Rabbit scent glands?

Hi all,

A lady came in to our vet hospital with her bunny the other day. The bunny had a brown staining (not poop) around her back end. It was very dark staining; the bunny was supposed to be white but the area around her bum was all dark brown! The owner said she wondered if it might be over-active scent glands. I didn't think about rabbit scent glands before - do they have them around their bums? And if so, would they secrete a lot of brown fluid to cause the sort of staining I saw?

AMETHYST

Amethyst said:

Hi all,

A lady came in to our vet hospital with her bunny the other day. The bunny had a brown staining (not poop) around her back end. It was very dark staining; the bunny was supposed to be white but the area around her bum was all dark brown! The owner said she wondered if it might be over-active scent glands. I didn't think about rabbit scent glands before - do they have them around their bums? And if so, would they secrete a lot of brown fluid to cause the sort of staining I saw?

AMETHYST

Click to expand...

Yes to both

http://brighteyessanctuary.org/educ/rabbit-info-scent-glands.html

Jack's-Jane said:

Yes to both

http://brighteyessanctuary.org/educ/rabbit-info-scent-glands.html

Click to expand...

Thanks, Jane! After owning eight rabbits I still learn something new every day.

AMETHYST

Hi sorry to hijack. I noticed a small brown stain on my carpet a few months ago, then a few days ago I watched Millie move across the room and she'd left a really small brown splotch on the carpet where she had been sat. I watched her and she then ate a cecal so I thought the stain came from the cecal and didn't think much more of it. There's been no more stains since.

I presume this could have come from her gland then? Does it mean that it is blocking up or just that she has an active one or something? I definitely wouldn't be brave enough to go digging around with a cotton bud like the link

ETA: They did go to the vet a month ago for claw clipping and I seem to remember him turning them over and having a look at their bits! Would that have included glands?