Dirty Bum

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petkeeper

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Joined
Apr 14, 2004
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Location
, New Brunswick, Canada
Hi all.

I have a slight problem, my holland lop Harley suffers from dirtybums. Depending on what he eats...I try to stick mainly tohay and pellets for him...but even that sometimes sets himoff. It is almost like his night poops get stuck to hisbum. He is healthy, but I worry about his bum hole gettingplugged. I wash his bum with warm water...he is very patientwith me! What I am wondering is if any of you have any bettersolutions...besides water...it works but not thebest. Also if you know of anyway to keep him fromgetting soft poop that would be awesome. i know burnt toastworks for Chinchillas does it work for rabbits?

Thanks in advance for your advice

Shannon
 
It might help to trim the hairs around thatarea. I do this for one of my buns.Sometimes whenI feed my bunnies to many greens they tend to get amessy bottom from the cecotrophes being mushy.

Have you ever given your bunny old fashioned rolled oats? Youmight try a small amount of oats. Beckie
 
Is Harley overweight? Overweight bunnies have ahard time getting to their cecotropes, which could help explain thesmeared poop.
 
I have a rabbit like this. It isbasically the result of a hereditary intestinal problem. Tryto clean the bum daily. Sometimes it will already be driedand can be taken off. Other times you might need to cut themess off with scissors. If it is wet or damp, then you canget the biggest part with paper towels and then use a wet warm washcloth to clean , then follow by drying with a paper towel.Try to keep up with it as much as you can. An indoor rabbitis better that an outdoor one with this condition. Try alittle oats to see if that helps. It probably is like mineand a condition you have to deal with.

Ed


 
Thank you all for your suggestions. Iwill try oats for sure. I am being to think it is a hollandlop thing! This is the second holland I have had that hasthis issue! I really like the cornstartch baby powder fromthat site. That sounds like it might actually work.

Thanks again!

Shannon
 
I've used cornstarch on my buns' bumsbefore on occasions. Can be messy but gets the job done!
 
Great idea aboutthe cornstarch! For whatever reason, Peanut also gets a messy bum(she's a lop mix). She's not overweight, nor does she seem to produceany excessively soft poos. I'm definitely going to try usingcornstarch...

~Emily and the Fuzzbutts~
 
I think you are right about it being a hollandlop thing. When I was about 11, our first two bunnies wereholland lop brothers. We were constantly fighting the poopy butt war.Warm baths worked for us, but it would have been nicer not to have toresort to that. When bathing them, be gentile if there is anydried stuff on their fur. Their little behinds are pretty delicate anddon't stand up to much pulling (I am sure you know). Our little boyswere so gracious about it, bless their hearts. A good soak helps forthe difficult ones. We limited their pellets and offered rolled oatsand lots of hay. Trimming the fur helped too, but be careful becausetheir skin is so soft and thin too. I was always scared when I trimmedthem.

Most importantly, keep up on it! WhenI moved out, the bunniesweren't getting cleaned quite often enough, and they got fly strike. Istill feel so guilty about that.
 
peapoo usually isnt very dirty, unless she eatstoo many vegetables...she can only have a small piece .. lessthanan inch or so .. of a carrot a day...more than that andyou got a big mess to clean up!
 
S'more (dutch doe, 2 y/o) used to get poopy butta lot. We switched her to pellets that had lower protien and she hasn'thad much of a problem since.

Treats are limited to 1 tsp rolled oat daily, and dried papaya a couple of time a week.

Greens are also limited to about 3/4 cup twice a week.

We usually would use a spray bottle with warm water and paper towels toclean her. We used baby wipes for times that she wasn't toomessy......just make sure they do not containaloe. Baby oil can also be used (sparingly) to soften up the hard-driedon poopies. If there is any irritation, I apply neosporin afterwards.

~Jim




 
Hi

I took Harley to the vet today just to rule out anythingmajor.My reason for this decision...isusually whenI take his food away andgive him strickly hay his poops goback to normal butthis time they didn't. I took afecal sample in with me and they analyzed it and it all came backnormal. He suggested giving Harley some plain yogurt and keephim away from his pellets for a day or two strickly hay. Doesthis sound good to you guys. IgaveRex hispellet seperated from Harley, his poop is normal no point in takingaway his food! He was so good at the vet today...the vettook his temperature in his bum and he just stayed rightthere and let him do it! :DHe made his mommy soproud. I just hope he is going to be okay!



Thanks a bunch for all your advice. I really appreciate youguys listening to me, it helps having other people to talk to who adoretheir buns as much as I do!!
 

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