggy. I've noticed the last few days some white substance when she's peeing. I've changed her veggies as she used to get broccoli everyday but it's high in calcium so stopped! I feed them burgess excel pellets (blackcurrant & oregano) but have since learned they are high in calcium too & have switched to timothy hay now as that's lower. So...my question is, what pellets are low in calcium but still have the vitamins they need and whether a brita water filter to filter out calcium in the water as it's hard here, makes a big difference too? Or any other advice of what I can do to help. Sorry for my rambling!

 

[Swissgreys]

Having recently been through bladder sludge with one of my own piggies I have to say that a water filter was definitely a very worthwhile investment.
We don't have particularly hard water, but since giving them only filtered water I haven't seen any white patches on their fleece, so I think this really does help.
I feed Versele Laga pellets which are grain free and quite low in calcium, and then just follow the recommended guide lines on her for diet.

The link to the diet guides (including a pellet comparison chart) is here:

Diet Guides

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, I just wanted some advice. A few weeks ago my female guinea pig who is 4 1/2, started screaming when she was peeing. I found a lump and took her straight to the vet who removed it & told me it was sludge. He said to get her to drink more and get more floor time. Both my piggies get the run of my living room for most of the day and she drinks loads, a lot more than my other piggy. I've noticed the last few days some white substance when she's peeing. I've changed her veggies as she used to get broccoli everyday but it's high in calcium so stopped! I feed them burgess excel pellets (blackcurrant & oregano) but have since learned they are high in calcium too & have switched to timothy hay now as that's lower. So...my question is, what pellets are low in calcium but still have the vitamins they need and whether a brita water filter to filter out calcium in the water as it's hard here, makes a big difference too? Or any other advice of what I can do to help. Sorry for my rambling!

Hi!

Please take the time to read our diet guide; it has tips for suitable balanced low calcium diet for urinary tract guinea pigs; it looks at all angles, from filtered or low calcium bottled water to calcium and grainless pellets to a balanced veg diet. The owrst offenders usually come from hard UK water and calcium rich pellets, followed by a diet too high in calcium. Your aim is not to cut out all calcium, but to achieve a long term balanced diet that can avoid the build up of stones and sludge.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

How piggy savvy is your vet? Has your girl had a scan or x-ray to see how bad the sludge is?
Sludge does unfortunately not necessarily go away on its own if there is a lot of it. It may require actual intervention by VERY careful flushing or an operation if the sludge is too tightly packed.

Has your girl got any medication at all, like metacam (which is a painkiller as well as an inflammatory) to help with any bladder trauma/cystitis because of irritation from the sludge?
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

I would also strongly recommend to start giving cystease, which is a glucosamine based food supplement for cats that is being widely used to support the natural glucosamine coating of the beleaguered bladder walls.

 

[nicolalulu]

Hi!

Please take the time to read our diet guide; it has tips for suitable balanced low calcium diet for urinary tract guinea pigs; it looks at all angles, from filtered or low calcium bottled water to calcium and grainless pellets to a balanced veg diet. The owrst offenders usually come from hard UK water and calcium rich pellets, followed by a diet too high in calcium. Your aim is not to cut out all calcium, but to achieve a long term balanced diet that can avoid the build up of stones and sludge.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

How piggy savvy is your vet? Has your girl had a scan or x-ray to see how bad the sludge is?
Sludge does unfortunately not necessarily go away on its own if there is a lot of it. It may require actual intervention by VERY careful flushing or an operation if the sludge is too tightly packed.

Has your girl got any medication at all, like metacam (which is a painkiller as well as an inflammatory) to help with any bladder trauma/cystitis because of irritation from the sludge?
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

I would also strongly recommend to start giving cystease, which is a glucosamine based food supplement for cats that is being widely used to support the natural glucosamine coating of the beleaguered bladder walls.

Thank you for your reply! Yes he flushed it all out and was given antibiotics for a week and she has been fine until a few days ago when I noticed the white patches. I do have metacam too. I do have a water filter but not sure it filters enough. It's just one from sainsburys. Thank you for all the info, I'll have a look at the links now. Thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for your reply! Yes he flushed it all out and was given antibiotics for a week and she has been fine until a few days ago when I noticed the white patches. I do have metacam too. I do have a water filter but not sure it filters enough. It's just one from sainsburys. Thank you for all the info, I'll have a look at the links now. Thanks!

I use a Brita filter.

 

[nicolalulu]

Having recently been through bladder sludge with one of my own piggies I have to say that a water filter was definitely a very worthwhile investment.
We don't have particularly hard water, but since giving them only filtered water I haven't seen any white patches on their fleece, so I think this really does help.
I feed Versele Laga pellets which are grain free and quite low in calcium, and then just follow the recommended guide lines on her for diet.

The link to the diet guides (including a pellet comparison chart) is here:

Diet Guides

Thanks for your reply! I'll take a look at the guide and definitely get a good quality water filter. Thank you for the info!

 

[nicolalulu]

I use a Brita filter.

Yes, I'm going to get a brita filter tomorrow. Thank you!

 

[Claire W]

I also use a brita water filter and I live in a soft water area

 

[piggieminder]

I use a Britta filter. Both my older piggies (4 in October) have had sludge and squeaky wee issues. I have changed to grainless pellets - Science Sellective, Versele Laga or JR Farm and have cut down on the med/high calcium veg I feed. I also cut the pellets down to 10gms per piggie per day. I feed a mainly grass diet now and double filter their water as we live in a very hard water area. The piggies have had no problems with sludge since following this regime.

 

[nicolalulu]

I use a Britta filter. Both my older piggies (4 in October) have had sludge and squeaky wee issues. I have changed to grainless pellets - Science Sellective, Versele Laga or JR Farm and have cut down on the med/high calcium veg I feed. I also cut the pellets down to 10gms per piggie per day. I feed a mainly grass diet now and double filter their water as we live in a very hard water area. The piggies have had no problems with sludge since following this regime.

Thank you that's really good to know. I've bought a Brita filter today & ordered oxbow essentials pellets. Not cheap but seem to have good reviews. That's a good idea to double filter the water too! Thank you!