Clump of poop

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Flakes

Flakes

Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2019
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Location
Iowa
Just noticed this morning that my little guy has a big clump of poop stuck to his butt. I have some paper towels and wet wipes ready for the next time he ventures out to where I can catch him, and I plan give him a quick clean, but I was wondering if this was symptomatic of something more urgent and if I should consider bring him to the rabbit hospital.
 
I would get it off asap, especially if it isn't clompletly dried up and smells - that could attract flies, take a very close look for eggs.

If it's a problem or not is hard to say from afar, if it's just normal bunny berries stuck in the fur I would remove it and keep an eye on his poop, that can happen. But if it's smeared, pasty, more like diarrhea than I would see a vet if it hasn't gone back to normal. But get it off asap.

I use a pet safe trimmer to cut out such clumps or matted fur balls when damp towels don't do it, or give a butt bath (I dry the fur with towels as good as it gets, then use a hair dryer on medium temp with my hand always in the airflow to be sure it doesn't get too hot). And take a close look for fly eggs again after the bath. Right now I'm really paranoid about that, had a 5 week old kit with weaning enteritis last week.....:(

How old is he, what's his diet, and were there any changes to it recently?
 
He is six years old.

I finally nabbed him about an hour ago (When he runs away and hides, I like to let him stay hidden and not grab him so that he feels safe in his hiding spaces.). I cleaned up far more poop than I thought possible. His bottom is still dirty. I discovered online that a dry bath using corn starch and a hand vac is the best cleaning solution. So, I ordered those items from Amazon.

I called his regular vet (not the 24-hour animal hospital), and the little guy has an appointment for tomorrow. This is strange since the vet usually can't see him for a month when I take him for his yearly check-up. Guess the woman at the phone recognized the panic in my voice or something.

So, hopefully, this is just a minor blip and the vet can do their thing and Dortmund gets better.
 
Usually a clump of poop isn't necessarily an emergency if the rabbit is still producing normal round fecal balls as well, and the poop is immediately cleaned off (most particularly in warmer seasons) so the rabbit doesn't become at risk of developing flystrike. If the fecal balls aren't normal but all or mostly runny/mushy, then this definitely is usually an emergency, as it's true diarrhea which is usually caused by harmful pathogenic bacteria.

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Rabbit_poop

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Flystrike

But normal fecal balls with some mushy clumps (cecotropes), means it's likely it was mushy cecotropes or a normal cecotrope that accidentally got stepped on and smooshed into the fur, and if this, is almost never an emergency or immediately life threatening.

If it came out mushy and not a fully formed blackberry looking cluster, the most common reason for this is a dietary issue. This can be due to a new food introduced into the diet too quickly, from a sensitivity to a particular food, food not chewed up sufficiently and swallowed too quickly, or most commonly from too many carbs/sugars and not enough fiber in the diet. There are other possible health related causes like liver or heart problems, etc, but these are less common. Though of course still a possible concern, particularly if you're seeing other concerning symptoms like reduced or loss of appetite, unhealthy weight loss, unusual lethargy, etc. In which case, an immediate vet appointment is needed.

Intermittent Soft Cecotropes

https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/cecal-dysbiosis-in-house-rabbits-what-the-hay/

Rabbits digestive system

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Veterinary_emergencies
 
Not sure this post is relevant to the poor little guy. It wasn’t just a couple poops. It was clumps of poop that coated his tail, butt and legs. It had hardened and was really hard to get rid of. Not sure how to measure the volume, but there was poop equal to two entire tails worth that I removed. And the left over I couldn’t get to still coats his fur.

Over the last couple days his space had started to stink, whenever I went over to play with him. I couldn’t tell why, so I bought new carpeting and re carpeted his space. And for the last couple weeks he has been pooping all over the place not just in his litter box. Like he normally does.
 
Flakes said:
I finally nabbed him about an hour ago (When he runs away and hides, I like to let him stay hidden and not grab him so that he feels safe in his hiding spaces.). I cleaned up far more poop than I thought possible. His bottom is still dirty. I discovered online that a dry bath using corn starch and a hand vac is the best cleaning solution. So, I ordered those items from Amazon.

......
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The way I approach rabbits that don't like to be handled is: What needs to get done, gets done, that's a fact, no doubt, no discussion - and no apologies, not even in my mind, well, I do my best. If you are determined in what you are doing this can make things a lot easier, they do pick up if we are insecure, or don't really mean it and put up a fight then.

I always give a treat after doing something the rabbit doesn't like.

It's good to practice that in time, so everyone involved is familiar with the proceedure. I have to brush, pluck and trim the fur of my 10yo Red, she doesn't like to be touched at all, but as she gets older grooming isn't one of her priorities anymore. I have to wear a sweater, winter jacket, sturdy work trousers over my normal ones, she just chews away the second I pick her up, kind of stress relief for her.

But even she doesn't hold a grudge when I'm done, She knows it's over when I put her down, and accepts her little slice of apple.


Imho, corn starch has some use to clean discolourations, like yellow feet on white rabbits, something merely cosmetical and not really much application for that if you don't go to a show.
A hand vac sure comes in handy when it's about cleaning up stray bunny berries, don#t know if there are other uses.
For me the most useful item I have is the pet trimmer. Whatever is stuck to the fur, I usually can cut close to it and get it out.


Good that you have a vet appointment soon, that does sound like there is more going on for some time. A rabbit or it's area starting to stink does ring alarm bells, always a cause to look it over thoroughly.
 
JBun's advice is spot-on. Please allow me to add my experience with this condition. Of our six rabbits, only one has a tendency to develop poop "dangles" on her butt. We reduced how often it happens by switching to timothy-based pellets; and, avoiding any carbohydrates, such as uncooked oatmeal.

Whenever our bun develops poopy butt she is uncomfortable and does not act like her usual self. Whenever that happens I use a sharp barber scissors to cut them off. The pet-safe scissor suggestion is excellent. It is altogether too easy to nip the skin while trimming. Be careful.

Diet is the first thing that should get attention.
 
Preitler said:
The way I approach rabbits that don't like to be handled is: What needs to get done, gets done, that's a fact, no doubt, no discussion - and no apologies, not even in my mind, well, I do my best. If you are determined in what you are doing this can make things a lot easier, they do pick up if we are insecure, or don't really mean it and put up a fight then.

I always give a treat after doing something the rabbit doesn't like.

It's good to practice that in time, so everyone involved is familiar with the proceedure. I have to brush, pluck and trim the fur of my 10yo Red, she doesn't like to be touched at all, but as she gets older grooming isn't one of her priorities anymore. I have to wear a sweater, winter jacket, sturdy work trousers over my normal ones, she just chews away the second I pick her up, kind of stress relief for her.

But even she doesn't hold a grudge when I'm done, She knows it's over when I put her down, and accepts her little slice of apple.


Imho, corn starch has some use to clean discolourations, like yellow feet on white rabbits, something merely cosmetical and not really much application for that if you don't go to a show.
A hand vac sure comes in handy when it's about cleaning up stray bunny berries, don#t know if there are other uses.
For me the most useful item I have is the pet trimmer. Whatever is stuck to the fur, I usually can cut close to it and get it out.


Good that you have a vet appointment soon, that does sound like there is more going on for some time. A rabbit or it's area starting to stink does ring alarm bells, always a cause to look it over thoroughly.
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supporting your post - one thing that we have found helps us with all of our pets (dogs, cats and buns) is once daily giving them a thorough physical exam for just a minute or less, that they think is us simply petting and playing with them, but we're actually looking for anything unusual (signs of fleas, injuries or sore spots, are they getting too fat/skinny, hair clumping, etc) to nip anything in the bud as soon as possible - this also makes it so we can much easier care for them when they do inevitably get sick, because they're used to us handling them so much whether they're in the mood to be handled or not at that moment. I would strongly recommend giving healthy treats during this, especially when first trying this out.
 
I would love to interact more with the little guy, but except for head scritchies he does not really like to be touched. Certainly not enough for me to examine his butt regularily. I mean, he has a vet appointment, and I am trying to capture him so i can bring him there, but he is very fast and very sneaky and I don’t want to upset him too much.

Plus being honest I am not very mobile and have to wait for him to enter an accessible for me to nab him.
 
We had the huge advantage of getting ours when they were only 7 or 8 weeks old and doing this from the first day. Now at 2 1/2 years old they just expect it every day from us because they haven't known any different. I'm guessing it could be much harder to try and get older bunnies used to the "manhandling" than it was with ours being so young.
Yeah its not a good idea to upset these guys too much, that's for sure!
I hope the vet can clear everything up for you guys and also help you come up with a plan to prevent it from happening again.
 
I got Dortmund off of craigslist. When I went to pick him up, he lived in a small cage they kept on the floor and the couple had three terriers who constantly tried to get him, and barked at him constantly. Plus they obviously didn’t like cleaning his space since there was about 2 inches of poop covering the bottom of the cage,

Dortmund is my first rabbit. I’ve made a lot of mistakes with him. But I like to think he is doing well. My whole family tells me he is spoiled rotten.

Just got back from the vet. He has been taken off Bananas for a little while and I was give some critical care to sprinkle on his food.
 
I know it can be hard to pick up a bunny that doesn’t want to be picked up and you worry it will wreck the bonding but give a treat to them after you have checked them, because checking underneath them is something you need to do at least a couple of times a week. You are doing an amazing job keep it up and I’m glad you got your bunny cleaned. Your bunny might possibly need more fiber hay and fresh grass. Hope he is doing well
 
Flakes said:
I would love to interact more with the little guy, but except for head scritchies he does not really like to be touched. Certainly not enough for me to examine his butt regularily. I mean, he has a vet appointment, and I am trying to capture him so i can bring him there, but he is very fast and very sneaky and I don’t want to upset him too much.

Plus being honest I am not very mobile and have to wait for him to enter an accessible for me to nab him.
Click to expand...
I am a first time rabbit owner..3 months now.

My neutered 2 year old male is just very loving.
I went from sitting still in his xpen with him a few times a day, letting him get to know my voice and smell etc.

After a week I was able to pet him. He loves his head, forehead and cheeks rubbed.

After 2 months we started letting him free roam for supervised exploring.

I eventually got him to jump up on the couch beside me and eat his kibble from the cup holder.

We have a standard poodle, also 2 years old and neutered.

We have successfully guided a peaceful co existence between the two.

My bun Peety so desperately wants to cuddle with our dog, but Hiro is a little nervous of him. So we don't push it.

All of this to say....

While Peety was beside me on the couch we planned to cut his nails. I held and my husband cut.
Peety tolerated it but he really struggled to get out of my grasp.

It has been 10 days and he still refuses to jump up on the couch beside me.
I'm so sad that I have lost his complete trust.

Because he was 2 when we got him from The Humane Society we have no idea how, what, when he has been handled.

I'm in Canada and it is starting to warm up and I really would like to be able to take Peety outside with me and I could sit in the X pen with him while he can see, hear, smell the outdoors and graze on our grass.

Any advice, experiences people have for me I would really
appreciate it.
 
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