Sticky Bottom

Hi all, as I mentioned in my recent intro thread i don't currently have any buns of my own (just 9 piggies) but I do look after bunnies for people when they go on holiday.

I have a question for all you bunny experts. Two buns have arrived today for a two week stay. At home they live in a hutch/run combo situated on the lawn. One of the buns has trouble keeping it's bottom clean and his owner said that recently it has been much worse. I am wondering whether because they have access to grass daily he has been consuming more fresh spring grass and this has made his problem worse? They are used to being in a hutch with sawdust and hay and they use a litter tray filled with sawdust, although the owner said the mucky bun tends to sit in the litter tray most of the time. His owner has made sure he wass nice and clean on arrival, if a little damp, but said he will probably need washing daily. They have excel pellets and plenty of fresh hay and the owner said she only gives them a small amount of fresh food daily.

So, does anyone have any suggestions about trying to keep this little guy clean and comfortable. I am concerned that this little chap is going to get into a horrible mess so any help you can offer would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Before even reading your post I can tell you what the problem is. It will relate to the food that they are on, there are other reasons including perhaps being overweight or arthritic and not able to clean themselves.

The food issue affect a small proportion of rabbits who are offered to rescues who have this problem, it is either the amount of food that they are bing fed on and / or the type of dried food. From my own personal experience excel and also mixes due to their lower fibre content make a small proportion of rabbits susceptible to this.

My advise would be to cut down the amount they are being fed so that they eat lots of hay, once the correct level is found they can be left on this food, the other rabbit may need to be topped up with pellets away from the one with the sticky bum. Another option is to move them slowly over to a higher fibre food such as Science Selective, Bunny Basics T or Allan and Page pellets. If the rabbit is over weight and simply cannot clean themselves up they will need to have their pellets reduced until they are nice and trim and able to reach the necessary spot.

Baby wipes are very good for cleaning them up, however I do also believe that addressing the cause is also a good idea.

yeah some bunnies are sensitive to excel and it is notorious for causing this problem - I would swap slowly to Science Selective pellets (available at some vets, or online pet stores), and as he's at risk of flystrike I'd have them both Rearguarded as the big flies are just waking up from hibernation now :?

I have a question too on this issue, sorry for asking on your thread Piggiesgalore, but better than starting a new mucky bum thread!

Button has very soft fluffy fur, not very long but quite fuzzy, and he gets a bit mucky underneath - but it's never sticky, always just dried poo on the tips of the fur (it won't wipe off easily), with sometimes a whole dried poo hanging off. I've never seen any caeco poos stuck to him. Is this dried poo something I need to worry about?

I gave him a trim down below on the weekend, and he also had these yellowy pus-y dried bits, looking a bit like a yellow currant, they were pretty gross, stuck in some folds of skin down there - possibly where he had his bits done, but I'm not too sure on the anatomy of a boy rabbit's bum! Again, is that something I should worry about? There did seem to be a little of the fresh pus-y stuff too, but he showed no signs of pain or problems down there.

I did wonder about the excel pellets jrn, I have been reading some of the older forum topics about the different types of pellet foods.

Both buns are "well covered" not fat as such but "cuddly" so I suspect this doesn't help the situation. I will try cutting back on the pellets (difficult to change over completely when they aren't my buns, but if reducing the amount of pellets they get doesn't make a difference I will certainly suggest changing brands to their owner) and will make sure thay have a constant supply of good quality hay. Would the grass make an difference do you think i.e. should I keep them off it and just let them have play time on the patio? I have some unscented baby wipes in stock so will try those if needs be (which I suspect it will!!) in the morning. Thanks for the advice.

Hiya :wave:

I wouldn't make any drastic changes to the buns routine ie taking them off the grass as they are already in a new environment so it probably wouldn't be good for them added stress etc!

I have found grass is fine with my buns although kiln dried grass gives them excess sticky poo. I also think reducing the pellets is an excellent idea as it will up thier hay intake therefore is likely to reduce sticky-ness! My vet recommends an egg cup full of pellets per bun per day no more.

Let us know how you get on

Piggiesgalore said:

I did wonder about the excel pellets jrn, I have been reading some of the older forum topics about the different types of pellet foods.

Both buns are "well covered" not fat as such but "cuddly" so I suspect this doesn't help the situation. I will try cutting back on the pellets (difficult to change over completely when they aren't my buns, but if reducing the amount of pellets they get doesn't make a difference I will certainly suggest changing brands to their owner) and will make sure thay have a constant supply of good quality hay. Would the grass make an difference do you think i.e. should I keep them off it and just let them have play time on the patio? I have some unscented baby wipes in stock so will try those if needs be (which I suspect it will!!) in the morning. Thanks for the advice.

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I have just bonded a rabbit who came in with a sticky bottom, in her foster home she was fed on bunny basics, she had access to a small amount of Excel when I was bonding her to her new boyfriend and within 6 hours I noticed that she had a lovely small cake of poo attatched to her, I immediatly cut the pellets right back to about 20 between them, hand fed the other rabbit his excel separately and only fed them hay and greens, within another 6 hours she was clean and stayed that way. Grass is ok, but gradually introduce it otherwise it can be a little rich for them.

Even stopping her access to Excel will do her no harm, you will then need to hand feed the other bun. It is definately worth it if theystay clean.

Heleni - I think you may be talking about anal glands http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/Bacterial_diseases/endometritis.PDF

Thanks for the advice guys, I will definitely do as suggested and will let you know how things go! Just reinforces why I joined this forum

Thanks JRN - that link and picture were really useful - it was anal glands where the muck was, I didn't even know rabbits had them. And it turns out Button's balls would have been in a totally different place to where I thought!

heleni said:

Thanks JRN - that link and picture were really useful - it was anal glands where the muck was, I didn't even know rabbits had them. And it turns out Button's balls would have been in a totally different place to where I thought!

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Thats ok, only happy to help

Janice

Ok quick update on Pepsi's bottom issues. As suggested I only gave them a very small amount of excel pellets, added lots of fresh hay and a small amount of greens. This morning his bottom was a bit mucky, but nothing too serious however because he was damp when he arrived what poos had stuck had spot welded to his nether regions and I had a job to remove it with baby wipes.

I put the two buns out in a run on the patio in the sunshine with litter tray, water, and copious amounts of hay and about 20 excel pellets between them. Within an hour Pepsi was in a terrible mess, his poo was VERY squishy and he got himself into an awful mess because he constantly sits in his litter tray (which his owner warned me about) and his friend sits with him so two messy bunnies.

I realise it is early days and this is only day two of their visit so they are probably still a little unsettled by the move, but I am quite worried about this boy, I have never experienced such mucky poos before. He is incredibly gentle and let me clean him up without any bother and he seems keen to eat and drink. I am not sure yet whether this is "normal" for him (his owner did say she has to clean him frequently, but not sure what his output is normally like). I have had mucky buns visiting before but their poo has just been soft and have been squished onto/into their fur (sorry to be so graphic) but with Pepsi it was a bit too watery for my liking. I guess I'll have to see what the morning brings :?