Indoor guinea pig smell

cakeadoodle

Hello,

I have two female guinea pigs who live indoors, they are not overly smelly but when it gets towards the end of the week and the cage is due to be cleaned it gets pretty pongy, which can be a bit embarrassing if we have unexpected guests (they live in the living room).

A friend mentioned a liquid that can be put in their water that 'neutralises' the ammonia smell in small animal pee but I haven't been able to find anything like this in the shops.

Has anyone heard of such a thing? I don't want to move them to another room as I don't want them to be hidden away where they might not get as much attention.

Thanks in advance!

tru

I've never heard of a liquid that does this, but wouldn't have thought it'd be very good for them.

I have one guinea pig, he lives in the house and gets cleaned out every other day. When his brother was alive, I would clean them every day.

Mojisola

cakeadoodle wrote: »

I have two female guinea pigs who live indoors, they are not overly smelly but when it gets towards the end of the week and the cage is due to be cleaned it gets pretty pongy, which can be a bit embarrassing if we have unexpected guests (they live in the living room).

Do you have to leave the cleaning until the week is up? Why not clean them out more often?

krlyr

I would be careful as products like this (e.g. to stop urine burn on lawns with dogs) can affect the pH of urine and I wouldn't imagine it's that great for their urinary health.

I agree with cleaning them out more than once a week. When I had guinea pigs I cleaned them out 2-3 times a week - for small animals they sure produce a lot of waste!

It could also be worth trying different beddings to see if anything controls the odour a bit better. And some guinea pigs pick up litter training quite well, which could be another option.

danih

Paper based cat litter can b v good in guinea pig cages. A scoup out of the toilet corner every day (could put a bag over your hand, and grab the worst handful, like you would with dog poo - 3 second job) and a big clean every week wil help with the smell.

cakeadoodle

Thanks for all the useful comments. I thought something added to the water sounded a bit too good to be true and I don't suppose it would be healthy.

I've been experimenting with different types of bedding etc. and I'm currently using compressed sawdust cat litter stuff which does seem to be quite good at absorbing the pee but it's very heavy and awkward for me to manage on my own and it's a real faff to get the cage apart, empty, clean and get it all back together without my other half around to give a hand, which is why I tend to leave it to the weekend. (Sorry I know that sounds like an excuse for being lazy but it's a big cage and hard to handle!).

We've had the girls for a year and a half and it still astounds me just how much pee they produce!

They don't seem to have a toilet corner, they just go wherever they are standing (including in their bedding area, where they lie it it, ew!). I did try putting in one of these rabbit loo type things and put the poo in it to encourage them to go in there, but they just squabbled and fought over who got to lie in the plastic pod!

I've read online that some people use fleece, which would need to be removed and washed loads but at least it would be light and easy for me to change. Does anyone use it?

Wol2

How big is their cage? A pair of pigs need at least a 1.2m wide cage. Even my stinky boars can go a week in a 4ft cage with newspaper/shavings/barley straw/hay before getting a bit whiffy.

I also use fleece for some, particularly if I need to monitor urine colour/output.......but that needs changing every other day.

I've also tried megasorb but whilst it is absorbent I found it smelt worse than the shavings because it is paper-based.

Have you noticed an increase in the amount of water being drunk? It could indicate one or both have a urine infection or cystitis which also makes the wee more stinky.. If you think this is the case then a vets visit for a urine test would be the thing to do.


You'll get loads of advice and help from here:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/forum.php

xxxx

cakeadoodle

Hi Wol2, the cage is a ferplast 160 which I think is just under 1.6 metres. That's what makes it a big difficult to clean, it's very heavy when it's full of litter. I haven't noticed them drinking more than usual but I suppose with the weather being warmer perhaps it has been more noticeable. But a wee health check at the vets wouldn't go amiss

I might have a look at getting out the sewing machine and see if I can make a fleece 'sandwich' with old towels underneath that I can chuck in the washing machine easily. Something as light as that would make it easy to do spot cleaning for the poo (although that doesn't smell) and I reckon it would be fairly easy for me to get out and replace without an extra pair of hands.

Thanks for the forum link, I'm off for a look now x

krlyr

I had the same cage and I agree that the pellet-based litters would be very heavy. I would avoid these litters though - wood-based (especially softwood) litters emit phenols which can have an effect on the liver (studies show elevated liver enzymes) and possible effects/damage to the respiratory system.

http://www.rabbit.org/care/shavings.html
http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html
http://www.ratfanclub.org/pine&cdr.html

If you like the pellets then there are paper-based pelleted litters - I ordered some from Rat Rations for my rats and found them good. Alternatives could be shredded cardboard - some brands are softer than others, e.g. Finacard I think is shredded more finely and with softer edges. Being card, it's light, and since you can buy in large bales it's cheap to clean out more frequently too.

I've used fleece for rats and found it good but it does need washing frequently. Invest in a good laundry bag to keep your washing machine from getting clogged though!
Another alternative to fleece is Vetbed. It wouldn't be costly to buy enough to make a couple of liners for your cage (alternative when washing one - though it dries so quickly you could probably get away with just one piece) and liquid drains right through it, so you'd just have a lining of newspaper underneath that you could replace daily. Shake out the poos and excess hay, and it's done. One bonus to Vetbed is that it's nice and soft on the feet - it was great for my rat who suffered bumblefoot, which is something guinea pigs can get too.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?40738-fleece-versus-vet-bed

Kirri

I've tried fleece and vetbed and now only use fleece when necessary (ie for old pigs with mobility/arthritis type issues) or vet bed for sick pigs if they aren't moving so much (keeps them drier) but the pee still goes in it so still needs to be changed constantly. Fleece really needs to be washed daily, it's too much washing and harder work than newspaper.

You might find a C&C type cage better as in more accessible/easier to clean (and bigger if required) - mine just either go up the other end or upstairs when I'm cleaning. I don't have to lift anything, I just roll up the newspaper with the mess/hay inside and wipe out the remaining.

I use newspaper, hay and fleece beds - changed daily - I have an 8.5ft cage. I would never ever leave a cage for a week given how much they pee!! Even two days is too long really unless it's just a single pig in a big cage.

Sawdust shouldn't be used (respiratory issues) and I've heard of deaths potentially from Megazorb although I have used it in the past, I find it easier still just to do a daily newspaper/hay change.

I'd never add anything to the water (and never heard of that even).

meritaten

you just clean them out once a week? needs to be done far more often if they live indoors. I would suggest every other day to keep their home smelling fresh.