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Vetbed

Hi Gang,

Just heard of Vetbed today. Couple of questions...

1. For indoor and outdoor hutch use?
2. Whole hutch or just toilet area & sleeping area?
3. Lino underneath in wooden hutches? or not needed?
4. Hay on top or left bare?
5. What about poops?
6. Darn expensive. How long does it last?
7. Any colour advice? Presumably not white?

Thanks in advance!
 
Hello
vetbed can be used both in and out, it's main function is for use with convalescing animals, but it is now used for general bedding for the long haired bunnies as not only is it warm and comfortable, but is easy to wash and maintain. A number will be needed so that you can have one in the hutch and one in the wash....

A vetbeds lifespan should be fairly long, unless you have a bunny that likes to pull it apart, this can get quite costly, there is a cheaper alternative called a catbed, these aren't as good, and wont last as long, but are less expensive. Some of the large pet retailers sell it on a large roll which maybe more economical.

I would be inclined to put lino on the floor of a wooden hutch as it makes it easier to clean, prolongs the life of the hutch, and is warm in winter and cool in summer. The vetbed should be placed in the area where bunny most likes to relax, but i would imagine if you get this wrong they will be extremely helpful in positioning the bed exactly where they want it, and this on some occasions will be in the litter tray (mentioning no names Dougal..... :roll: ) If all goes to plan poos should be deposited in the litter tray and any stray ones can easily be plucked off bed and removed.

Hay, is there a preference for your bunny? If you are using a vetbed it does help to have the hay contained in some way, either in a hayrack, or in one end of their litter tray as bunnies do like to munch and poop at the sametime, this will also encourage littertray use. Whatever you do, it will end up everywhere to a certain extent.. :lol:

I have both white and gray, and neither get particulary dirty as long as bunny behaves, but, if it ends up in the litter tray, then obviously its not so helpful...

Annie
 
Hiya! We use Vet bed all the time in our Sanctuary, we brought a mega 15metre roll in green that should keep us going for a few years.
I got fed up with sawdust getting everywhere and decided to switch to vet bed to line all the hutches, both indoors and out doors.
As Annie suggested, we found the best way to keeping hutches clean is to cover the wooden floor with Lino, then a long length of Vet Bed (which absorbs the urine takes it away from the bunnies skin to a large extent) and pop a litter tray one end ....lined with newspaper and hay on top, no sawdust and a hay box (Tissue box stuffed with hay!!) the other end of the hutches.
I was concerned that the bunnies would eat the Vet bed, but in 26 bunnies, there is only one that I had to remove the Vet bed from, as she really insisted on chewing it.
I find the bunnies have a nibble to begin with, but once they discover how comfortable and snug the bedding is, they soon settle down. :D
Supervise your bunny very carefully when using Vet bed for the first time and remove if they really start to eat it.

I find that I need to carry a large plastic bag around with me to collect up the soiled Vet bedding each morning, as Vet bedding absorbs a lot of urine, so when you move it all the urine leaks out.
have a plastic bag handy and pop it straight into that from the hutch, to avoid spillages.
Vet Bed can only be washed at low temperatures, so we put it on the Wool Wash cycle, but this of course is not hot enough to kill bacteria.
We add some rabbit safe disinfectant,( Genie is a good one), to the wash.
Vet Bed can be tumble dried on a COOL cycle and seems to be very hard wearing considering it requires such constant washing.
Please check your washing machine and Tumble dryer filters regularly though as fluff tends to collect from the Vet bed.
I would never go back to the sawdust and hay routine of before, as the bunnies adore their snuggly hutches, and I am happy too, so it is better all round :D
 
Doesn't letting them wee anywhere stop them being able to be litter trained or is that just a dream of bunnie that will never happen?
 
We do not allow our bunnies to wee anywhere, we still try and train them to use the Litter trays at the end of the hutches :D
The trouble is, we have elderly bunnies and those with ongoing medical problems in the Sanctuary (including joint problems) and sometimes the little darlings do not quite make it to the trays in time. :roll:
We remove the vet bed as soon as it is soiled and it is washed daily anyway. :D
 
I have had nothing but trouble with it!!My bunny eats it, diggs at it and WONT go to the loo on it!! :shock: It is in a very bad state now and at £9 per piece i am binning the idea.
 
Oh dear Nicola I am sorry you have not had much success with it : :(
I guess you just have to try these things, and hope your indivdual bunny can be convinced to adapt to using Vet bed....it is worth the effort, if successful. :D
 
Thank you very much for your email. We are thrilled.

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Our email: fur@theATA.com

People can bid on our ebay listed item. They can also email us if they cannot see the size they want. We do cut to size. It would be a bit cheaper if ordering by email.

It's very kind of you to recommend us. Thanks again.

Kind regards,

ATA
 
Adele said:
We do not allow our bunnies to wee anywhere, we still try and train them to use the Litter trays at the end of the hutches :D
The trouble is, we have elderly bunnies and those with ongoing medical problems in the Sanctuary (including joint problems) and sometimes the little darlings do not quite make it to the trays in time. :roll:
We remove the vet bed as soon as it is soiled and it is washed daily anyway. :D

sorry I miss understood the setup. I didn't mean to make you sound like some smelly bunnie wee person ;-(
 
[quote="AmberUK"

sorry I miss understood the setup. I didn't mean to make you sound like some smelly bunnie wee person ;-([/quote]

Oh please do not worry, I was not offended :D ..but I would like to confirm that NO!! I nor my bunnies do not pong of WEE or anything else :lol: :lol:
They are cleaned out at least twice daily and it is immaculate, even so I say so myself..I would be mortified if we had any nasty pongs around here when I spend 8 hours plus a day mucking out :lol: :lol:
 
Adele said:
Hiya! We use Vet bed all the time in our Sanctuary, we brought a mega 15metre roll in green that should keep us going for a few years.
I got fed up with sawdust getting everywhere and decided to switch to vet bed to line all the hutches, both indoors and out doors.
As Annie suggested, we found the best way to keeping hutches clean is to cover the wooden floor with Lino, then a long length of Vet Bed (which absorbs the urine takes it away from the bunnies skin to a large extent) and pop a litter tray one end ....lined with newspaper and hay on top, no sawdust and a hay box (Tissue box stuffed with hay!!) the other end of the hutches.
I was concerned that the bunnies would eat the Vet bed, but in 26 bunnies, there is only one that I had to remove the Vet bed from, as she really insisted on chewing it.
I find the bunnies have a nibble to begin with, but once they discover how comfortable and snug the bedding is, they soon settle down. :D
Supervise your bunny very carefully when using Vet bed for the first time and remove if they really start to eat it.

I find that I need to carry a large plastic bag around with me to collect up the soiled Vet bedding each morning, as Vet bedding absorbs a lot of urine, so when you move it all the urine leaks out.
have a plastic bag handy and pop it straight into that from the hutch, to avoid spillages.
Vet Bed can only be washed at low temperatures, so we put it on the Wool Wash cycle, but this of course is not hot enough to kill bacteria.
We add some rabbit safe disinfectant,( Genie is a good one), to the wash.
Vet Bed can be tumble dried on a COOL cycle and seems to be very hard wearing considering it requires such constant washing.
Please check your washing machine and Tumble dryer filters regularly though as fluff tends to collect from the Vet bed.
I would never go back to the sawdust and hay routine of before, as the bunnies adore their snuggly hutches, and I am happy too, so it is better all round :D

Vetbed can actually be washed up to 95 degrees. I use it for my puppy and wash it weekly at 95. Got mine from Pets at Home.
 
:lol: Sophie had some once... when I came downstairs.. it looked as though it has been snowing :lol: She digs at the vet bed until there is no more to dig.. and then attempts to EAT it!!! :lol: :roll: Needless to say, it didn't stay in her crate long...

Adele.. I think Sophie would have been that 1 bun in your sanctuary!!! :roll: :lol:
 
Oooh now that's interesting, I bought a piece just the other day (there's a sale on at www.vetbed.co.uk for certain colours/sizes) so I just rummaged through my cardboard pile where I still have the wrapper and on the one hand it has a little picture saying 40 degrees and the words 'cool warm' but on the other hand it also says that wash/disinfect is 65 degrees for 10 minutes or 71 degrees for 3 minutes, or 135 degrees autoclabve for 3-5 minutes :shock:

Hope that's clarified things :lol:

PS Laura - Harry and Heather do the same, shred it and throw it around, but Duds & Santa sit on theirs like good little bunnies :D
 
Adele said:
Hiya! We use Vet bed all the time in our Sanctuary, we brought a mega 15metre roll in green that should keep us going for a few years.
I got fed up with sawdust getting everywhere and decided to switch to vet bed to line all the hutches, both indoors and out doors.
As Annie suggested, we found the best way to keeping hutches clean is to cover the wooden floor with Lino, then a long length of Vet Bed (which absorbs the urine takes it away from the bunnies skin to a large extent) and pop a litter tray one end ....lined with newspaper and hay on top, no sawdust and a hay box (Tissue box stuffed with hay!!) the other end of the hutches.
I was concerned that the bunnies would eat the Vet bed, but in 26 bunnies, there is only one that I had to remove the Vet bed from, as she really insisted on chewing it.
I find the bunnies have a nibble to begin with, but once they discover how comfortable and snug the bedding is, they soon settle down. :D
Supervise your bunny very carefully when using Vet bed for the first time and remove if they really start to eat it.

I find that I need to carry a large plastic bag around with me to collect up the soiled Vet bedding each morning, as Vet bedding absorbs a lot of urine, so when you move it all the urine leaks out.
have a plastic bag handy and pop it straight into that from the hutch, to avoid spillages.
Vet Bed can only be washed at low temperatures, so we put it on the Wool Wash cycle, but this of course is not hot enough to kill bacteria.
We add some rabbit safe disinfectant,( Genie is a good one), to the wash.
Vet Bed can be tumble dried on a COOL cycle and seems to be very hard wearing considering it requires such constant washing.
Please check your washing machine and Tumble dryer filters regularly though as fluff tends to collect from the Vet bed.
I would never go back to the sawdust and hay routine of before, as the bunnies adore their snuggly hutches, and I am happy too, so it is better all round :D

Actually Adele it says:
Machine Washable and Fast Drying (Temperature: up to 90°C; Recommended Temperature: 40°C)
I wash mine every other day at 40°, and it is holding up fine. Cherry turned out to be a chewer, but all the others who have been on it have been fine with it. I only use it inside - I can't imagine having to wash even more of it :roll: There is always a piece hanging on my kitchen door as it is. I always hang mine on the line for a while before washing it to let the hay and fur and fluff blow off. Shaking it works too, but you tend to get a face full of wee that way :mrgreen: :roll: I don't tumble dry it - don't have a dryer anyway, just hang it up on the door, or banisters, it dries really quickly. Driers wear things out much faster and waste energy :no:
 
I use the fleecy pet mats from Wilkinsons as they are so cheap - they're not as good as vetbed but for general use you can have a few on the go and change them more frequently - my girls nibble holes in it so I'm glad I didn't buy expensive stuff!

I just lay it on the concrete floor of my shed for them to sit on - I had carpet down but they were eating it and it was filthy - those girls aren't tidy like my Benny and Pepsi were in the shed :roll:

I find it's a great grooming aid too as it's COVERED in fur when I take it out - and poop, and hay :roll:

Wear a hat, take it up the end of the garden with a stiff hand brush (not your regular dustpan brush) and brush - try not to breathe though :lol:

Then it's easy to wash and dry - use the delicates cycle :D
 
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