Butt bath

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degrassi

degrassi

Valerie - Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2004
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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Gimpy, my bun has been feeling a little off lately. He has been peeing outside his litter box, which isn't too uncommon lately, but this week I noticed his feet and bum are covered in urine. Usually he'll pee but doesn't walk in it. 2 days ago I picked him up to check him over. His feet, legs, tail and tummy were all damp and covered in urine but nothing looked red and he's peeing ok. I tried cleaning him up with a wet face cloth and I even poured a bit of water onto his legs but it didn't do much. Tonight I checked him again and its still all gross and damp. I have noticed him cleaning his feet a bit but that doesn't seem to be making a difference.

He'll also be 9yo in Jan so I have noticed he's not as able to clean himself as well as he used to. This past year I've noticed mats around his tail so I don't know if he's having trouble bending around to groom. His litter box habits are also getting worse so I don't know if he's having trouble jumping into his litter box. He still does but its only about half the time now.

So my question is, can I give him a little butt bath and how do I go about it. Do I just hold him and put his feet into a container with a inch or so of water. Then dry him off? Will he finish air drying? I"d like to clean the urine off him so it doesn't start burning him or matting up even more. He can't be happy with a dirty wet butt.

 
you can soak just his bottom in warm, soapy water (use small animal shampoo) for a bit if the unscented wet wipes aren't enough to do the trick, then use a warm washcloth to clean once he's soaked for a little bit. dry him off as well as you can... you can even use a blow-dryer on cool if the noise doesn't stress him out too much. after you get him cleaned up, you can probably stick to wet wipes if you stay on top of it (clean him 1-2x a day).

you might try cutting down one side of the litter box to make it easier for him to climb in.
 
ok I'll try the baby wipe thing first as I do have unscented wet wipes. I"ll try cleaning him up again after breakfast. We'll see how it goes.

Yes, I was planning on cutting his litter box down to see if that helps.
 
OK did another checkup and cleaning with a wash cloth, then dried him off really well with paper towels. His tail looks pretty matted and is the worst part. I tried to soak up as much urine and wetness as I could and it does look better. I'll do it again later this afternoon. I might also get my friend to stop to check it out and help, as she used to be a vet tech.

I examined his feet a bit better as they are less stained now and i did notice a bit of bald patches that look red towards the back of his feet(beginning of sore hocks?). The skin isn't broken, just kind of like a red bump. His flooring is coroplast with some carpet but I guess its still too hard now that he's older, its never been a problem before though. I might go out this afternoon and pick up some of those interlocking foam squares and try those.Is that soft enough? Any suggestions on helping his feet? Maybe thats why he doesn't like jumping into his box as much. I usually check his feet when I clip his nails every few weeks and i didn't notice it last time.

OK so I'll alter his litter box, try the foam flooring and keep wiping and drying his butt. Anything else I should be doing? He doesn't look to happy with me right now from cleaning him.
 
Well I solved the jumping into the litter box problem, lol. I went out and bought foam flooring and put it in Gimpy's cage. I put him back into his cage, he took a couple steps and he quickly jumped into his litter box and hasn't come out since. He definitely doesn't take change well. Hopefully he'll come out and see that the flooring is nice and easier to walk on.

I haven't modified the litter box yet. I'll do that tomorrow. Hopefully changing 2 things won't stress him too much. He's just such a grumpy old man and likes his routine.
 
hehe, well, that's one way to do it. hopefully he falls in love with the foam soon enough.
 
here's a good site explaining the potential urinary problems - http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

straining to pee, dribbling pee on themselves (which tends to lead to urine scald), sludgy urine/urine with clumps in it are all symptoms of a problem. in your case it may be hard to tell if there are incontinence issues or he's just lying down in his pee, but it may be a good idea to get him checked out just to be on the safe side.
 
Thanks, He doesn't look like he is straining at all and I was worried about dribbling but it looks more like he pees fine then steps or sits in it. When I checked his underside, around where he poops and pees was pretty clean. It was more his tail and feet/inside of the legs that were all soaked. He's also peeing the same amount as he normally does and its not chalky or gritty.

I"ll have to check him again tonight. This morning he was not liking me holding him or flipping him over so I couldn't really check him.
 
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