Worried about my girls calcium intake

Status
Not open for further replies.
BellasMummy

BellasMummy

Senior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
5,185
Reaction score
5
Points
0
Location
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
I have looked through all the threads about calcium intake and suitable weekly diets but to be honest its all really confusing me.
I have started to notice calcium stains on my girls fleece and its really worrying me now as i don't want them to get bladder stones or anything.
I don't really stick to a weekly diet for them as i just tend to buy whats on offer.
I wonder if anyone could tell me if I'm going wrong and how to resolve it.
The veg they have regularly are:
cucumber
peppers
brocolli
celery
mixed salad bags
round/romaine lettuce
babycorn
sometimes herbs not that often though
carrots
apples only occasionally
sugar snap peas

they get fed 2 servings a day in the morning and in the evening, they also get hay, dry mix and also a dried herb/green oat mix.

I'm quite worried so would really appreciate any help or advice, i want to do the best for my girls so if I'm going wrong i would rather be told than to keep doing it wrong.
 
I'm sure you'll get lots of info from members that have piggies on a low calcium diet. Though I have noticed some that are from hard water areas using a low calcium bottled water or filtered water and of course no mineral/salt licks.

Suzy x
 
It's a good idea (for anyone) to think about the mix of foods they give, so it's definitely worthwhile looking into that, but remember that small deposits of excess calcium on their fleeces is normal. As I understand it, if the white marks just feel powdery, then that's ok. It's when you can distinctly feel a grittiness that there might be a problem brewing.

Unless you've been specifically advised (by your Vet) to follow a low calcium diet, then it's not really advisable. As you probably know, from reading the many threads on here, it's important to get the right balance of calcium and phosphorous, rather than simply cutting down on calcium alone. Peter Gurney's website mentions a theory that if there is too little calcium in the diet, then the body may take it from the bones and therefore stones can still occur, so the key thing is to maintain a healthy balance.

Have you looked into the "Ratewatchers"/Rainbow Diet? It can all be reeeeeally confusing, I know, and it's tricky when you just want to buy whatever happens to be available and cheapest at the time, but I think Ratewatchers is less confusing than the Guinea Lynx Calculator.

Good luck x
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top