possible urine scald

daveandtiff · Post » Mon Feb 08, 2016 1:14 am

She is very cute, Megan! Looks very similar to our little girl, with the darker left nostril and all!! I hope you will continue to see her have clearer urine. I haven't had a chance to read far enough back, but have you tried holding water bottle to her while she is on your lap, or finding a different water bottle to try? If she has a fave fruit or veggie (low in calcium), you could minutely flavour the water as well (very watered down version of juice), or suck up plain water first into your syringe and a bit of watered down juice into the latter part/nozzle end of syringe if she seems to be showing more interest with accepting a diluted juice. Some thoughts to get a bit more fluid into her. The floor time is great, the more exercise the better.

Talishan · Post » Tue Feb 09, 2016 12:51 am

We try multiple water bottles; different sizes, different heights in the cage, and different heights of water in the bottle.

A surprising number of our pigs drink best when the water level in the bottle is low. The pressure is lower (water pressure varies by height only -- how big the bottle is doesn't matter). If you find this works for you too, just be sure to check the bottles more frequently to make sure they don't run out.

meganmarie · Post » Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:35 pm

She's been fine until recently. She's been continuously having gritty calcium discharge around her vagina. Ugh, so frustrating. I'm worried it's almost verging on becoming a UTI again. I'm giving her a butt bath either tonight or tomarrow, but her pee is a little smelly and she is having *slight* leakage with the gritty calcium. I just syringed her about 15 ml of water, which she took like a champ, with bites of cuties(mandarin orange) in between. She's on low calcium everything again: KMS pellets, 1/4 cup a day for 4 pigs, unlimited hay(timothy), clean water bottles, only a leaf of lettuce, 1 cherry tomato, cucumber, and 1/4 of a whole red pepper. I think now i'm more just bitching for my own mental health. It's crap having a pig that has calcium issues. She's such a good girl and doesn't diserve this. blech. Crap, crap, crap.

bpatters · Post » Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:38 pm

You said, "low calcium everything again." Usually when a pig has calcium problems, the low-calcium diet is lifelong. I wouldn't ever increase it.

meganmarie · Post » Wed Apr 20, 2016 5:47 pm

Yeah, i was just saying, again,- as in reiterating- that she is on a low calcium diet. I was just listing it in case someone was like, 'but is she on a low calcium diet?'

meganmarie · Post » Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:14 pm

So, i've kind of dropped off of the face of the planet. I'm back on now because Ginger has started pawing at her mouth---pawing like she has something stuck in her mouth. and She's a glutton, like all guinea pigs, but she started last night biting off pieces of red pepper and just dropping them. She'll eat-but only if i rip off little pieces of their dinner(green leaf lettuce, red pepper, cherry tomatoes)but not anywhere near the amount she needs or used to eat. She will gingerly eat hay, small pellets, but not like she usually does. My exotics vet isn't in until this next monday, and i've already called and set up an appointment. 1. do you think it maloclussion, that's where i'm leaning, or maybe hay poke in the mouth 2. any tips to get us through the weekend(feeding her, ect.) Thank you guys!

bpatters · Post » Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:33 pm

Sounds like malocclusion to me. You need to hand-feed her, either Critical Care or pellet slurry. See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

meganmarie · Post » Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:45 pm

Ginger over the last few months has really been struggling with calcium. I'm at my wits end. I only give them 1/4 cup of pellets a day(for 4 pigs) to give them a taste. I feed them green leaf lettuce, red pepper, and a whole cherry tomato a day. Is there anything i could start eliminating? We buy jugs of water, as we have a well, and send that water through a brita filter.

Post » Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:15 pm

What kind of pellets? What kind of hay?

bpatters · Post » Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:11 pm

I'm pretty convinced that calcium metabolism is a genetic issue, and other than controlling diet, there's not a whole lot you can do. Exercise helps, because it keeps the calcium suspended in the urine where it can more easily be peed out.

meganmarie · Post » Sat Nov 18, 2017 9:05 pm

Kms hayloft pellets and KMS timothy hay. I tried to give them bluegrass, but there was zero interest. She's my baby...I hate watching her cry when she pee's out calcium. I hate it.