old man rats and smell

[pscychopomp]

I have 2 old boys, Luther is about 6 weeks away from 3 years and Leon is just over 2.5 years. They've aged differently, Luther has HED to the point that he can't shuffle around anymore, he keeps his back end on it's side now (he's also got a benign tumour), whereas Leon just looks decrepit (his thinning rex fur doesn't help) but he has no signs of HED. However the issue I'm having with them both is their urine. Leon has been a pee factory for awhile, he drinks and pees a lot and is always kinda wet around his groin and Luther can't reach down there and because he's on his side, the pee goes on his leg too. Their cage smells within days of cleaning and when I bathe them I still smell urine on them after, what can I do to get rid of it? And should I be bathing them daily? I use aspen shavings, is there something I can add to it, like baking soda?

 

[jorats]

Have you checked for a penis plug?
Mamarat would put vaseline on her old men rats who no longer could use their back legs. It seems to protect their body and the pee doesn't stay on. I wouldn't use shavings in the cage, especially for the one that needs to drag himself around but I would use a litter box in the cage with yesterday's news for oder absorbency. You could add baking soda under the YN. Also, putting newspaper under fleece seems to help too. When I had old men in my cage, I changed their fleece every day.

 

[SQ]

When I had old men in my cage, I changed their fleece every day.

I need to change some of the blankets in my seniors cage twice a day ...
The ones where they lay the most.