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Maggie:-)

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
166
When I first got Maggie she had tons of fleece,she had a fleece covered tube,fleece liners,little fleece blankets. And she never peed on them. Now I've had to take out her hammock and everything because she pees on it EVERyTIME I put it in the cage. Does anyone else's chin do this?! I don't know what made her start peeing on them.
So now I feel bad like she has no where comfy in her cage to sleep. She usually sleeps in her wheel now or on top of her house. I feel like she's going to get a bad back from it lol. Maybe I'm just exaggerating?!
I can't stand to keep the fleece in there because it will just smell so bad even after just one day.
 
I had the same problem. Had daisy for 7 months without a problem them one day she decided she can pee on the fleece :/.

Haven't found a cure short of removing the fleece yet!
It MIGHT be stress. Daisy started peeing on her fleece around the same time she started fur chewing. Maybe look into reducing any possible stress.

Good luck, pm me if you find an answer lol!
 
I don't think she's stressed? Seems fine and happy,and pees in her litter pan as long as there's no fleece lol
 
She won't get a bad back from sleeping in her wheel or on her house. Most chinchillas do not have any fleece at all and are quite happy and comfortable.
 
Mine will sleep on their fleece for a few days and the next thing I know it's soiled. So I wash it and we do the whole process again. Haha.
 
My girls can't have bedding (apparently it tastes a lot better than it looks) so they only have fleece. Neither is litter trained. So Lilly, the more civilized four year old will only pee in one place
Dori, the (luckily adorable) wild and ill-mannered one year old pees whenever, wherever.

I clean their cages every day and change their fleece at least 3 times a week. That's not how everyone with fleece liners does it? I thought they were supposed to pee on it.
 
I don't know but the fleece smells horrible when she pees on it.
When I got her last year she had fleece liners in her cage and she never peed on them,she would only pee in the wood shavings in her litter pan. But then she was sick and I had to take all her fleece out. So ever since she has been better and I gave her the fleece back she just pees on it and I don't know why. When I take the fleece out she is magically litter trained again and goes only in the wood shavings lol maybe she is trying to tell me to not put the fleece in there? I really don't know.
 
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All my chins pee on the fleece. It doesn't usually smell unless I let it go too long between washings, which happened when our power went out during Sandy. If I wash it in detergent and vinegar every 5 or 6 days, I don't have any problem with smell.
 
Even if I wash it everyday it smells.....
But the wood shavings never smell. I only have to replace them once every 3 or 4 days.
 
I wash my fleece with a mixture of Nature's Miracle and white vinegar in addition to unscented detergent. Works awesome at removing the pee smell. Some of my liners are a couple years old and this mixture completely gets the smell out.
 
I have two girls who are diehard fleece pee-ers (is that a word? It should be, lol). The only place I have fleece is inside their house, I have a piece that just fits so the house holds the fleece in place. If the fleece is small enough for them to move it, they will crumple it up and pee on it. But if it stays in place inside the house they love it and sleep on it and don't pee on it. Might be worth a try if you haven't already.
Oh - it can't be a pillow or too thick a piece.
Good luck!
 
Is it possible that Maggie objects to the smell of what you use to wash them and is covering it with her own scent? They will "mark" something as theirs won't they?
 
Hmm could be. I wash them with gain detergent and vinegar.
I think I will try the natures miracle though. I have natures miracle for cleaning my cats stuff but never thought of using it in the washer? Is there a special one that you get for the washer??
 
Nope, I just buy the big gallon jugs of it. I have found the 'Urine Destroyer' version works particularly well. I just eyeball the amount that I pour in but I'd guess it's probably about 3/4 a cup.
 
I was using Arm & Hammer Free and Clear for sensitive skin (because of my family, not the chins) until I learned on here that laundry detergent makes the fleece more water resistant. So now I use just white vinegar and an extra rinse cycle. No dryer sheet. It makes them kinda static-y but, they don't smell like "people" when they are done. The Girls don't seem to mind. I still have one with no fleece or cage etiquette but, she doesn't pee where she sleeps or eats. So, I'll call that a victory I guess. Good Luck!
 
I have one chin who does this - the only way I could solve it was to remove all the fleece from her cage. I could not keep up on washing tube covers and hammocks and everything else, it just wasn't worth it anymore. I have found that she does not pee in the tube that she sleeps in, so as long as I only have ONE fleece-covered tube in her cage, that one stays safe and pee-free!
 
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