Can grass with traces of dog excrement and/or wee on make your guinea pigs ill?

[Sue_P]

In the winter months I often get my daily grass for my rodents from several places, some places are unlikely to of been weed or pood on by dogs but the nearer areas are quite likely to of been weed and pood on at some stage. Obviously it’s best to get grass where I think it’s cleaner but if I’m in a hurry or it’s chucking it down I don’t want to be trekking far for it. (& a 7 minute walk each way along the main road carrying a washing up bowl with snippers in and bending down in front of the Late Shop with people walking past giving me funny looks is humiliating enough.

) So I often get grass which is near my house but might have been weed on. If I think there’s a real danger it’s been weed on, like it’s where dogs would walk or the grass hasn’t been cut for a while and it hasn’t rained and rain hasn’t washed it a bit then I’ll wash it in a washing bowl before giving it to my rodents but I don’t always if I think it’s unlikely to of been weed on, I take a risk.

Well does rain or washing grass in a bowl make much difference? Because it absolutely bombed it down last night and I thought the grass everywhere would be pretty much safe this morning but as I was grass picking today I noticed a tiny trace of poo by where I’d been sniping, it dawned on me later that there must have been a poo there but someone’s bagged it up and removed it. Well if I got grass right by it then maybe my grass that I fed to my rodents was contaminated, I’ve been kicking myself for not chucking it away and getting some more and I’ve just been briefly googling dog poo dangers and read this…

Dog waste is more than just an annoying chore, it can pose a serious health risk. Here's why. A large number of common parasites, including round worm, are transmitted by dog waste. Even though it takes about one year for the dog waste to disintegrate, other parasites can remain in the soil for many years. As a result, any human or animal who comes in contact with the soil also comes in contact with the infected eggs.

Children have an even greater risk at getting some of these diseases cause they are constantly in contact with the soil on the ground. Whether its playing football, soocer or just digging up dirt, they come in contact with it. Afterwards, they tend to put their fingers in their mouths or rub there eyes. But even a group of teens or adults playing Frisbee or touch football in an open area could be in danger.

Parasitic infections can make humans extremely sick, and for pregnant women, can pose a serious harm to their unborn child.

Animal waste is one of the most common sources of the following diseases:

Coccidia, Giardia, Hookworms, Parvo Virus, Roundworms (ascarids), and Whipworms.

Not only does dog waste contain parisites and diseases, it also effects the water we drink. Here is an aricle from USA today regarding Dog waste and the water we all drink.​

I mean can guinea pigs contract any of those diseases? & if guinea pigs have those diseases are they usually found to be contracted from dozy owners picking grass from dog poo hot spots?

& do you know what health risks weed on grass poses too?

Grass is my rodents favourite treat, they go wild for it. I have two very small lawns but it doesn’t grow in winter and I have nothing to give them so that’s why I go elsewhere and grass just isn’t in abundance around where I live. Well there’s the canal towpath but that’s extremely likely to be contaminated, I'm steering well clear of there.

I mean on weekends when I'm out walking several miles from civilisation I get grass where it's safe but most days I get it where it could possibly have been peed on.

 

[happysaz133]

As I have 2 large dogs, its hard to avoid wee'd on grass, but they still go out in their runs, and its never done any pig of mine any harm, and I've had pigs the whole time I've had dogs. As for the excrement, as long as its been picked up, and the grass has been washed, then I think it would be OK, same with my pigs, no harm so far.

Are you picking grass from outside your garden? If so, please be very careful there's nothing else on it, you never can tell. People also spray things like weedkillers and stuff, which are very harmful to pigs. Personally, I'd never feed my pigs anything from out of my garden.

Have you thought about growing some grass indoors for them (assuming they are indoor pigs)? You can buy cat litter trays, fill with soil and grass seed. Soon enough, you will have a whole tray of fresh tasty grass with no chance of harming pigs It's what people with indoor cats do a lot of the time.

 

[Sue_P]

Cheers.

I can’t be bothered growing grass indoors, too much hassle and not really worth it as I feed my rodents on roughly a stacked plateful of grass each day, I’d need a lot of grass containers to sustain my rodents appetite.

Yeah I pick grass not in my garden, the place I get it from that I worry the most about contamination is at a tourist attraction right by me, usually I get it by the entrance on weekdays as it’s usually closed and I can’t get into the field, everyone goes there with their dogs.

It’s got the nicest fast growing grass and even in winter looks nice, I don’t think they treat it with weed killer as there’s loads of buttercup and other weeds growing in amongst it (which I avoid cos buttercup is bad). The dog situation has been bothering me for some time because I know 20 or 30 dogs will have been there throughout the day and they’ve gotta go somewhere and when I’m stood in the field I have no idea which bits could have been weed on. I avoid where people get out of their cars and I walk further away knowing that dogs like to get out and if they need to go they do it straight away, but inevitably in the years I’ve been grass picking I must have snipped up grass which has recently been widdled upon. But it’s good you haven’t had any probs with your roddies eating grass where your dogs have been. I wasn’t sure if there was a real danger element or not, and if I’ve been putting my rodents at great risk from something nasty on a daily basis. Thought I’d check here in case loads of people responded telling horror stories.

 

[Becky92]

If the grass is lovely and green & you wash it you should be fine

 

[Niki]

My dogs don't have access to where my pigs graze but i have no idea what is in the soil the grass grows out of & mine are fine. When i cut grass from my mums garden where i know dogs/cats have been i always wash it before giving it to the pigs.