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Conditions Female pig with a persisting dirty bum

Geranium

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Lately Opal has had a dirty bum. Yellow/light brown stains on her bum and her anus looks a little dirty too. This began about a week ago, and at first I attributed it to her and her cage mate rumblestrutting and doing their dominance dance (they've taken to occasionally peeing on each other too, ugh). I washed that area and set her back in her cage. Now this is persisting and I'm worried it's from something else. I don't know what it would be though. I have been weighing her daily for about 5 days now, no loss, in fact she's gaining. She's on KMS pellets and timothy hay. Bedding is fleece with wood pellets underneath (I should mention I bought a new kind and this one smells a little more piney, so maybe a reaction to that?). Green leaf, green bell, and one baby carrot everyday with the occasional tomato. She seems fine otherwise—no crust or discharge on the eyes and nose, relatively normal behavior. What do you think might be causing this? Do you think this calls for a vet visit? Anything else I should look for? I'm temporarily located 40 minutes away from an exotic vet, so I want there to be a good cause for concern before I stress her out with that trip.

Thank you.
 

bpatters

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If the pellets have a pine odor, don't use them. Those volatile oils can cause liver and kidney disease. It's not an immediate condition, but it can be fatal.

It sounds to me like she's sitting in poop and pee, which guinea pigs unfortunately like to do. Do you have one area where she potties the most? If so, can you put small pads there that could be changed frequently.
 

CavyTV

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I think she's fine. Some pigs will love to rub their butts all over, stepping in every dirty spot in the cage. The best thing you can do is spot clean the cage more often. By how you described it, it seems like her bum is getting soaked with urine. Does your fleece wick? You can test this by pouring a bit of water on the fleece. If it soaks through immediately--it's wicking. If the water pools--it doesn't wick. Wash the fleece 3-5 times in the washer until is starts to wick. If the fleece wicks just fine, then the reason her butt is always dirty could be because you're not changing the fleece as often. How many times a week do you change it? How many times do you spot clean during the day? Do you use litterboxes? Piles of hay? How often do you switch the bedding (litterbox)/hay?

If none of the above helps, then I would just give her bum baths from time to time.
 

Geranium

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They generally do most of their pottying under the hay rack and in one corner. What kind of pads would you put there? Under the fleece right?

I spot clean 3-4x per day and change the fleece once per week. The litter is changed/refreshed at that time as well. How often do most people change the fleece?
 

bpatters

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I'd make some small fleece pads, maybe 12 inches square, or triangular ones, if they mostly go in the corner. And a bigger one for under the hay rack. Make enough of those to change them out at least every day, and see if that makes a difference. And they'd go on top of the fleece.
 

Geranium

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Do you have a link to the pads you're talking about? I'm unfamiliar with this process.

Also, I did a water test and found out my fleece wicks suuuuuuper slow. Probably playing into the problem very well.
 

CavyTV

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I spot clean 2-3 times a day. Fleece is changed twice a week. My fleece wicks just fine. Wash the fleece several times until it wicks. The pads bpatters is talking about are just mini liners you can make yourself. Take 2 pieces of fleece and 2-3 u-haul pieces (you can cut up towels if you prefer) and sew them together. The fleece should be on top and the absorbent layers should be in between the fleece. There are many tutorials on youtube. Just search “guinea pig fleece pads”.
 
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