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Dirty bum (not poo related)

Griff

Young Bun
Hi all. Just wanting some advice. One of my girls is moulting and really matted around her bum. In 3 years I’ve never seen this but the last couple of days she’s really dirty (just dirt/muck around her backside area. She has a habit of sitting most of the day in her litter tray too! She’s fine, eating drinking etc. But I’ve tried brushing her and also brushing and wetting it slightly to get some matting out. Just worried I’ve never seen this before, convinced it’s just a build up of dirt/wet, but how do I help clean her as it’s too much for her to do herself. Checked husbun over and he’s perfect.
 
Is she overweight at all, got a large dewlap, or suffering from arthritis or similar that might prevent her from cleaning herself? If she’s sitting in litter trays and getting messy, I would try to clean them more frequently, and or change to a more absorbent litter. I use wood pellet cat litter which is really good at soaking up wee. I’d recommend getting her checked over by the vet, they might be able to trim any matted fur so that it’s easier to manage.
 
Is she overweight at all, got a large dewlap, or suffering from arthritis or similar that might prevent her from cleaning herself? If she’s sitting in litter trays and getting messy, I would try to clean them more frequently, and or change to a more absorbent litter. I use wood pellet cat litter which is really good at soaking up wee. I’d recommend getting her checked over by the vet, they might be able to trim any matted fur so that it’s easier to manage.

This is good advice. Also, if your bunny drinking excessively or peeing on herself? She may be sitting in the litterbox because it is uncomfortable for her to jump into and out of the litterbox because of arthritis or other issues. You may want to get a litterbox which has lower sides (however, they do not hold as much litter) or one low side. You can try using a cardboard box or disposable litterbox and cutting one side lower to see if it makes a difference.
 
Thanks both. She is just 3 and a half and perfectly healthy. Very active and has a large run. Eats and drinks well. She tends to sit in her litter tray though when upstairs. No signs of any urine issues. Shs always has litter but then straw on top (might drop the straw and see if it helps) and she eats loads of hay. I think I’ll take her to the vets today to see if they can help. Just feel helpless and I don’t think she would get it clean herself as it’s matted so want to try help her 😢
 
She isn’t overweight at all but thinking about it her dewlap is quite big (I don’t know how big “big” is as it may be perfectly normal but my over 3 have none at all).
 
Thanks both. She is just 3 and a half and perfectly healthy. Very active and has a large run. Eats and drinks well. She tends to sit in her litter tray though when upstairs. No signs of any urine issues. Shs always has litter but then straw on top (might drop the straw and see if it helps) and she eats loads of hay. I think I’ll take her to the vets today to see if they can help. Just feel helpless and I don’t think she would get it clean herself as it’s matted so want to try help her 😢

She isn’t overweight at all but thinking about it her dewlap is quite big (I don’t know how big “big” is as it may be perfectly normal but my over 3 have none at all).

Might be worth dropping the straw, as it’s not really great for them to eat and just using really absorbant litter, and spot cleaning wet patches really often, as well as changing it fully. As well as hay in racks, I put hay in a bowl at the end of one of their trays, but they wee in it, and if they were to sit in they would get wet as the hay isn’t very absorbent on its own, but both my bunnies are short haired and don’t seem to sit in it thankfully!

I was just trying to think if there was some issue that prevented her from cleaning well really, a vet check sounds a good idea. Is she quite long haired, or extra fluffy around her bottom ?
 
Aboleth has this! She gets a matty bum sometimes, usually in the spring, and I noticed she's been self-de-matting yesterday (little matty fluffs on their windowsill) and this time it's one-sided rather than all the way across. Lopsy is very rarely matty (he has longer fur). I had a quick gentle tug of some of the mats and they came out quite easily, but I still dunno how she gets them. She's not a litter tray sitter anymore, and these were clean mats, not wee-stained. But, Aboleth does have a sort of 'bum dewlap', I call it her bumskirt:

28424706_10103064669157238_9163223390717228921_o.jpg


You can see her two left paws: the front one in front of the little bramble twig, the back one a little way behind, and then what looks like a third paw. That's her bumskirt! When she's really fluffy, it drags on the ground when she sits :) Not bad for a shorthaired rabbit, eh!
 
Aboleth has this! She gets a matty bum sometimes, usually in the spring, and I noticed she's been self-de-matting yesterday (little matty fluffs on their windowsill) and this time it's one-sided rather than all the way across. Lopsy is very rarely matty (he has longer fur). I had a quick gentle tug of some of the mats and they came out quite easily, but I still dunno how she gets them. She's not a litter tray sitter anymore, and these were clean mats, not wee-stained. But, Aboleth does have a sort of 'bum dewlap', I call it her bumskirt:

28424706_10103064669157238_9163223390717228921_o.jpg


You can see her two left paws: the front one in front of the little bramble twig, the back one a little way behind, and then what looks like a third paw. That's her bumskirt! When she's really fluffy, it drags on the ground when she sits :) Not bad for a shorthaired rabbit, eh!

Bumskirt :lol::lol::lol: :love:
 
Perhaps it depends on their weight at the time, or their coat thickness :love:
I think it's coat thickness with Lopsy: they're usually pretty skinny (Matt would say they're unloved :lol:), I try and keep them on the bony end of normal, partly so they eat more hay. I think Aboleth just has some kind of weird long-haired bit down there, like a reverse lionhead. Lionbum? :lol: Sorry about your coffee again :twisted:
 
Hi all
I booked the vets first thing this morning for an appointment today. The more I thought about it I couldn’t work out why this has happened so quickly and never has before and felt there must be a reason.
I’ve just been over one hour with the vet! She was wonderful (as was poppy!). They have actually taken bloods as once she has been cleaned up it turns out she has urine scalding on her legs. Its looking like a urine issue even though she has no other symptoms (she’s drinking usual amount, eating, running around happy). They have shaven her and told us to wash and dry her well every day to stop the scalding and gave some cream. She also had baytril. Other options are (dare I say) kidney failure, or E Cunniculi. She has given panicur aswell. Got to wait and see in blood results then. Testing for all the above. Cross fingers xx
 
At least now you know a bit more and hopefully bunny will be ok. Hope the blood tests are fine as well.
 
Thanks for the update Griff, and best of luck with Poppy! I hope it's nothing a few weeks of meds can't solve :thumb: With Aboleth, I just brush it out if it's 'bad' (for her) and it never remains, it's too irregular to be anything sinister (I hope!), usually she's just dipped her bum in the water bowl and her fluff means she hasn't noticed. Yesterday she had stiff head fur and so I knew she'd been out in the rain and hadn't cleaned her head since :lol:

Best wishes xx
 
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