Guinea pig vitamin C dependency — lack of L-gulonolactone oxidase requires dietary ascorbic acid

Guinea pig vitamin C dependency

The text below is reproduced verbatim from the first-hand source (Merck Veterinary Manual).

> Guinea pigs lack L -gulonolactone oxidase, which is involved in the synthesis of ascorbic acid from glucose. > Because of this, they require a regular source of vitamin C > which typically ranges between 10 and 25 mg/kg daily > Supplementation of vitamin C in the water is not recommended because it requires frequent changing and can give an unappealing flavor to the water, which could lead to a decrease in water intake.

Source: pdf-raw/exotic-health/mvm_guinea_pig_vitamin_c.txt (first-hand professional veterinary reference, tag-stripped).

Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)

• Guinea pigs lack L -gulonolactone oxidase, which is involved in the synthesis of ascorbic acid from glucose.
• Because of this, they require a regular source of vitamin C
• which typically ranges between 10 and 25 mg/kg daily
• Supplementation of vitamin C in the water is not recommended because it requires frequent changing and can give an unappealing flavor to the water, which could lead to a decrease in water intake.