Thread for Melvin

daj

Post   » Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:02 pm


She didn't suggest cutting back on pellets. She was recommending going with just hay and pellets, but she thought trying to find an alternative to the pellets was worth a try. Sorry if I'm being confusing.

User avatar
ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat Aug 07, 2021 12:45 am


I have a vet that also recommends just hay and pellets. I’ve reduced the amount of veggies but I still feed a few.

I hope you find a pellet replacement that works out and keeps Melvin healthy. Did she say anything about using Critical Care instead of pellets, or would that be similar to the pellet ingredients?

daj

Post   » Sat Aug 07, 2021 1:52 am


Thanks. I think I am getting to a good recipe. The pigs are liking it. I am thinking that it may not be as complicated as it might seem, and if I stick with a few basics like hay, of course, barley, flax, sweet potato flour, brewer's yeast, etc. and include a bit of liquid multi vitamin, it should work out well. The vet didn't mention critical care. It does seem to have some of the things I'm trying to avoid though, like soybean oil, wheat bran and whet middlings. Basically, I want to use pulverized hay mixed with some food ingredients, avoiding fractionated things as much as possible and avoiding things that strike me as fillers or cheap byproducts from other food production. I am not a fan of grains. Right now I am using rolled barley flakes, but I could probably eliminate it. I myself, eat a grain-free diet, and I think it's probably best for pigs too. There aren't any natural grain eaters in nature except for birds, and even they don't feed them to their young.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Aug 07, 2021 10:42 pm


Be very careful using a multi vitamin. There are fat soluble vitamins that can build up in the body and cause medical problems. You would need to carefully evaluate the vitamin/mineral requirements to know how much you could give. Natural sources are always better (better absorbed too) and tend to occur in safe amounts.

"Do not give multivitamins! Plain vitamin C is fine, but multivitamins are not. Excesses of fat soluble vitamins like A and D can cause serious problems for your pet."
https://www.guinealynx.info/healthycavy_orig.html

One of the veterinary books I have documents medical problems caused by multivitamins (an excess of certain fat soluble vitamins).
Self-Assessment Color Review of Small Mammals by Susan A. Brown and Karen L. Rosenthal

daj

Post   » Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:27 am


Yes, good advice that I will heed. I'm not in favor of them either, esp. for pigs. I was thinking it would cover anything my mix might be lacking, but with hay, the vegetables and the mix I'm making, I would think I'm covered. They are loving it, but I think I may need to dilute what I did the first two days. The night of the first day was the first in about a week that I didn't hear Melvin squeal in pain, so I am 99.99% sure it was the Oxbow Garden Select. I would bet I was using it when he was having pain about a year ago. I've come to feel really good about this path, like I am doing something that will be highly beneficial for them, but I guess only time will tell.

daj

Post   » Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:57 pm


I'm just adding this as an update here. The vet recommended taking him off all vegetables to see if that helped. I wanted to try getting him off dry pellets first. it seemed to help, but didn't stop the pain altogether. Then I stopped pepper and cut back the amount on carrot. He still had pain. Then I tried cutting out all the fibrous white portions on the lettuce, giving him only the tender green portions of the leaf. This seems to do the trick, about 1 to 3/4 of a baby carrot and tender green lettuce in addition to his hay and the soaked hay is all he gets. What a relief. It was getting scary and stressful hearing him in pain, but I think we've fixed things for now. As of today, 10/29/21 Melvin is pain free and doing well. We've also found a couple more things that seem to be on the safe list for him, like apple (mostly skins) and tomato.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:20 pm


I am so glad you hit upon something that works for him! I hope it continues to be a good solution!!

p.s. apple skins are the most likely to be contaminated with pesticides.
I love tomatoes! Many guinea pigs do too!

daj

Post   » Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:33 pm


I only feed organic apples, Apples are so weird. I don't know how people even eat conventional apples. They don't even have any aroma. They are the most empty, artificial fruit there is, IME. Even some organic apples have had the life bred out of them. Can be the same way with tomatoes. Sad how Americans value appearance over flavor and nutrition.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:22 am


I think with apples, what is valued is storage life and crispness. I notice so many of the new varieties are so much crisper than the old ones. And they also take old names and put them on new apples which aren't at all like they used to be. Golden Delicious was a great storing apple and had patches of "gold" on it. That variety in stores has disappeared though they have misappropriated the name and claim they sell them (we had them in our garden 60+ years ago).

Good that you use organic. Just so you know, they can still use pesticides of some sort but they have to be pesticide free for a specific amount of time. Apples are very susceptible to molds, worms, dieases, etc. I was used to worms in our apples.

daj

Post   » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:44 pm


Yeah, on the mold and worm issues, nice apples are something of a miracle. I've never seem a nicely producing local tree. But I do remember going apple picking growing up in NJ, and they were the real thing, giant farmer's market apples. I recall eating 5 of them in a row. I hate to think about the pesticides though.

daj

Post   » Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:12 pm


Yesterday I noticed Melvin seems to be impacted. He had a dry poop stuck like glue down there, so I used Q-tips and mineral oil and got it off. But I am not sure how successful I am being with the rest. I tried again tonight and also used a soapy paper towel. He doesn't seem to have a large mass in his pocket. It was really hardened like dried tar around the opening though. I did work some out of the pocket, but not a whole lot. My question is how clean is it possible to get him? Should it all be removed, maybe by working at it some each night? I can't really tell if there's more in there or not. And is this typical? I never imagined it would be so hard to remove. I would have thought the oil would loosen it all right up.It's like a dark mess down there, and I can't tell what is what, and I don't want to hurt him or stress him out.

I also wonder about potential complications? I suspect a contributing factor in this is that I have been without a furnace for over a week. It's 47 degrees in the house in the morning. I've had to keep them covered most of the day, and they are all hunkering down in their apartments, on their beds. It's a cozy high 70s in there, but they are not getting much exercise. We were supposed to have heat back last Fri. but the gas valve in the new furnace is bad. I will find out tomorrow, how much longer it will be. I'm also trying some diet changes, one of which is adding psylium back to to his wet food and trying things like pepper and the fibrous portions of the lettuce leaf, both of which he hasn't had in, maybe close to a year, because they seemed to be causing him pain.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Mon Mar 07, 2022 4:17 pm


I'm not too sure what to suggest. Normally I'd say you could try giving him a butt bath, but if the house is that cold, I'm not sure I would want his bottom wet right now. Soaking the area might be the best way to loosen that up, though. Most of the gunk is outside his anal sac area? Any chance you could post a picture?

Usually an impacted boar will feel "heavy" around his bottom. Do you have anyone who can gently hold him while you explore the inside of his anal sac and see if you spot anything stuck up in there?

Post Reply