Mucky butt

[colliewobbles]

I think one of my bunnies has poopy butt. I've got two bunnies, one is a teddy lionhead boy, super fluffy, and he's fine. My other is a Netherland dwarf girl, and recently she seems to always have a mucky butt in the morning. When I go in to see them first thing, there's usually some cecal type matter in the litter tray, and her butt is red and sore looking, but that improves by the end of the day. However not only is it unpleasant, I'm afraid of her getting fly strike at this time of year with the weather so hot, so I really want to get it sorted.

This morning she looked particularly bad, so I hoiked her into the dog bath with some small pet shampoo, washed her then blow dried her, but I don't want to be doing that every day! She's four years old, not overweight, and both bunnies are fed on fresh hay I get from a farm, which they've got tons of to munch on, plus a handful of science selective pellets. They also get the occasional greens but not too much. She's not always been like this, its only recently like around the last 2-3 weeks. Its not mucous-y or watery, it just looks exactly like cecal matter, but squashed. Does anyone know how to get rid of it and stop her from getting it again? Thanks.

 

[JBun]

I'm a bit rushed right now and don't have time to type out a detailed reply, but will try a bit later. Often this problem has to do with a diet imbalance. You can give these links a read for now, for a bit more info on what might be wrong.

http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

 

[JBun]

Has anything changed in the last few weeks that might have brought this on? New foods, changes in environment or anything that could be causing stress? Diet most often is the culprit, but there are other things such as dental problems causing a reduction in hay consumption, arthritis, stress, medications, parasites, and bacteria that can also cause mushy cecotropes. Is she eating her normal amounts of hay? Has she been to see the vet for this issue and have her teeth been checked any time recently? Any difficulty chewing or other changes of behavior?

 

[colliewobbles]

Thanks for replying.

So I've been doing a little experimenting, and took away the pellets completely and only put hay down (though I fed my other bun his share of pellets separately). With only hay, she's been fine. This happened a few weeks back, only I assumed it was an upset system due to eating beet root leaves, which again went back to normal when I only gave hay to fix her system. So could it be she can't handle the pellets for some reason, even though their meant to be one of the best around? If so can she live on hay only, with herbs and leafy plant mix as extras? I'm a bit concerned she's hungry cos since I took away the pellets she's like a little begging dog even though she's got heaps of hay to get though.

 

[JBun]

Some rabbits can be sensitive or become sensitive, to the sugars and starches in pellets. My old bun can't have as much as she used to or she starts to get mushy cecals. So I've just reduced the amount so she doesn't have them anymore. If hay only has cleared up the mucky bum with your bun, maybe do a few more days on hay and veg/herbs only, then gradually start adding pellets back in. Just start with a very tiny amount and gradually increase each day. If you start seeing mushy poop, reduce the amount slightly and see if her poop goes back to normal. If it does, then you could keep her at that amount.

If she is getting mushy poop with even the smallest amount, then it is possible for a rabbit to do well on a good quality hay, forage, and veg/herb only diet, provided they also get some sunshine each day(for vit. D). I had one bun that had to be on a hay/veg diet for several years, as he was intolerant of even the smallest amount of pellets.

Pellets are a concentrated food, so it tends to fill them up quicker, plus they have sugars so buns usually really like them. That's probably why the begging. If you have to eliminate pellets completely, she will get used to it and the begging should gradually stop, as she stops waiting to see if pellets are coming and just tucks into her hay and greens. Just make sure to feed unlimited hay(if you don't already), as rabbits usually eat tons more hay when they don't have pellets.