Wet back legs

[erinandbenny]

hi, my family and I have a brand new holland lop, got him about 2 weeks ago (born March 26). His name is Benny.

When I first got him, I noticed that his bottom was a little dirty, fur a little matted, etc. I talked with the breeder and she recommended a light bottom bath but to give him a few days to get settled to see if he cleaned it up on his own. He did, so I did not do a bath for his bottom at that time.

Today however, I got him out of his enclosure and noticed his back legs were pretty wet and some of the skin looked a little pink. I believe he either peed on them or sat in some pee in his litter box, the box was pretty wet when I got up this morning. After some googling, I decided to bathe his bottom and back legs only, blow dried him with a cool dryer, and added a little pure cornstarch baby powder to his rump and back legs only. (All recommended in various forums online). He seems content.

Could someone just tell me if I seem to be on the right track? I don’t want to cause him any harm. Also, I’ve been using only Timothy hay in his litter box but I was thinking of putting a layer of newspaper underneath to see if it helps him stay drier. Thanks in advance.

 

[JBun]

If he's getting wet by sitting in his urine in his litter box, I would suggest changing your litter box setup. A good litter box set up will naturally keep any urine drained away from the rabbit. I would suggest using wood or paper pellet litter under the hay. I prefer the wood pellet litter as I feel it works best with absorption and odor control. I put a 1-1.5 inch deep layer of wood pellets, topped with hay. I change the hay out at least every 3 days as it gets wet, and either spot scoop saturated spots in the pellets(for buns that like to pee in only one spot), or dump the whole thing each week for buns that pee through out the litter box.
https://www.sandiegorabbits.org/lb.php
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html

If he's getting wet fur and it's not due to sitting in a pee puddle, he could have a urinary tract infection and/or calcium build up in his bladder causing incontinence. This would require seeing a rabbit savvy vet for treatment. You don't want it progressing to the point where urine scald of the skin develops.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/UrinaryIncontinenceRabbit.htm
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[erinandbenny]

Ok thanks, I’ll look for some wood pellet litter and see if that helps. I really don’t think he’s incontinent, mainly because he only urinates in his box and so far nowhere else. Seems like he would if he was having trouble?

 

[JBun]

Yeah, if it was a UTI, you would likely be seeing puddles or dribbles outside of the litter box as well. If he is only peeing in the litter box, it's most likely that you just need a rabbit safe absorbent litter in there to keep the urine drained away from the surface and your bun.

You can get wood pellet litter called Feline Pine, at pet stores. Or if you have any farm supply stores, they will usually have wood pellet litter used for horses, and it's usually a bit cheaper than the cat one.

In the meantime if you aren't using anything besides hay in the litter box, with nothing under it to absorb the urine, I would put several layers of newspaper or other rabbit safe absorbent layer under the hay such as a towel. You can also layer the hay so it is really deep, to make sure the urine is draining away from your bun and staying dry at the top layer of the hay.

 

[erinandbenny]

Thanks so much, I'll check tractor supply tomorrow for some. Put some newspaper in the bottom this morning and have been checking him throughout the day. Still dry for now