Help Bunny with a dirty bottom

[Stephany]

Another problem for rabbits that have messy bums is because they are not getting enough hay, and WAY to many pellets.Funny enough, most people believe that pellets should be thier main source of food. This is WRONG because a lot of pellets are crap. Have you been feeding him pellets that contain seeds? Seeds and rabbits don't mix because they could go in to GI Stasis. I like Martins Pellets(don't know if you can get them where you are) because they do not have seeds or any of extra stuff they shouldn't have. There major consumption should be hay. Good Luck!

 

[Tam24927]

Hi Everyone!!!!

Wow I never knew that feeding rabbits could be so hard. I never knew there could be so much difference in pellets and I have read up on itf or months now. I do feed plenty of hay it is always in the cages and it's really good hay. I get it from bunnybales.com and it is fantastic the best I have ever seen kind of expensive but worth it. Can I ask what do you all feed your buns in a day?? Quanity wise I have minilops, a rex and netherland dwarf all are in great shape just have the one with the messy bum problem but it's not all the time.

I though I was all up on the bunny care and now I am not so sure..

Thanks All

Tammy

 

[Arrius]

I fully agree about the Oxbow products. They make a fantastic line of products,very high quality. I normally purchase their all Timothy Pellets for which 3 Vets have simply told me"Kudos" on the product. I normally buy the Oxbow products on line only because my work schedule allows little time for shopping. I also agree with the other post though that if you can purchase their products in store to save on the shipping charges.

I cannot stree enough though that you work hard to find a remedy for the poopy bottom. The secondary problems to such can be catastrophic to say the least. My little Cotton guy was seven and most of his life had a poopy bottom. We swicthed his diet many times but never could quite work through the issue. This included multiple Vet trips on the matter. This though resulted in our washing his bottom often. Though he was a house bunny as he aged he tended to let his guard down and at some point near the end of this past summer a fly struck him. This took place in a skin fold where even the Vet said it was not noticeable. We only realized what had happened when Cotton started exhibiting sign of pain. I realized what had happened late one friday night at about 1 a.m. At this time I rushed the little guy 45miles through the dark of night to a 24 hour animal ER. To make a long story short he passed away 3 days after that trip and one other trip tot he local Vet. Both Vets missed the fact that potent pain meds are needed in Fly Strike and should always be the first course of treatment in such, "Always". The again we missed this to. It most likely happened from a poopy bottom. Though we kept it clean this resulted in damp fur around his bottom many times. Damp fur will also invite fly strike.

Work hard on the diet and don't give up. The quicker you find a remedy the safer and happier the bunny will be.

take care

 

[Arrius]

Your so right Steph. For year many pellets on the market were simply grass based pellets. If the history on these were to be explored one would find that they came to be for the meat rabbit industry ( an industry that I find detestable and deplorable in every sense). This despicable industry was involved in the creation of these grass based pellets loaded with badproteins.At that time the pellets served one main purpose . They were designed to pack the pounds on the bunnies faster than anything else available. We all know why that was but someday togather our efforts will see and end to this industry along with many others. These days though you now have a choice of good pellets .Try Kaytee and Oxbow brands or others recomended on this board.



take care

 

[naturestee]

Tammy, have you read my FAQ on feeding yet?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=16340&forum_id=1

It will take you through all the basic info you need and recommendations for how to feed your rabbit individually.

Each bun is different, and some may do well on one diet while others do horribly on it. I for example have a pair of sisters that are extremely sensitive to protein levels, to the point where even too much Oxbow timothy pellets or a tiny pinch of alfalfa as a treat can make both their cecals and their fecals wierd. Meanwhile I have another bun who needs lower protein pellets but needs to eat double the usual recommended amount in order to keep her weight up. And yet another bun who could eat anything and do well as long as you pay attention to his weight and make sure he's eating enough hay.They're all different, and it took a little tweaking to find the best diets for each of them. Thankfully I haven't had any problem feeding them in pairs, as they're bonded pairs.