Feet: bumblefoot caused by new bedding

[Onetwo]

As some of you know I have 6 male guinea pigs. They are very much litter trained and have Cel-sorb in the bottom of their litter boxes with a bit of hay on top. The rest of their cage is fleece and towels. I noticed last night that most of my guinea pigs feet are red. They do like to sit in their boxes to sleep a lot.

My question is how do I help them to recover from their mild case of bumblefoot? Should I switch to a different bedding or will they build up a tollerance to how hard it is? I'd rather not switch since I just bought another 40lb bag and I really like its absorbance and odor properties over carefresh but I dont want them to hurt of be in pain.

Anyone have any advice or been in a similar situation??? Thanks for any advice...

[juliaaa]

I would suggest putting a layer of Carefresh on top of the Cel-sorb to give it some padding.

[TallulahBear]

How about putting some fleece or other cozy material in their boxes? You'll have to change it out regularly but if they are having foot problems you need to do that anyway. After you have a few sets of fleece cut outs for the box it will really save you money too.

[ShaunaMuse]

I do basically the same thing with my boys litter box. I have Yesterdays News down then some hay on top but not much. I change out the hay 2 times a day so it doesn't get to wet and gross and (yes this may seem weird) but I will scoop out the wet litter and then rotate around the dry and add fresh if I need to just so I can make sure there is not just one place that is getting really wet. I do a complete change of the litter every 3 days as well. Ya might wanna give this a try. Hope it helps.

[Onetwo]

Thanks guys but I do clean them out pretty regulalrly. I have tried putting fleece down but I couldnt change it often enough. The fleece just didnt stay dry enough and all my piggies were all icky from pee. I think the thing that is hurting their feet is how hard the cell sorb is. Any suggestions on soothing their bumblefeet?

[MapleOwl18]

The fleece needs to be washed 3 times minimum with a unscented detergant with no fabric softener in it. This breaks down the water barrier which keeps the urine from passing through to the bedding. You can check this by seeing if water pools on top of fleece, when you dump some on it.
(I once did this when I wasn't sure which fleece I had washed, useful trick)

My piggies love fleece over old towels, and I have several independent confirmations that it smells a lot better than wood chips did. I wash the entire set together. Also I don't use dryer sheets, mainly because they're scented and piggies noses are more sensitive than ours.

In the mean time I would put some carefresh on top of the Cell-Sorb. I use Carefresh under my hayracks.

Here's some information bumblefoot.
http://www.guinealynx.info/pododermatitis.html

You might also want to post on the medical forum here if you have questions. Its a forum that specializes in guinea pig illnesses.
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/vi...9580c503f224a7

I guess the question is how bad the Bumblefoot is. If its just redness on their feet it should go away with a change of bedding. If its scabs and oozing, you probably want to post on Guinea Pig Lynx and go to a vet.

[Onetwo]

Thanks Mapleowl18...But if you had read my my post it said that I only use the cell-sorb in the litter boxes. I have been using fleece for 2 years so I know how to properly wash and dry it. My POINT was that they pee SOOOOO much in their litter boxes that I would have to change it every 2 hours. They pee about 6 oz in their litter boxes per day. When I change it every 24 hours the cell sorb is soaked...Needless to say a towel and fleece does NOT hold all that pee... Thanks anyways... I did look on Guinealynx about their feet and there are no sores and such yet its just really red. I have decided to switch back to carefresh. Thanks for all the help!