Annie is stinky, BF wants to kick her out

[Rory]

Hello everyone,

I am so excited that I found this place. It looks like a wonderfulcommunity. I am touched by the love I see in all of you for your pets.

I got a dwarf lion-head bunny for christmas. She is absolutelyadorable. It was a gift from my BF actually, because I had been wantingone for quite a while.

The thing is a few days after she came to live with us, I startednoticing a terrible smell. I thought it was her urine, I know it has astrong odor, but I'm now certain that it's her cecal pills. She eatssome of them, but then some are left on her tray, and they have apungent odor. I clean her cage every day,but that doesn'ttake care of the problem. I can't clean her cage every time she drops acecal pill.

I admit I don't use vinegar to clean her cage, but I honestly don't seethat being very helpful. It won't make her cecal pills stop smelling sobad.

She hasn't been spayed and I haven't taken her to the vet. She really does seem perfectly healthy and happy.

My question is, does this happen to you guys too? Is her poop supposedto smell so strongly? Her round droppings are odorless and ok, it'sthis other stuff that's unsufferable.

How do you take care of the smell? My BF really wants her out of hereand keeps annoying me by asking me to give her away, but I don't wantto. I really wish there was something I could do. I give her alfalfa,pellets (rabbit food) and carrots. I seriously cannot find hay anywherenear I live.

Please help, I need some guidance and I would appreciate your input. Iwanna keep Annie here. I have a little study of my own where she livesin her cage. (She's indoors and my BF doesn't come into this room atALL lol).

Please help

 

[Lissa]

First of all welcome to the board!

About your question, my rabbit Pristine is getting spayedtomorrow. I noticed last night that her butt smelled prettybad. I'm hoping that that will improve after thespay.

Are you sure your rabbit is a female? I've noticed that males generally carry a stronger scent in their poop.

 

[Pipp]

Welcome to the forum!

This is almost certainly diet related. She shouldn't smell or have any excess cecals.

You really have to find some hay, can you can order someonline? And cut out the carrots, they're high insugar. Best to slowly introduce leafy greens.

What brand of pellets are you using?

Love to see some pics!

sas and pipp :bunnydance:

 

[nose_twitch]

She did mention that she feedsalphalfa. Switch to timothy hay and, like Pipp said, cut outthe carrots. That should help. I agree with Lissa,too. Sounds like a boy.

 

[Maureen Las]

Look up Oxbow Hay online...you can haveexcellent timothy hay delivered to your home and also timothy pelletsif you wish. If you need, the Oxbow people will explaineverything to you about what your bunny needs....the alfalfa is toorich for your bunny... there is an 800 number that you can call.

 

[naturestee]

She's too young for timothy pellets, but I'mbetting that switching to timothy hay will help. Alfalfa hay+ alfalfa pellets= too much protein= lots of cecals.

I order hay from Oxbow online. It looks pricey to get a bigbox of it, but's cheaper to buy in bulk through them then to buy thelittle bags in the pet stores here. Especially since mybeasts would go through a 6 lb bag in a day or two.

You can also sometimes find hay through horse stables or farmco-ops. Unfortunately for me, most people around here feedtheir horses alfalfa or grass/alfalfa mixes, buy you may be able tofind good grass hay. It doesn't have to be timothy, just atype of grass.

Spaying should also help.

 

[Pipp]

naturestee wrote:

She's too young for timothy pellets, but I'm betting thatswitching to timothy hay will help. Alfalfa hay + alfalfapellets= too much protein= lots of cecals.

It could be theprotein, orthecarbohydrates/calories that's promotingtheexcess cecals, or a lack of fiber -- or all three -- if my memory'sworking correctly.

The alfalfa pellets are best, yes, but I'd still like to make sure it'snot one of those brands with other stuff mixed in -- the coloured bits-- or heavy on the corn or something else she may be sensitiveto.

And probably a mix of Timothy and alfalfa hay is best.

Bottom (heh) lineis she really should be eating hay and/or grass.

sas and pipp :bunnydance:

 

[Lago-luver]

I'm no expert on rabbits but I think she may begetting too much protein - alfalfa is very high. You can buytimothy hay from companies such as Oxbow(www.oxbow.com) or from farms or evenon eBay (Farmer Dave or fmrdave) but you should have your girl seen bya vet. You are SURE she's a she??? Toomany carrots are high in sugar and not a great diet. Get agood book on caring for House Rabbits. You can give your girlsalad greens - romaine lettuce, kale, broccoli (although that can causegas), turnip greens, etc.

If you use a cage and let her droppings fall through the grates you canuse baking soda on the tray to absorb odor. Wash her cage orlitter box with vinegar and rinse it well and put some baking soda inthe bottom. Don't use room deodorizers since some of thosecan be toxic not only to rabbits but to cats and dogs.

Good luck.

Roena:bunnydance:

 

[Rory]

Thank you so much for your replies.

I wish I could order hay online but I'm actually in Peru, so surprise,I'm not in the USA. I'm from Latinamerica. I really don't know where Icould get that. I don't want to just go to the park and grab some,cause it might be dirty. I guess all I could do is grow my own grass(not the bad stuff lol) but actual normal grass and feed it to her? Iwonder of any of you do this.

Does the grass have to dry or fresh?

By the way I'm cutting the carrots down on her diet.

So let me see if I understand what y'all are saying, she should bedropping far less cecal pills than she does now? They are supposed toeat all of them, and if she's leaving some that's because she'soverproducing them?

Could it be I'm giving her too much food?

I really don't know what timothy hay is, how do I know the difference if I actually find it somewhere?

Also, is it safe to use cat litter, wood shavings or the likes? Do theyprovide effective odor control? Is it dangerous if they eat it?

I know these are a lot of questions...sorry about that, but Annie andme depend on you guys right now...we really wanna stay together.

Much Love

Rory

 

[Lago-luver]

Can you get hay from a farmer - the kind theyfeed horses. You'd have to be careful there was no bugs ormold in the hay but that would do just fine. Dry isgood. Is there a pet store that will order hay?Don't give Annie alfalfa except occasionally.

Don't use cat litter for Annie, if she eats it, it's notgood. You can use hay or wood shavings but I wouldn't usepine because there is an oil in pine that's detrimental. Ifyou can get a product called Carefree or Yesterday's News (ground upnewspapers), that would be idea.

Roena:bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

As Lago Luver said, if you've got cows andhorses in Peru, you've got hay. Check around forfeed stores if the pet stores don't have any. Callavet, or the vet or agriculture department atalocal college, they should tell you what's available in yourarea. It might bethat Timothy isn'tcommonthere, but something similar is. (Also bestto make sure S.A. rabbits have the same requirements. Oursoriginate inEurope. The N.A. wild rabbits here aredifferent. Lionheads should be the same all over, but best to check).

Rabbits here eatTimothy Hay, Orchard Grass, andwhen they're young, Alfalfa,and other grasses with noworries, just watch out for mould. (The alfalfa may be toorich , but it also may bebetter than nothing and thus worth atry. It takes experimentation).

She shouldn't be dropping any cecals at all, she should consume whatshe processes. Young bunnies shouldn't have their foodamounts restricted while they're growing, although that can stop asearly as six months, depending on the breed, so you're not faroff.

The pellets may be the problem, but that depends on thecontents. The pellets your feeding her should have high fiber(over 20%) and a good amount of protein (16% or more) and calcium (over.8%) while she's growing, and then cut down on the protein and calcium,but keep up the fiber. (Hay and grass is the best source offiber). Dried grasses are best,too much fresh cansend her into bloat.If you have access to a fieldor orchard that definitely has never been treatedwithpesticides, you can feed her that, but you'll havetrouble keeping up with it.

You can try a few oats in her feed, too, but be careful, it mightincrease the carbohydrates that may be causing the problem.You may have to lose the carrots altogether, at least until you findout what is the cause ofher problem.

Also, NB, always switch food gradually.

Cedar chipscan be a problem becauseofchemicalsemitted by the odor/oils, and to alesser extent, some forms of pine, although horse bedding can workwell. Some bunnies eat clay-based litter, and its too dustyfor them anyway. Some bunnies willalso eatnewspaper, but that's not a huge deal unless they eat a lot ofit.Actually, the hay or straw makes great bedding,too. Just make sure some is set aside where she doesn'tsleep, pee and poop.

This is not expert advice, especially for your area, so still best to ask a vet and/or an agriculture specialist.

Good luck with her!

sas and pipp :bunnydance:

 

[Sweetdelight]

did you check her scent gland thing, near her.. um bottom? Maybe something has built around there and needs cleaning.

 

[KatsMeowTree]

Lago-luver wrote:

You can use hay or wood shavings but I wouldn'tuse pine because there is an oil in pine that's detrimental.Roena:bunnydance:

I use pine shavings alot. I use them in nest boxes and everything, havefor going on 5 years. Don't use Cedar though because that has oils thatcause problems.

Kat

 

[Rory]

Thank you, that's great advice for my SouthAmerican bunny. I need to talk toa vet about all of this. Hemight help me with finding resources in my area.

Now I know that she should be eating all the cecals she produces. Ithink the problem might be the fact that she drops them below the cagewhere she can't reach them. I've seen her eat the ones she pulls out ofher bottom though, but maybe he misses most of them and that can't begood.

Thanks for your support. She doesn't actually stink herself, inresponse to Sweetdelight. Maybe my post title was misleading. It's theactualcage thing, specifically her droppings.

SOmetimes her smell is absolutely delightful. Have you guys sniffedyour baby bunnies and felt that fresh, almost baby-like smell? It's sonice.

Much love to all of you,

:bunnydance:Rory

 

[Maiko]

Hi,

Our bunny had a bad odour in our hutch and on her body.Rabbits excretea scent which is hormonal - this is what makes them smell. It also madeher bottom yellow.

Once we got our girl spayed, she stopped smelling. There is a slightsmell in her litter tray but only when it's time to clean it. She hasno bad smell anymore what-so-ever. And a very clean white tooshie!!