Rabbit poo matted to bum!

[JessieR]

<a href="http://s1284.photobucket.com/albums/a563/jessier90/?action=view&current=IMG_1501.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a563/jessier90/IMG_1501.jpg" border="0" alt="Poo - Sky"></a>

Hello all,

I hope you can see the picture?

I have just managed betweeen me and my bf to cut this from Sky's bum, she was very smelly, so I picked her up and she just flopped backwards and lay on my arm, i tried stoking her face - i think i had her in a trance so thought i would have a poke around her bum.

I am just concerned as i have managed to cut this away from her, but there is still a pretty big clump attached to her, that bit is more matted into her fur though and as she started to twitch a bit i put her down.

Does this mean she is not cleaning her self properly?I have been to all of the local supermarkets today in search of cornstarch to dry bathe her as i knew there were a few poo's down there, but not as many as we have just cut off!!

The poo was covering over her exit hole for the other poo's so i am guessing she has been very uncomfortable with this for some time now. poor bun i had her from a rescue centre on Monday so dont think they noticed this.Since we had her she had been grunting as she was walking and not really being very active, since i put her down she had a massive run around with no grunts at all, we thought this could have been a mating call to Crumble as she is yet to be spayed, or that it was just what she did!

Are there any further suggestions how to get the rest of the poo's off her?

Thanks,

Jess x

 

[JessieR]

 

[Blue eyes]

Rather than a dry bath, I suggest you give her a butt bath -- you only get her bum wet. Likely you will need the water to loosen up the poo. There are instructions on how to do this on this site:
http://www.myhouserabbit.com/tip_poopybutt.php

 

[Imbrium]

looks/sounds like a cecotrope. unlike normal (fecal) poop, cecotropes are quite smelly.

they're supposed to be re-ingested by the rabbit, but this doesn't always happen. the primary causes for that are:
~ the rabbit is quite young and has a short attention span so doesn't bother to eat them
~ the rabbit is overweight and can't really bend down to eat them when they're produced
~ the rabbit is producing more than they need and is leaving the excess (caused by too rich of a diet, usually too many pellets)

to clean her up, you can take a bowl of warm water (with a little bit of small animal shampoo in it if you want) and soak her rear for however long she'll let you to loosen them up, then use a warm washcloth or unscented/alcohol free baby wipe to work as much of the poop as you can free. anything left, you can cut out if it isn't too close to the skin - just be VERY careful as their skin is quite delicate.

 

[JessieR]

Thanks for the quick replies!

I did post about finding a lot of squished cecotropes about throught the day a couple of days ago, i just thought that it could be the change in diet as i havent seen as many the past few days.

I guess now that they were coming from Sky, who appears to me, to be overweight. Possibly that's why she's not eating them or cleaning properly?

I will attempt a bum wash...that should be interesting! I tried this with a rabbit before who completely freaked out, and i couldn't dry him properly.

Jess x

 

[Imbrium]

if she's overweight, you should try to hand-feed her cecotropes when you can to make sure she gets at least some of the nutrition from them... also, cut way back on pellets or eliminate them to help her lose weight so that she'll be able to get them herself

 

[JessieR]

I did start giving them apples as a treat but stopped after a few days due to Sky's weight. Should i feed the two bunnies separately and completely cut down with Sky's pellets? Crumble is not overweight, he looks the right weight for his size etc so i dont want him to loose weight too?

x

 

[Imbrium]

as long as you're feeding completely unlimited grass hays and a variety/decent volume of fresh leafy greens, it's possible to have a healthy pellet-free diet for bunnies that won't cause your healthy bunny to lose weight.

whitelop has been doing a TON of research on pellet-free diets lately - you might send a PM and ask for more info on what's involved.

 

[JessieR]

Ah thats a good idea, i will PM...if i can work out how

Will butt wash in the morning then get on to a diet alteration.

Thanks for the help x