Josephine... what to supplement with?

Josephine
Little Jo Wheek

Post   » Thu Jul 25, 2002 12:52 am


The point is grass hay, grain, and veggies ARE enough. Thank goodness cavies are so precocious. I did raise my last orphan litter almost entirely on Critical Care for the first two weeks. After that, I was able to wean them and get them to eat more hay and veggies.

I wouldn´t recommend any milk. I´ve really gone that way after 20 years and many orphan litters/fostered pups (remember I used to be a big bad breeder and had sows go toxic...).
I think I´ve tried almost every kind of domestic milk and many published and self-concocted formulas. The research shows it is good to have cavy milk. Other milk is more of a detriment, it seems, in the books and in practice. The various types have too many side effects.
Last edited by Josephine on Thu Jul 25, 2002 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Kifaru

Post   » Thu Jul 25, 2002 1:55 am


Josephine, does the new Pet-Ag line of custom-blend have anything to offer? The keepers at work have been very pleased with it from what I hear.

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KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Thu Jul 25, 2002 3:11 am


That´s great to know, Josephine. Thank you.

Josephine
Little Jo Wheek

Post   » Fri Jul 26, 2002 9:26 pm


Pet-Ag? Do they have a website?

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bats

Post   » Fri Jul 26, 2002 10:48 pm



Josephine
Little Jo Wheek

Post   » Sat Jul 27, 2002 12:43 am


Hmmm... Interesting. Not much to the site. They recommend Esbilac (puppy replacer) for cavies NOT KMR. No nutrition info. I can spend almost sixty bucks for their book which may or may not have a good formula in it. I haven´t heard anything good about milk replacers for cavies. My recommendations are still as above for now. I do continue to go to challenging and interesting Exotics CE. I´m going to another conference in October and hope to pick up a few pointers there. Dr. Murray from Monterey (Zoe´s vet, I believe) and Dr. Doug Mader (Emergency Vets) are two of the small mammal speakers

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KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Sat Jul 27, 2002 3:15 am


Well, I have been giving my wee ones a mixture of alfalfa pellets, vit C, and Baby oatmeal flake cereal mixed with OJ. They are CRAZY for it. They are maintaining on it. One has gained a few grams. They are starting to eat regular food now. My smallest one goes bonkers when I get her out to feed. She shakes and becomes almost impossible to hold. Then she ATTACKS the little syringe!!! SO CUTE!! Out of the 10 pups I have, two have lost 10 grams since birth, 2 have maintained birth weight and the rest are up about 5 to 15 grams. Seems slow to me, but they were big litters. I am supplementing all the ones who have lost weight or just maintained. Good news is they are all healthy, active, strong and loud!! They will all be fine!! Just my kind of litters. 14 out of 14 pups are healthy and happy!

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