possible urine scald

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bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:13 pm


Call your local water authority and ask what the calcium levels are. Some cities put that information online. You may or may not need a filter.

And I'm not real convinced that a Brita filter will do anything for calcium.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:35 am


Re: your water -- as a very rough rule of thumb, what kind of rocks do you have in your area?

Hard, marbly rocks => granite. Not much calcium.

Soft, white, sometimes even crumbly rocks => limestone. VERY high in calcium.

I know nothing about the geology of your area, but if you go online and find something out about it, in general (and this is NOT a hard and fast rule by any means, but in general), areas of the country that are high in limestone (Chicago area, Austin, Texas area) will have municipal water high in calcium (actually, calcium carbonate). Areas underlain by granite (like Atlanta) have much less calcium carbonate in the water.

Ditto the advice you have received. Don't pull the pellets until you can replace them.

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meganmarie

Post   » Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:45 pm


I have yet to call them because they are usually in only on weekdays(that's what the voicemail says, at least). It is only the 2nd full day she has had medicine(friday and saturday, 1 dose so far, today), and i'm pulling out my hair. I hate seeing the pee on her. I keep wiping it off of her with a washcloth, but just the thought of it on her making her uncomfortable is stressing me out. I'm also scared the medicine wont work, and also the what if's, what if's, what if's. *sigh* My head's gonna pop off.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:48 pm


It will most likely take more than two days to see the med work. Breathe. You're doing a great job. Really. (Better yet, have a beer. :-)

If the stuff you are wiping off is making HER uncomfortable, that's one thing. If the stuff you are wiping off doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest -- if she is behaving, eating, drinking, urinating and defecating normally -- even if it makes YOU feel bad for her -- then don't worry about it (have a beer! ;-) and call the vet this week.

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meganmarie

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:35 am


I might take you up on that beer, Talishan. : ) i'm just a worrywart.

GPIG

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:13 am


Not to get off of Meganmaries thread and maybe it's realative to her area, but what if there were fracking going on in the area one lived in? Guinea pigs being, well, guinea pigs, wouldn't they be affected before humans? Botteld water?

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LS in AK
Upside-down & Backwards

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:11 am


If I ever have to start worrying about fracking ruining the drinking water wherever I may live, then I think it is time for the world to just end.

Meganmarie, you are doing fine with all of this. It is normal to worry when our pets fall ill. I would go so far as to say it is healthy to worry, because that can prompts us to educate ourselves about the condition and then provide proper treatment -- which is exactly what you are doing.

That said, taking care of yourself is important, so you can take care of Ginger-pig.

Just keep giving her meds and wiping off the pee so she is dry and take it one day at a time, with the understanding that not all conditions resolve right away. Pace yourself, and be prepared for the long haul here, but don't burn yourself out over it (if that makes sense). If you are just dealing with a UTI, then great -- care for it, clear it up, and move on. But if you have a Ca-challenged sludge pig, you may be running through trial and error with diet and husbandry and responding to disturbances here and there for quite awhile. Don't want your head to pop off before you are done needing to use it :-/

I cast a vote for the Brita filter, too.

GPIG

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:03 am


Maybe it's not come to your area yet but for some of us it's a real concern - it's not something just on a television documentary.

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meganmarie

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:34 pm


Thank you, LS in AK...you're right. I need to keep my cool and just keep going...

I need to just keep my cool and keep on trucking...today(with 3 full days on meds), i've only had to wipe her once, in the morning, and it wasn't bad at all. Just a little...dampness. I've also started cleaning their cage extra(2 times a day instead of 1). I think i will look into the brita's. : )

GPIG, i know exactly what your talking about. Thankfully, That happened in northeastern Pennsylvania, and i'm in the Southwest corner(fracking caused gas to leak into peoples wells and the water bed, causing their water to become toxic, and be able to be lite of fire. yikes!). Right now, fracking only needs to be about 500 feet from housing, or important structures. We're trying to get a law that says they have to be at least 1000 feet away. As far as i know, there is no fracking happening by me.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:25 pm


Fracking would have to be MUCH further away to prevent possible issues! The underground water structure is very extensive and some caverns cover very larger areas. Fracking should be banned!

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meganmarie

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:24 pm


Lynx: I don't know if i should agree, or disagree. I only know what they were saying on the news about it(as well as the new law), and things i've heard my parents say about it. Myself, i don't really know anything about it, i was just reiterating info from those sources. It sounds bad, though.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:10 pm


Underground aquifers can be huge. You contaminate them, the water is contaminated. This is one of the largest (it underlies an area of approximately 174,000 mi² in portions of eight states):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogallala_Aquifer

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