[Gpdd] HEALTH: Kaytee and yogurt

[Lisa Choiniere]

Hi there!
 
I just thought I would mention about my experience with brands of food and the whole yougurt debate.
 
Kaytee does usually have good Timothy hay and a lot of times it is better than Oxbow's Timothy. Since I have the rescue, you can imagine how much hay I go through and it is not feasible to spend $7-8 for the "big" bag of Kaytee when that really only lasts me 3-4 days. So I have been using Oxbow because I can buy it 25 lbs at a time. I have a friend who owns a pet store and he orders it for me so I usually get that box of hay for about $28 which lasts about 6 weeks. I prefer the Orchard grass, but I alternate boxes of Timothy and Orchard grass. Sometimes their Timothy has so many stick-like pieces. I tried a farm bale of hay which the pigs didn't seem to mind but it was very "stick"-y and so I will probably not do that again. 
 
I buy PMIs LabDiet 5025 pellet diet for my babies. My logic is that if they use it for those poor lab guinea pigs where they have to be in top health for their medical studies, then it will keep mine in top health too. I really notice a difference in the quality and softness of their coats especially. Most of my babies have silky-soft hair except for my itchy Wesley and Zippy and I am still not sure what is going on with those two (I am going to try a warm-oil treatment this weekend to see if that helps the itch). My GPs also do not like Timothy pellets and refuse Oxbow pellets of any kind. 
 
Yogurt... Yogurt drops do not count because what you really want are the cultures of bacteria and those processed drops don't have any. I have given some of my babies yogurt when they were on antibiotics and never noticed any ill effects (no gas, diarrhea, etc., from the lactose) HOWEVER most of mine really don't like yogurt so much and it is so hard to get them to eat it. My solution was getting some Acidophilus capsules (in the refrigerated section at a health food store, if they aren't refrigerated they potency isn't very good) and opening the capsule and sprinkling it on their fruit/veggies. This works really, really well with juicy stuff like berries or melon or apples and they never notice they are getting something extra. My beloved Nigel (bless his little soul) got his Acidophilus with the fennel tea mixture I gave him to help his gas and distension.
 
And as an added tidbit of info, I found some good toys... You have to go to the bird section in the pet store, but they have these woven-grapevine balls which my GPs love to toss and they chew em up too. Also, there are these things called "birdie bagels" which are basically cardboard rings (like the same stuff as in those cardboard tube "Chubes") only thicker and they like to chew on those a lot too and my Jacob and Callie always seem to want it at the same time so they play a bit of tug of war. Hopefully I can catch that on camera some day...
 
Sorry for the epic post! 
 
Be well!
Lisa and the gang at Wheeks and Squeaks


Wheeks and Squeaks Rodent Rescue 
www.wheeksandsqueaks.petfinder.com
Finding permanent, loving homes for guinea pigs and degus



		
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