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Six year old bun with sticky poos, has stiff leg and treads in poo! Hard to remove!

J

janhm69

Young Bun
Hi there, it's a long time since I have been on the Forum but I wondered if anyone out there has any advice. I have a bun around six years of age who is in excellent health generally but who has always been prone to producing excess uneaten squishy poo from time to time. She has always looked a bit awkward or 'stiff' in the leg too, even as a young bun. A bit ungainly you might say. Lately, she seems a bit stiff particularly in one leg, sits awkwardly and is treading in the squishy poo, which recently she is doing much more frequently. This is proving to be really difficult to remove and she hates being handled around the feet! It is always the same foot, the one which is stiff. She is a very good hay/greens eater and hops and runs around fine otherwise.

I know that too much of the nuggets can cause the sticky poos and I do limit these and keep an eye on the weight of both my rabbits. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing? Wondered in a six year old bun if the stiffness could be arthritis starting? Any advice would be gratefully received.
 
Yes, it is possible that she has arthritis. I would take her to the vets and then they can examine her stiffness. She might well benefit from some pain relief.

You're right that too many pellets can sometimes cause squishy poo. I think I would try limiting her to hay and a few pellets i.e. cutting out the greens to see if that makes a difference. You could also replace the greens with some herbs or forage.
 
janhm69 said:
Hi there, it's a long time since I have been on the Forum but I wondered if anyone out there has any advice. I have a bun around six years of age who is in excellent health generally but who has always been prone to producing excess uneaten squishy poo from time to time. She has always looked a bit awkward or 'stiff' in the leg too, even as a young bun. A bit ungainly you might say. Lately, she seems a bit stiff particularly in one leg, sits awkwardly and is treading in the squishy poo, which recently she is doing much more frequently. This is proving to be really difficult to remove and she hates being handled around the feet! It is always the same foot, the one which is stiff. She is a very good hay/greens eater and hops and runs around fine otherwise.

I know that too much of the nuggets can cause the sticky poos and I do limit these and keep an eye on the weight of both my rabbits. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing? Wondered in a six year old bun if the stiffness could be arthritis starting? Any advice would be gratefully received.
Click to expand...


Hi there :wave:

Yes, it could be arthritis, though you say she always had a stiff leg even as a youngster? Has she had any injury at all - perhaps before she came to you?

I don't think 6 is old for a rabbit, but if there was some underlying 'weakness' in that leg then yes, arthritis could be causing a worse problem for her.

Omi's idea of replacing some food with forage is good :D I did this years ago with a sticky bottomed rabbit and we never looked back. Sometimes the food we give them is too 'rich' and they over-produce. And rabbits usually hate their feet being messed with. Do you have to soak the poo off if it gets hardened on there?

Your vet should be able to advise on pain relief. It can make all the difference :D

Good luck xx
 
Thank you!

Hi there, I am really grateful for these replies, thank you so much, all really helpful. I will get the vet to check the leg out, just in case it is arthritis and I could give her something to help it. She's just been charging around with no trouble but it is more apparent when she has been sitting/sleeping. The forage idea is great, I'm going to try that. I'd be so happy if I could cure the sticky poo problem once and for all!!! I have given them some more herbs tonight and less of the nuggets, and am going to try to reduce the quantity of nuggets bit by bit. Thank you also for the web addresses, I was reading those earlier while still at work. I'm in an urban environment, so a bit difficult to find a variety of wild food easily (I've grown a bit myself in the past) but I've managed blackberry leaves and have some dried herbs such as plantain so maybe I can increase this too. Either way, if I can keep the feet clean, that would be brilliant. At present, I end up trying to get the caked poo off her foot with damp cloth, which is only partially successful sometimes. If I can stop the soft poo at source, that would be great! She doesn't have a sticky bot, just treads in it! Thank you again for taking the time to respond, really appreciate it.
 
janhm69 said:
Hi there, I am really grateful for these replies, thank you so much, all really helpful. I will get the vet to check the leg out, just in case it is arthritis and I could give her something to help it. She's just been charging around with no trouble but it is more apparent when she has been sitting/sleeping. The forage idea is great, I'm going to try that. I'd be so happy if I could cure the sticky poo problem once and for all!!! I have given them some more herbs tonight and less of the nuggets, and am going to try to reduce the quantity of nuggets bit by bit. Thank you also for the web addresses, I was reading those earlier while still at work. I'm in an urban environment, so a bit difficult to find a variety of wild food easily (I've grown a bit myself in the past) but I've managed blackberry leaves and have some dried herbs such as plantain so maybe I can increase this too. Either way, if I can keep the feet clean, that would be brilliant. At present, I end up trying to get the caked poo off her foot with damp cloth, which is only partially successful sometimes. If I can stop the soft poo at source, that would be great! She doesn't have a sticky bot, just treads in it! Thank you again for taking the time to respond, really appreciate it.
Click to expand...


You're really welcome :D

I have very little foraging opportunity around me, but once I kind of opened my eyes to every little bit of green area I could find, I saw things like cow parsley, dead nettle, chickweed, borage, brambles and dandelions - to name a few! There's a great foraging thread on here, where people have posted photos and asked for help with I.D. so you're not alone :D

Good luck with the caked on poo! I find a short soak in half an inch of water the only way to get it off. As you say, best not to get it on in the first place.
 
I will take a look at that foraging thread, thank you. I do also worry that I'd pick the wrong thing! Ok with bramble leaves, even borage as I've grown that myself but the ID thing would be useful with the cow parsley etc as I know it looks like a few things!! Will try the soak too for the poo. Reckon I will need waterproofs though as rabbit will be seriously unimpressed..:lol: Thank again for all the advice.
 
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