Best bedding for keeping guinea pigs dry from urine

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pelicano

pelicano

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I'm not really a fan of fleece bedding, but I've always switched to it when I've had elderly guinea pigs with urinary problems, as I thought it kept them dryest. My Cassie is not long for this world I'm sure, and doesn't move about as much as she did. She has long term urinary problems too, but is relatively dry most of the time now.

However, because she doesn't move about as much any more, and spends a lot of time in her sleeping house, I'm finding that the fleece in the house doesn't have time to dry before it is made wet again (although it does wick well and has been washed many times). Under the fleece I have newspaper and a thick layer of Megazorb. I'm changing the fleece daily, as it's absolutely disgusting by the end of the day.

I'm starting to wonder if I'd be better off just having plain Megazorb (or similar) and no fleece, but scooping out the area in the house throughout the day.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone's experiences. Thanks. :)
 
I'm slightly confused as to whether you have newspaper/megazorb/fleece or megazorb/newspaper/fleece but I'm guessing the former because it makes most sense. I would be inclined to just use the megazorb at least in the sleeping area, you could just put the house in a litter tray full of megazorb which might make it easier to change regularly. My other thought is to get a small piece of vetbed to go in the house area because it is supposed to be better than fleece for wicking moisture and staying dry.
 
This may not be what you are looking for, but just an idea: Can you get her a sleeping house like an igloo that doesn't have a bottom on it, and simply move the house a couple times a day to a fresh spot?
 
Thanks for the replies. They've given me something to think about. :)

I don't want to mess up her routine too much by keeping moving the house about, but I do actually have some Vetbed somewhere that I could try. I don't think she likes it much though. I'll try a few things out...
 
I have found puppy pads to be a revelation!

they are fab - Sophie will be 4 this year and my lovely pudding girl does like to sit in the same place all the time and the pads keep her very dry.
 
I am quite new to piggies but have been using puppy pad, towel, then fleece layer. The top layer always appears dry as it soaks through to the pad / towel.
 
We use a layer of puppy pad then newspaper over the top and then small cut up pieces of puppy pads where our little boys sleep. Over the top we use a hemp bedding and then every day we take out the small pieces of puppy pad and replace it with new. They are always lovely and dry
 
We use newspaper topped with vetbed and then fleece on top. Fleece is changed every couple of days and remains dry, but easier to swap for cleaning. It also helps the ved bed giving it time to wick any wee down to the paper. Vet bed stays dry for the week. This is with 4 piggies.

We have spent the last 12 months working out the best arrangement as it works in the caravan on holiday and keeps hay dust to a minimum in the small space of a caravan.
 
I hadn't thought of vetbed under the fleece! I have some vetbed up in the loft somewhere.

I'm trialing puppy pads under the fleece at the moment, and it is definitely helping, but not totally dry in that corner.
 
pelicano said:
I hadn't thought of vetbed under the fleece! I have some vetbed up in the loft somewhere.

I'm trialing puppy pads under the fleece at the moment, and it is definitely helping, but not totally dry in that corner.
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Pelicano, I found a layer of towel between the puppy pad and fleece made a massive difference. Corners are definately the tricky area.
 
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