Amazing digestive results using Sherwood Pellets
Yes, I was reticent to switch from KMS after Nala’s first GI flare-up in February due to the lack of data and the concern about the calcium situation. My first two guineas both ate Oxbow and KMS with no problems. I am going in to this Sherwood ‘experience’ out of desperation and hoping for the best- so far she is tolerating it fine but like I said up top, she IS eating fewer pellets than before. She would not be a good study specimen at all, true, CageCleaner, as she had a complete diet overhaul at this time anyway and that’s probably the case for a lot of pigs or rabbits making the switch. I also wish there were more citations but am trying to make the best out of a rough situation.
I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to see how people are feeling about Sherwood food now. Have there been any real studies on it's safety?
We tried one bag of Sherwood pellets in order to get away from the soy, wheat and sugar of the Oxbow. Our 4 yr old boar died from kidney stones 3 months after that bag was finished.
I haven't taken the time to add up the calcium amounts, but wondering if it's generally equal levels of calcium between a diet of Oxbow, romaine and red leaf lettuces, peppers, all timothy hay..... or a diet of red or green leaf only lettuce, peppers, orchard grass and some timothy hay with Sherwood pellets. (orchard has less calcium, red and green leaf have less calcium than romaine)
We tried one bag of Sherwood pellets in order to get away from the soy, wheat and sugar of the Oxbow. Our 4 yr old boar died from kidney stones 3 months after that bag was finished.
I haven't taken the time to add up the calcium amounts, but wondering if it's generally equal levels of calcium between a diet of Oxbow, romaine and red leaf lettuces, peppers, all timothy hay..... or a diet of red or green leaf only lettuce, peppers, orchard grass and some timothy hay with Sherwood pellets. (orchard has less calcium, red and green leaf have less calcium than romaine)
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- Make Good Choices
Echoing Jatean’s question - anyone who has been using these pellets for a while have any issues long-term?
I just read about these pellets today and am wondering if they could help my 1 yr old boar who has had extremely gritty pee for the past few months. He has occasional blood in his pee for which the vets can find no cause, I’m wondering if it’s irritation from the grit. I’m willing to try just about anything that will get him to drink more and flush his bladder.
I just read about these pellets today and am wondering if they could help my 1 yr old boar who has had extremely gritty pee for the past few months. He has occasional blood in his pee for which the vets can find no cause, I’m wondering if it’s irritation from the grit. I’m willing to try just about anything that will get him to drink more and flush his bladder.
My two girls finished one bag of Sherwood pellets and just started a second bag. The piggies switched to the Sherwood ones with no problem but because I still have several pounds of Oxbow, I mix the two together. I also tried to decrease the veggies but haven't always been successful. Around the same time, I changed from paper bedding to fleece and noticed some grit, which were likely hidden before in the paper bedding. One of the girls, Birdy, is eating a lot more hay and drinking more water. Her sister, Lily, has not increased her water intake. Lily has a much harder time at the water bottle and does not seem to drink properly. I wonder if a bowl would be better for Lily but I don't want poop to get into her water bowl or water spillage. I cannot tell which piggy or both has the gritty pee. Although I am happy with Sherwood's no soy or grain factor, the alfalfa part makes me a little uncomfortable and I am new to piggies.
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- Make Good Choices
It is definitely the alfalfa that gives me pause, but I wonder if they are eating half the pellets, does the calcium content balance itself out?
I noticed on Sherwood’s website that my previous vet in Seattle is endorsing and even sells the products. I ordered a sample and plan to take it to my vet here in NC to see what she thinks as well (while we’re getting one last X-ray for stones).
I noticed on Sherwood’s website that my previous vet in Seattle is endorsing and even sells the products. I ordered a sample and plan to take it to my vet here in NC to see what she thinks as well (while we’re getting one last X-ray for stones).
Sherwood pellets DO balance themselves, but in different way than what you are thinking. They do so through the DCAB (Dietary Cation Anion Balance). Calcium problems are caused due to a buildup and stones. Calcium is a positively charged ion normally which means it needs an equal amount of negative ions in the bladder to break it down. Sherwood pellets have enough of these ions to do so.
According to the website this is the negative ions they use:
Chloride
Phosphate
Sulfate
Too much of a positively charged ion can lead to sludge. Sherwood balances this too.
According to the website this is the positive ions they use:
Calcium
Potassium
Magnesium
Sodium
Zinc
Yes this is more but there is an equal amount of each quantity-wise.
Because of these ions Sherwood pellets can keep your guinea pig from having a major building of sludge and stone and some pigs even have a lack of calcium completely in their urine and bladder. If you become a part of the Sherwood forum, they have a 'Sherwood University' part of the program which thoroughly explains how the pellets work (even more than the actual Sherwood Shop).
They do not recommend adding any other Alfalfa to your pigs diet because the pellets have the perfect balance to cancel the amount of alfalfa in it, adding more alfalfa throws off this balance and leads to more calcium problems
According to the website this is the negative ions they use:
Chloride
Phosphate
Sulfate
Too much of a positively charged ion can lead to sludge. Sherwood balances this too.
According to the website this is the positive ions they use:
Calcium
Potassium
Magnesium
Sodium
Zinc
Yes this is more but there is an equal amount of each quantity-wise.
Because of these ions Sherwood pellets can keep your guinea pig from having a major building of sludge and stone and some pigs even have a lack of calcium completely in their urine and bladder. If you become a part of the Sherwood forum, they have a 'Sherwood University' part of the program which thoroughly explains how the pellets work (even more than the actual Sherwood Shop).
They do not recommend adding any other Alfalfa to your pigs diet because the pellets have the perfect balance to cancel the amount of alfalfa in it, adding more alfalfa throws off this balance and leads to more calcium problems
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- And got the T-shirt
@kailaeve1271, I think you're drinking the Sherwood Kool-Aid. Any decent guinea pig food has all of those ingredients in it, and those ions will NOT keep a guinea pig from having a buildup of sludge and stone. Calcium metabolism in guinea pigs is not well understood, and Sherwood's claims about it are completely unverified by any other researcher.
Sherwood may have good pellets, they may not. But they're not magic, and they're not independently researched. And it will take a lot more anecdotal evidence (which is about all anyone has at this point) over a much longer period of time to be able to draw any definitely conclusions about them.
Sherwood may have good pellets, they may not. But they're not magic, and they're not independently researched. And it will take a lot more anecdotal evidence (which is about all anyone has at this point) over a much longer period of time to be able to draw any definitely conclusions about them.
@bpatters I wasn't rude to you, so don't be rude to me.
I'm literally just explaining information from their site and that's it. I never said they were perfect, I explained how their pellets work. Other brands may have these ingredients, but they do not claim to have them BALANCED which is the key point to Sherwood pellets. From what I understand Sherwoods research is based on basic Chemistry so I'm sure there is research even if it's not directly pointed towards guinea pigs. Again Ion stability is taught in basic chemistry so yes there is evidence to back this up. Is there a lot of evidence out there? Maybe. Is that what I was trying to explain at all? No. I was merely explaining how the pellets supposedly work.
I was just saying that so far they seem to be positive and I as well as many other piggy parents are willing to try it. Oxbow is a great brand, but it doesn't work for me and a few others.
I'm going to talk about Sherwood pellets on a Sherwood based thread. Just like if this was a thread about Oxbow pellets I'd be happy to talk about how wonderful Oxbow pellets can be, but this is, again, a thread about SHERWOOD pellets. I'm just trying to be helpful to those who haven't read the full extent of the information they have released
I'm literally just explaining information from their site and that's it. I never said they were perfect, I explained how their pellets work. Other brands may have these ingredients, but they do not claim to have them BALANCED which is the key point to Sherwood pellets. From what I understand Sherwoods research is based on basic Chemistry so I'm sure there is research even if it's not directly pointed towards guinea pigs. Again Ion stability is taught in basic chemistry so yes there is evidence to back this up. Is there a lot of evidence out there? Maybe. Is that what I was trying to explain at all? No. I was merely explaining how the pellets supposedly work.
I was just saying that so far they seem to be positive and I as well as many other piggy parents are willing to try it. Oxbow is a great brand, but it doesn't work for me and a few others.
I'm going to talk about Sherwood pellets on a Sherwood based thread. Just like if this was a thread about Oxbow pellets I'd be happy to talk about how wonderful Oxbow pellets can be, but this is, again, a thread about SHERWOOD pellets. I'm just trying to be helpful to those who haven't read the full extent of the information they have released
I tried it, but to be honest my pigs didn't like it much. They ate very little, which is part of the deal about them, but I figured I could just go pellet-less if that was the case. If I had only a few pigs I could monitor if they did better while on them. In the rescue, with pigs moving from cage to cage, or being adopted, it was hard to see the benefits.