Ummm... dirty bum?

[Elitah]

This is really embarassing, but I thought maybe someone has an answer for me. Our guinea-pig Cotton has white fluffy fur and she always has a dirty bum. We do give them baths, but I think we'd have to bathe her weekly which would probably not be good for her fur. We have two other guinea-pigs with white fur and their bums are quite clean. Cotton pees a lot as well when we take her out whereas the others usually wait until they are back in their cages. She is happy and lively, though, eats well and is the picture of health so I don't want to take her to the vet just because her bum is exceptionally dirty. How often is it ok to bathe a guinea-pig anyway? Our others don't get baths very often. Or should we just dip her bum in the water? is it alright to just leave it?

 

[Toffeewoffee]

I would just give her a bum bath once a week, dip her bottom in water, wash and rinse off, without a full on bath. Some piggies will just lay in their wee and if she is fluffy it is likely to be worse.

What bedding do you have them on? Sometimes this can make things look worse.

x

 

[Elitah]

We have them on fleece with newspaper underneath and lots of hay. Seems to work fine and as I said, all the other piggies (we have 5 more) have clean bums. If they all were like that, we'd consider changing the bedding, but I guess Cotton is somewhat special.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

I should imagine she is just lazy, and the fluffy fur will make it worse.

My father in law has 3 piggies, and scruff who has messy white fur always looks filthy, but its because she lays in her wee and her long messy white fur.

 

[Dindypig]

Is Cotton's bum dirty from poo? if so then I would nip her to the vets to see if there is a bowel problem.
If her bum is dirty due to wee stains then it is most likely from her sitting in her wee. My Cupcake has long hair that gets seriously manky from wee stains and here bum area stinks of old wee too, however, I now trim her hair round her bum and I tell her that she is sporting a bob that is the latest fashion in piggy hairstyles. The trimming of her bum area has made a vast improvement and taken away any worry about her getting a UI.

 

[Elitah]

It's clearly dirt from pee, she is yellow there. The problem is that her fur is just a little longer, not nearly long enought to trim, I'd have to get too close to her body with the scissors. The only other option would be a shave! Of course I would never even consider that.

 

[Stewybus]

We have 3 girls & get this problem with Minky who has longish fur with whorls. She seems to have wee stains most of the time but she must clean herself on occasions because sometimes she is near clean. She also has white fur like Cotton.

During the warmer months all 3 get a monthly bath & sometimes I'll trim the fur round Minky's bum if it's getting caked with dirt that won't come off with washing. The other 2 girls have short brown fur and never seem to have a problem in that area.

The only other difference with Minky & the other 2 is that she drinks a lot more so obviously wees a lot more.

 

[Dindypig]

It's clearly dirt from pee, she is yellow there. The problem is that her fur is just a little longer, not nearly long enought to trim, I'd have to get too close to her body with the scissors. The only other option would be a shave! Of course I would never even consider that.

I would suggest a bum wash then rather than a bath. A bum wash would be a lot less stressful if you're contemplating a regular wash.

 

[Piggie_Princess]

I have four long haired and I am always conscious about this. I find the best way is to portion out the hair cutting with the scissors especially at the back. So your cutting it a little shorter at the back each time you have them out rather than having to sit for ages trimming it all in one go. By doing it over a few days I egt the hair to the right length without too much distress.. although it does give them a hedgehog bum. But I have two very stubborn and wriggly Peruvians that like to kick my hand lol

 

[Dindypig]

Cupcake has a kick like a horse and squeels a lot, even when she's being picked up for a cuddle, what a drama queen. But her bum is now reletively clean and only becomes a problem when her hair grows longer. So keeping Cotton's bum clean in whichever way you prefer is a good thing for her.