Bathing bunnies...

My two girls have got some urine scald going on... I thought it was pretty bad, until I found a sweet bun in my backyard today who is FILTHY!

I would love to get them all cleaned up!

What do you all do to give your buns baths? My two girls are white buns, and have urine stains on their sides...

My newest addition/rescue is sticky and dirty ALL OVER!

Thanks in advance!

The most important thing is getting to the root of the problem. A health rabbit should never need a bath/cleaning. If they are getting scalding then there is an underlying cause that needs resolving. This can be a range of issues from obesity to the wrong diet, to mobility problems, bladder infection, EC etc.

I'm not sure if you are using the term scalding right. Scolding is when the urine sits on the skin and the acidity causes burns. It makes the skin look red and sore and in bad cases causes blisters. It would be unusual to get this on the sides though - usually it's on the insides of the legs and around the groin.

If they have just got yellow stains on their fur then it's best to just leave them - it will go when it moults. Bathing won't get rid of it. If you want to prevent it then I'd suggest neutering them. Urine stains over the top coat is where rabbits spray each other - this is hormonal behaviour and will stop with neutering.

If they have actual scolding (damage to the skin) then you need to see a vet. They'll need the fur clipped away, the area bathed and antibiotics. Rear guard is also a good idea to prevent flystrike (maggots burrowing in to the skin).

Rabbits shouldn't be bathed as it stresses them out and destroys the natural oils in their fur that keeps the coat/skin in good condition. Making them wet can also attract flies/flystrike.

Unfortunately, both my buns have been very very sick with a resistant form of snuffles, and have not been cleaning themselves. I guess you are correct, that their skin is not as bad as scald might indicate... But it is red and seems to be itchy to them. They are starting to clean themselves better now, but there is residual urine on them.

My new bun I just found outside in the yard, and she is FILTHY! Sticky, with yellow, red and brown crud all over her! She has some scratches on her back that I am putting panalog cream on for now.

I actually am a licensed vet tech, and work at a vet's office. As far as grooming care goes, I seem to know more than most vets in this area do about buns. Heaven only knows, the last vet that I took my girls too that was supposed to be rabbit savy treated them with 1/3 the dose of the antibiotics they needed, causing some resistance to the strain of snuffles they have!

Anyways, I suppose I can let my bigger buns molt their fur away, but what do I do about my new one? I cannot leave her sticky and gross for long. She does need a good cleaning of some sort, and rubbing her with a wet rag just isn't going to cut it. This is a rescue situation, and I do not plan on bathing her again after I get her clean.

Sorry, sometimes it's hard to work out exactly what the situation is just reading a post

In that case, for the two girls I'd suggest shaving the fur on the inside of the legs. That makes cleaning easier and stops the fur matting. Then you'll need to wipe them probably several times a day - baby wipes are good for this. That will remove the urine from the skin. After cleaning you can then apply a thin layer of vaseline - this creates a barrier between the skin and the urine which helps prevent damage. If it's quite sore you can also use sudecrem (baby nappy rash cream). It's quite greasy which provides the same barrier effect vaseline does.

For the new bun, you can either shave the fur/matting or if it's very bad then just bath them bottom area. Put a few inches of water in a bowl/sink and stand him in it then gentle tease out the droppings. I would just use straight water as any soap may sting/irritate the skin. The most important thing is drying him thoroughly afterwards. Flies loves wet fur so you may want to keep him inside until he's totally dry. If it's dropping that are his main problem you may find feeding a correct diet will fix it (lots of hay and very few pellets). I'd also check his teeth as they can be a symptom of bad teeth too.

Are you in the UK or elsewhere. There are a couple of different antibiotics people here use on snuffles when baytril doesn't work. I'm not sure the names would be the same elsewhere though.