Disappointed with vetbed!

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2lilpigs

2lilpigs

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Hey Everyone!

My new vetbed arrived last weekend, I was so excited to be making the change from woodshavings and thought it would be easier, cheaper, cleaner and most of all nicer for my little boys to cuddle into! I cut each piece to size and washed them twice so that they'd be more absorbant but I'm not getting on with it at all! :(

I'm finding that after only about 8 hours of cleaning them out they are getting really smelly ( My lounge stinks of piggy poop!) I never had this problem with woodshavings which I'd change every 3 days but I've spent quite alot on the vetbed and my boys seems to love it so I'm not keen to give up on it but I don't want my house to smell! 8...

With having boys I'm used to their urine being a bit strong smelling at times and I'd notice this if i was a bit late cleaning them out with the woodshavings but what I'm finding strange with the vetbed is that the smell after a few hours is of their poop not urine?!

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm thinking (and hoping) that maybe I'm doing something wrong?
 
I think vet bed is awful as a type of bedding, I cannot understand why people use it. The reason you can smell it is because they is nothing to mask the smell like with woodshavings. Also you will find their poops will start to stick to their feet and hay is a nightmare to get off it. The other thing that worries me is them chewing it - mine chew anything and I would hate them to swallow it.

I used vet bed once when I had a poorly pig and needed to keep her quiet and on her own. It was a disaster!
 
We use vet bed on all our cages, which are in our bedroom. I have to admit we haven't had any problems with it and I wash their bedding once a week. Ours (touch wood) have never chewed it and I have been using it for a while now.
 
Are you putting thick layer of newspaper underneath it? What make of vetbed is it? the lightweight sort is not much good, mine is heavy and rubber backed.
I use half vetbed and half aubiose and hay. I have a low wooden divider to seperate the areas. The hay is a pain to sweep off I must admit but mine dont chew it at all and it doesnt smell. I change it twice a week.
 
I have been using vet bed for one week and have the non-slip, I place newspaper then a layer of woodshavings (very thin) in the areas they pee and poop most, then more newspaper then the vet bed, I have changed it twice, it seems to take the wetness away so I am pleased so far, but I am also going to give megazorb a try soon. :)
 
Maybe it is the make of vet bed?

Several seem to say 'The Original Vet bed' on them, but what does that actually mean? Are there lots of brands with each one being slightly different?

Charlotte x
 
my mum seems to think it is the hay that smells.
and i have to say, it is smellier when their is hay all over rather than just by the rack
 
Hi Becky
Hope the boys are ok ... I am sure they are being totally spoilt! :)

As you know, I didn't get on vetbed either. It was the washing of it as it was large and heavy. :(
 
I've used Vetbed before, but not at the moment. I used to use a layer of newspaper, then a layer of Megazorb, and then the Vetbed. I found I had to change it twice a week, and obviously pick off the poos in between. I didn't find it smelly, but wouldn't have left it for longer than a few days without washing it.
 
I would not be without my vetbed, as has been said there are many poor imitations so be careful what you buy. As for the washing place vetbed in an old duvet and knot the end of the duvet. Put in the washing machine on a hot wash and it is done! I used to wash in the machine without the duvet and ruined my washing machine. ! Hope this helps
 
How often do you 'spot clean' i.e. sweep/vacuum the poops? With material beddings, as with traditional beddings, some daily maintenance is necessary. I sweep the poops every morning and, if needed, evening, it only takes a minute or two in a 3x7 cage.
 
KAZ said:
I would not be without my vetbed, as has been said there are many poor imitations so be careful what you buy.
Click to expand...

I would definitely agree with that. I recently did a bit of research, and discovered that the Petlife version is the only one that can be washed at a high temperature (90 degrees). It's very confusing, as Ebay sells lots of 'Vet Bed', which isn't Petlife.
 
I clean the poops up every day, maybe more, whenever I have a few minutes but I change the vet bed twice a week :)) as I don't want them to get smelly
 
I was given some P@H vetbed from a work colleague as she doesn't want it anymore - I haven't used it as yet. Do you just put it in their sleeping quarters?

At the moment I have a layer of newspaper, megazorb and then hay all over the bottom of the cage - not just the sleeping bit.
 
I put it in the living area rather than the sleeping quarters as I didn't have enough to do the whole hutch, with newspaper and a few woodshavings underneath. Then changed it after 3 days for a clean piece.

I am trying megazorb today for the first time to see how I go with that.
 
Somebody mentioned that it might be the hay that doesn't smell too good...

I can totally agree with that. We have two 4x2 and a Nero 4 in one room, all use Vet Bed all over. I used to place the hay on the 'floor' of the cage at one end. When I got hay racks for the cages I definitely noticed less smell as there's less dirty hay, the pigs aren't lying in it and getting smellier themselves etc.

Spot cleaning once/twice a day will help too, and only takes a couple of minutes.

We use newspaper and a sprinkling of Carefresh underneath - perhaps if it's smelling that bad you could try changing what's under your fleece more often? Ours only really pongs when a fleece has been in use for over a week. This only happens when we're on holiday and my brother doesn't bother to change the fleece :)>>> and you come home to a house where the air is thick with pig wee :red
 
i hoover off my profleece twice a day with my handheld pet hoover. I also clean it once a week - i have areas of hay and litter tray where they have learnt to wee in.

I've never had a problem with it smellign - is your room very warm or is it near a radiator at all?
 
Mine have vet bed in their outdoor hutches in winter, which I can't smell so can't give you advise there I'm afraid. What I can say is that having bought various different ones off ebay I actually find the green backed stuff better quality than the non slip as it seems to absorb better. Hope this helps.
 
moonie8404 said:
i hoover off my profleece twice a day with my handheld pet hoover. I also clean it once a week - i have areas of hay and litter tray where they have learnt to wee in.

I've never had a problem with it smellign - is your room very warm or is it near a radiator at all?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say its overly warm and they're not near the radiator. I do a spot clean at least once a day, I like the sound of using a handheld pet hoover though where do you get one of those from? ?/

Since I've had the vetbed I've been cleaning them out at least every 3 days as if I leave them any longer my boyf starts to complain! :)) I do use a hay rack so don't think its the smell from the hay.

Just out of interest is there any sort of medical condition that would make a piggies poop smell stronger? Just trying to rule everything out before I give up on the vetbed!
 
You sure it is the poop that is smelling and not the urine?

Our elderly pig Bridget passed away a few weeks ago, if I left the vetbed longer than 3 days it did whiff a bit and when I took out the vetbed and smelt the bottom it did smell. Since having the babies it no longer smells!
 
KAZ said:
You sure it is the poop that is smelling and not the urine?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it is yeah, it seems weird to me too as I'd never noticed the smell of their poops before only their urine if I was lazy and left them too long before cleaning them out but the smell is definately different with the vetbed! :{
 
Are you washing it right? There's a good sticky post at the top of this forum bit about how to use it. I didn't realise you should use non-biological powder, and NO fabric conditioner as this stops it being so absorbent.

I use a layer of newspaper, then a towel, then the vet bed and as long as you spot clean every day, I find it less smelly than other bedding.

x
 
for the first month of having vetbed i could really smell their poo aswell!
but it seems to have stopped smelling, i now hoover it everyday, wash it every two weeks (they wee mostly in litter tray) and the smell did seem alot less when it started getting warmer outside and i didnt put the radiators on as much (i also open the window for few hours a day! this seems to have worked for me
x
 
I have been using vet bed in my three cages for six weeks now. I changed to it when my piggy went in for an op and i wanted to make sure he was nice and comfy. I am undecided. Having read all the reviews about woodshavings and the dust that comes from it I wont use that again, but I agree about the enhanced smell from vetbed. I now change the kitchen towels and newspaper underneath it daily and that seems to help. I also removed any soiled hay and droppings daily. Having read the review of megazorb I am going to give this a try I have changed one of the cages over to this. My piggy seems to like it and popcorned like mad when i piut him on it. Will see how that goes.
 
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