JR Farm Grainless food

[Char-x]

Can anyone tell me if this would be a good alternative to Excell for a guinea pig whose had an issue with bladder sludge? I've heard it's pretty healthy, just want opinions on the ingrediants as it says parsley which I know is calcium, but it claims it is low in calcium? Also unsure on the diced apple?

It's this:

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pet ... 78336#more

The blend contains a variety of grasses, herbs, flowers and vegetables. Grainless is particularly low in calcium and the high fibre content supports digestion and the natural wearing down of teeth. Grainless Complete is also rich in vitamins, important trace elements and even contains unsaturated fatty acids from fresh linseed, fennel and black onion seed. No artificial colours, flavours or genetically modified ingredients are used in this food. The small pet food is also free from ingredients with high sugar content like pomace and coarse meal.

Ingredients:
Timothy grass, orchard grass, meadow grass, plantain, red clover, meadow fescue, lady's mantle, parsley, pea flakes, diced carrots and beans flakes, diced parsnip, peppermint leaves, fennel, diced apple, flax seed, dandelion leaves, diced beetroot, nettle, chamomile flowers, black seed, vitamins

Additives:
Vitamin A (10,000 IU/kg), Vitamin D3 (1,000 IU/kg), Vitamin C (250 mg), Vitamin E (40 mg)

[Cinnabuns Legacy]

A lot of it looks good, but I'd be worried if the plantain isn't in very small amounts, and I don't know much about lady's mantle or nettle. My main concern is the ingredient "beans flakes", does it mean green beans or lentils? I was under the impression beans (not green beans but actual beans) were bad for cavies? It's great that it's timothy and grass hay based though and lower in calcium.

[flutterbye]

I too would be interested in others' opinions of this product, as I've heard of it as an alternative to Oxbow for stone/sludge stone pigs, which we can get here in the UK.

[Lynx]

Ingredients:
Timothy grass, orchard grass, meadow grass, plantain, red clover, meadow fescue, lady's mantle, parsley, pea flakes, diced carrots and beans flakes, diced parsnip, peppermint leaves, fennel, diced apple, flax seed, dandelion leaves, diced beetroot, nettle, chamomile flowers, black seed, vitamins

The clover is high in calcium. I suspect the plantain may be also. I expect the pea flakes would be starchy. Carrots in very small amounts only. Parsnip might be starchy also. Apple, sugary. Dandelion leaves and parsley high in calcium. Beetroot starchy.

I like these ingredients the best:

Ingredients:
Timothy grass, orchard grass, meadow grass

[rshevin]

I'll bet the plaintain is serving as a binder. Seeing THREE grass hays as the first 3 ingredients is pretty darn encouraging to me.

[Sef]

I don't see calcium carbonate on the list of ingredients, which might make it a good substitute for sludge/stone-prone pigs. I also don't see B vitamins, though.

Lady's Mantle seems like an odd ingredient.

[Debs4Pigs]

I was wondering about the black onion seed.

[lisam]

Here's some info on the black onion seed--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa

[Char-x]

So do you guys think (with a bladder sludge/possibly stone) pig I would be better off on this pellet than Excell which has alfalfa in it?

I could try a mix of both if she is willing to be extra good and eat half of each, but I would like to eliminate the alfalfa ideally.

[Char-x]

Also she doesnt tend to get carrots in her veg diet. Her veg diet core is:

1 large/2 small round lettuce leaves
20-30 stalks of corriander
1/6th of a large green bell pepper (or 1/4 of a small one)
1 baby tomatoe (no seeds - no nutrition really but she enjoys)
1 inch of cucumber (sugary water, but urine tests show her urine is fine glucose wise and she barely drinks so its useful for hydration - I have to be careful syringing her water as her heart plays her up with excessfluid).
Then 5-10 (dependant on size etc) of Dill to get her tablets and meds down and as a treat.

She also has green oat and dandelion herbs. Timothy hay and meadow hay (latter is mainly to pee in though!)

[Lynx]

Does she eat much green oat and dandelion herbs? The dandelion would have a higher calcium content. What does her urine normally look like?

[Char-x]

I was always under the impression dandlion was good for the bladder *sigh*

And yes she does enjoy them so has them once a day.

Right now, because of her issues with bladder sludge it's pretty cloudy - she recently passed a stone/hard sludge we believe.