Cleaning stinky paws

[Tango]

Hi all

i heard a rumour somewhere in this forum (can't remember where) that ifyou dilute vinegar (50:50) it works really well al cleaning the bunny'spaws if they get stinky.

Is it true firstly. And secondly, I know that rabbits have verysensitive skin, so does the vinegar, even diluted, not harm their skin?

Thanks so much



May

:dunno:

 

[FlopsnWills]

your rabbit shouldn't have that much pee on its paws, to where you can actually smell them.. do you clean its cage regularly?

 

[Haley]

hmm dirty paws...what kind of litter are you using?

To answer your question, yes the vinegar/water solution works verywell. I actually use 25/75 though. I think this is diluted enough thatits safe for rabbit paws. Ive only had to use it once though,when we had an accident.

Again, if its a problem, you might want to consider switching litter

-Haley

 

[Runestonez]

Our bunn Bummy had to have his feet washedrecently cause the little goober kept digging in thelitterbox! On a white bunny pee shows up alot! The50/50 vinegar worked really great and cleaned the stains rightup! No more smelly stained feet!

 

[pinksalamander]

I might try this, its been raining recently andbecause William had eaten all the grass in a certain area of the gardenthe ground was all muddy. I put him out there and his back feet arereally dirty now, it really shows on seeing as he has white feet! Itried with a piece of loo paper and water but it didn't really doanything, seeing as he didn't like me touching his feet when he wantedto go and play!

I've tried doing that trance thing with him but it's impossible, i didit once when my rabbit guru friend came round, its the only way i canreally get to his feet..

 

[Haley]

pinksalamander wrote:

I've tried doing that trance thing with him but it's impossible, i didit once when my rabbit guru friend came round, its the only way i canreally get to his feet..

Have you tried the bunny burrito? This is the only way I canget Max his meds..just turn him on his back on your lap (or a counter)and wrap him up like a burrito in a towel. works wonders!

-Haley

 

[pinksalamander]

Yeah, i tried wrapping him up, hes fine withthat, its just whenever i try to "flip" him over he just doesn't likeit and flips himself back midway. As i've said i did it once at therescue centre and once with my friend who is brill with rabbits. Hehates me touching his feet when he's trying to hop away so i end upsorta having to wipe his feet as he hops! I need to get a good scrubgoing!

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

FlopsnWills wrote:

your rabbit shouldn't have that much pee on its paws, towhere you can actually smell them.. do you clean its cageregularly?

I dont think it necessarily has to be due topee. My white bunnies get dirty paws just from running aroundthe rug or digging at newspaper. White fur stains very easilyunfortanetly.

 

[FlopsnWills]

i figured she meant pee because she called herrabbits paws, "stinky". i've owned three rabbits and none of them hadstinky paws, so that's why i asked that.

 

[pinksalamander]

I tried turning him over to clean his feet. Itried it in a blanket and he squirmed more than usual. I just spent thelast half an hour trying to get him used to it and am now in greatpain, with a bleeding chest and a stubborn rabbit who is now sopetrified of me he won't even let me hold him normally withoutscratching me all over. What can i do? I need to turn him over to cleanhis feet and also because now i need to clip his claws. Plus i gotblood all over my new white shirt. Very upset (and sore)

 

[tamsin]

Bunnies come complete with their own cleaningtools (a tounge and teeth). Unless there is a very good reason - justleave them to it. Unless you are going to show them then sparkly whitefeet aren't necessary. No need to stress out you and your bunny

If you're rabbits feet actually smell rather than just have a yellowishstain to them then you need to look at prevention rather than cleaningup the feet. Things like more absorbent bedding and more frequentlitter changes.

Tam

 

[Michaela]

My albino Pebble's feet get really dirty, likeblack, when she's been running around the garden but she always hasthem perfectly clean in the morning. She's great at cleaning herselfi've never had a problem

 

[JimD]

Binkie went through a period where she wouldempty the litter from her litter pan...then she would pee in it...andthen she would lay in it.
Needless to say, she was a very stinky bunnie for a while. We resolvedthe litter pan issue by putting a grid over the litter, but Binkie wasstil stinkie!!
We cleaned her up in a very shallow bath and used the 50/50 mix ofvinegar..then Dawn dishsoap...then rinsed,rinsed,rinsed with water. Wemade sure she was well dried afterwards. We made sure just to wash thedirty areas and didn't wash the whole bunnie, of course.
We haven't had a stinkie Binkie since.

 

[Tango]

Hi all



thanks for the responses. to explain the stinkiness. My bunny is beinga real pain when it comes to litter. I've tried lots of things, and theONLY thing he'll do his business on is newspaper. ANd only if i lay iton the floor of one side ofhis cage. as soon as i tryanything else, especially if its inside any form of litter TRAY he'lljust go somewhere else, which makes it more difficult to clean up. So,in order to focus the locality of the mess, ive resorted to just usingthe newspaper. Problem is, it doesn't absorb very fast and my bunny'sfavourite past time is to go hopping around in his wee as soon as he'sdone it. so even though i'm forever cleaning out adn changing thenewspaper, he always manages to stand in the puddle before i get to it.

SO ya, i don't know how to get him to use a litter tray with moreabsorbant litter. He hasn't been neutered so maybe thats half theproblem? i'm not sure. the vets around where i live are all quite waryof neutering bunnies cos there's apparently a risk with the anaestheticas bunnies shock easily. when the vet said that i was quite put off,even though i would love to have him neutered. i don't want him dyingjust cos he has stinky feet!!

i dunno if anyone has had bad expereinces with bunny's andanaesthetics? or any suggestions? I think i'll try the vinegar thingfor now. he doesn't mind getting is feet a bit damp. i think he quiteenjoys it actually. strangely enough.

thanks so much everyone

may

 

[Jess_sully]

For your bunny's sake, don't take your bunny toany vets that say anything along those lines for neutering! Anexperienced bunny vet that uses the right kind of anesthesia(isoflorene) will have little to no problems neutering a bunny. On theother hand, any vet that is wary about neutering a bunny clearly doesnot have enough knowledge of rabbits to perform the surgery. With aproper vet, neutering a bunny is not very much riskier than neutering adog or cat, however, it is crucial to find a good vet first. Sometimes,rabbit vets are hard to find. In my area, they seem to be abundant, butwe're not all that lucky. See HRS's neutering and spaying section formore info:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

Your newspaper situation sounds... gross, to be kind I've had to usenewspaper before when we ran out of litter, and I really hated it.You're right... it doesn't absorb well, or control odor, and the poopsmust fly everywhere! I hope you find a better litter solution for thelittle man