Slight diarrhea, not acting 100% himself
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
It seems to me people in the past complained about the form of the added calcium in the Oxbow pellets. I do not know if they have changed their formulation.
It used to be the calcium in KMS Hayloft pellets was a better form. What kind of pellets were you giving before you started the Oxbow? I take it you are giving timothy pellets and not alfalfa pellets?
It used to be the calcium in KMS Hayloft pellets was a better form. What kind of pellets were you giving before you started the Oxbow? I take it you are giving timothy pellets and not alfalfa pellets?
- Sef
- I dissent.
It was calcium carbonate. I contacted Oxbow many years ago to inquire about that particular ingredient and a possible connection to calcium carbonate stone formation in guinea pigs, but they became very defensive about it and stopped responding to my emails. To this day I'm not a big Oxbow fan.
Lynx- Yes, he was given Timothy hay pellets, however they weren't the ones I would have bought for him. They were a cheaper kind of pellets with colorful additives to them, and my dad thought those were okay to give him. He was doing pretty good on those, but I wanted to switch him over to a different pellet gradually, thus the Oxbow.
And I appreciate all of the replies, I had a feeling the Oxbow pellets could have been the culprit. I've now switched him over to a brand that I saw to be closest to the calcium/phosphorus ratio for what people have seen to reduce stone formation. It's a brand I gave to my other piggies in the past and never had an issue with it, so I'm going to keep an eye on him from this point on. He's finishing up his antibiotics tomorrow and I want to get another urinalysis possibly to see if the UTI was cleared up.
And I appreciate all of the replies, I had a feeling the Oxbow pellets could have been the culprit. I've now switched him over to a brand that I saw to be closest to the calcium/phosphorus ratio for what people have seen to reduce stone formation. It's a brand I gave to my other piggies in the past and never had an issue with it, so I'm going to keep an eye on him from this point on. He's finishing up his antibiotics tomorrow and I want to get another urinalysis possibly to see if the UTI was cleared up.
Oh okay, I'm still skeptical of it due to the fact that I never noticed calcium deposits in his urine until I made the switch to Oxbow, so I'll continue on with the new brand I found.
It's Kaytee, but it doesn't have any additives like seeds or colorful stuff in it, just Timothy pellets. George and Fred both had it for their whole lives and never developed calcium deposits, but I know every pig is different. So I just want to give this one a try to see if he has less white in his wees, since it hasn't failed me yet.
- Sef
- I dissent.
Unfortunately, Kaytee is considered a lesser quality pellet, and is very high in calcium and lower in fiber. If you look at the ingredients (I assume you are using Kaytee Timothy Complete), it contains alfalfa as well as calcium carbonate. You can compare the analysis to Oxbow below:
Kaytee Timothy Complete
Crude Protein (min.) 14.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 2.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) 23.0%
Moisture (max.) 12.0%
Calcium (min.) 0.4%
Calcium (max.) 0.9%
Phosphorus (min.) 0.4%
Salt (min.) 0.25%
Salt (max.) 0.75%
Ascorbic Acid (min.) 100 mg/lb
Oxbow Adult Essentials
Crude Protein (min) 14.00%
Crude Fat (min) 2.00%
Crude Fiber (min) 25.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 28.00%
Moisture (max) 10.00%
Calcium (min) 0.35%
Calcium (max) 0.75%
Phosphorus (min) 0.25%
Vitamin A (min) 10,000 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (Vit C.) (min) 250 mg/kg
Vitamin D3 (min) 900 IU/kg
Vitamin E (min) 190 IU/kg
Kaytee Timothy Complete
Crude Protein (min.) 14.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 2.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) 23.0%
Moisture (max.) 12.0%
Calcium (min.) 0.4%
Calcium (max.) 0.9%
Phosphorus (min.) 0.4%
Salt (min.) 0.25%
Salt (max.) 0.75%
Ascorbic Acid (min.) 100 mg/lb
Oxbow Adult Essentials
Crude Protein (min) 14.00%
Crude Fat (min) 2.00%
Crude Fiber (min) 25.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 28.00%
Moisture (max) 10.00%
Calcium (min) 0.35%
Calcium (max) 0.75%
Phosphorus (min) 0.25%
Vitamin A (min) 10,000 IU/kg
Ascorbic Acid (Vit C.) (min) 250 mg/kg
Vitamin D3 (min) 900 IU/kg
Vitamin E (min) 190 IU/kg
Is there alot of evidence to back the idea that the right ratio of calcium to phosphorus will help prevent the possibility of stones? If it is 1.33, then it would appear to me that the Oxbow wouldn't fit very well to that. If we're going by the maximum calcium and divide that by the phosphorus, you'd get a ratio of 3. If I wanted to compare the same with the Kaytee, the ratio would be close to 2.25, which would be closer to the 1.33. And these would be the maximums, so the ratio would vary.
The reason I picked the Kaytee would be due to the lower ratio, but if the ca/phos ratio isn't supported, then I might just make the switch back.
I don't mean to argue by saying this but I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision for him. Prevention is the best medicine IMO.
The reason I picked the Kaytee would be due to the lower ratio, but if the ca/phos ratio isn't supported, then I might just make the switch back.
I don't mean to argue by saying this but I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision for him. Prevention is the best medicine IMO.
-
- And got the T-shirt
As Sef said, on this thread or another one, a lot used to be made of the Ca:P ratio. But it became apparent that pigs differed widely in how they processed calcium, and that genetics and/or personal make-up have a lot more to do with it that any food ratio.
Two cases:
One, I had littermate sows who had the same diet, same living conditions, etc. One developed bladder stones twice, in spite of being on a low calcium diet her whole life. The other never did.
Two, a friend of mine had a boar that lived to be over eight. She fed him high calcium foods all his life, and he never had the least bit of trouble with bladder stones or sludge.
I realize the two anecdotes don't constitute scientific proof. But I think you can stop worrying about the Ca:P ratios. Calcium metabolism is a lot more complicated than that, and is not well understood. The best things you can do are to keep the total calcium intake fairly low, and pray to the guinea pig gods that you've got pigs that aren't prone to stones.
Two cases:
One, I had littermate sows who had the same diet, same living conditions, etc. One developed bladder stones twice, in spite of being on a low calcium diet her whole life. The other never did.
Two, a friend of mine had a boar that lived to be over eight. She fed him high calcium foods all his life, and he never had the least bit of trouble with bladder stones or sludge.
I realize the two anecdotes don't constitute scientific proof. But I think you can stop worrying about the Ca:P ratios. Calcium metabolism is a lot more complicated than that, and is not well understood. The best things you can do are to keep the total calcium intake fairly low, and pray to the guinea pig gods that you've got pigs that aren't prone to stones.