Bathing Vet's best shampoo

[guinealora]

I was just curious if anybody had used Vet's best shampoo? I have two short haired girls, they're about a year old and haven't gotten a bath since we've had them (and their previous owners neglected them, so I doubt they bathed them). We keep their cage really clean; we use fleece and clean up poops twice a day and clean the whole cage every 5 days, but the girls are starting to smell a little bit like poop, so it's time for a bath.

We were at a local pet store and the only shampoo they had for guinea pigs was Vet's Best shampoo. It's a foam that you rub on and then let dry. You don't have to rinse it out. Has anybody else used this? I would really like to avoid putting them in water if I can and online reviews say it's good, but I wanted to hear from someone on here. Thank you in advance!

 

[ally112087]

I use Super Pet Squeaky Clean critter Shampoo. This one you do have to put them in water to clean them but it works really good. I was worried about giving my two little girls baths but they seem to like it. I put them in the sink and have warm water running and they walk around and actually get themselves wet. Of course I help get them completely wet (except head) and then put soap on and then wash them off. We started them early enough with a hair dryer that we can now use that on them so that they dont get sick from being cold. We tried the foam (different brand) and it did not seem to get them clean. To me if made them feel like they had like film all over them when they were done. Hope this helps.

 

[bpatters]

They need a shampoo made for small furry animals. Most spray-on foams have some form of drying agent in them, and can cause skin problems. Also, they ingest it when they clean themselves, and with the stew of chemicals that are in those products, there's no telling what would happen to them.

Squeaky Clean is a good brand, but any shampoo made for kittens will do.

 

[Paula]

It is a product (broken link removed)(broken link removed).

I have actually used this product for years and totally recommend it when a full bath isn't necessary or an option. It's neem based and there's no "stew of chemicals" - you can find their ingredient list on their website.

I would actually also totally recommend it for dry skin - I had a teddy years ago whose skin really improved after applications of this formula. It's a great product and an absolute must have in my house, where I have a number of very frightened pigs who would be traumatized by regular bathing.

When you are ready for a full bath, though, I wanted to mention that (broken link removed)products are absolutely wonderful and leave your piggy smelling heavenly. Chrissie has formulated all of her products specifically for guinea pigs, so they are all totally safe and are absolutely wonderful - far superior to a Super Pet product and worth the wait and minimal additional cost, in my opinion. My absolute favorite is the cedarwood & lemongrass formula.

Good luck to you - it's great to see another Oregonian on the forum (I'm in the PDX metro area)!

 

[guinealora]

Thank you Paula! It was being sold at a really good pet store in this area that genuinely cares about us and our animals so I didn't think they'd knowingly sell us something full of chemicals, but I wanted to see if anybody had any experience with it at all.

We're going to give them a bath with it tonight! I'm excited.

 

[Paula]

I'll be curious to know what you think of it - it's a great product and it smells great too!

 

[bpatters]

If Paula uses it, I'm sure it's ok. I'm just not a fan of putting anything on an animal that grooms itself and then not getting it off (unless it's a medication). And the contents may be natural, but they're still chemicals.

Is there some reason you can't just give them a regular bath? Our Walmart carries kitten shampoos.

 

[Paula]

Sometimes it's not practical to bathe an animal that is particularly terrified or otherwise difficult. I know your question wasn't directed at me, but in my case, I have 5+ pound cuy guinea pigs who are utterly terrified of everything, extremely strong, and dirty quite often. They are pigs that can and will actually injure themselves in the process of attempting to get away, so putting them in water is simply not a reasonable consideration. I'm not sure what Gl's situation is, but I'd not fault her for wanting to wait until the animals are more comfortable before giving a full bath.

This product is a very good one and while I can generally agree that leave-in products are not ideal, it's important to research the product in question before forming an opinion on it, because they aren't all created equal, and this stuff has been awesome for me. I actually tried it at the recommendation of a long time GL member, so I'm comfortable in saying it's a great product that can be trusted and is the exception rather than the rule on leave-ins.

Oh, and to the poster who mentioned the skin issue - I'm pretty sure it says this on the bottle, but after using the product, the animal needs to be lightly brushed. Not doing so would probably lead to some minor issues, I would think.

 

[guinealora]

We used it on the girls earlier; we massaged it in and let it dry and then brushed them. They actually really seemed to like it. We gave them each a piece of bell pepper while we did it; they loved being brushed. They smell so much better, and their hair really does feel clean; not greasy like I thought it might.

I'm not comfortable giving them a real bath at this point. They're pretty comfortable with us for most things but they were severely neglected at their last home so they're still pretty skittish. One of the pigs, if she feels uncomfortable in anyway, will go to such great lengths to get away from us that she has almost hurt herself, like Paula's pig, so I'm not sure a bath would be a good option right now. Eventually we'll give them a real bath, but I wanted to see how they'd do with this first. And they are terrified of vacuum/blowdryer noises, so I'd rather give them a real bath on a hot day so I don't have to worry about them being cold.

Thank you for all your help!

 

[grace&piggies]

I'm a gorgeousguineas.com fan as well! Willy & Winifred get to enjoy the manuka & neem shampoo, and they're also getting the cute little Christmas packs from Santa!