Help please re matter (poop) fur!

Hi

Im having problems with my new bun, she is very fluffy and furry and i have noticed over the last few days that on a couple of ocassions she has had big clumps of poop and hay stuck to her under her bum, this did go and so i just thought it was something that she often got with her previous owners. But now she has more and its just stuck there and its gone rock hard and im not sure if she can get it off! I tried to cut some last night and managed to get a bit but she wont let me get right under her to get it off she just runs away. Not sure what to do! Will she get this off herself or do i need to do something? Does this normally happen with fluffy rabbits as it doesnt happen with my other bun!
Am i doing something wrong to cause this? I have cat litter trays for them both which i put in litter and hay and she does sit in there now and again. Can anyone help please? x

What's her diet?

she has excel pellets and i also give her a few carrots, parsley and kale every day, but she doesnt really do runny poos so dont understand it! Unless its during the night when i dontn see!

Hey Kelly

Roughly how much pellets do you feed them? Do they their hay? I dont think remembering the pic you posted she's overweight is she?

Hi there

I give them a handfull of pellets in the morning and a handful in the evening along with their veg. I give them fresh hay in the morning and evening also! Im not sure if she is overweight, she is very big and this is what made me think that she was a frenchie rather than a dwarf as she is a lot bigger and fluffier etc than my dwarf! But im not sure if she is overweight! x

I wouldnt give them too much veg, i give mine veg in the morning and a big handful of pellets each at night with plenty of fresh hay morning and night. Sometimes if they are abit overweight they can clean themselves properly, i had this trouble with tinkerbell when i first got her, shes lost some weight now so is much better. As long as its not liquid runny i should think perhaps its just abit too much veg/pellets, the majority of their diet should be hay, i give mine 2 different types, the roughage hay and timothy herb hay to encourage them to eat it more.

I try to give them hay but she wont eat it, i dont think her previous owners gave her any! And Barney he ate it until Dexie came along and now he just does what she does!! should i just give them hay a lot more and cut down on their pellets?

I'd cut down her pellets gradually to encourage her to eat more hay and see if the problem persits. I'd also try a few different types of hay to see if one type gets her munching!

:wave:I think it may be due to her diet!
Cut down her pellets (gradually) to a egg cupfull a day and give unlimited hay in all varieties and reduce veg to see if the veg is causing the problem

Most buns will clean their bums themselfs if they get messy but if overweight they cant reach their bottoms to clean therefore you need ot help

reducing the pellet intake will help with eating hay.
One of my buns Fudge doesnt eat alot of hay but doesnt have any problems with weight or poo (although dentals every so often :roll: )
Her diet is unlimited hay all varieties first thing in the morning along with half a Oxbow papya tablet (to help with hair in stomach) evening she gets a teaspoon full of Allen and paige rabbit pellets and a bowl of mixed veg and more hay (even though its all still there from the morning) and top up her water. She used to have a pooy bum when she was on excel and since the change of food she has been fine

Always give fresh hay even if they havent eaten loads as rabbits prefer to eat fresh hay and not old hay! Look for good quality, nice smelling hay to try and tempt her. But i would recommend changing her food as excel is know for causing excess poo.

hope that helped a little

Thanks for that i didnt realize that excell gave pooey bums!!

So what should i do about the stuff that it stuck on her as it is rock solid! Its been there about 2 or 3 days now but she wont let me get to it! Somebody said to put her in a shallow bath but i heard that baths were bad for them! Woudl this be ok, even though i think she would really panick and she is very big and scary to pick up! lol!!

I may try to change their food then gradually and see if this helps! x

Kellyrich said:

Thanks for that i didnt realize that excell gave pooey bums!!

So what should i do about the stuff that it stuck on her as it is rock solid! Its been there about 2 or 3 days now but she wont let me get to it! Somebody said to put her in a shallow bath but i heard that baths were bad for them! Woudl this be ok, even though i think she would really panick and she is very big and scary to pick up! lol!!

I may try to change their food then gradually and see if this helps! x

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One of my other buns Blackie gets poo stuck to him almost everyday as he is on excel and has no teeth to clean himself! The best way i found to clean him was to sit him on my knee and turn him over onto his back with his bum facing away from me and soak the hard poo in water with the a cloth and peel away (gently, rabbit skin is very delicate) the poo and it once soft enough should be easy to get off! If the poo isnt stuck to the skin just her fur cut away carefully the bits you can and then soak the other bits with a cloth.

If you are really not wanting to do it yourself take her to the vet and ask them if they can help and show you the best way to clean her!
I did this and now i find it easy to clean him. Blackie doesnt move at all on his back any more and lets me clean him no bother

If you can get ahold of Allen and Page Natural rabbit pellets or Sience Selective would be the 2 i recomend! A&P can be bought from farms the sell A&P horse food.
Gradually change food over 10 days (i changed food over a month when fudge had tummy problems) and then gradually reduce the pellets and you should see an increase in her hay consumption

Hiya, just to add I wondered if you'd had her teeth checked if she seem sreluctant to eat hay? Also if she wasnt given any in her previous home, there is more chance of teeth problems as they may not wear down properly.
As others have said, maybe cut pellets down gradually. You could also change from excel if thats practical for you.
When I've had a bun with mucky bum I've had my OH hold them on their backs and either cut out the worst matts (very carefully with blunt ended scissors!) or a bowl of warm water a damp cloth and gently tease it all out.
Do you have anyone that can help you? It could well be a two person job if she's wriggly x

Thanks everybody for yoru replies!

Good news!! Its all gone! I decided to put her in a shallow bath poor little thing! She was a bit panicky but i justs kept thinking that it was for the best and eventually i managed to pull it all away from her, there was so much of it! She wasnt a happy bunny all night kicking her legs about but she still kept coming up to me for strokes etc so think she was ok! Just hope it stays that way now! I have cut down on her food, not given her any carrots, just a small amount of pellets and lots of hay and a tiny bit of Kale and she is munching away on the hay now! Fingers crossed x

I have to same problem with my rabbit, i find it best to cradle her like a baby....it may be difficult at first if your bunny isnt used to this but if you get it right once she is in a trance it can pretty much get away with anything. if its really hard i trim it of but i tend to just keep the bum area trimmed anyway to avoid it happening again. I find bathing her causes her more stress

I've had the same problem with both my rabbits who are on Science Selective and huge amounts of hay, which they eat. I've tried reducing pellets, no effect so now I've cut out their greens and veg, much to their disgust, and their mucky bums have improved no end. So no more veg except as a very occasional treat, which they are not happy about!!!

If the problem persists, you can ask your vet to shave their bums which makes keeping them clean much easier.

Oh god this is driving me mad!! It keeps coming back every couple of days! I only bathed her on Sunday (a few days after i did it last time) and this morning she has it back again!! I was just leaving for work when i spotted it so had to leave it so it will be even worse when i get home!! I have cut down her pellets and cut down her veg, giving her more and more hay, im really not sure what to do but i cant keep having this every couple of days its driving me mad and she wont appreciate being put in the bath every couple of days!!

Bio Lapis - available from vetuk online is a probiotic powder that helps return the gut's good bacteria to a normal level. You sprinkle it over food. It could be an imbalance of the good bacteria that is aiding the sticky poops.

How long have you had this bun? Stress can cause bad guts as well as diet, and if she senses you are stressed this doesn't help her. They can pick up on your vibes!

Fibreplex is another good supplement - the paste is in a syringe and you squirt the dosage stated into the mouth 1-3 times a day. The Protexin Fibre pellets are also good to add to the usual pellets as these are both really high in concentrated fibre and help the buns gut motility etc.

A bun should have 80% hay 10% pellets and 10% veg a day. However this is easier said than done.

You really should get her teeth checked out by the vet - as if you leave it and there is a problem with her teeth, she will get open wounds from the overgrown teeth cutting into her cheeks and tongue which is very painful.

Hay keeps teeth worn and if she didn't eat a lot of hay before her teeth are more than likely the cause of the problems. If left evenutally she will stop eating cos it is too painful to eat and then you have 3 problems to deal with -soft poops, tooth op/cut tongue etc and then trying to get her to eat when her mouth is sorted!

I know it's a pain having to keep bathing her - but in the spring and summer this condition will be life threatening as the poo attracts flies - which can then lay eggs - which hatch and the maggots will start to feed on your buns flesh! Gross I know, but I needed to point this out as bathing her can/will mean the difference between life and death if her poop probs continue.

If she can't clean herself properly, she needs your help - as you are the only one who can help her - if she cannot look after/help herself.

I would take her to the vets, as they can give her the once over. When keeping buns - a good vet is so important, as all well-cared-for bunnies visit the vets. I wonder if the many buns who die an unexplained death could have been saved by a simple vet check-up to identify problems early. Being prey animals - they are good at hiding illness till it's too late to treat the b*ggers!

Like i suggested before changing food to A&P!
My Bun Blackie had to have his bum washed everyday and 2 weeks ago changed him onto A&P (was on excel as he refused to eat A&P) and i have left the food for him and 2 weeks on he eats the food and no more poopy bum
He has lost a little weight aswel which im happy with as he was quite a chunky monkey :lol:

Thanks for your replies!

Im not sure where sells A&P near me, i will have to have a look! I have been trying to change their food but could only get something called Wagg from Tesco other than that its Excell!!

I think im gonna contact her previous owners and ask if she was like this when they had her! Then maybe take her to the vets just for a check up as her claws are really really long so need to get them sorted, they probably never took her to the vets, i just need to find time as i work everyday and vets dont seem to be open on a saturday and i dont have transport!! But dont want her to end up getting something seriously wrong with her! Need to figure something out!!

Ok bathed her again last night and cut some of her hair, she wasnt happy and i got up this morning to it all again!! Again not havign time to sort her out before work so it will eb even worse later and she smelt! My partner seems to think it might be because she sits in her litter tray, this could be a reason? In my litter tray (its a cat ltter tray) i put a layer of cat litter then fill it up with hay and she sits in the tray and eats the hay or just sits there! But saying that even when she sits on her blanket sometimes its covered in poo!

I am going to take her to a vets but just need to try and find a good one that i can talk to about her as i dont think the one i took Barney to to get neutered was very good! And need to try and book a day off work!

Sorry to keep going on about this but its getting so horrible and i feel so sorry for her but cant get rid of her just cos if this!!