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Wet diet

Zanzan

Adult Guinea Pig
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So I just took Beatrice to the vet as she was drinking a little more than usual. She has some grit in her bladder and I have been given some cystophan and metacam for her. Vet has advised to increase the water content in the diet but as usual on the way home I have thought of everything I didn't ask the vet.....
I already filter the water and know the high calcium foods to avoid. My question is how do I make her diet wetter? The obvious one to me is more cucumber but beyond this I am a bit stuck. Any suggestions would be very welcome 🙂
 
Giving a diet higher in veg and grass - all veg contains water but giving leaves such as lettuce, cucumber can all help . You can also put it in water before feeding it to her so it is physically wet when you give it to her.
 
So I just took Beatrice to the vet as she was drinking a little more than usual. She has some grit in her bladder and I have been given some cystophan and metacam for her. Vet has advised to increase the water content in the diet but as usual on the way home I have thought of everything I didn't ask the vet.....
I already filter the water and know the high calcium foods to avoid. My question is how do I make her diet wetter? The obvious one to me is more cucumber but beyond this I am a bit stuck. Any suggestions would be very welcome 🙂

Hi!

Please make sure that you do not feed more than 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of preferably low calcium pellets. That is the second area where the most calcium is coming into the diet.

Please be aware that piggies will drink a bit more in humid and hot weather. You can feed some more cucumber, celery, Romaine or gem lettuce as well as fresh green grass (dog pee free) but don't be surprised if you find that your piggy will drink less as a result. Individual fluid intake (whether that is by eating or by drinking) varies a lot but a piggy won't usually drink more just because you feed more edible fluid.
All About Drinking And Bottles
The temptation to overfeed watery veg and fruit in hot weather!
 
Good luck and keep us posted- what a cutie she is!
 
Thank you, she is my star 🙂 I gave her the wet veg tonight and she had some then ambled off to have some hay. I said oh no lady.....and moved the bowl in front of her. She said oh ok then....and ate loads more. I never had a more cooperative pig!
 
I was looking at some old threads and people were talking about mixing cranberry juice with drinking water to encourage their pigs to drink more. Is this an ok thing to do? I'm not asking about cranberry as a treatment for bladder issues, just the encouraging drinking part. 🙂
 
I was looking at some old threads and people were talking about mixing cranberry juice with drinking water to encourage their pigs to drink more. Is this an ok thing to do? I'm not asking about cranberry as a treatment for bladder issues, just the encouraging drinking part. 🙂
No I really wouldnt add anything to her drinking water, just cutting right back on the pellets and feeding more wet veg should be fine. Bags of mixed leaf salad are a good way of adding a nice variety of wet leaves into the diet, just go for one without spinach if you are trying the reduce calcium :)
 
Hi, we are doing very well with our wet diet, low calcium and cystease and all the pigs seem very happy. I was just wondering- my pigs love courgette (zucchini) but is this ok to feed in terms of calcium? I'm thinking it probably is but am in super cautious mode at the minute!
 
Hi, we are doing very well with our wet diet, low calcium and cystease and all the pigs seem very happy. I was just wondering- my pigs love courgette (zucchini) but is this ok to feed in terms of calcium? I'm thinking it probably is but am in super cautious mode at the minute!

Courgette is fine.
(I’m impressed yours like it! Mine look at me like I’m trying to poison them if I have the audacity to even mention courgette in their presence!)
 
I know, from reading on here it would seem mine are in the minority. But they love it, they will throw other things out of the bowl to get to it! They will be very pleased to hear it's not banned 😁
 
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