Spots filled with white puss around Buck's genital area?????

I have 8 male rabbits and 1 female rabbit.

I've noticed when I'm trimming their nails and checking them over, 6 of the male rabbits always get a one or two spots / lumps. I know this sounds gross, but when I've gently squeezed them, they are filled with a white puss which resembles cream cheese! I don't think it's connected to Pasteurella. With my other 2 male rabbits, I can't ever tell with them, because Scout is a black lop and very hairy and Nico is a Chinchilla Netherland Dwarf who would never sit still long enough for me to check!

Dillan, Dante, Bounty Louis and Billy are all Rexes and Charlie is a Steel Blue Dutch.

Any ideas????

Carol

Hi Carol. The problem you describe may well be linked to the Pasteurella. Even if it is not the fact that there is pus indicates an infection of some sort. Are the spots around the bucks 'plums'? Are they getting bigger or greater in number? Unfortunately Pasteurella does not limit itself to Respiratory Tract problems. It can cause various sorts of abscessation, both external and within the body cavity. To obtain a definative diagnosis you would need to consult a Vet. The other condition that comes to mind is Treponematosis (Rabbit Syphilis). This is contracted between breeding stock or during the kits passage through the birth canal of an infected Doe. This condition needs treatment with a long-acting injection of Penicillin eg Duplocillin(procaine penicillin and benzathine benzylpenicilin.) Without actually seeing the spots or there exact location its impossible to say for certain what they could be!! Jane and Buns xx

don't they have scent glands around that area that can get blocked? :? Just rings a bell that there was a previous post about it a while ago!!!

Spots / Lumps filled with white puss!

Hi there,

Thanks very much for your responses.

I must admit, I did wonder about them being Pasteurella "Spots" and I know that all rabbits carry Pasteurella, even though only some of them become affected by it.

Bounty has suffered a Pasteurella abscess, Billy continuously suffers from Pasteurella and Louis only ever shows extremely mild signs, like a very, very slight white nasal discharge. However, Charlie, Dillan and Dante have never exhibited any signs of Pasteurella (touch wood!) and yet they have them too! They only ever come in ones and two's and are always in and around the genital area. It's not all the time either. I don't think there's much point in consulting my vet, as he never seems to know anything too in depth about rabbits. None of bunnies seem to be affected by them in any way, but I would love to get to the bottom of this one! (pardon the pun!).

I know their scent glands are just slightly further down, as these can sometimes smell terrible, so I wipe them over with a baby wipe to keep them clean.

Kind Regards

Carol

These are most likely to be hair follicles overproducing sebum. Several of mine have had these, and a guinea pig as well. Girlies too. A dab of antiseptic on them wouldn't go amiss is you have squeezed them as they may be a bit inflamed afterwards.
Don't worry unless the area looks red and inflamed as well as then infection is probably present.

Hi Louise

I'd definitely be inclined to agree with you with regards to the blocked hair follicles. However, where these spots / lumps crop up, there is no hair/fur. They are just on skin that don't have any hair follicles (I've looked closely - urrgh!)

I'm still puzzled???

Carol

attn: male rabbit owner: Clean your bun hidden spot

what your bunny have here is dirt composed of accumulative amt. of soft poos and urine, among other things that you should have clean.

The substance you describe is about the size of a piece of "coarse salt", right?

There is 2 x hidden spots, approx. 1.5 cm in length, one on each size, just passed the end of the balls of the male rabbit. It's hard to find and not very noticeable at all.

You have to fill a cotton swab (Q-tip) with baby oil, as that spot is very sensitive, there is one spot on the left, and one on the right.

You need to use the cotton swab to gently insert into that spot, and dig out the dirt that has been accumulated thru out the years.

That spot should have been cleaned once every 1.5 - 2 weeks. I have seen what you have described and it's something a lot of male rabbit owners missed.

To find those 2 spots, you turn your bunny to the side, you have to flip the muscle located pass the balls, but before the anal opening. The opening appears to be similar to the opening of a woman's vagina, it's soft muscle, and when you insert the cotton swab, insert a 1 mm at a time, as the length of those 2 spots are not very long.

BY the way, assuming you haven't clean those 2 spots ever before, you will encounter an odor as the spot hasn't been cleaned ever before.

There are guard hairs there even though there is no fur as such. It is the follicles of these that cause this. The hairs may have come out with the sebum, but the follicles are there. Take a look at a rabbit that doesn't have the spots and you will prob be able to see the guard hairs.

And you should NOT routinely clean out the inguinal glands. They are suposed to contain a brownish material, this produces the scent they give out when they lift their tails. Only if they are red, inflamed and pussy should you do anything to these.

Hi Louise (Door Keeper), thanks again for your response. I see what you mean about the guard hairs. I was completely puzzled, especially when most of my rabbits (which happen to be boys) seem to get them. You've definitely put my mind at rest. They don't seem to bother my bunnies, they just bothered me - not knowing what they were or what caused them. Thankfully, we have people like you who can advise us.

Kind Regards

Carol

Hi Happy Hopping

In response to your message, you advised me how to clean the Inguinal Glands on a male rabbit. However, this should never be done - this is common knowledge. I was once told - bucks in the wild don't have their bits cleaned by humans, so why should pet rabbits! Their glands and the scents they give off are there for a purpose.

I know where the Inguinal Glands are and this is not where the spots/lumps keep cropping up.

My rabbits always receive the utmost care from me as they are part of my family. They deserve the best, be it my time, or my money. I love all my bunnies and they are all looked after to the best of my ability. Again, common sense takes over, if something about one of my bunnies doesn't seem quite right. In this instance, the first people I consult are my vet and this forum.

Regards

Carol

I'm intrigued. Do you know what they are yet? Do they crop up in different areas? :shock:

Re: Spots filled with white puss around Buck's genital area?

Bunny Land said:

Hi Happy Hopping

In response to your message, you advised me how to clean the Inguinal Glands on a male rabbit. However, this should never be done - this is common knowledge. I was once told - bucks in the wild don't have their bits cleaned by humans, so why should pet rabbits! Their glands and the scents they give off are there for a purpose.

Click to expand...

I can't agree with that. With my last rabbit which was a male, he had soft poos due to the fact that he won't eat hay. So he got really soft poos once a day. The residue of some of those poos along w/ the water used to clean his bottom due to soft poos, trapped in the area I mentioned.

The mixture generated bacteria in those trapped unclean spot and the odor is due to unclean rabbit poos in a semi-liquid form. And the odor is a very bad smell, it most certainly is not a regular scent.

There are many problems that rabbit in the wild encounter, for e.g., overgrow teeth, so just because there is no treatment for a rabbit on his own in the wild, it doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything about it.

Spots / lumps filled with puss

All of my rabbits eat hay!

I reiterate what I said earlier ............

My rabbits always receive the utmost care from me as they are part of my family. They deserve the best, be it my time, or my money. I love all my bunnies and they are all looked after to the best of my ability. Again, common sense takes over, if something about one of my bunnies doesn't seem quite right. In this instance, the first people I consult are my vet and this forum.

I'll leave it at that. We will have to agree to disagree.

Carol

Re: Spots filled with white puss around Buck's genital area?

Happy Hopping said:

Bunny Land said:

Hi Happy Hopping

In response to your message, you advised me how to clean the Inguinal Glands on a male rabbit. However, this should never be done - this is common knowledge. I was once told - bucks in the wild don't have their bits cleaned by humans, so why should pet rabbits! Their glands and the scents they give off are there for a purpose.

Click to expand...

I can't agree with that. With my last rabbit which was a male, he had soft poos due to the fact that he won't eat hay. So he got really soft poos once a day. The residue of some of those poos along w/ the water used to clean his bottom due to soft poos, trapped in the area I mentioned.

The mixture generated bacteria in those trapped unclean spot and the odor is due to unclean rabbit poos in a semi-liquid form. And the odor is a very bad smell, it most certainly is not a regular scent.

There are many problems that rabbit in the wild encounter, for e.g., overgrow teeth, so just because there is no treatment for a rabbit on his own in the wild, it doesn't mean you shouldn't do anything about it.

Click to expand...

HH if your rabbit had soft poo and a dirty bottom then obviously he needed to be cleaned up. This is different than the case where a rabbit has perfectly normal inguinal glands. These do smell but don't need to be cleaned. The smell is what they use to warn other rabbits that they are invading their territory. They will strut about with lifted tails to let the scent out to warn the other rabbit off hopefully without a fight. Just because we don't like the smell is no reason to clean it, and can in fact cause problems.

Spots/Lumps filled with puss

Hi Sooty

In response to your question, if you see Louise's (Doorkeeper) earlier response, she has kindly explained what causes these spots and lumps. They always crop up around the genital area and Louise has explained why. Hope this helps.

Kind Regards

Carol

Just out of curiosity, are they neutered? I know in some animals bucks tend to have greeser skin which changes with neutering.

Perhaps the rex coat makes them more prone to it

Tam

Spots/Lumps filled with puss

Hi Tam,

None of my boys are neutered. With the Rexes, it certainly sounds plausible that their skin may be greasier. My Steel Blue Dutch has it too though - however, on saying that - Charlie's coat is very soft and glossy too, so it could be classed as quite an oily coat.

Never thought of this, thanks Tam.

Regards

Carol

Strawberry has had it, and he is neutered. A couple of my older speyed girls have too, and a neutered guinea pig. So I don't think the neutered or not is the issue.

Spots/Lumps filled with puss

Hi Louise,

I'm certainly glad that neutering makes no difference. None of my boys are done. I just wanted them to remain entire (certainly not for breeding purposes).

I think this forum is great, as everyone can share their experiences with bunny behaviour and health issues.

You've certainly put my mind at rest.

Thanks, Louise.

Regards

Carol

Re: Spots filled with white puss around Buck's genital area?

doorkeeper said:

These do smell but don't need to be cleaned. The smell is what they use to warn other rabbits that they are invading their territory. They will strut about with lifted tails to let the scent out to warn the other rabbit off hopefully without a fight. Just because we don't like the smell is no reason to clean it, and can in fact cause problems.

Click to expand...

When I done the cleaning for the first time last year, it's not just a "smell". The smell is so sickening that I tend to vomit. The smell is clearly caused by those accumulated soft, and semi-soft poos thru out the years at that blind spot, near the deeper end. As well, I can tell by the color, more of a orange-yellowish liquid, is obviously feces type material.

The inguinal glands, as you call it, is an orfice that the nature of the location of this spot (the deep end inside) introduce bacteria.

Sometimes you can't generalize and said no rabbits needs cleaning at such and such spot. For instance, you shouldn't need to clean a rabbit's ear, ever:

My 3rd & current rabbits doesn't need to clean their ears. But my 2nd rabbit has wax build up inside and needed to see a vet to put in a certain liquid to clean the wax out. I asked my vet what happened if this rabbit was living in the wild. And she said the bunny will eventually go deaf and be caught by a predator type animal.

Likewise, for unknown reason, my 1st rabbit has a lot of grease build up inside her ear, and requires a lot of cotton swab dip w/ baby oil cleaning.