Vet's Advice

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Dic a Dom

my vet has recently advised that any guinea pig would benefit from adding vit c supplements in the drinking water. he actually advised using the supplements fit for humans (the ones in the tube that effervesce), he specifically said that guinea pigs cannot overdose on vit c, has anyone else been advise to do this?
 
No vits should be added to water. Guinea pigs on a good veggie diet get ample vit C. Yes, they can overdose on Vit C. The Vit C content in dry foods varies greatly too, its quite suprising, you'd think it'd be the same ::)
 
No medicatio or supplement should be added to drinking water bottles/bowls.This can change the flavour and can sometimes discourage the piggies from drinking.The main reason for not doing this is that meds and supplements need to be given carefully.I always use a syringe and put straight into the piggies mouth.This way I know how much the pig has had,and at what time.(This can be important with some meds).

The only time I use a vitimin C supplement is if a piggy is being syringe fed or has an infection.Extra vitimin C for a few days can boost the immune system to help fight infection.

Gps should get all the vitimins and minerals they need from the veggies.

I do not use any of the efferescent type supplements,they are too gassy.Liquid vitimin C is available from health food shops.I prefer the small independent shops to the chain store ones.It can also be bought online.

For piggies that are being maintained on syringe food,I often add one drop per day of Abidec to the feed.
 
Thanks for the advice. My piggies are on good veggie diet and their dry food has added vit c in it so I'll deffo keep clear of the supplements. I just can't understand why vets say these things! It's beyond belief :tickedoff: Out of curiosity what hapens if they overdose?
 
When Ralfie was sick we gave him half a human vit c tablet a day, he actually took them off us and chewed them lol! Id only give them if the piggy was sick though and you were concerned that they were not eating enough veg :)
 
It affects their joints (just like a lack of vitamin C would) I think. I remember reading about it a few years ago :)
 
As gps do not formulate their own vitimin C(the same as we humans do not) they would not get a build up of excess vit.C,it would be excreted through the kidneys.,so it would do no harm,.If vitimin c supplements are only given as occasional medication,the amount in feed stuff should be o.k.
 
I don't know anything about biology but I think these pigs were getting too much for their kidneys to cope with, don't feed anything to excess. I *think* the problem was with dry foods ::)
 
Not sure if it's the same with piggies as humans, but excess vitamin c supplementation in humans causes diarrhoea.

I agree with what has been said. Those fizzy tablets have all sorts of additives in them too, taste quite strong, and are usually approx 1000mg per tablet. Seems an awful lot to me, assuming the pigs continue to drink normal amounts.
 
I don't know what format the vit C was in but sweeteners and additives are just as harmful- if not more, its an eye opener reading what damage they do ::)
 
Yes, thinking about it, if they have sorbitol in, that is a laxative too. Not something I'd want to give my pigs.
 
if you put effefecaint tabs in water bottle all that would happen the bits would settle to the bottom and block the tube surely?
Also the addatives would make the water yucky!
 
Mmmm, lots of things have additives in. Never mind the water what about their insides if it gets there!
 
When I took Honkey to the vets to have his tooth trimmed, she advised me to give extra Vit c to all my piggies and told me not to buy the ones from the pet shop but to go into Holland & Barrett and buy the powder stuff, I did not do that as I have been advised not to but CCT did advise me to use abidec drops for human babies...
But I do not use them, I give my piggies a check each, each day and I weigh them once a week, if I do notice a drop in weight then I will use abidec.
 
ABIDEC contains Sucrose so I won't give it. It also contains Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic soda) which is used in detergents and soaps, I didn't like the sound of that though it could harmless ?

I use Vedra's recommendations (mostly Sudafed, and Infacol and Rennie Deflatine etc) for emergencies :) But not if I can help it. I get my Vit C from SPH Supplies- the Oxbow ones, trouble is they're in syuch big containers- they should make them smaller!
 
Pure vitamin C powder doesn't contact additives (probably what the Holland and Barrett recommendation was about). Tastes pretty bitter.
 
I have an email from Vedra which tells me to use abedic, I have not used it as none of my pigs have lost weight, when Honkey did loose weight, it was down to his tooth and he put weighton within 48 hours of having his teeth trimmed, so I did not bother using it and hopefully I will never have the need to use supplement's.
 
So pure water does the best for gps? and if so what about the food bowl ones? do u just put a few drops in?
 
I used to use Abidec baby vitimins,but do not use it anymore as I have decided it has too many other vitimins besides the vitimin C.If I need to give extra vitimin C I either use a liquid one,straight into the mouth with a syringe,or I sometimes use Rosehip,again via syringe.I never,ever put meds or supplements into drinking water or food bowls.This is dangerous,especially with meds,because you have no idea how much or how little the pig has consumed.Also with meds you need to know the approx time the dose was given(especially with meds that are being given more than once a day)
 
when I had my first piggy years ago, I used to put the tabs in her water, and she got very ill because she wasnt drinking..as soon as I stopped using the tabs she got better
 
i didn't even realise there was all this stuff out there my pigs have never had anything except their dried food, grass, hay, fresh water and veggies and my girlies lived till they were v old and now my baby boy seems happy and healthy enough.
 
The vet told me yesterday that I should add vitamin C to my pigs water bottles. So I just told him he is wrong! Lol! I told him that they contain additives and other stuff, plus they taste funny, which means the pigs drink less, which obviously isnt a good thing! I also told him that a pigger with a healthy diet of fruit and veg twice a day should be recieving enough vitamin C anyway. He seemed impressed! I dont think he'll be giving out that advice again! Lol! ;D
 
Damonshumanslave said:
The vet told me yesterday that I should add vitamin C to my pigs water bottles. So I just told him he is wrong! Lol! I told him that they contain additives and other stuff, plus they taste funny, which means the pigs drink less, which obviously isnt a good thing! I also told him that a pigger with a healthy diet of fruit and veg twice a day should be recieving enough vitamin C anyway. He seemed impressed! I dont think he'll be giving out that advice again! Lol! ;D
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Good on you! I must admit that when I hear something from a vet that I think is rubbish, I am guilty of saying 'yes OK' and just ignoring the advice - can't be bothered to challenge them. Far better to challenge their beliefs I'm sure! :)
 
Yes, and I said it nicely, so he didnt think I was having a go at him. :) I got the impression he is happy to learn from knowledgable clients, which is great! Plus he admitted to being not much of a cavy expert, but said he had recently been on a course about them, and was going on a second cavy course soon! I've never been to see him before. My nice cavy vet left his practice, and I didnt like the replacement vet, so I was trying out this practice for the first time. I liked it. :) Not sure I'd use him for ops though.
 
g.ps cannot overdose on vit c,any excess in excreated in thier wee.really no need to add to diet if they are getting a really good mix of fresh veg. :)
 
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