Grace wont clean herself

[Sayuri]

I dont know what has got into Gracie-Lou but she is now being a dirty bunny. She wont clean her bottom.

I know she isnt too fat to get round there because I can feel her rib cage and spine but her bottom was so dirty today I didnt think I would ever get her clean and I am REALLY worried about fly strike.

I ended up putting her in a bath for about 10 minutes or so, twice. the first time with lots of soap and the second time with lots of water to get the soap out of her fur (bunny soap). Her fur is still stained a bit orange around her bum but nothing like it was.

Is it normal for a girls bottom bits to sort of look like a winky? because Graces seemed really...well long.

She wasnt exactly pleased about me cleaning her back end when she was in the bath...she wasnt pleased about the bath either but she was VERY VERY good. She was so filthy back there a pair of sisscors werent going to do the job; I wasnt convinced it was all going to come out with just washing either but it did.

I cleaned her cage completly out before putting her back in it and found a LARGE clump of soft poo....I wonder if I gave her too much curly kale yesterday so I havent given her any fresh stuff today to give her tummy a rest.

She has been out of the bath for HOURS and hours now and where she has dried herself everywhere else she hasnt even gone near her back end so she is still damp there....I was hoping she would sort herself out but obviously not.

I dont know what to do with her; should I take her to a vet?

 

[pla725]

Sounds like a diet issue to me. My mini-lop Pete occassionally get poopy butt when he eats something that doesn't agree with him.

Usually I do a butt bath not a full bath. It really stresses them out. The butt bath is usually sufficient to take care of the poopy butt. I also use a comb to remove the stuff that sticks on.

 

[maherwoman]

What sort of food is she getting?

How old is she again?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Alice? How is Grace? I thnk it could be a diet issue as well:?.

 

[m.e.]

Hate to sound like a broken record, but I used to go through the exact same thing with Peanut and for her it was a very sensitive tummy. She needed to be fed a very exact amount of food and little to no treats. She was never able to handle fresh veggies. If we deviated from her diet we'd get major, major messy butt :?

 

[polly]

you could try supplementing with a probiotic as well as looking at her diet just to make sure its not a bacteria imbalance

 

[Disapproving Rabbits]

I agree that it might be a dietary issue.

We had dietary issues with Cinnamon the first year and a half we had her. She would get her poo stuck to her back end in big globs. It was a stinky, nasty, smelly, sticky and sometimes crusty mess. And as much as she didn't like being bathed, we hated doing it because of the horrendous smell.

We eventually started eliminating certain foods from her diet and found no change...until we eliminated alfalfa pellets. Ever since we stopped feeding pellets, we have never had a problem and we're going on year seven of living with her. It's not easy, we have to vary her diet to make sure she is getting enough nutrition but our relationship has improved a great deal since we aren't washing her bottom on an almost daily basis (did I mention how hard it was to find a pet sitter during that period).

I don't recommend you eliminate pellets first, try all the other foods your bun is getting first.

Sharon