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Mucky rear end - can I bath him?

Cornishlass

Mama Doe
My rabbit Smudge is about 6 years old, lives in a 4x4 playhouse within a 15' x9' aviary. He has free range of the garden for about 4 hours a day, plenty of grass/hay and is fed excel pellets. He is slightly overweight. He has a VERY mucky, matted bum but my hubby is highly allergic to him - can't go anywhere near and I can't hold him and bathe him at the same time. Was wondering if I could bath him - would have to be outdoors though, as long as I dried him well? I can't see any other way of getting it clean. He could do with the fur being clipped off underneath I think but no way I can do that. Would a vet clean and trim him?
 
You need to find out why he has this problem and I suggest a vet appt as soon as possible.

It could be food related - what quantity of pellets, hay and veg does he have - or it could be that he has an underlying illness causing it (a tooth problem, perhaps). The fact that he is overweight will not help matters so I think you really need to sort out his diet.

You could try getting off some of the dirt with damp cotton wool and then ask the vet if they could do the rest. It would have to be indoors, though, as it is much too cold outside, and he would need to be dried off completely.
 
Yes they would. When Doughnut was really ill and had lots of urine stains and mucky bum I booked her in with the nurse and she cleaned her up, shaved her and gave her a soothing bath as she had urine scalds.

Otherwise when it wasn't too bad I could just take her in and they would just shave her, so that's probably what will happen with your little one and it's cheap as it's the nurse but I think you need to see a vet to find out why your rabbit has a mucky bum. How much food/pellets are you giving him. If you cut that down then he may not get it any more if he is health as they clean themselves, so hopefully his trim up may be a one off.
 
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