help please dirty bum

Hello
I have never used this frum before i hope you can help me.

In aug last year i found Ethel an injured stray rabbit and after no one came forward for her i kept her.

She always has a dirty bum she wont eat hay/haylage even though she always has it available to her

Today i bathed her bum and its really bad, sore and looks like she has an open wound all a bit smelly and rotten-no fly strike thankfully wrong time of year.

I cant get her to the vets untill tusday as its b.holiday

what should i do now? i have cleaned it is there anything i should put on aswell?

should i take her hard feed away completley or give her at restricted times so she has to eat the haylage?

thanks in advance carmen xx

Firstly welcome to the forum. What food does ethal eat and how much does she have veg.


Also please keep a very close eye on her as flystrike can happen anytime off the year

She needs to see a Vet before Tuesday.

Your Vet will have Emergency Cover for the Bank Holiday Weekend. If you call your Vet's usual number there should be a message re who to contact in an Emergency.

Ethel will need the wound thoroughly cleaned and she will no doubt need antibiotics and pain relief.

In the longer term I would suggest you get the Vet to carry out a thorough Dental examination. As Ethel is a poor hay eater she is very likely to have Dental problems. Rabbit's with Dental problems often get a mucky bum.

I hope that you can get her to a Vet tonight.

Glad you came along jane was thinking it maybe the teeth new you would be the best person to advise

right yes I tried my vets just rang out but I will try the emergency one now.

she has lots of haylage and some dandelion grass and then wilkinsons normal rabbit food mixed with the fruity type

My mother in law is always putting veg in with her-I have shown her her bottom tonight and said she cannot have any more....

will ring vets now and post back

going to vets now suspected fly strike £58 to see vet but i cat leave it feel terrible already

Aww poor little mite, let us know how she gets on.

So sorry to hear Ethal is poorly. Hope the vet can get her more comfortable.

For the future - rabbits diet needs to be 80 to 90% hay (they need the fibre for their digestive system and the chewing helps keep teeth in check). They cannot eat haylage that you you would give horses/cattle. The other 10 - 20% of the diet can be made up of good quality high fibre pellets (Science Selective are a popular choice or Oxbow) and a little veg. Carrots and any other high sugar foods like apple need to be kept as an occasional treat in SMALL quantity. Some rabbits are sensitive to a particular veg - you can determine this by introducing them one at a time over a number of days and noting reaction.

Some people keep their buns on a hay only diet all the time with no problems. There is certainly no harm in going back to just hay for at least a few days to right the poop problems once dental problems or other medical issues are ruled out.

Good luck - let us know how she gets on.

You have had good advice already from other members.

I hope she is OK, how did you get on at the vets?

thank you so much for the advice,

Vet has treated ethel trimmed the bottom area and applied cream she had been injected with antibiotics and pescribed for 5 days also had a little pain killer
Also have fed her with a fibre liquid feed as she's little underweight. (think it was 2lb2)

I have been feeding her haylage from the stables thought she would prefure it so thankyou will steal some hay instead

we go back to the vets friday to check how she is

I have put her in her room next to my bedroom for tonight as diddnt want to put her outside as she is damp and has cream on

now how to tell my boyfriend I just spent £78....:shock:

still couldnt of slept without her seeing a vet shes perked up alot now.

thaks again
and sorry if some spelling mistakes am off to bed now as start work at 6am


forgot to add teeth checked slightly long but no ulcers in mouth or sharp teeth vet happy with her mouth

I'm glad she is OK. She will feel a lot more comfortable now. Keep a close eye though for flies as they are starting to come out now and open wounds can attract them.

Just popped back to see how Ethel is. So glad she got seen and got some welcome painkillers on board that will make her more comfortable.

Yes, hay, hay and more hay is the way forward! Ordinary meadow hay from the stables is perfect but for a treat there are lots of nice new hays to try - take a look at holidayhutches animal supplies store where you can get sample size bags for her to try.

If you switch to the high fibre pellets do so over a 10 or 14 day period remembering that in total at the end she should only be having an eggcupful in a day. You can scatter them in her hay to encourage foraging or feed them in a treat ball.

Take a look at the veg lists for safe veg, fresh herbs such as coriander, parsley, sage and mint are usually popular but again introduce slowly.

Do watch out for the fly's - maybe use some fine net curtain/baby fly net/mosquito net taped to your window to keep them out of her room.

Glad she's feeling more comfortable!

yes thankyou I will get some hay first thing tuesday morning before work.
I am going to also cover her hutch with mosquito netting as you said...might be a big job though this is ethel at home again today



and this is how it is indoors



any other suggestions greatley recieved.
We have ptu some grass in a tub there but shes chosen it as a toilet :?

Ahh glad she's feeling well enough to go back to her house.

It may be easier to use some fine net curtain which you can attatch to your run with stick on velcro - one side sticks to the hutch the other to the curtain or maybe on an old fashioned curtain wire which you can attatch with little hooks, this easily goes around corners - you would need to attatch at the bottom too. Ebay do mosquito net in many forms, even a pop-up tent affair!

Buns will do it their way with the toilet won't they :lol: Mine have litter trays lined with newspaper and topped with masses of hay - that way they can sit and munch and poop at the same time which they love! To keep her grass nice and clean you could feed it from a hay rack (smaller scale than the horses!) or try a hay rack above a litter tray.

Just one other thing, wood shavings aren't considered the best thing for rabbits or any small pet for that matter as they have been known to contibute to respiratory problems (like COPD in horses - I gather you may be familiar with horses). If you can get some Megazorb this is an alternative or just newspaper and lots of hay -using trays (large cat litter or low sided storage boxes, whichever fits your accomodation best) can make cleaning out easier. She may appreciate a litter/hay tray downstairs too, in fact its best to put hay in lots of different areas so there is always some handy to munch on. Also, they like their hay fresh so add a new handful 2 or 3 times a day - in all they need to eat a pile about equivilent to their body size each day.

You need to be very careful about hygiene at present, cleaning even twice daily and turning bun over to thoroughly check her bot is clean and dry to avoid the evil flystrike - hopefully the vet will have explained this.

So glad Ethel is feeling better and well done you for caring for her so well.

Glad she is feeling better. Last year I got some mosquito netting quite cheap from Lidl and then just stapled it to the outside with a staple gun. Make sure you don't trap any flies in though when closing her up.

You may also want to consider some rear guard for her or at least have some in, in case you need it.

bunny babe said:

Glad she is feeling better. Last year I got some mosquito netting quite cheap from Lidl and then just stapled it to the outside with a staple gun. Make sure you don't trap any flies in though when closing her up.

You may also want to consider some rear guard for her or at least have some in, in case you need it.

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A staple gun! Why didn't I think of that? Much easier than the velcro!

:lol: Yes, it is quite quick to do too as long as someone holds it for you as you go along (we fold the edge over slightly to help prevent ripping).

I"ve seen the exact problem w/ 1 of my bridge bun. THe problem is simple, your bun has little fiber. Thus the soft poos, and thus the dirty bum.

Your bun's diet must compose of 90% hay. They need a huge amount of fiber. The remaining 10% is pellet, green, fruits and some treats.

The hay is also necessary as it helps them wear off the on growing molars in their mouth. If your bun doesn't have hay stem daily, eventually his molar will overgrow, then you need to have teeth surgery. Hay stem greatly reduce the growing of molar (teeth)

If there is more than say 7% pellet, then your bun will eat the pellet, not the hay. As they love pellets. So you need to control and downsize the pellet and focus primarily on hay, especially hay stem. You always give an unlimited amount of hay at all time, far more than enough that should last for days, then refill them when they run low.

The 1st thing you have to do is Buy Oxbow, the best of the best, you'll save thousands on potential future surgeries and treatment as Oxbow greatly improves a bun's diet. In your case, it has very high fiber.

W/ my buns, since they switch to Oxbow, they become "more hungry", so they eat more hay. It's the dimino effect

If your bun won't eat timothy hay, then for a short time, get some sweet hay, it's better than nothing, then mix those sweet hay w/ timothy hay.

Also when you switch to Oxbow,

for the 1st week, do 70% old pellet, 30% Oxbow,
for 2nd week, 50% ea.
for 3rd week, 30% old pellet, 70% Oxbow

I have put hay all over the top of her shavings today and added a little rabbit food-no treats had to stop my mother from giving her spinnage today no treats untill all cleared up.
she is soliding up a little returned to balls of poop but still very wet-had to clen bottom tonight with salt water and put about 3 syringes full of fibre food down her with her antibiotics

Worst thing is this rabbit hates being touched im not suprised the state I found it in and all this is just compounding that fear she really tried to get away from me today when I put her out scratched so hard she drew blood

poor ethel wish I knew what happened to her and could tell her shes safe now

Happy Hopping said:

Oxbow

Click to expand...

is oxbow the hay?

she doesnt have pellets only normal rabbit food and fruity mixed

carmenlucy123 said:

is oxbow the hay?

she doesnt have pellets only normal rabbit food and fruity mixed

Click to expand...

Oxbow Bunny Basics T is a hay based pellet and one of the highest in fibre, with lower calcium content.

http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=245

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/?page=international_united_kingdom

Mine have this food and it definitely helped. You can normally buy it on line or I order mine from the vets to avoid postage charges.

Bunnies should not have the mix type food as they tend to feed selectively. Also 80-90% of diet should be hay.