White & Gritty Pee

[amyyxj]

Hello, so I’ve only had my guinea pigs for a week and when they came to us their wee was already white. I know it’s very normal for them to have white pee, but just to be safe I limited their calcium intake. Up until today their wee wasn’t gritty at all, when I checked this morning I noticed it was quite gritty and there was a tiny lump in one of the stains. Obviously my attempt to lower calcium didn’t work out.

I feed them meadow hay, and all the vegetables I feed are low on the calcium chart. The one thing that’s fairly high up is romaine lettuce which I feed them around 4 times a week.
My guess is that the pellets they came with when I got them aren’t the best, and have too much calcium in. I’ve been trying to wean them off of these mysterious pellets and onto the rosewood ones, which is going well. Maybe their previous owner was feeding them too much calcium? I really don’t know how it’s got worse, so for now they aren’t getting as much veg as normal. Hopefully it won’t progess into bladder stones.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, so I’ve only had my guinea pigs for a week and when they came to us their wee was already white. I know it’s very normal for them to have white pee, but just to be safe I limited their calcium intake. Up until today their wee wasn’t gritty at all, when I checked this morning I noticed it was quite gritty and there was a tiny lump in one of the stains. Obviously my attempt to lower calcium didn’t work out.

I feed them meadow hay, and all the vegetables I feed are low on the calcium chart. The one thing that’s fairly high up is romaine lettuce which I feed them around 4 times a week.
My guess is that the pellets they came with when I got them aren’t the best, and have too much calcium in. I’ve been trying to wean them off of these mysterious pellets and onto the rosewood ones, which is going well. Maybe their previous owner was feeding them too much calcium? I really don’t know how it’s got worse, so for now they aren’t getting as much veg as normal. Hopefully it won’t progess into bladder stones.

Hi

Please be careful to not go too low with your calcium diet, as that can also cause problems. How old are your piggies and have you got any idea what kind of diet they have been on before? I assume that they are not shop piggies as they have come with pellets.
It may take a while until the calcium absorption process reacts to the new diet and things settle down. If no or of you are worried about the pre-existing diet, it would be good to see a vet for a check and if necessary a scan or x-ray.

Please see our tips for a balanced diet that includes water (an angle which is very often overlooked), pellets and a veg mix in our sample diet that excludes all the potential offenders like root veg, grain (including sweet corn) and fruit high in sugar, which can also contribute to urinary tract problems while maintaining a balance of important nutrients.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Guinea Pig Vet Locator

 

[amyyxj]

Hi

Please be careful to not go too low with your calcium diet, as that can also cause problems. How old are your piggies and have you got any idea what kind of diet they have been on before? I assume that they are not shop piggies as they have come with pellets.
It may take a while until the calcium absorption process reacts to the new diet and things settle down. If no or of you are worried about the pre-existing diet, it would be good to see a vet for a check and if necessary a scan or x-ray.

Please see our tips for a balanced diet that includes water (an angle which is very often overlooked), pellets and a veg mix in our sample diet that excludes all the potential offenders like root veg, grain (including sweet corn) and fruit high in sugar, which can also contribute to urinary tract problems while maintaining a balance of important nutrients.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Guinea Pig Vet Locator

They said that they are 1 1/2 years old but they didn’t seem to know much about them. I have no idea what kind of diet they were on before but because of the low quality pellets, I doubt they had a good diet. It’s got worse since we got them so it must be something I’m doing though. I’ll just see how it goes and if it doesn’t improve I’m going to see a vet.