Can they be on CritCare for too long?

[Lynx]

That is crappy! Sorry to hear you will be having trouble getting it, Sef.

[Sef]

Thanks. I bit the bullet and paid $26 for an unopened, small bag of Critical Care that was being sold on eBay. Free shipping, at least.

[Renonvsparky]

Sorry to hear that. I've always wondered if there is a way to use a high speed blender, coffee grinder or some other method to grind up hay and other foods that have the nutrients guinea pigs need into a fine powder to use in place of critical care. I haven't had the need to try it yet but if I need CC and can't get it, I'll have to. Is that something you can try?

[ItsaZoo]

I used a Ninja smoothie blender to make hay smoothies when Lacey was having trouble eating. I mixed hay, some shredded carrot, pellets, and water and whipped up mush. Then I kept a little fresh in the refrigerator, and froze dollops on parchment paper so I’d be able to thaw them out for her. The only problem is you don’t really know what the nutrients are, or how much to feed with the water mixed in.

I don’t think it will pulverize into powder. I needed to add water or the ingredients just sat in one place and didn’t blend.

[Renonvsparky]

That makes sense. It would take a very high speed grinder with very small blades to grind up dry ingredients, I'd imagine. As someone who likes to experiment, I might fool around with it and see what I can come up with. If all else fails, your method is sound and something I'd do if I had to hand feed and couldn't get CC.

[Lynx]

I believe there are "burr" grinders that will pulverize items. I have a hand crank one that supposedly makes flour out of wheat berries - but it is mostly unused. Super fine grinds are needed for some coffees so it's possible one might find a machine that did a fair job on dry ingredients.

For a comparison between burr and blade grinders, check this out (quality burr grinders, more uniform, much more expensive):
https://www.seriouseats.com/burr-vs-bla ... rs-7557180

For blade grinders, I ran across this extremely detailed review of blade spice grinders:
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-spice-grinders

And burr grinders:
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-coffee-grinders

[ItsaZoo]

A burr grinder might work. I have one for my coffee beans and it pulverizes to espresso grind if it’s set fine enough.

[daisymay]

My Jessie was on Critical Care for the last 5 years of her life as her only food source and for 12 months before that as a supplement! Use to blend rockmelon and red capsicum and add juice into dry mixture. She loved it and would let us know if we were 5 minutes late!

[Renonvsparky]

Does oxbow not manufacture the fine grind papaya flavored critical care anymore? It's not available at Amazon, Chevy or Petco. I did a search for it and it doesn't come up. The Anise and apple banana flavor is available everywhere. The only thing Dean will eat is the critical care and the papaya fine grind is what I have. I've been making mush balls out of it and he eats it on his own. He was eating the carrot greens out of my greenhouse, but I'm out of that too. I'm almost out of critical care and had to order the apple flavor. Hope he eats it, or we're going to be in big trouble.

[ItsaZoo]

It looks like most of the usual pet supply places are out of stock. However, if you do a search, some places like Atlas Pet Supply and Pet Supermarket have it listed in stock. Oxbow still has it on their website. You’d think they’d have a notice if they discontinued it. The papaya flavor is a favorite of my piggies, too. I was able to mix it with the apple banana and fool Millie, but that didn’t work back when I tried it with Lacey.

[Renonvsparky]

I ordered 2 from Pet Supermarket. We'll see if it shows up. Meanwhile I have enough left to get him through today and the apple flavor is supposed to be here this afternoon. I sure hope he eats it. It would be a shame if I had to start syringe feeding him. It's a bit confusing as to why oxbow appears to have stopped making the fine grind papaya flavor. There should be a notice of some kind if they discontinued it. Maybe they're having issues with manufacturing. If so, it should be back in stock once they get it worked out.

[Sef]

EmerAid is reasonable substitute for CC in a pinch. I keep both on-hand just to be on the safe side.