health problem or diet change needed?

Sugarplum is lively (well as lively as a frenchie will be!) and eating, I have seen her munching on hay and pellets today and she has always been a scruffy bunny and normally has a messy dewlap. I put this down to her having no incisors and often getting in a mess when eating! I have noticed today though that her bottom is messy too, it's not runny but there is a lump off poo stuck to it

Do you think that there could be a health problem causing her to get in a mess or do you think it's more likely that her diet needs changing? She is on A & P but I could be feeding too much!:?

Incisorless Bunnies often need help with keeping their bums clean. They should have a bum check at least twice a day.
How much hay is she actually eating?
How much A+P does she get a day and what is her weight?

I am putting a large handfull of hay for each of them in the cage twice a day it always goes although some of this obviously ends up on the floor soiled! As for the pellets i have just weighed them and they are getting around 80g twice a day between them although when the weather was cold they were getting more like 110g! They also have a bowl of chopped veg in the evening.

She is quite a small frenchie and her weight is usually between 4.6 and 5.2kg (I have changed vets and they have different scales)

Pictures below show amounts for 2 rabbits.

I don't have frenchies but I have 4 rabbits between 2kg and 4kgs and they get about 20g of pellets each plus grass, hay and veggies... 80-110g does sound like quite a lot

bertie is the same size roughly as sugarplum and he gets like half a cup of pellets to enough pellets to make a single layer on the bottom of his bowl which is a dog bowl....and its usually thrown away so i cut down or add up according to his appetite....and of course we now have bif back with him i ave to check shes not scoffing it all. but since he lost willow and she lost bandit they both seem to be preffering the hay to the pellets most days......and ive had to cut out the vegs cos of bif and just feed herbs:shock: berties not amused at that!

having dental probs particularly no inscisors does make it very hard to keep their bums clean. our old dwarf lop doe who had hers removed used to need a butt bath every so manydays..whereas bif whos lower jaw goes too far back ends up doing her soft poos and turning aorund to eat them...ive caughte bertie doing this now too!! altho he eats his normaly too! she finds it easier and does eventually clean herfeet etc up once the soft poos have finished arriving in force in the morning!

maybe sugarplums a bit off colour tum wise....dont feed pellets for a day or so and just hay....shell be in a foul mood but it might help..also ask the vets for some bio lapis or use some avipro plus powder in their water or on the food to help a bit more too. we also use FIBREPLEX it helps sort the tum prob out which helps the bum problem!

sugarplum so much like my bertie

Is it the first time it's happened? Could just be she got disturbed mid-snack (yumm!) and can't clean up with her missing teeth.

If it reoccurs, most likely a diet issue.

Do you feed fresh food too? If not then you could reduce the pellets further (you'll probably find they eat more hay), but feed a vitamin supplement to ensure they are getting an adequate range as hay on it's own won't provide everything.

Monitor their weight for two weeks and you'll be able to assess whether they are getting enough calories on the new diet.

If you do feed fresh food, it could be one type that's disagreeing, some are worse offenders eg fruits.

yes I do feed a bowl of fresh food in the evenings. They normally just have spring greens, savoy cabbage, water cress, kale, spinach, rocket and carrot depending on what I have in, occasionally romaine lettuce and broccolli but not very often.

She has never had a lump of poo stuck on her bum before!

My Incisorless bunny Blackie had that problem where he had trouble cleaning his bum and was a little over weight so i had to sort out his diet and find what is best for him

I cut back on fresh veg and reduced pellets (A&P) to a tablespoon a day and tried to up his hay intake. He has lost a fair amount of weight and doesnt get poo stuck to his bottom any more

:? bertie gets a poo problem when hes been scared or worried..eg vet trips..the smell of that cat being pts whilst he was waiting for taxi home...and when bandit was dying and pts....also if we have a lot of visitors..he used to be so laid back but living iwth bif all this time has made him sensitive.

has she been freaked by a fox or a dog barking or neighbours kids going nuts...i found bertie gets excited by dogs barking as he loved his mate rosie a staffie/boxer cross......when he lived with his first owner.

purplebumble said:

:? bertie gets a poo problem when hes been scared or worried..eg vet trips..the smell of that cat being pts whilst he was waiting for taxi home...and when bandit was dying and pts....also if we have a lot of visitors..he used to be so laid back but living iwth bif all this time has made him sensitive.

has she been freaked by a fox or a dog barking or neighbours kids going nuts...i found bertie gets excited by dogs barking as he loved his mate rosie a staffie/boxer cross......when he lived with his first owner.

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I guess thats always a possibility, i know my cat gets freaked out by neighbours dogs barking! :shock: I'm fairly sure that sugarplum is deaf and has bad eyesight too though :? alot of the time when i go up to her in the shed she really jumps cause she doesn't notice me coming :?