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Bedding Fleece cage liner newbie

drazil3

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Hello all! My girls are the proud owners of 6 month old cavies, Nibbles and Butterscotch. Have the large C&C cage (nothing but the best for our babies!), and have recently switched to fleece liners. Our poor long hair is now very smelly and damp, and is on his way to the vet as a precaution, since he coughed at me this morning! Am I missing the boat, or should there be another pad to help in areas where they soil more (one of their favorite places is their house where they lay)? Thx![emoji51]
 

bpatters

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It may be that his hair is damp because he's sitting in a wet spot, or he may have an UTI -- a damp bottom is one of the signs of that. It's good that you're taking him to the vet to be checked out.

Extra pads always help. They're easy to make, and then you can just change them out frequently and not have to clean the cage so often. But, I'd cut his hair and keep it short around his bottom. Many vets believe that urinary tract stones get their beginnings from a UTI, even if it's so slight as to not produce any symptoms. Keeping him clean and dry will help prevent that.
 

drazil3

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Yep, it's grooming day when he comes back! We figured out early on to give him haircuts. What do you use with the fleece when you make potty pads?
 

J.Bosley

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Maybe your fleece isn't wicking the pee away?? That might be an issue too! Hopefully he doesn't have UTI
 

bpatters

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I use mattress pads that I get from a thrift shop.
 

PandaPiggle

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I use the same uhaul pads that I use in liners, just cut much smaller, usually 1 square grid. I also had problems with their pigloos because they would always push the pigloo off the potty pad, so I switched to fleece forests and tunnels (and one wooden house) so they can't shift things off the potty pads.
 

drazil3

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Forgive my newness, but what is a insulting pad?
 

PandaPiggle

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Do you mean a uhaul pad? A U-Haul pad is a recycled denim moving blanket, not the standard quilted kind. They cost $8 for a pretty big blanket, and they're sold pretty much anywhere U-Haul moving supplies are sold. It's just another option for the absorbent material under the fleece. For sewing potty pads, uhaul blankets or mattress pads are ideal because they cut and sew well. Towels can work in whole cages, but I'd hesitate to use them in potty pads because I fell like they'd be difficult to cut and sew.
 

drazil3

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Lol! Darn autocorrect! yep, meant uhaul pad.
 

SquigglyPigs

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Forgive my newness, but what is a insulting pad?

Haha! Thanks for the laugh. I just about spit out my coffee when I read that. I get a kick out of autocorrect errors :)

What material are you using under the fleece? I have liked using uhaul furniture pads or mattress pads. I've never had an issue with them getting wet unless the girls get annoyed with one another and spray pee on each other. But the fleece is always dry. Have you washed the fleece a few times and is it wicking urine away quickly? You can test it by putting just a little bit of water on it.
 

drazil3

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I bought fleece liners from piggybeadspreads.com, so the absorbent lining should be built in right? I washed them before use per instructions. They seem to work, but I guess I underestimated the amount my little guys urinate.
 

drazil3

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Only washed once, but re-read directions and prob should have washed more than once. Have a backup that I am going to wash a few times before I use. Nibbles back from vet with a case of bronchitis. Poor little guy, but thankfully no UTI.
 

PandaPiggle

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Aww poor Nibbles :( did the vet give you anything for the bronchitis?
 

drazil3

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Yep, and a shot to boot. second time he's had it.
 
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