Poop Shoes

Cannoli displaying poo foot on two of her feet

Yup - you read that title right:  poop shoes.  If you're easily grossed out, stop reading now.

If you've had or known guinea pigs for any length of time, you know that poo happens.  It's just there.  A lot.  Pig poo tends to be hard, odorless and once you get used to the copious amounts of it, is easily swept away or vacuumed up.  However, if one guinea pig has an upset tummy, all the pigs caged together can find their toes encased in poop shoes.  I am not making this up - you can google it.  In this household we like to call it poo-foot.

On nail-clipping day we couldn't see half of Cannoli's nails because they were shod.  Ew!  Once it dries, the stuff is like concrete.  It required soaking her feet and brushing them with a soft brush or carefully popping off hardened poo from each toe.  Don't want to hurt those little toes!

Poop shoes seems to be worst for guinea pigs bedded on fleece.  Soft poo is more likely to stick to wood or paper shavings rather than their toes.  But pigs on fleece?  Oh, between the toes is the best place to stick.

We were lucky - Boadicea's toes weren't so bad.  Nail clipping can be an ordeal all by itself; this certainly didn't make it any easier.  In the end, they both got cleaned and clipped nails and were returned to a clean cage with a treat.  Mama was forgiven.  Just keep those toes clean!