[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Acid, alkaline and calcium

[Ann Evans]

Dear Ellen and the GPDD family,

I have not been keeping up with the digest lately since my home is 
undergoing major re-modeling.  This includes both bathrooms. All the 
tile except in the kitchen is being taken up and replaced with bamboo. 
The entire house from the ceilings to the baseboards is being painted. 
Thankfully I have a caviary so the piggys are in their own home away 
from all this mess. I also volunteer at Dr. Bonsack's office and see up 
to 15 cavies/week along with caring for my own rescued cavies and my 
adorable husband.
Regarding cavies pH. Their urine is alkaline. The pH is usually between 
8.0-8.5. I mentioned that cavies kidneys have a difficult time handling 
too much acid in the blood. This was in reference to using Methigel to 
help reduce the formation of calcium carbonate stones in cavies. Piggys 
naturally excrete excess calcium into the urine and thus the urine 
naturally has calcium crystals in it. Acidifying the urine with methigel 
or vitamin c, or cranberry juice or hydrangea root extract may help 
dissolves the calcium crystals. These crystals are usually flushed from 
the bladder when the cavy urinates. However high levels of calcium in 
water can cause more calcium to be excreted into the urine. The crystals 
are attracted to each other and can form stones. This is a very 
simplified explanation, there are many methods of stone formation. It is 
recommended that the water you give your cavies should contain 4.0 mg/L 
or less of calcium. I buy 1 gallon spring water that has been filtered 
by reverse osmosis. It contains 0.03 mg/L of calcium. This is the same 
amount of calcium in the premium spring bottled waters. The one gallon 
jugs I buy here is Florida come from Silver Springs and cost 88 
cents/gallon. Cavies need to drink a minimum of 40 ml of water/day and 
should drink about 90 ml of water/day. Of course they get some of their 
water from the fruits and vegetables that they are fed. I hope this has 
cleared up any confusion I may have caused.

Cheers,

Ann and the Rescued Piggys of Piggyville, Tampa Florida USA.