Cleaning Bums

Hi All

Sorry for the title - especially if you are currently eating lunch!

My lovely bun has a bit of a problem with his rear end. We have tried and tried everything but unfortuntely he seems to get a bit of a dirty bum on quite a regular basis. We take him in and wash him nearly every day. We are experimenting with his diet along with the vet's advice. My question here is, I have just read on the American Houserabbit website about something called Nolvasen Otic Solution or Nolvadent. The former is apparanetly for earwax in dogs and the second for cleaning dogs teeth. Apparantly, however, it is great for dissolving the dirt on bunnys bums as opposed to wetting them as a wet bum can encourage the flys!

I've searched the internet but can't find it in the UK. Does anyone know if we can get it here or is there something else that will do the trick?

Thanks in advance

Jan

JannyT said:

Hi All

Sorry for the title - especially if you are currently eating lunch!

My lovely bun has a bit of a problem with his rear end. We have tried and tried everything but unfortuntely he seems to get a bit of a dirty bum on quite a regular basis. We take him in and wash him nearly every day. We are experimenting with his diet along with the vet's advice. My question here is, I have just read on the American Houserabbit website about something called Nolvasen Otic Solution or Nolvadent. The former is apparanetly for earwax in dogs and the second for cleaning dogs teeth. Apparantly, however, it is great for dissolving the dirt on bunnys bums as opposed to wetting them as a wet bum can encourage the flys!

I've searched the internet but can't find it in the UK. Does anyone know if we can get it here or is there something else that will do the trick?

Thanks in advance

Jan

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Hi, I have never heard of either of those products - but then i'm not that worldly wise either! :lol:

If I were you i'd stick to using just plain warm water as opposed to any detergent. It is always better to 'bum wash' only and keep as much of bunny dry, then use a towel or even better loo rool (as it is very absorbent) to soak up as much dampness as possible after a towl dry, and then use a hair dryer on low heat to dry the rest out provided your bun doesn't mind the noise. Alternatively a damp flannel or even sensitive baby wipes will do the trick if you want to keep her as dry as possible.

Keep working on the dietary changes - this is often key to clearing up messy bottoms provided the vet has ruled out teeth and weight issues etc.
You might also find this article helpful! (It's one of my favourites hence i'm always posting it up here!! :roll
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=670
and this one too:
http://www.vet2pet.co.uk/pethealth/rabbithealth/feeding_rabbit.asp

I cant help with the stuff but how old is bunny? and what food do you feed?
Most common cause with popy bums is too much rabbit food i.e pellets fed to bunnies which cause messy bots. Obv your vets advising you whats best etc but if they havent mentioned this then theres something for you to start with just reduce the amount of food make sure hay is always available and handful of greens if you can. Cauli, lettuce, turnips and salad leaves are all ones to avoid due to them causing poop problems. Avoid any treats rabbit treats or human food. (sorry you prob know this already)
We had problem with angel which is now sorted but my 1stish rabbit got her bott washed all the time poor sod. I eventually took her to grooming parlour who shaved all her underneath off around bum it was so much easier you could price that or if bun doesnt wriggle and you have afriend Just chop the poop out (doesnt really matter what bun looks like, it does grow back fine) and use baby wipes to freshen up.

I dont know about the items you mention, but cornflour can be used as a way of cleaning without wetting the bunny.

My bunny who suffered with messy bum for a few years was stressed with her partner. She is now clean since she has been separated and bonded to a new partner. Also, she has no veg and limited pellets as adding veg and more pellets causes a few incidents of messy bum.

I use a little bit of 'Hibiscrub' in some warm water to wash Bunny bots that are quite bad and dry them thoroughly. Otherwise we always have an ample supply of (sensitive) baby wet wipes for a quick wipe of bunny bots when we have to.

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice. I will get hibiscrib and sensitive wipes tomorrow. It really is a mystery to us and the vet as to why he has this problem. We are careful not to overfeed the dry food and he eats just a couple of spring green leaves, kale or similar and has never, ever had those sugary treats. He doesn't even seem to be overdosing on the grass. I wish I could tempt him with the hay though. I have tried so many different types of hay and he just isn't interested. I suspect this is where the problem may lie but how can I make him eat the hay? I've tried taking the greens and dried food out but as he has a big covered run in the garden that he has access to at all times I guess he is just scoffing the grass and dandelions in his run but it doesn't look like he's eating masses of it as we often have to lift the run and mow the grass! Any advice please? I don't want to shut him in his hutch or bring him inside until the weather gets colder as he loves his freedom in the garden.

Thanks to you all.

Jan

I have the same problem with one of my buns - will not eat hay no matter what I try.:roll: He has a sticky bum some mornings but the rest of the time his poop is perfect.

I feed him Oxbow bunny basics T which is a hay based pellet and he loves them. He improved massively when I moved him to them from SS and Excel.

I have also just bought some Protexin pro-fibre pellets today (ordered via vet) so I'm hoping that they may help a little. They have pro-biotic in too.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1178

Have you tried Fibreplex, that may help (made by same manufacturers as the Protexin I think).

Has your vet checked for any pain in your bunnies spine? This may prevent him from keeping himself clean :?

Hi Thanks. Definitely no problem with him getting "down there". He's just selective about when he does it :lol: Vet has checked him thoroughly and says he's in good shape physically. I'm definitely going to get some pro-fibre pellets and the Fibreplex mentioned here. It does worry me that he doesn't like hay. He's a bunny for heaven's sake....... he should love it!- instead he just moves it around his hutch like some kind of game until I take it out and replace it with more for him to reject!! Sometimes I think he's winding me up for the fun of it :lol:

How much dried feed does he actually get?

He has a litle less than it says for his weight on the bag. It's marked on a special measuring jug I keep in his food bag. Can't remember for sure but I think around 60 gr. It's about 1/3 of his not very big bowl.

JannyT said:

He has a litle less than it says for his weight on the bag. It's marked on a special measuring jug I keep in his food bag. Can't remember for sure but I think around 60 gr. It's about 1/3 of his not very big bowl.

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Okay, well you might find that this is the cause or atleast a strong contributory factor in that case. Some buns can not tolerate large amounts of carbohydrate found in dried feed, and in fact it isn't terribly good for any rabbit in such large amounts. Sadly the amounts on the labels are not always what is best for a bunny. Dried feed was originally made to fatten buns up quickly for the meat market or for breeding. Rabbits are in fact hindgut digestors and are designed to function with poor nutrient value food such as hay and grass as the bulk of their diet. I would suggest you try cutting this 60g down to just a spoonful a day (or an eggcup full) gradually and make sure you provide lots of fresh sweet hay and as your bun gets hungrier he will probably surprise you and eat it, the grass too. Grass, if he is used to it, is unlikely to cause upset as it is a high fibre food and what buns are designed to eat. The most common cause of a messy bottom is excess caecotroph production, and the most common cause of this is a diet too high in carbohdyrates and too low in fibre. If you severly restrict the pellets you'll notice your bun eats a lot more hay and grass as he will be hungrier.

Thanks Prettylupin

I give him 60g because that's what my vet advised me to give him. However, I do take your point and it does make sense so will cut it down severely from tomorrow. I'm not worried about him filling up on grass because, after all, that's what he's designed to eat but I really would like him to start eating a bit more hay.

Thanks again

JannyT said:

Thanks Prettylupin

I give him 60g because that's what my vet advised me to give him. However, I do take your point and it does make sense so will cut it down severely from tomorrow. I'm not worried about him filling up on grass because, after all, that's what he's designed to eat but I really would like him to start eating a bit more hay.

Thanks again

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Blimey! Interesting vet! :roll: My vet doesn't bat an eyelid and I don't feed dried food at all :lol:

In all seriousnes, buns just don't need those levels of carbohydrates. It's not your fault at all, I can't believe the labelling on the bags still says that to be honest. The best diet for a bun is one that consists of around 90% hay/grass, and the other 10% made up of veg and pellets and just an eggcup full of pellets if you have to feed them. My buns get about 85% hay and 15% veggies and that's it - but I have to be very careful with the type and variation of veg I offer to get the right amount of vitamins/minerals.
Have you read these links?
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=670
http://www.vet2pet.co.uk/pethealth/rabbithealth/feeding_rabbit.asp

The bag - Burgess Excell - actually states for 2.7 - 3.6kg rabbits should be given 70- 100kg. Harvey is 3.5 kg in weight so is at the high-end weight wise and is having less than that recommended for a 2.7 Kg bun. :shock:

Anyway it will be off the menu (or severely restricted) tomorrow!

Blimey! :shock: I have to say, not that I know much about pellets, but I have heard a lot of members say that Excell is renound for causing messy bottoms :?
That is a lot of pellets!

I wouldn't necessarily cut them out right now or ever, but I would certainly cut them down. You may find a gradual change over to a higher fibre pellet by blending them 50/50 for a week and then finally switching to this new pellet will also help. When I did feed pellets I used Allen and Page. Oxbow also make a high fibre one I think - like I say - i'm not the best person to ask! :lol:

ARC get quite a number of rabbits come in to rescue who have dirty bottoms, from our own findings these tend to be rabbits who are over fed with dried food, fed on a mix and selectively feed or are on Excel and fed more than an egg cup. All ARC rabbits of all sizes are fed an egg cup of pellets a day which ensure that they are hugry enough to eat plenty of hay.

Whilst Excel is an acceptable food to feed rabbits and is higher in fibre than most of the mixes, not all rabbits are able to tolerate it. It sounds like your rabbit would be one of those rabbits who would benefit from feeding an alternative high fibre food such as Science Selective, Allan and Page or Oxbow Bunny Basics T.


Any changes in diet should be done slowly over a 10 - 14 day period.

You do not mention what type of hay that you use. Bags sold in many pet shops are not only expensive but also can be of poor quality. It is often worth investigating local farms / horse suppliers for a good bale of hay which will last for ages and can be stored in a bin outside if required. This would work out cheaper than bags of hay. There are also lots of nice 'additives' which can be bought and sprinkled into hay to make it more tasty and encourages rabbits to forrage amongst the hay looking for their tasty treats.

I use
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Dandelion.260.html
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Dandelion+Delight.294.html
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Herbal+Garden.202.html
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Mountain+Meadow+Herbs.525.html
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Plantain.261.html

The ones I find which are favourites are https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Nature's+Salad.295.html
https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Natural+Treats+%2526+Herbs.7/Trio+of+Fruit+Leaves.288.html

Thank you to everyone for your great advice. Thanks Janice for the links. I've ordered him a sample pack of different hay to see if I can tempt him. I'm started today slowly switching his food and he's also having some Dandelion Delight and a new tunnel for his run He's going to be one excited bunny when the postman comes!

Cheers everyone :wave:

One of my buns has had a delicate tum all of his life, we get his food right and his bum sorted then 3 months later we'd have to start again so I have got very used to cleaning him. I've tried several different things but always go back to baby wipes. I buy the non perfumed sensitive ones of whichever are on offer. Charlie bun is now 10 and his back legs are going so he sometimes falls over in his wee and gets covered in it - I use baby wipes to clean his fur when this happens too, and it works just fine.

Worth having a go.

Aww Thank you Bev. I'm definitely going to get wipes. Thanks for the advice. BTW What sweet buns you have Bless