pooey bum

Hi,

My rabbit recently has started getting a pooey bum. So bad that we haveto turn her on her back,wipe and cut the hair in this area toclean it up.

She sleeps in the kitchen during the night, and in the morning there ispoo all over the floor and big bits that have been mushed into thefloor.

Why is she doing this? Any help would be great.

Hi Maiko.

Review what you have been feeding her. It could be toomuch vegs, or too much pellets. The bestsolution is toincrease the hay and waterwhile decreasing any other foods, until the poopybutts clear up. Do you have pumpkin?

Rainbows!

She started getting pooey and we hadn't changedher diet at all. When we noticed what was going on, we then stoppedgiving her vegies completely. Now we have started introducing themagain but very small amounts. She doesn't eat a lot of hay and don'tknow how to get her to eat it.

My rabbits have just been through the sameproblem - they were getting poopy butts and I hadn't changed anythingin their diet. I found decreasing the pellets and increasing the hayhelped.

Have you tried giving different sorts of hay - maybe your rabbits willprefer some more than others. Plus, if you decrease the pellets and vegthis should encourage her to eat more hay because she'll be hungry.

Did you take them to a vet or anything about the problem? Or did you just figure it out on your own?

Yeah she really doesn't eat hay so I guess i have to take away her foodthen she'll be forced to eat it. Is this dangerous for them to have nofood?

She eats and eats all day, she is a bit of a pig.

She could simply be eating too much, especially too many pellets, if she's a bit of a pig.

And/or if she's obese, she could be having a hard time reaching behind her to retrieveher cecals properly.

What kind of pellets is she getting? What are theingredients?Alfalfa? Timothy hay? It would be goodto know the protein,fibre and fatcounts.

What kind of veggies does she get? Any treats?

sas

I didn't take mine to the vets - from thesymptoms they had it looked like a dietary problem. I would have takenthem if I thought my changes weren't working or if they were gettingworse.

Personally I wouldn't take pellets away completely, I just put a verysmall amount there for them. And as Pipp asked - what sort of food doesshe have, etc?

I think taking pellets away or giving a minimalamount will definitely encourage hay eating- and pellets are mostlycompressed hay anyway-

You can also try canned pumpkin as it is high in fibre, or oats.

If you haven't changed the diet...stick tobasics. Most people overfeed pellets. Pellets aremuch more for our benefit and convenience than any benefit to therabbit. A rabbit has evolved into a hind gut fermenter andtheir systems have a difficult time digesting lots of proteins (toomany pellets or junk food/treats). Offer different types ofgrass hays. Make sure he is properly hydrated. Theuse of oats or cooked rice will many times slow down a runnygut. It might also be a good idea to have a vet perform afecal to check for any intestinal parasites.

Randy