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Grooming Anal Sac cleaning is the worst!

swiftchange

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Gilbert and I are doing the bonding thing. He's always hated having his anal sac and penis cleaned. For whatever reason, it's always been really really difficult for him. We've watched the videos, wrapped him in towels, held him against me, very gently inverted him, etc. I adopted him and am wondering if the old owner didn't clean or didn't clean well. Anyway, he hates it. Today, we used some q-tips and then I got a brilliant idea. I'll just wash his sack very gently. He's not that dirty, he just needs a little warm water.

So, I washed his sac very gently in perfectly warm water. It was easy, it was fast... he didn't like it.

This picture is him directly after the event. I can't stop laughing, I'm the worst pet parent ever.
IMG_0939.JPG.jpg

"Just kill me now hooo-man, don't torture me any more!"

This only happened for a moment. He's since recovered and is sitting on my lap purring.

IMG_0941.JPG.jpg
 

143sheri

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Dwwaaawwww!!! Hes cute!!!!!
 

swiftchange

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Isn't he just adorable? I love his little guinea pig-ness. If only he weren't such a little drama queen about the whole thing.
 

janinehunt

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Poor Gilbert! He does look upset in that first pic. What a cutie!

You do know that the purring sound in guinea pigs does not necessarily mean contentment, as in cats? It can be a sign of irritation, or mean "don't touch me there", as when you touch a pig's backside.

That's great you found a more quick and easy way to do it though.
 

swiftchange

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Poor Gilbert! He does look upset in that first pic. What a cutie!

You do know that the purring sound in guinea pigs does not necessarily mean contentment, as in cats? It can be a sign of irritation, or mean "don't touch me there", as when you touch a pig's backside.

That's great you found a more quick and easy way to do it though.

Yeah, he definitely never leaves me guessing as to what he's feeling. Normally it's hungry. "Feed me hooo-man!"

When I say purring I mostly mean the noise that they make when they're happy, the "talking-to-myself" noise. It's the little strung together chatty noises, the squeaks and mumbles. He likes to make it when he's being held or sitting in my lap.
 

bpatters

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The sac and penis sheath don't really need to be cleaned unless the boar is having problems. What you should do is check him once a week. If things are clean, let him go. If not, then you can gently clean. Cleaning doesn't need to be a weekly event, and one of the very best guinea pig vets I know of does not recommend weekly cleaning.
 

swiftchange

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The sac and penis sheath don't really need to be cleaned unless the boar is having problems. What you should do is check him once a week. If things are clean, let him go. If not, then you can gently clean. Cleaning doesn't need to be a weekly event, and one of the very best guinea pig vets I know of does not recommend weekly cleaning.

With a reaction like this, who could resist cleaning every week? Just kidding though, we definitely don't clean every week. He had a little trouble after staying with a family member. His cage didn't get cleaned like I asked and thus... neither did Mr. Scooty-butt. Right now we're just making sure it doesn't turn into anything. That means that I check once a week and clean as necessary. So far we've been pretty good. Thanks for the advice though, as a rookie GP owner, I'll take all the advice I can get!
 
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