[Gpdd] Health: Fleece and the Pigs: Hay Vs Slave Mommy!

[Carly Austin]

I will confess, I am a fleecer.   I love it, it is inexpensive after the initial cost that is. My pigies love it!

There are a few drawbacks to fleece.  

Static cling and the Fro look with my long haired piggies!  Said to be fixed with some vinegar in the rince cycle, but I am impatient and don't want to wait around for it.  This static goes away shortly, as in a pee or two. 

Gripe two, smell.  Yes it does smell. I don't care what others say, I can change mine daily and my boys smell like, well, boys!  This was also true for any other litter I had used, so I don't think it is soley fleece.  I have read others that only change their fleece once a week or so, and the boys that is all I do, but the girls, well. Sigh, the girls are water buffelows. The drink, and pee... and play... a lot.  So to fix this problem I have two pieces of fleece, one for the kitchen and water area, that can be replaced more often, and one for the rest of the housie.  

Next gripe.. Daily cleaning... if not more.  Got company, or worse, Land Lord dropping in?  Time to scoop the poop.  I do this daily, after work.  I am very anal about it.  It takes me half an hour a night, and I suppose I am just picky.  I try to not leave a bit of old hay left over when I do my nightly cleaning.  Most people vaccume with a dustbuster, and if I am lazy, or had to volunteer at the Humane society late into the night, I do that. But, picky slave, I use this great thing I picked up from Wal-Mart for 4 bucks.  It is a rubber brush designed to get pet hair from furniture!  Works wonders on hay too! I "red brush" everything nightly, before restocking food. 

Now for the perks!  Hmmm... Oh yes... I live in an apartment, share laundry, so I sneak it in to the wash!  (Always fun! Adventure)  

Actualy, it saves a ton of money, even with the cost of laundry, 75 cents a load.  I do about three a week with the pig laundry. Not bad at all. 

It is much nicer to the environment, now that it is spring I am able to take all the pig leftovers and poo to the compost sight again!  Yippee! 
No more buying litter only to toss it out, and the plastic packaging is soooo bad for the environment. Never biodegrades!!!

I use only seventh generation products to wash with and never any dryer sheets, so it is healthier for them, and I know the product was NEVER EVER ANYWHERE tested on ANY guinea pig at all!  There is a sign on the back, a bunny, that is the international symbol meaning Truly never tested on animals. Many companies say in America say they weren't, but legaly they can say the were never tested on animals if that company never did it.  So what they do is hire someone else to test it for them! SICK RIGHT????  Just so they can lie on the bottle! Sick sick America! 

My piggies love the feeling of new bedding after I change it! They popcorn around on it!  It is healthier for them, no dust from other litters, and no alergiec problems for my man!  He was alergic to all other litters!!  So this was really on of the only choices we had!  

What I use under the fleece?  Lots of diapers in FUA or Frequently used areas.  They are quick to change. I use them in the Kitchen area and under the water bottle.  And then for the main part, mattress pads.  Make sure they are not the water proof kind.  I went to work, when I was switching over, and hounded everyone for all of their mattress pads. Old ones, with the sides ripped off, or torn.  Doesn't matter because I cut all that off anyay!  I just lay a few pads down, put the diapers in FUA and put the fleece on top and tuck it under the bin so the pigs do not go under the fleece.  

Sometimes the pigs still like to sneak under it, but if you were to use clips, this should avoid it.  

Good luck, and start looking for mattress pads! Garage sales are a great place to!  

Carly and the fab five