Cow patty stuck to bunny's butt! Help???

My 2 yr old mini Rex has had poop butt on and off for the past year. She gets good pellets, good timothy hay and a green salad fit for
a queen. When I noticed the tiny lil poor all packed together that look like the shape of a raspeberry I took away her daily 1 inch hunk of banana she got and replaced it with apple instead for the fiber. Almost every day I cut a large apple into 1/4's and then that quarter I cut into 3 pieces and split the 1/4 between the bunny & 2 guinea pigs. And I know banana can be constipating. But the problem remains happening off and on. She will get it off of herself sometimes before I even notice and i'll find a huge cow patty looking flat hunk o poo in her room. And sometimes I have to give butt baths or cover with cornstarch powder and it may fall off. But I want to know why it's happening. She doesn't eat a whole Lotta timothy hay. Never has. I buy KMS 3rd cut timothy and she's just not a bug hay water. She has unlimited access but goes through spurts with eating it.
I just read that a previous member gave her bun benefiber and cured this problem. Is it safe to give them benefibre and how much?
I have cut back on pellets by almost 40-50 % in hopes she would increase her hay intake on her own.
Anyone have any suggestions and recommendations about the benefiber???

Our Checkered Giant had the same problem. I cut out the apple in the am veggies and cut out the carrot in the pm veggies. That helped a little bit. Next, I took a look at the ingredients in the pellets we fed her and change to one with NO ALFALFA in it and the problem mostly went away. Good luck.

I had this issue with Macy up until recently. Switching back to Timothy hay from Orchard grass helped. Then I started saving fruits/carrots for a rare occasion as a treat (2-3 times a week) and stopped giving any other treats. I also did research and realized I was giving her way more lettuce than she needs and reduced that amount.
Since making these changes I've seen zero poopy butt!

Also BeneBac may help... It's a probiotic made specifically for animals. I give it to my buns once a week just to keep their guts extra healthy. I've never heard of BeneFiber but am always wary of giving things not made for buns just because they can be so fragile.

she may simply be too fat. Those are most likely cecatrophes (the poos that rabbits eat). Sometimes they don't eat them and then they are inclined to stick to their fur. Fat rabbits can't clean themselves properly.

To help you can put her on a diet, or trim the fur around her butt, or switch her diet so that she requires the nutrients so that she'll eat them like she's supposed to. Diet can affect how many they produce as well.

ladysown said:

she may simply be too fat. Those are most likely cecatrophes (the poos that rabbits eat). Sometimes they don't eat them and then they are inclined to stick to their fur. Fat rabbits can't clean themselves properly.

To help you can put her on a diet, or trim the fur around her butt, or switch her diet so that she requires the nutrients so that she'll eat them like she's supposed to. Diet can affect how many they produce as well.

Click to expand...

slicksandstones said:

My 2 yr old mini Rex has had poop butt on and off for the past year. She gets good pellets, good timothy hay and a green salad fit for
a queen. When I noticed the tiny lil poor all packed together that look like the shape of a raspeberry I took away her daily 1 inch hunk of banana she got and replaced it with apple instead for the fiber. Almost every day I cut a large apple into 1/4's and then that quarter I cut into 3 pieces and split the 1/4 between the bunny & 2 guinea pigs. And I know banana can be constipating. But the problem remains happening off and on. She will get it off of herself sometimes before I even notice and i'll find a huge cow patty looking flat hunk o poo in her room. And sometimes I have to give butt baths or cover with cornstarch powder and it may fall off. But I want to know why it's happening. She doesn't eat a whole Lotta timothy hay. Never has. I buy KMS 3rd cut timothy and she's just not a bug hay water. She has unlimited access but goes through spurts with eating it.
I just read that a previous member gave her bun benefiber and cured this problem. Is it safe to give them benefibre and how much?
I have cut back on pellets by almost 40-50 % in hopes she would increase her hay intake on her own.
Anyone have any suggestions and recommendations about the benefiber???

Click to expand...

Nancy McClelland said:

Our Checkered Giant had the same problem. I cut out the apple in the am veggies and cut out the carrot in the pm veggies. That helped a little bit. Next, I took a look at the ingredients in the pellets we fed her and change to one with NO ALFALFA in it and the problem mostly went away. Good luck.

Click to expand...

hamsterdance said:

I had this issue with Macy up until recently. Switching back to Timothy hay from Orchard grass helped. Then I started saving fruits/carrots for a rare occasion as a treat (2-3 times a week) and stopped giving any other treats. I also did research and realized I was giving her way more lettuce than she needs and reduced that amount.
Since making these changes I've seen zero poopy butt!

Also BeneBac may help... It's a probiotic made specifically for animals. I give it to my buns once a week just to keep their guts extra healthy. I've never heard of BeneFiber but am always wary of giving things not made for buns just because they can be so fragile.

Click to expand...

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate them all.
@ladysown, I don't think she's too fat. Shes really not fat at all. I think the intake is prob problem.
@Nancy McClelland, I will check her pellets for alfalfa and change if need be. I usually feed timothy pellets from KMS hayloft but when I run out I do buy from the farm store in town and I then buy bunny pellets. Idk if they contain alfalfa.
@Hamsterdance and all, I am going to cut back on fruits and carrots to a few times a week and cut her yogurt drops in half and totally cut out slowly if need be. She only gets one a day so I don't think that it's the yogurt drops but she doesn't need them. She is just so used to getting them and LOVES THEM SO MUCH, I can't handle her begging every night at bedtime. Its heartbreaking, bc she knows she's getting one and begs and begs and circles my feet and stands on my feet with her front paws on my leg stretching out until I get done with piggie chores and give her one and some lovin. I've always wondered if I'm over feeding on the greens she gets. This is what her salad consist of:
1 large piece Romaine
3-5 full sprigs of parsley (curly or flat)
3" piece of celery leaf tops approx
1 - 1/4" thick Slice of green or red bell pepper
3-4 sprigs of cilantro
2 baby carrots
1-2 Fresh carrot tops if i dont have any cilantro or vice versa (whichever I have on hand but not both)
1/12th Hunk of apple or In late summer/fall she got approx 1 cup hunk of watermelon instead of apple but not both.
And I switch veggies ip a bit alternating depending what is fresh or what's ready for harvest during summer gardening months I do think they eat more just bc we have an endless supply that perishes so quickly we just feed it instead of throwing it out, thinking you just cant have too many greens. But now I'm learning that it can be bad. Does that seem like i am over feeding on the greens?

toss the yogurt drops and carrots. you may see an immediate improvement.

OR if she MUST have yogurt drops... cut them into quarters and only give a quarter of one.

I agree. Get rid of the carrots, fruit, yogurt drops and anything else starchy or sugary. Even the smallest amount can cause mushy poop for some rabbits. This is the most likely cause of the poopy bum. Too many sugars and carbs in a rabbits diet causes an imbalance of microflora in the rabbits cecum, leading to the pasty malformed cecotropes. Over time this can lead to nutrient deficiencies and/or even more serious digestive illness. Not to mention the risk of fly strike occurring in the warmer months.

You also don't want to be switching around your rabbits food pellets suddenly, as this can also lead to digestive issues, some very serious. If you need to switch to a different type of pellet, this should be done gradually over at least 2 weeks time, by gradually increasing the new food in small increments, while you decrease the old food by the same amount. But even then some pellet types might not agree with your rabbits digestive system, which can cause mushy poop or other digestive issues. In which case you shouldn't feed that particular type of pellet any more. Particularly ones with corn as an ingredient, or wheat or other grain as the first ingredient. Some type of hay should always be the first ingredient in a rabbit food pellet.

Rabbits have a delicate digestive system that requires low starch high fiber foods. Some rabbits are even more sensitive and need a much more restricted diet or it can lead to digestive issues. Your rabbit may be one of these, so you need to tailor your rabbits diet to her to keep her healthy. Changes in a rabbits poop is a good indication of some sort of health problem occurring. It's never good to see abnormal poop with rabbits, and if you do you need to figure out what is wrong and correct it to keep your rabbit as healthy as possible. Yes your rabbit may love these yummy sugary foods, most rabbits do, but you need to do what is best for your rabbit and not give these treat foods. Instead let your rabbit learn to love leafy veggies as good healthy treats. On occasion, leafy greens can cause digestive issues for some rabbits, but I would only look at these as a possible cause once you have eliminated the sugary foods for a couple weeks and your bun is still having poopy bum issues.

It also could be a problem that she isn't eating enough hay. Rabbits need a lot of fiber in their diet, some rabbits need even more than others to stay healthy. The fact that your rabbit isn't eating hay very well could also be contributing to the problem. You may find once you cut out the sugary treats, that she eats more hay. But if you are over feeding pellets, that can also be a reason a rabbit doesn't eat enough hay. Too many pellets in the diet and not enough hay can also be a cause for mushy poop.

Another reason she's not eating hay very well can be that she may not like the type of hay you are feeding. Third cut timothy is a very rich hay and can sometimes be a cause of mushy poop. You really want a first or second cut that has a good amount of crunchy stems in it, as it contains the highest amount of indigestible fiber, which is what helps improve a rabbits digestive function. If your rabbit continues to not eat hay very well and also continues having mushy poop after changing her diet, I would suggest having your rabbit seen by a rabbit savvy vet, especially if she is getting thin and/or her condition worsens. One possible cause for a rabbit not wanting to eat hay and having mushy poop, is dental problems. So it would be a good idea to have your rabbits teeth checked if cutting out sugary treats in the diet, reducing pellets a bit, and/or trying different hay types, doesn't work to get her eating hay better.

You may want to take a look at the following links. They help explain how a rabbits digestive system works and what causes the problems that you are seeing.

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-digestive-system.asp
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-droppings.asp
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/