dirty bottom

hi i'm new to this so i'd like to introduce myself 1st:wave: i have a mini lop who is home bred and is now 6years old. he is an uneutered male (i'm bad i know i should have neutered him but i dont want to put him through that now).

the reason for my post is i want to know peoples thoughts on if i should bathe him as he is very dirty around his bottom and his chin. He has always suffered a dirty bottom and the only time this was controlled was when feeding D & H Rabbit Royale (i love this) however after losing weight i realised his teeth are virtually useless to him he only has one front tooth and his molars do not meet properly so have changed him to D & H pellets so i can soak them, (he's not keen) so consequently he has become dirty again, although i have used soaked cotton wool balls to try to get this off its not enough. The chin is because vet advised feeding complan to build him up, which i have been putting with a rusk as well with soya milk). i read somewhere to give oats as well for help putting weight on, any way he now laps his mixture from a bowl but gets it in his fur i try to wipe clean with cotton woll and water again but its a bit of a loseing battle so it gets all sticky and he's not happy with me doing it. i think he's put enough weight on to stay on normal food only now so hopefully shouldn't be a problem.

I'm sorry to post such a long post for a first but i had to give you the overall picture so you understood why i wanted to bath my rabbit and didn't think i was a raving loone who was going to blow dry and purfume the bun as well (although you probably think i'm a raving loone anyway now )

Any way hope to get some good feedback. BTW i now have a spare outdoor hutch as my bun has moved indoors for closer monitering and with winter underway i couldn't risk his health any further so if someone needs a small bun rehoming or fostering i could be of assistance let me know (could strech to medium if necessary in my opinion)

Cheers claire and buster

Have you tried baby wipes to clean your buns bottom, they are usually big enough and usually are effective to clean a bunny bottom.

Dirty bottoms are usually caused by feeding a food which is low in fibre and / or a mix where rabbits will selectively feed. I am not familiar with the fibre content of the pellets you are using. I would suggest trying a food which is higher in fibre such as SS which is 19% fibre or Oxbow Bunny Basics T which is about 25% or even allan and page which is similiarly high in fibre. It might be worth seeing if you can get a sample pack to see what you can tempt your bun with. The more hay you can get your bun to eat the better. With a rabbit who has tooth problems you may need to try samples of hay to find what ones they prefer, cutting it into short lengths can also help.

Has Buster received Veterinary treatment for his Dental problems?
If he has molar spurs (sharp points on his cheek teeth) then eating anything will become increasingly painful for him.
The mucky bum and chin sound suspiciously like the sign of a sore mouth to me.
Whilst D+H RR is very tastey for Rabbits it is very poor nutritionally lacking in essential long fibre for a healthy GI tract and loaded with mollases which will cause obesity and Dental decay.

Changing him onto a higher fibre pellet is a good idea but if he has advanced Dental Disease he will require regular Veterinary attention.
Can you feel any lumps along his mandible (lower jaw). This would indicate elongated tooth roots, part of advanced Dental Disease. If he has a very mucky chin it may be that he has infection present in the tooth roots. Again this will mean eating will be difficult for him.

To clean him up I would bathe his bum in warm water in the first instance and dry him off well. Trimming the fur around his bum/tail and tum will help. You can then keep on top of the mucky bum problem by cleaning him up a few times a day using unscented baby wipes.

hi thanks for fast responce will give wipes a go, i have been cutting up hay for him which goes down well (had some really nice good quality hay that i pinched from my horse lol).
just want to do my best for him poor chap, he's lovely.
I'll check fibre content when i get home.

hi Jack's-Jane,
Yes he's had vet treatment his molars dont meet properly to grind they just meet around the edges like they are domed in the middle (i really cant explain properly without hands to talk with lol).

the mucky chin is from dipping his chin into soya milk mixture, otherwise no dribbleing etc.

Think i need to enlist OH to heold buster still while i trim him up bless him i always get nervous doing this sort of thing the little blighter can be a bit jumpy at times cant they, has any one used hair clippers in the past, if so how did they get on?

cheers

I would not reccomend using baby wipes, get special rabbit shampoo and quarter fill a sink with luke warm water and pour a little little bit of shampoo into it then gently dip your bunnys bottom in the water and soak. You may need to repeat this but after you do it you need to make sure you completley dry your bunnies bottom otherwise he will get a chill.

Hope this helps
Becca x

BeccaBunnyMum said:

I would not reccomend using baby wipes, get special rabbit shampoo and quarter fill a sink with luke warm water and pour a little little bit of shampoo into it then gently dip your bunnys bottom in the water and soak. You may need to repeat this but after you do it you need to make sure you completley dry your bunnies bottom otherwise he will get a chill.

Hope this helps
Becca x

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i would say use warm water and no shampoo as some buns have allergeis to this and you dont want to set him off with anything else while he is down...
if his bum has sticky poop on it rub corn flourinto it and it will slide off(nb this should be done dry and not in the tub of warm water its a different way of doing it) also if you do trim the fur leave some there so bun doesnt get urine scold but less long fur should help. i would also say try and up his hay intake and change to a higher fibre food... hmm the molar spurs should be checked regularly as they can for points and be painful and need burring.. but your vet will be able to advise x

these are a great help, thanks for advice and help will keep posted and will be on here a lot its a great site.

thanks
claire and buster

sometimes a dirty bum can also be to do with a back problem as I have had the same problem with one that came in and the vet found out it was this

The soya milk may also be contributing to his dirty bum, I would stick to a daily teaspoonful of porridge oats soaked in a little warm water (you can also mash a slice of banana in if (and only if!) bun is used to banana). I am fostering a bun who arrived very underweight and by a change in antibiotics and a little porridge as above he has put on nearly 50% of his bodyweight in a month.

Part of the sticky bum may also be linked to his dental problems - if he has problems with his incisors he may struggle to eat the caecatrophs straight from his bottom and is sitting in them instead. Personally I would go with Jrn1310's suggestion of baby wipes if it works - far less stressful than actually getting a bun soaking wet and having to dry him off, although you may need to do this once to get the most of it off.