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Vit C Deficiency Help!

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danone

danone

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hi all, recently one of my pigs suffered with bloat so i cut out lettuce which seems to have cured it,anyway i cut it out for both pigs and now the other one seems to have a vit c deficiency,well thats what the vet thinks,he is hopping rather than walking/running ,it only stated today so i hope i have caught it in time,anyway i have been reading up and it does point to vit c deficiency, is lettuce high in vit c ? some say yes some say no ? i feed him cos,round and little gem.

please help
 
hi,i got some drops,not putting in water but was going to put on his food,any thoughts on the lettuce/vit c?
 
Lettuce is is high in vitamin A (which can accumulate in the liver), but not high in vitamin C. If this is the only veg you have been feeding, then it is not at all a good diet and could well lead to scurvy/vitamin C deficiency, especially when coupled with feeding muesli/dry mix.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/

You will find a list of what high vitamin C veg and herbs piggies can eat in this thread here. I would strongly recommend to additionally feed or syringe vitamin C tablets. Either or the Oxbow ones, which have been specially designed for animals or dissolve 1/4 of a human tablet in 1ml of water and syringe that daily (or 1/8 of a human tablet twice daily).
http://www.guinealynx.info/scurvy.html
 
hi, no i feed green peppers,carrot(small piece)cucumber,cherry toms twice daily, plus muesli and nuggets , the only recent change is cutting out lettuce for both boys
 
I would slowly switch them over to pellets as museli is full of additives. It is junk food really.
 
hi they have been getting muesli and pellets for 3 years with no sides
 
It is up to you but museli is unhealthy. Research has linked it to tooth decay in rabbits.
 
PS: any bloating problem mean that you need to cut out fresh veg and then only introduce very slowly and in small quantities once the guts have stabilised for a couple of days. Digestion can stay tender for weeks or even months afterwards, so you need to be on your guard.
Fresh parsley or dill is a good high vitamin C treat; you can even grow it yourself on the window sill!
 
anyway the pig with bloat is doing fine, its the other boy who is having trouble walking,the vet checked for damage etc and found none, and as the only thing that has changed for him is the lack of lettuce i thought id ask about it.
ill get some tabs from tesco now, 1/4 tab daily but for how long ?
 
Until he is getting better; then you can go down to 1/8 of a tab daily. I would recommend to keep doing it for as long as he lives.
 
thank you, i just got tescos chewable vit c tablets,each tablet is 200mg vit c,i crushed 1/4 and dissolved into water,is that correct ?
also the vet has given metacam and baytril , do these work ok in conjunction with vit c tablets ?
 
If you are feeding tomatoes daily can give them.mouth sores.baytril is hard on the gut so he will need probiotics as well.Good luck
 
hi ,i have solved the bloat problem,its the other boy now with trouble walking
 
No problem feeding baytril and metacam as well as vitamin C. But baytril is infamous for being very harsh on the guts and can cause tummy upsets or loss of appetite, so a probiotic like bio-lapsis or avipro plus can help to keep the guts going. Fibreplex is also very good.

However, madguineapiglady has a valid point in that tomato should be treated like fruit and fed no more than twice weekly. Too much too often can cause painful sores on the lips and mouth in the long term.
http://www.guinealynx.info/cheilitis.html
 
hi,i am fully aware of this and have been feeding small amounts of tomatoes with the inner taken out for 3 years with no sign of sores,i think we are going off subject ,i am asking about vit c deficiency not mouth sores or muesli or bloat etc , i understand peoples concerns but i am very experienced in diet etc , what i was asking was about if cutting out my pigs lettuce have i attributed to vit c deficiency,this is taken from guinea lynx, 89.3 mg -- Peppers*,Green compared to 24.0 mg -- Lettuce, Romaine* vit c per 100mg, i have read on other sites that leafy greens including lettuce are essential for vit c,some sites have conflicting info.

so since today my pig(not the one with bloat) has been hoping on his back legs,apart from that he is 100%.eating fine etc etc
 
Wouldn't have thought leaving out lettuce would cause vitamin c deficiency .They are getting high. Vitamin c veg and pellets.Mine don't get a lot of lettuce and they are thriving
 
thankyou, and yes seems that way but all the signs point towards vit c deficiency. ill give him vit c tabs an metacam and see how he goes , think i may leave the baytril for the min,

thankyou
 
update,
after two doses of vit c,and feeding lettuce( just in case ),he seems to be running better,still a bit stiff but better. i will leave the baytril as dont want to complicate issues with gut problems .so looks like it was a vit c deficiency , thanks
 
Hi, I am glad your piggy is improving. As he gets other veg like peppers daily it seems that cutting out lettuce is unlikely to cause vitamin c deficiency. Is he still on the metacam? metacam is an antinflamatory pain relief, so if he had damaged himself in some way or has arthritis then it is very likely that his improvement is due to the metcam. Although your vet was unable to find an injury it is possible he had injured his back by jumping or twisting, Soft tissue trauma to the spine is very difficult to detect and will not show on xray. With time and and metacam such injuries can resolve very quickly. The removal of lettuce from his diet may have just been a coincidence. Either way I hope he continues to do well
 
after two doses of vit c tablet and metacam starting last night he seems to be moving better,more running than hopping but still not 100%,i have started to feed him lettuce again just in case that helped start the deficiency, i am leaving the baytril as not to complicate issues with gut problems.

anymore advice welcome
 
I am still thinking it more likely to have been some type of injury rather than vitamin c deficiency, given the diet he is on. As this is a possibilty I would suggest removing houses,etc which he likes to jump on and off, just for the time being, to help any possible injury mend. If it is vit c related it would be best, in addition to the veg, to just feed guineapig nuggets rather than museli as well in case the other piggy is eating all the nuggets (which contain vit c) and he is prefering the grain ( which contains no vit c). I would keep him on the metacam for at least a week.
 
thank you all, hes is a little nutter and likes to run around all the time,he likes to run up the stairs at top speed so may be an injury,thing is though i checked him over and the vet did and we found no injury but as said sometimes its hard to find.

i will continue to give him lettuce in addition to his other veg ,i stopped the baytril but will continue the metacam for a week, I'm giving 0.1 x2 a day, also do you think its best if i give him the vit c tablets even when he's better ? just in case ? but cut it down to 1/8 of a tablet a day,so about 12.5 mg every day ?
 
danone said:
thank you all, hes is a little nutter and likes to run around all the time,he likes to run up the stairs at top speed so may be an injury,thing is though i checked him over and the vet did and we found no injury but as said sometimes its hard to find.
Click to expand...
It does sound like an injury is possible , he may have fallen off his ramp or somehow twisted his back by being a bit too energetic and charging about. If he did cause soft tissue damage to his spine it is not something even a cavy savvy vet would easily be tell from a physical exam. It is a bit like people getting whip lash from a car accident, the soft tissues become inflamed causing pain and difficulty in walking, etc.

If he is not back to normal within a week I would take him for an other vet visit, perhaps to one who is a bit more knowledgable about piggies.

If he is getting guinea pig nuggets and fresh veg daily there is probably no need to continue the vit c long term but I would continue with it for now.
 
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