Too little calcium?

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Elephant88

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I have recently adopted a piggie who has been fed a diet primarily of spinach and nuggets (no hay!) in the past. She has bladder sludge, which I am taking her to the vet for tomorrow to check for stones. However I want to get her on a low calcium diet. I have created a spreadsheet using food lists on sites like guineapiggles and happycavy, and I am going to primarily feed baby gem lettuce, radicchio, dandelion greens, green pepper, baby carrots, celery and green beans in her diet. Her average daily calcium intake from veggies is going to be about 49.1mg, with an average calcium:phosphorus ratio of 1.34:1.

I may be taking this too scientifically (however I am a scientist so I am struggling not to!) but does anyone know the RDA for calcium in an adult pig? I can't find this data anywhere and I don't want to feed her too little calcium, because I know that can also cause stones. I am going to feed her 15g of Oxbow Cavy Cuisine for adult pigs, and she has unlimited access to a mix of meadow/ timothy hay. I also live in a hard water area (average 108mg/litre), and I currently don't filter her water. I am tempted to not do that going forward because she is not a big drinker anyway, and I am not sure how much calcium Brita filters etc. actually remove?

(Also any way I can encourage her to drink more- she has stubbornly resisted my efforts of two bottles and a water bowl!)

I would really appreciate any guidance/ comments, being a first time pig owner adopting a piggie with medical issues!
 
I am not a scientist and science is my absolutely worst subject but I do know a little bit about water filters from my own experience.
I was told by a renal specialist the most important thing for me to do after I had a stone was filter my water, so I bought a Brita jug.
I have two pigs whose water I filter they used have bladder sludge from time to time, they have had no sludge epoisodes since I filtered their water. I usually double filter theirs just to be on the safe side.
I used to replace my kettle annually due to calcium build up in it, I now get no calcium build up.
When I go to my mothers I forget not to drink the last bit of tea in the cup, it's full of chalk, I no longer get that at home.
Filtering also takes out other impurities that can contribute towards stones.
Personally I think filtering the water is worth it.
 
Thank you very much piggieminder! OK I'm converted on that. I will buy my piggie a filter. We live in a very hard water area so this could make a big difference to her calcium intake.
 
Welcome to the forum.
I too filter all our water as well as having a water softener in the house due the the very hard water in our part of the country.
Can't help with calcium question as I failed all sciences at school.

Please let us see pics of your piggy
 
I was checking out the nugget comparison chart on here there’s some info on calcium BUT it’s more to do with the amount in various nuggets. -might be worth looking at that if you are going to feed your piggy any nuggets. I too would like to know the amounts of different minerals and vitamins that piggy’s should have and also what does bladder sludge look like?
 
The sludge my boars pass is a thick white substance that is a bit gritty if you rub it between your fingers, unlike the opaque white wee that has no grit and is normal calcium wee.
 
I too filter my piggies water even though I live in a soft water area.
Some guinea pigs naturally aren't big drinkers but they can get most of their water from their veg. I suggest you add cucumber to your piggies diet. I'm afraid I can't help with your other questions
 
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