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natk

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I'm not sure if I am posting this in the correct section, hope so!

My 2 pigs have a litter, and I was wondering if I could use the crystal cat litter? I have been using the recycled newspaper cat litter, but wanted to see if I could move onto the crystals:)?

Any advice would be really appreciated.
 
You shouldnt be using either ! Piggys have been known to eat cat litter and it can harm them! Please remove. The cat litter and replace with megazorb/woodshavings/ or fleece as for the crystals thats a big no no! And what do you mean bylitter? Litter of babies? If so your boar should have been removed as he can re impregnate her or his babies! Please read the pregnancy sections on this forum asap for tips ... And PLEASE stop using cat litter for your pigs i cant stress this enough!
 
Think they mean litter tray, though I too thought you meant litter of babies at first. Don't use cat litter at all, you need to find a safe piggie litter if you insist on using it. Cat litter is called cat litter for a reason. Its for cats :) My rabbit uses Back-2-Nature litter. But I don't know if that's alright for guinea-pigs. I'll find out for you.
 
Lil-Ninnibig said:
You shouldnt be using either ! Piggys have been known to eat cat litter and it can harm them! Please remove. The cat litter and replace with megazorb/woodshavings/ or fleece as for the crystals thats a big no no! And what do you mean bylitter? Litter of babies? If so your boar should have been removed as he can re impregnate her or his babies! Please read the pregnancy sections on this forum asap for tips ... And PLEASE stop using cat litter for your pigs i cant stress this enough!
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I'm sorry but I found this response really quite rude, the only reason I was asking was because I was being cautious. For your information my two female guinea pigs are toilet trained, the vet advised me that recycled newspaper car litter is absolutely fine, I have monitored and no they have not eaten it.

Before you make accusations about how people care for their animals you should get your facts straight first, because I take care of my pigs to a very high standard.
 
I don't necessarily agree with Lil-Ninnibig. Silicate and crystal cat litters are a DEFINITE no, so do not switch. However, paper-based and wood-pellet-based cat litters are usually fine and in many cases are no different to rodent-specific litters... except for being much cheaper. Always check the labels and make sure there are no other potentially dangerous additives.

As for them eating it, well... Guinea pigs aren't stupid. They figure out pretty quickly what is and is not food. When I first started using wood pellet cat litter, yes, they tried to eat it. All they actually did what nibble a few pieces, then drop the piece and wander off to the hay. They never tried again after the first time. What's more, they did exactly the same thing when I filled their litter trays with plain ole' wood shavings, which many people keep their pigs on full-time. Some pigs will try to chew on anything the first time it appears in their environment; the odds that they would ingest significant amounts and that it would cause a health problem is nil. Mine presumably eat considerable amounts of paper and cardboard from the paper bags and toilet roll tubes they destroy during playtime; paper-based litter is only made of that stuff, generally, so just keep an eye on them until they adjust!

The crystal stuff you're on about, however, I use for my cat. It's great for the cat! But it is NOT guinea-pig safe, so stick with paper/cardboard/wood based.

Hope that helps. :)
 
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natk said:
I'm sorry but I found this response really quite rude, the only reason I was asking was because I was being cautious. For your information my two female guinea pigs are toilet trained, the vet advised me that recycled newspaper car litter is absolutely fine, I have monitored and no they have not eaten it.

Before you make accusations about how people care for their animals you should get your facts straight first, because I take care of my pigs to a very high standard.
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Your guinea-pigs are toilet trained? That is so amazing O.O I wish mine were, it would make looking after them so much easier. They like to sit in the litter tray but I've never seen a piggie poo in there!
Typical! Then again I suppose Whizz and Dusty are quite daft.

I'm sorry if you found my response rude, I had no intention of making it seem that way. I'm not very good with words I suppose and if I have offended you I am very sorry. I've never had experience with them using the litter tray so I suppose it isn't really my place to talk.

Once again you have my heart-felt apologies, please forgive me as I really didn't mean to cause you any offense.
 
Oh no no no, your advice was great! Not to worry I took your advice and stuck to the paper based litter. It was the other persons response that really upset me. "Lil ninipig" can't remember. I jut found them very rude. You were lovey and very helpful, if anything you put that other person in their place. I really appreciated your advice. I'm sorry of you thought it was you I had directed that message to. That was not my intention, but I do appreciate your kind words :)

They are toilet trained, the trick is putting the litter box in their "toilet spot" guinea pigs have specific spot in their cage that they prefer to do their business, but you need to start when their very young, and whenever they wee or poo in a spot you either clean up the wee and place it in the litter box (so they can smell their urine and that's what attracts them to it) or you can move the tray to where they seem to be doing their business (once they have found a corner, they won't change, you have to change:)! Italy's life a lot easier! And they never have to walk through their business, makes
Life nicer for me and them:)!
 
WDMMBT said:
Your guinea-pigs are toilet trained? That is so amazing O.O I wish mine were, it would make looking after them so much easier. They like to sit in the litter tray but I've never seen a piggie poo in there!
Typical! Then again I suppose Whizz and Dusty are quite daft.

I'm sorry if you found my response rude, I had no intention of making it seem that way. I'm not very good with words I suppose and if I have offended you I am very sorry. I've never had experience with them using the litter tray so I suppose it isn't really my place to talk.

Once again you have my heart-felt apologies, please forgive me as I really didn't mean to cause you any offense.
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I really am sorry if my message made you feel as though it was directed at you. Because it most definately was not! :) you really were so helpful, and I really appreciated your advice (I took it on board also:)!) I just felt that I needed to apologise again, feel terrible.
 
No, its ok. You just got me panicked for a second and I wanted to clear up any bad-feeling.

I suppose alll my piggies are too old to litter-train now then. At least the rabbit uses a litter tray cos it means we can let him go for a run in the lounge without him pooing all over the floor! :)
 
I had a corner litter tray once hoping my girls would pee in there. I used paper based cat litter and the pigs were fine although they never used it to toilet mallethead

I used wood shavings in there too but no, they still wasn't having it mallethead

They use said litter tray as a hay rack and bed now :))

You're very lucky to have toilet trained piggies, may be they could teach mine a thing or too rolleyes
 
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