Fur Need help from long hair breed owners!

[hannahkovach]

I have a cream and peach female silkie. She is my first "long hair" pig and I am running into a few issues.

The hair on her back/bum tends to be urinated on (when she backs up into corner), which obviously can result in an array of problems. So I wash her with every other cage cleaning (I don't wan't to dry her skin, not to mention blow dryer trauma!). I set her in a shallow amount of white vinegar for a 5 min soak to neutralize the urine in her fur that drags. Then I wash with J&J original baby soap, rinse, repeat, towel dry, then blow dry on low/warm setting.

In addition, I gave her a haircut. Before I washed her one day I trimmed up her "butt hair" that was moist with urine. So now I give her regular "butt cuts" on wash days.

So I'm not sure if I'm really looking for help as much as I am wanting to know I am not alone on this lol. Any tips would be appreciated.

P.S. I have a C&C cage with fleece on triple layer towel. Vacuumed twice a week, changed weekly.

 

[HannibalLecter]

Stop washing her in vinegar. When washing her, use a mild shampoo without harsh sulfates, no paraffin & silicones. Baby products usually contain paraffin/mineral oil unfortunately. The best shampoo on the market is (broken link removed) , Posh'n'Go for long haired guinea pigs because of the moisturizing virgin olive oil & proteins.

You need to trim her bum often to avoid it matting in the first place. if you don't have scissors especially made for hair/fur, you could get fabric scissors & use them only for that purpose. Or use a good fur trimmer if you have one. And as most long haired guinea pigs dislike being brushed, you need a really gentle brush like a travel sized Tangle teezer, which doesn't pull on the hair or create split ends. (Awesome on humans as well.)

 

[pinky]

I have three longer haired guinea pigs. One has really thick, long and coarse fur. I trim the hair around her rear and back legs pretty close to the skin. I leave a longer layer over the back end so it doesn't look odd. I just trim the length of that fur so it doesn't drag on the ground. When I do bathe them, I'm just really careful to make sure I dry them completely before putting them back in the cage. I had put the coarse haired one back when her fur was still a bit damp and I was shocked to find that it was still damp the next day. Poor girl must have been really uncomfortable so now I never do that.

 

[Shekinah]

You're definitely not alone! I have two long haired ones, and they absolutely hate getting haircuts. My husband has to hold them strongly while I quickly trim up the back end. I hate it Breaks my heart seeing them feel they are tortured but it's for a good cause! lol.

 

[PiggyPassion]

I bathe Arthur about once a month, and brush him at least once - usually twice - daily. He actually loves the hair dryer! Puts his nose up in the air and everything. :silly:
Because of the daily brushing, he doesn't get many mats in his fur.