kidney/bladder stones

Question
QUESTION: I have a 3yr old male guinea pig, under the vet at the moment. He wasn't urinating normally, small crystals were removed from his penis. I was wondering if you know of any way to prevent these crystals forming, my vet said that if they become large and stop him urinating prognosis is not good. He is a much loved piggy, we cannot bear to think about losing him. Thankyou. Karen.

ANSWER: Thank you for using all experts and for being patient as I looked into your question.

What you need to ask your doctor is what is the under lying cause. Many guinea pigs dont tolerate certain foods and you need to know what caused your guinea pig to have this reaction in the first place. For now I can give you ways to control this from happening again based on general "rules" of thumb.

First you need to look into diet. Your Guinea pig needs more protein and less ph. Many pet food give "fillers" like starches that can cause this crystallization also called Struvite Crystals.

Second make sure your guinea is getting lots of water and you should bleach the water bottle at least every two weeks. I dont recommend the dishwasher because it tends to warp the bottles.

Third is to give more calcium a day which can be done by give him 100mg  a day or more green veggies like parsley, spinach, Chinese cabbage, beets, okra.

Forth is to give timothy hay instead of  alfalfa .

Another alternative is Homeopathic medication. It is a herbal type medicine that you find a GNC and other herbal store. It is for immune system and keeping the urinary tract in order.


Also a note, boars(male guinea pigs) have more a chance of getting this then females. If you suspect him to have this occur again you can give him more acidy foods to helps his urine become more acidic and help naturally break down the crystals. Here are a list to go by:



Veggies:
Corn
Lentils
Olives
Winter Squash

Fruits:
Blueberries
Canned or Glazed Fruits
Cranberries
Currants

Nuts:
Walnuts
cashews
peanuts
pecans



I found this website that may help as well:

http://www.gpigs-database.org/pipermail/stones_gpigs-database.org/2006-May/00114

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thankyou for your reply. My guinea pig has been back to the vet today and he thinks there could be too much calcium in his diet. Do you know which foods I could give him that are lower in calcium?
Thanks again. Karen.

Answer
Well there you go most would say more calcium but in you case your guinea pig isnt taking it well. Glad that you ask :)

Here are fruits to stay away from:

Oranges 52mg
Papaya  73mg

Veggies to stay away from:
Spinach 245 mg
Collard Greens 266 mg
Broccoli 124 mg
Celery  81 mg
Okra    50 mg

Two great websites on on fruit content and one on veggie:

http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/?page_id=165

http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/?page_id=166