Bathing elderlies

[lj]

Miss Pea is no longer grooming herself. Her fur is dirty. Is there anything I can do to help her out? I've been giving her nightly scritches and I clean out her ears every few days because they get full of stuff. That sort of helps her fur stay a little cleaner, but tonight it's dusty all over. I don't want to wipe her with a cloth if I don't have to. Just wondering if there are any tips out there.

 

[MumsyRat]

I bath my old guys all the time. They don't appreciate the bath itself but they seem to enjoy getting blow dried and I think being clean makes them feel a bit better afterwards. I use "no tears" baby shampoo.

 

[jorats]

Unfortunately the old ones really do need to be bathed... but it's so hard cause they hate it so much. My Pascal needed it done every day but some days I would use baby wipes and wipe him down. It worked pretty good and gave him a break from being put in the water.

 

[lj]

Any wipes in particular? I just don't want to stress her out too much, know what I mean? I'll give her a quick bath now and see what happens...

 

[MeaganMonster]

This is why my hubby is trying to bath them semi-regularly now.

I've used a wet toothbrush to give 'Mallow massages maybe that will help?

 

[ryelle]

I noticed that Pets at Home sell grooming wipes. Ive never seen them before, so i dont know if ud be able to find them anywhere else: http://www.petsathome.com/find/cate...is-rat/category-is-6F+Health/product-is-18921

Ive never used them though, so i dont know what they are like. You can bath them and wash them with no-tears baby shampoo, or shampoo designed for kittens. They are normally 'gentle' enough to use, and dont try the skin out etc.

 

[Moon]

An unscented baby wipe should be fine, and more than sufficient for daily use so the ick doesn't build up. But I guess that depends on exactly how dirty she is getting.

 

[jorats]

Ya, just the regular unscented ones.

 

[RatsForever]

I also use the unscented baby wipes for my elder, Oliver. I tried bathing him but it stressed him way too much!

I do like the wet toothbrush idea.

 

[smallvic]

Aww, poor Sweet Pea. And it's true, those dumbo ears tend to accumulate more junk!

I always used a warm wet washcloth - first soapy, then not, to clean them. If extra dirty, the toothbrush. The bucks - the ones with the orange skin, you know what I mean - really liked getting a lap bath with the toothbrush.

And ALL of them always loved towel-drying. That's the brux stage.

To blow dry I'd put them into their carry-box. They'd just hunker down and hide their faces. Mind you I haven't done this to Pea or Bess. But Pea has been bathed before.

Thank you for taking such good care of her. :hugs:

 

[Ratmom]

Those baby wipes work great for getting the ick off those tails too.

 

[ryelle]

Those baby wipes work great for getting the ick off those tails too.

dirty tails drive me round the bend lol!