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Question about bedding

Coopdog

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Louise, my old lady pig, has decided that it is perfectly alright to pee her bed and lay around in it all day. This has resulted in her saturating her hind end to the point where the fur is totally discolored and she really is quite stinky. I've had to give her 3 baths in the past week (I tried plain water rinsing, but the urine smell was still very strong). Mind you, in her entire life I think I've only bathed her a half dozen times, so I really am not keen about so many baths.

Right now, her cage is bedded with kiln dried pine, which is what I've always used. I clean out the bed area every day, and even twice a day now, but she soaks herself almost immediately. She also has a fleece cozy that she sleeps in, and the same thing goes there...within a few hours, the bed and Louise are soaked.

I know she's not incontinent, because I can hold her for 45 min. at a time and she doesn't pee at all. She's also quite mobil, still using her ramp and puttering around on floor time (where she does fine with her potty pan).

Would some other bedding be better for her sleep areas? I know alot of people use fleece, but when I tried pouring some water on the fleece I have, it just pooled, so I don't see how that would help, since she would just be sitting in the pool.

I don't want to have to bathe her so often, but I don't want her to get ammonia burns on her bum, either. Any suggestions?
 

dextersmycutegp

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Does she live with any other piggies? They might encourage her to move around more.....
Is the fleece you're talking about a blanket? The people who make fleece blanket usaully treat the blanket with something that makes them water proof. Just wash it a couple of times and the waterproofing comes off. If you piled some fleece where she sleeps that might help keep her out of her pee.
I hope this helps...
 

PiggieMom

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If the urine pooled then the fleece wasn't working right.

1. Wash the fleece several times without any fabric softener to make sure any waterproofing is dissolved.
2. Keep something absorbant under the fleece. i.e. Several layers of towels then puppy pads/news paper. I personally have several layers of towels than a foam mattress pad. It's super absorbant.
3. jdomans uses these neat pads under her hidey houses (at least I think that's who it is). She cuts out a square of fleece, puts a puppy pad in the middle and folds the fleece over it. You can change these out everyday to keep the high traffic potty area really clean.
 

Coopdog

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Thanx, I'll get some different fleece and try that with the puppy pads. I just want her to be dry and comfortable in her golden years.

She lives alone now. She had a roomy who died in January, but they never really hit it off. Now that she's deaf and blind and set in her ways, she doesn't seem to want the company of other pigs. So I put fosters next to her sometimes when I have them just to give her a chance to say hello, but she really doesn't seem to care. She'd much rather be in my lap or wandering the floor by herself.
 

Coopdog

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Well, neither Louise nor I were too keen on the fleece. She still had stinky butt and was laying in a pile of poops after less than a day, and she had moved out of her house. However, what does seem to be working very well is a puppy pad covered with a thick layer of shavings. The pee goes right down into the pad, keeping her dry, and the poops filter down as well. When I lifted her house today to check it, I could hardly tell she'd been in there until I lifted out the bedding. So thanks for the suggestions! We seem to have a winner:) .
 

dextersmycutegp

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I'm glad that you found a good solution!
 
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