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Vitamin C deficient - any diet tips?

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louiser

louiser

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Does anyone have a vitamin C boast diet? My rescue pig Pickle is vitamin C deficient, I have been feeding him Broccoli, Kale, small amounts of kiwi, green pepper but is there anything else i can do to give him a boast?

Many thanks for any advice

Lou :)
 
try tomatoes if he likes them. they are packed with vit c!
Are you also giving him vit c in a syringe?
 
no I haven't tried a syringe. What do you put in the mixture? I have some vit c tablets should i crush them and mix with water?
 
i put a pinch of vitamin C powder in their drinking water and also give them some in a syringe 4 times a day. if you're using tablets, boil some water, let it cool add quarter of tablet and mix and give some via syringe. also try parsley as this is high in vitamin C too and iron, you could also ask your vet or rescue centre. hugs to you and pickles
:smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-*
 
How come the pigpy has a vit c deficiency? Has he just been ill or something?

Yes you can crush them and mix it with water and give it in a syringe. If I use a human vit c tablet I normally give a quarter of a tablet a day. I am not sure of the exact amount you need to give (someone else might know) but to be honest you can't really give too much vit c over a short period of time as he will pass any excess.

I must stress that you should only ever give vit c supplement when a piggy has been off its food. Otherwise they should get all of their vit c from their diet.
 
The best source of vitamin c is the chewable tablets you can buy and give half daily. If you give it in water bottle you don't how much he is getting and when you add it to water it dilutes the strength of it :)
 
Laure said:
How come the pigpy has a vit c deficiency? Has he just been ill or something?

Yes you can crush them and mix it with water and give it in a syringe. If I use a human vit c tablet I normally give a quarter of a tablet a day. I am not sure of the exact amount you need to give (someone else might know) but to be honest you can't really give too much vit c over a short period of time as he will pass any excess.

I must stress that you should only ever give vit c supplement when a piggy has been off its food. Otherwise they should get all of their vit c from their diet.
Click to expand...

I rescued him at the weekend, he is under weight, I don't think the previous owners knew they had to feed him fresh food daily or even food in general! (They told me they only feed him every 3 days! :tickedoff:) I took him to the vets in the week and he has mites also he has bad sores on his pads of his feet which the vet said is a sign of vit c def. He is eating plenty and has a very healthy appetite, poor little thing must have been starving!
 
The sores on his pads sound like bumblefoot or urine scald. If he's been in a filthy cage it's likely that is the culprit.

Just take care when giving him new foods, especially high calcium things like parsley and kale. Last thing you need would be diarrhoea or bladder stones. Red and orange peppers are great for vitamin C.
 
Yes I agree with DSL the sore feet are probably due to his cage not having been cleaned often enough. Vets have a habit of associating every piggy illness under the dun to vit c deficiency.

If he is eating well then there is probably no need to give vit c supplement as he will get it from his food now. As DSL said though make sure you introduce new foods gradually to avoid upsetting his tummy.
 
Broccoli is really good as it has lots of vitamin C and my piggies love it! I think it's an acquired taste in some of them but it's good for their teeth as well...They can chew on the stalk which we would normally throw away if we're cooking it and they really like the "tree tops" as well. Otherwise, carrots have the same benefits.

I hope that's helpful!
 
I crush up 1/2 a vit c tab daily and add it to water, but you need to be sure your pig still drinks as much water as before. If they don't seem to drink as much you can't do this. Also, you must change water daily b/c the vit c breaks down. It is best to use boiled and cooled water or filtered water which has less chlorine b/c chlorine breaks down vit c. I find the easiest way to get them to drink something from a syrinse is to mix some cooled chamomile tea in with about 1/8th of a crushed vit c tab. This is actually enough for 2 pigs. Anyways, just mix enough chamomile tea where it is liquidy enough to draw up into a dropper. I get glass dropper b/c guinea pigs tend to chew them. Give them a little taste of regular cooled chamomile tea first, all guinea pigs love chamomile tea cooled, and then give them some of the vit c mix. You can do this 1 time a day or if it doesn't go well break it up and do it twice in small amounts.
 
AWWW Poor guy. I hope he perks up soon and gets her sore feet sorted.

Gorgeous guineas have a lovely ointment that should help with his feet.
 
This thread's over a year old Lisa, some "advertiser" has brought it back up. Reported!
 
Careful with the kale - it's very high in calcium and can lead to calcium-based bladder stones.

It'd be safer to keep your veggies lettuce based, as they should be, and supplementing with a vitamin C tablet and using a vitamin C fortefied food to maintain the levels of vitamin C.

Keep in mind vitamin C doesn't stay in the body, though.
 
ahh I didn't see the ad - it didn't work on me then. :(|)
 
Here is the link to the guinealynx website for vitamin C deficiency: http://www.guinealynx.info/scurvy.html

I hope that your poor little boy will be healthy soon! I am sure that he is already quite happy with his new place and all the food!
 
Wiebke, this thread was last posted on in May 08 before the "advertiser" targeted it.

Although the extra info you have all given re vitamin c is useful. :)
 
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