Penny's Med Thread
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Paper towels have their uses. I guess I am someone who uses cloth towels and washes them.
I don't think butt baths are harmful. If you feel it is appropriate, I would just do one. Guessing a mild cleansing agent like Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo might work.
[edit] But much better to use a shampoo specifically formulated for pet hair that will not strip oils from the skin. A couple suggestions follow in the posts below.
I don't think butt baths are harmful. If you feel it is appropriate, I would just do one. Guessing a mild cleansing agent like Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo might work.
[edit] But much better to use a shampoo specifically formulated for pet hair that will not strip oils from the skin. A couple suggestions follow in the posts below.
Yeah, I've been using baby shampoo for the butt baths, and it works. I'm just worried about drying out Penny's skin because sometimes she gets a new poop stain the day after a bath. I don't want to leave the poop there for too long, but I don't want to bathe her so frequently that it dries out her skin, either. So I was just hoping there was something I could do to stretch the time between baths.
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- And got the T-shirt
As I understand it, it's formulated for small critters and their skin and fur/hair. Baby shampoo is formulated for human hair.
The pH of the skin is different between human and animals, and can cause damage to the acid mantle of the pet's skin. You'll get a bunch of hits if you google "why use a pet shampoo instead of baby shampoo."
The pH of the skin is different between human and animals, and can cause damage to the acid mantle of the pet's skin. You'll get a bunch of hits if you google "why use a pet shampoo instead of baby shampoo."
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I edited my post above. Totally agree that a shampoo formulated for pet fur/hair is the better choice. I am forgetting what I put in the care guide!
https://www.guinealynx.info/grooming.html#bathing
https://www.guinealynx.info/grooming.html#bathing
So Penny finished her three weeks of meloxicam last Tuesday, and while at first I thought I noticed some improvement (she seemed slightly more tolerant of being picked up than usual, so I thought she might be in a better mood), by the end of the second week I'd decided that it was probably just wishful thinking on my part. Penny didn't soil herself at all during week three, which was good, but she was definitely still pooping lying down a lot.
The vet said the next step was to stop the meloxicam and see whether Penny got noticeably worse. So far she seems pretty much the same, although she might be pooping standing up more often than usual. That seems odd given she'd just stopped the medication that was supposed to help her feel better, so it might be wishful thinking again. No new poop stains, though. The vet said after another week or two of observing her behavior without the medication we'll decide what to do next. He said the next diagnostic steps would be blood work and X-rays.
The vet said the next step was to stop the meloxicam and see whether Penny got noticeably worse. So far she seems pretty much the same, although she might be pooping standing up more often than usual. That seems odd given she'd just stopped the medication that was supposed to help her feel better, so it might be wishful thinking again. No new poop stains, though. The vet said after another week or two of observing her behavior without the medication we'll decide what to do next. He said the next diagnostic steps would be blood work and X-rays.
When I was shampooing the soiled part of Penny's fur (with the Squeaky Clean Critter Shampoo recommended by bpatters), several clumps of fur came out in my hand. I was lightly wiping the fur with my fingers to clear the suds away so I could see whether the fur was still discolored, and some of it came out. It didn't feel like I was pulling the hair out; it felt like it had already fallen out and was just stuck to the rest of the fur, like how the head hairs we shed can sometimes cling to the rest of our hair until we pull them away. Is it normal for a guinea pig to lose whole clumps of fur from a soiled area like that? I've emailed the vet with the same question and am waiting to hear back, but he doesn't always check his email on weekends.