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Vitamin c question

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sheltiefan

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Ok so we have found out that our guiena has scrvy. It's pretty bad from the looks on it. She is on antibiotics and probiotic. I just bought her liquid vitamin c. I have 2 questions
1. Can you give a guiena pig to much vitamin c? And if so what will happen, what are the symptoms of to much

2. I have a medicine syringe that measures by ML.
The bottle says serving size 5 cc. And a serving size is 300 mg.
So how much do I give her in my medicine syringe.
I'm no good at math

Thank you
 
As far as I'm aware, you can't give a guinea pig too much vitamin C as the excess will just pass out in their urine.

Does you piggy have a balanced diet? It's advisable to give at least one piece of veg each day that is high in vitamin C (e.g. any colour pepper)

I presume the liquid vitamin C is to go in the water bottle? Try to keep an eye on her water intake as the vitamin C will make the water taste funny and it usually discourages drinking.

I hope you see an improvement soon :)
 
What is your guinea pig fed on? Most feeds will have the added daily vitamin C requirements for a guinea pig. If no hard feed (pellets) are given then each pig should have 50g of veg each day including one that is high in vitamin C. I wouldn't suggest using vitamin C drops in water though as it is impossible to tell how much they are consuming and, as mentioned previously, can discourage drinking.

I don't quite understand the second question, but (according to Google) 5cc is the equivalent of 5ml. I'm not sure about the mg into ml...should know it from physics and chemistry class, but that was a few years ago now :)).

I hope your piggy gets better with all the meds. Ooh, you can also give crushed childrens Vit C tablets, but I'm not sure on how much to give etc as I don't feed them myself.

Good luck and I hope she recovers soon :)
 
She is on petsmart brand guiena pig pellets. We usually give her vegi's abeles and fruit. But my husband lost his job and was unable to get it for her. But he now has a better job and she is back on the vegetables. Unforually she suffered during that rough patch. The liquid I got is for humans. I had planned on giving it to her by syringe. To give her body a jump start. But wanted to make sure it's safe first. We tried kids chewable. But she wouldn't eat it. There for I got the liquid.
 
Excess vit C will be excreted (as it is in humans!) Guinea lynx site has a great section on vit C rich foods - red pepper and yellow pepper (I think) is higher than the green. Parsley is another good one that piggies love but high is oxalic acid which binds with calcium and can lead to problems if given in excess.


With your pellets - don't buy in bulk (the vit C is not stable and the pellets will lose it over time) Check the sell by date before you buy, buy a small pack at a time and preferably keep in the fridge. If that isn't possible - a cool dry and dark place is best.


Hope your piggy gets better really soon! (also a pellet is better than the museli as it prevents selective feeding)
 
sheltiefan said:
Ok so we have found out that our guiena has scrvy. It's pretty bad from the looks on it. She is on antibiotics and probiotic. I just bought her liquid vitamin c. I have 2 questions
1. Can you give a guiena pig to much vitamin c? And if so what will happen, what are the symptoms of to much

Yes you can - it can cause metabolic disturbances and one study has shown that 150mg/daily causes increase in arthritic conditions. Guinea pigs should have a total of 30mg/kg daily - much of which is found in their dried food and can be supplemented with veggies. .

2. I have a medicine syringe that measures by ML.
The bottle says serving size 5 cc. And a serving size is 300 mg.
So how much do I give her in my medicine syringe.
I'm no good at math

Thank you
Click to expand...

Given she has been diganosed with scurvy then supplementing with a liquid vit C is a good idea and I assume your vet has suggested this? Has the vet given a recommended dose? How much does your guinea pig weigh?

5cc is 5ml which you say contains 300mg
1ml therefore contains 300/5 equals 60mg
You should give no more than 0.5ml (0.5cc) daily which is 30mg.

HTH
x
 
Yes my vey suggested me to get her vitamin c. She told me to give her 50 mg of vitamin c in a children tablet. But since she wouldn't eat it. I figured I'd get he liquid and give it to her that way. Which she likes better. I forgot how much she weighs. But she's little. My sister has a long hair guiena pig and she's is younger than mine ( smooth hair ) and hers is double the size of mine. And all the piggies I've seen a are all bigger than her. I guess she was a runt as a baby.

So giving her vitamin c every day. When do you think I will start to see a difference on the swelling?
 
I would try & switch the pellets too. If you shop at PetSmart they should have a Vitamin C enriched guinea pig food (I know because I work there) and also Vitamin C drops that go in the water or food. I do this on a daily basis for my pigs. I don't know much about syringing them though, mine I'm sure would HATE that. But good luck :)
 
Vitamin C

If I hadn't seen this myself I would be dubious but, our 4 guineas love fresh oranges! I cut the top and bottom off then cut the peel away all round, cut the orange into 4 and give each piggie a piece each.
They get stuck in and it's a perfect way to get vitamin C into them! ;)
 
Whatever form you give the vitamin C in, you need to make sure it's at the dose recommended by the vet. I agree that 50 mg sounds about right for a piggy with scurvy.

As it the Oxbow tablets your piggy wouldn't take?

You can actually just buy plain ascorbic acid crystals, which don't taste great, but don't have all the nasty fillers/sweeteners etc that other children's chewable tablets etc have. You can syringe it in, or sprinkle it on wet vegetables.
 
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