Pee Pee Tummy

[Saltflower]

One of my boys has started to have a dark yellow staining and dry tangles on his tummy near his bottom. He's perfectly healthy. I've tried brushing with a flea comb, and I bought rabbit shampoo. The shampooing no matter how much I rinsed just left a gummy mess. Why is he doing this and how can I get him back to being clean, white and fluffy?

 

[Saltflower]

Took him to the vet. He said that Saltweedie can't have soft bedding because he is urinating in it and then sitting in the wetness. So I got him a very thin throw rug. The vet said if that doesn't help I just have to accept it and give him baths and brushings twice a week.

 

[zuppa]

I don't think baths would be a great idea to be honest, especially shampooing. I would try to re-think his setup and train him to use toilet box properly. Can you post a few pictures of his current toilet box and cage and his living area and maybe his stains so we can see better what situation you have there and base our suggestions on that

 

[Imbrium]

When you shampoo him, I hope you're *only* giving a "butt bath" (getting the affected area), as getting too much of him wet can be dangerous or even fatal. On the occasion I've needed to give a butt bath, I've always used Dawn dish detergent (the stuff they use to clean animals after an oil spill); its cheaper and more effective than expensive rabbit shampoo.

What kind of bedding are you using? Most of us here use pelleted wood bedding (I use a brand called Equine Pine from Tractor Supply) - you can get a 40 lb bag of it from pretty much any feed store/livestock supply store for around $5-8 depending on where you live. It provides effective odor control AND tends to suck the liquids down to the bottom so that they're not sitting right on pee bedding, plus it's as cheap as it gets for rabbit-safe bedding! Since it's best to have a set-up where they can eat hay while sitting in the box, hay inevitably ends up on top of the pelleted bedding and also helps to keep them from sitting in something pee-soaked.

Here are links to a couple good setups (one of which can also be made with a grid that keeps them off the bedding, which is particularly useful if you've got a digger):
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/the-stormhaven-litter-system-step-by-step-instructions.48510/
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html

And this is the setup I use (my pair has a larger box than this, but the same general concept):



I used an under-the-shelf basket thing to make the manger (you can use a dremel or good wire-cutters to enlarge some of the holes so the bunns can fit their heads in; just make sure to sand off any pointy burrs on the cut ends) and zip-tie a piece of coroplast (corrugated plastic) or foam board to the back of it so that you can lift it out and take it to the hay stash for refills without stuff falling everywhere. Because it's meant to be hung from a shelf, it's ready-made to hook onto the bars of a cage, x-pen or dog crate.

 

[Saltflower]

I use a large cat litter pan for hay with newspapers on the bottom. The hay is always heaped high.
I only do butt baths. I hold him under my right arm under warm running water and wash the areas with my left hand.
The water is just a bit over lukewarm. I showed my vet the way I do this and he approved.
Saltweedie is already peeing himself and already orange and crunchy in those areas. The vet agreed with me that I have a handicapped child and I'll just have to deal with it and that's all there is to it.
I appreciate your responses and tips.

 

[Niomi]

I had an older rabbit that was incontinent rabbit that used to pee on the floor, then lay in it. I had to take him to the vet and the techs would give him a hair cut where he would get the urine stains. It made it a lot easier to keep him clean.

 

[Saltflower]

I forgot to mention that his arms are deformed. The vet doesn't know if he was born that way or that the arms were broken and never healed properly. He doesn't want to x-ray because a rabbit has to be anesthetized for an x-ray. He walks and hops and stands like if a person was walking on their hands from wrist to fingertips. That's what I meant by handicapped.

 

[Saltflower]

Just wanted to say that I appreciate your replies. And to assure everyone that my vet is rabbit savvy as well as briilant. I wouldn't take my rab kids to him if he weren't!!

 

[Saltflower]

Darn typos! Thanks again everyone.