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Rabbit prone to poopy bum [update] I think it may be a urine issue now please help!

S

Scrufox86

Warren Scout
Hi. I don't think i have ever asked on here about this before but one of my female rabbits tends to get sticky poop stuck to her bum. We always check all the rabbits for this just in case but i was wondering if it can cause them to wet themselves?

I did notice a few times previously when this happened that she did tend to wee a lot more after the sticky poop was removed but then was fine after that and it has never been a problem before. I am just concerned as we have not had much luck lately with our rabbits and i am worrying a lot more than normal.

She has been eating and drinking normally and is acting herself so could it just be the poopy bum?
 
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She has pellets mixed with rabbit food (pellets are the green bag from pets at home excel i think). She lives with her two sisters. Due to the rain they haven't been out for a few days if it is lack of exercise which could be the problem?. All three girls eat a lot of hay as well. And we give them veg a few times a week. I don't know if it is related but i think it may be curly kale which could be the cause. Whenever we give curly kale she tends to get darker poop and more likely the sticky poop.

We have cleaned her up by cutting the matted fur (due to the wee) and there is definitely nothing blocking her private parts. She is outside in the run with her sisters and brothers now and seems fine.

I think she may possibly get dysbiosis as on another thread of mine about another rabbit someone mentioned about it and it did sound like what happens to her (though if it is dysbiosis it happens on average every 4 months).

Her teeth have been checked and we were told are fine. She has never had runny eyes to suggest it either. And the vets told us that if she is eating well, especially lots of hay, which she is then it most likely is not a tooth problem.
 
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My Mini tends to get dysbiosis more when she moults, moulting takes energy, so that may be why you are seeing it every four months or so. How much of the pellet/muesli mix do you give? How much hay does she eat? Do you feed any greens OTHER than kale?
 
Schuette said:
My Mini tends to get dysbiosis more when she moults, moulting takes energy, so that may be why you are seeing it every four months or so. How much of the pellet/muesli mix do you give? How much hay does she eat? Do you feed any greens OTHER than kale?
Click to expand...

Yeah all the rabbits are moulting right now actually. Well i know a lot of people are quite against the rabbit food mix but we did get advice from the vets and they said as long as they are eating other things as well then it shouldn't be a problem. They have a small bowl and it is only filled in once in the morning and once it is gone it stays that way so they have to eat the hay. All three girls eat lots of hay. As soon as i put it in they all run over and start. This rabbit lst behaved like this around April and now you mentions about the moulting i believe they were moulting around that time. So it could be the moult that causes this?

We do give parsley as they all love it and it doesn't seem to cause any issues. We used to give green leaves (i can't think what the actual name of the veg is as we always called them greens) but found that sometimes it caused the sticky poops. They get cellery but they have all gone off it now and ignore it (except the leaves part of it) so we reduced the amount we gave until we gave up with it.
 
The only things I give now are herbs and foraged things such as brambles, dandelions, etc.
 
Ok we have checked on her a few times. She appears to be eating well. We checked where she'd had the wee and it looks like she has still wet her fur but not as much as before we cut some of the matted fur earlier today.

I'm getting more worried. Could this just be a result of the dysbiosis and will stop or could it be worse? I haven't spotted any signs of change apart from the wet fur which could be because they hadn't been out for a few days due to rain.

After checking her just now before covering the rabbits up for the night she was eating hay and hadn't wet herself. Am i over worrying?
 
i would get rid of the pellets all together and try her on a hay only diet. the fibres in the hay should help her poops stick together better, alternatively you could lower her veggie intake as too much will result in diarrhea
 
She has been eating a lot of hay today (she usually does anyway) but my concern now is the wetting of her fur. It was bad this morning but she had sticky poop so we removed that, wiped the wet area and cut off some matted fur. She is moulting a lot too if that affects anything. I'm just worried that the wetting of her fur may not be related to the sticky poop. The urine didn't appear different in colour than the normal rabbit wee colour either.

She was dry underneath when i last checked her and i did notice her go to a corner of the hutch and sit there for a little while earlier today. I noticed when covering the rabbits up for the night that there was a wet patch where she had been so i am hoping it was her and not the sisters who as far as i know have not been using that corner to wee.

If it is an illness related to wee/urine what other signs should i be looking for? She doesn't appear to be in pain and when held she seems normal and not behaving different. When in the run she moved around and didn't just sit or lay down.
 
I've known Excel pellets to cause runny bums in more sensitive bunnies, I believe Excel make the P@H pellets too so it may be worth switching to something like Allen and Paige, Science Selective or Wagg Optimum
 
Can anyone help with the urine issue?

She hasn't done anymore sticky poop. I think that was because of the curly kale i had given them. Has anyone had a rabbit that once had sticky poop then also wet thier fur? Although dry when i last checked her and i think she is weeing normally now, i'm still concerned.
 
Sticky poop could mean too many pellets,and too many greens but since I can see youve covered this isssue, it maybe that shes just not able to clean her bott herself??teeth issues?? weight problems or pain in moving ie arthritis or something??
Wet fur could mean an overfull litter tray as its been raining and shes not been out?? Or another bun was widdling and got her??
 
yvette said:
Sticky poop could mean too many pellets,and too many greens but since I can see youve covered this isssue, it maybe that shes just not able to clean her bott herself??teeth issues?? weight problems or pain in moving ie arthritis or something??
Wet fur could mean an overfull litter tray as its been raining and shes not been out?? Or another bun was widdling and got her??[/QUOTE]

She doesn't have teeth problems. She is a little on the heavy side for a lionhead so maybe that has something to do with it? I'm not sure but if i am remembering correctly i think there was something similar to this before with her, she had wet herself a little while having a sticky poop stuck to her fur but then after a day she was back to being clean in that area.

Also they did get outside earlier for 2 hours and i think she is weeing in a corner of the hutch now as she was dry in the previous wet area the last time i checked her. Is this something that will resolve on its own or not?
Click to expand...
 
I think shes gonna be ok, but if you have any further thoughts, why not have a chat with your vet?? Watch and see if she has a wet botty anymore and if she doesnt, then its resolved.
 
Thank you. I really do hope so.

I've been in a nightmare since finding out one of my rabbits doesn't have long left to live due to severe molar issues and we saw the x-ray and it wasn't just one of them it was quite a lot upper and lower jaw. Another rabbit got scared by a fox while out in his run and ate and drank less. He is slowly recovering and eating and drinking a lot more now. He also while out in his run earlier did a lot more poops, normal shaped and sized but still slightly darker and he did two wees compared to the other day where there were a few odd poops and no evidence of wee.

And then i get to this one who has sticky poop and a wet private area. She hasn't stopped eating, i am not sure about drinking as i haven't seen her myself but i did see her the night before so i don't think there's anything strange there. I might be paranoid about small things especially since worrying about a lot of rabbits at the same time and getting stressed.
 
if you think she is weeing more than normal..or her fur is getting too wet then take her to the vet for a check, they may give you anti biotics to rule out a urine infection. If they do ask for probiotics to add to her water as with an already sticky bum antib's may add to it .

Is she very furry round her lady bits? if so she may just get urine on her fur as she wees.
Re the sticky bum..cut out the kale and parsley..and rabbit muesli.
Kale and parsley are high in calcium and rich..so may cause a sticky bum and may be affecting her urine production too?
Try to give her pellets ..and you could try changing to Wagg Optimum which are cheaper and we've never had poos probs with them..hay and natural fresh stuff such as grass, plaintain, clover, hawthorn leaves small amount of apple leaves..then gradually introduce back the veg in very small amounts each day..savoy cabbage, spring greens, carrot, fresh herbs, etc.
Good luck
 
I've seen her eating lots of hay and i saw her drink just now. I don't think she has drank more than normal as i changed both water bottles last night and only one has been drank from and the amount gone from it for three rabbits is about normal.

We checked her and she was wet underneath again. So we wiped it and dried it. I was wondering, if it is some sort of urine problem is it contagious?



Update - Took her to the vets. She has been given anti-biotics (merbocyl? i think is how it is spelt). Nothing physically wrong with her so they believe it is a urine infection. Vet said to check on her and in 5 days she should be better but if not then go back. I am still worried as this hasn't happened to any of our rabbits before but i am hoping it isn't anything worse.
 
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Update for 24/07/2011

Hi. Ok she has taken her antibiotics. She was outside today for two hours while i cleaned the rabbits hutches. She was seen eating and drinking and she did do a few (though small) wees. She has been pooping too. They have varied in size with some small but golden coloured and others her usual size. There were no binky's from her today but she did move around so that is at least something.

I was wondering if the anti biotics is the only thing she'll need to cure the infection. Also i am confused as to how she got the infection in the first place. How do rabbits get urine infection? I want to know so i can prevent it from happening again.
 
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