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Dirty bums

Jonny

Warren Scout
One of my girls has a dirty bum. She had it a few weeks back when I first took her to the vet. He cleaned it for her, but didn't remark on it. This morning I noticed that the area under her tail was, again, a bit messy. I did my best to clean away the dried poo, but she was struggling a lot so I couldn't give it a thorough clean.

Is this something to worry about? I thought I was maybe feeding her too much veg, but the two other buns get the same amount (in theory at least!) and their bums are fine.

Any ideas?
 
You may be feeding too much pellet feed. That is more likely to cause a mucky bum than too much Veg.
What dried feed do you give and how much?
How old is your rabbit and is she a good hay eater?
If she is an adult and does not eat much hay she may have molar spurs (sharp spikes on her back teeth) that make keeping herself clean difficult.
Also, older rabbits can have arthritic pain in their spine making it painful for them to get to their bum to eat their caecotrophs (soft poo)
An overweight rabbit also has the same problem with getting to their bum, especially if they have a large dewlap (fatty fold under their chin).

The usual cause of a mucky bum if not physiological (dental etc) is a diet too high in carbohydrate and too low in fibre.

Janex
 
Raine - She is certainly suspected of getting at the carrots yes! :lol:

Jane - many thanks for your response. I find the amount of pellets hard to judge. I give them them a large handful and a few on top of that in the morning and the same again at night - perhaps that is too much for three medium sized buns? (the pellets are Allen and Page).

Pippin is not old (the rescue estimated her to be about a year), nor does she seem to be overweight, although she doesn't eat a lot of hay and has a very podgy dewlap.

The vet did check her over a couple of weeks ago, so if I hope he would have spotted any spurs.

I'm bringing Ben to the vet on Monday for a VHD jab - I wonder should I bring Pippin along as well to have her teeth checked over, or should I just start cutting down on the pellets as a start?
 
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Jonny said:
Raine - She is certainly suspected of getting at the carrots yes! :lol:

Jane - many thanks for your response. As someone who is knew to bunnies, I find the amout of pellets hard to judge. I give them them a large handful and a few on top of that in the morning and the same again at night - perhaps that is too much for three medium sized buns? (the pellets are Allen and Page).

Pippin is not old (the rescue estimated her to be about a year), nor does she seem to be overweight, although she doesn't eat a lot of hay and has a very podgy dewlap.

The vet did check her over a couple of weeks ago, so if I hope he would have spotted any spurs.

I'm bringing Ben to the vet on Monday for a VHD jab - I wonder should I bring Pippin along as well to have her teeth checked over, or should I just start cutting down on the pellets as a start?

Well if she is not a good hay eater it is definately worth getting her teeth checked. However, she may not eat hay because she pigs out on pellets and is not that hungry!!
I'd cut down on the pellets. As an example I feed an ADULT 2kg Bun a heaped tablespoonful of pellets in the morning and a heaped tablespoonful at night. There is hay available 24/7 and I also give two portions of fresh Veg a day.
Pellet feed is really an 'extra' to the diet of an adult rabbit and the main part should be good quality hay and grass with a variety of fresh veg.

Janex
 
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