Is it normal?

[CadburysMom]

Is it normal for a bunny to have a slightly dirty behind? Cadbury is all white on his tummy and butt and when I flip him over, he's a little dingy back there. His poops in his cage are really good - nice and solid and his "other" type of poops are fine too, not too mushy or watery. I guess I would have just assumed that he would keep himself clean, but I'm tempted to clean his rear end with a washcloth. Is this fairly normal or could there be something wrong? He's only been with us a week and he's still a baby, so maybe he's just nervous? Sorry if this is a really stupid question. I'm just brand new to bunnies so I get paranoid. He appears to be eating really good (Timothy Hay and pellets that we buy in bulk at a feed store (not sure of the brand). I haven't been able to get him to drink from a water bottle though. I have a crock with water in his cage and although I haven't caught him drinking from it, he's still pee'ing fine - my carpet can attest to that. Is there anything else I should be looking for? He seems to be acting fine - alert, affectionate, and playful when he gets his out of cage time. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything actually. I expected the little guy to be more timid than he is.

 

[butsy]

you should clean it . some rabbits are just a little less clean than others !

 

[jcottonl02]

Does he have mushy poops stuck to his behind? These uneaten caecotrophs (if he has them), are indicitive of needing a slight diet change, or an overweight bun. As he is so young, I doubt he is overweight- overweight buns can't reach round to eat their caecotrophs (the soft, dark poops that look like a mushy bunch of tiny grapes) and so just sit on them and get all poopy.
If a diet is too rich (ie. too many pellets, too carb or protein high diet etc.) then the bun won't eat his caecals, because he doesn't need to. Bunnies produce two types of poops- caecotrophes, which they reingest, and then produce the normal poops that you see (round, and hard). Try cutting down the pellets, if this is the case, and really pushing the hay .

If you NEED to clean your bun's behind (if he has had diarrhoea or a poopy butt- this DOES need to be cleaned because otherwise can attract flies etc. and risk fliestrike) then give him a butt-bath. NEVER a normal bath, because this can shock the rabbit, and the change in temperature and shock of being immersed in water can be a serious danger to him/her. In the wild, rabbits will swim if they need to (in fact, they are quite competent swimmers) but this is a last resort for them. Domestic bunnies should never be bathed etc.

Place a towell in the sink, and fill the sink about 2 or 3 inches full of lukewarm water. Then place your bunny on the towell (so he doesn't slip), facing you, with his paws on your chest, and his feet and bum in the water. Then give him a thorough clean, and then wrap him in a nice, soft towell and rub him dry. Don't put him outside until he is thoroughly dry. You can also dry clipping/cutting off any clumps of poopy fur (have someone hold him, and someone clip, because you need to be very careful)

Hope this helps



Jen

 

[CadburysMom]

Jen - No, he doesn't have any left over poops stuck to him, just a little brown and crusty looking area around the behind. I think they need to invent bunny butt wet wipes for this kind of thing! I have noticed uneaten caecotrophes in his cage though along with his regular poops which he has been really good about just doing in his litter box. Should he be eating all of the caecotrophes?

 

[jcottonl02]

Generally buns should eat all their caecals. I don't know if you know much about bunny digestion, but in a nutshell, their caecum is situated after their stomach, rather than with a cow, the rumen is before the 'true stomach'.
So cows have all the bacteria that help break down the cellulose, and the 'fermentation vat' before they absorb the nutrients etc. but bunnies have it AFTER. So buns eat the caecals directly from their anus, and reingest it and absorb all the lovely goodness. Then it comes out as a nice round poop.

If their diet is too 'good' then they don't need to eat these. A really good indicator of giving too many pellets is lots of uneaten caecals.

If there are lots, and that can be just 3 or 4 a day, then cut back a little on the pellets, and really push the hay.

As for the slightly dirty bum, if it's just a bit of an off colour, not really any poops or anything stuck there, then I wouldn't worry. My buns occasionally get a little staining from their urine, especially if it's a little darker due to certain foods they eat or if they have neglected their water a little , but they just groom it off.

My buns are pure white....and so have permanently green feet :grumpy LOL from the grass they are on a vast majority of the day.



Jen

 

[tonyshuman]

Young bunnies and un-neutered bunnies are often not as good at keeping clean (intact bunnies like the way they smell because it's a signal to the opposite sex), and so are many lops and other bunnies that are fuzzy down there. I wouldn't worry about it since it sounds like it's not a big deal. A little brown-ness on the bum is normal. Just keep an eye out for excess fur around his bum--you might need to trim that, too much food like mentioned, weird poop, and weight. If he's overweight he won't be able to reach very well to clean. That's usually not a problem for babies though.

 

[jfryckman84]

Oh my gosh, this post was so educational. I just adopted my bunny a few days ago and added hay to his diet. Today his rear end and genetalia were covered in caecals and feces. I felt so bad cleaning him due to it being stuck. I will assume now its because I richened his diet by adding the hay. Thank you all

 

[CadburysMom]

Well, today I went to pick up Cadbury and his whole rear end was a mess. Not just a little staining this time, but a whole load of poops all mushed into his butt. I cleaned what I could with paper towels and then I had to give his whole rear end a bath. I'm kind of worried now so I guess I will be calling the vet tomorrow and seeing if they can see him. He's still acting normal and was pretty upset that his play time got interrupted with a sudden butt bath. He has been eating his pellets, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't take them away until he can see the vet. Maybe just leave his hay in there? I'm wondering if the pellets might be the cause of this.

 

[CadburysMom]

I cleaned Cadbury's cage and just looked back in to see what his poops are looking like. He had a bunch of solid poops so that was at least good to see. I also weighed him and his weight continues to go up. I read the ingredients on his pellets and they are Alfalfa based. I'm going to try and order some Oxbow pellets and slowly introduce them. I hope that and just the stress of a new home is all that is causing this. I'm still going to get him in to a vet though for a check up. I was just hoping to get him acclimated to his new home before putting him through a vet visit.

 

[CadburysMom]

p.s. The protein on the pellets is 16%, too high?

 

[tonyshuman]

Do you know how old he is? If he's younger than a year, the pellet should be fine. You can start decreasing the amount of pellets if he has a lot of uneaten cecals. However, if you're not sure of his health, and just to get an early idea of his overall, a vet visit isn't a bad idea. He could be carrying intestinal parasites or some other young-bunny GI issues.

And I want to make sure that all our bunnies have some kind of hay available at all times. Obviously sudden diet changes aren't good, but bunnies really need a lot of hay. I would guess that maybe you gave alfalfa hay, jfrykman84? That's a legume hay and it's a lot richer than a grass hay, like timothy, brome, oat, or orchard hay. Alfalfa is ok for young bunnies but can cause poopy butt sometimes (for uneaten cecals). Grass hay is better.

 

[jfryckman84]

No actually I gave him timothy hay. He came with some unknown brand of food. She said some name that sounded like pedigree but I have no clue what it is. I bought some oxbow and have been spinkling a few pellets over his food. I give him 1/4 cup and he doesn't eat all of it. He is 2 years old, male, pedigree not neutered. I am hoping this is all new diet, and new environment related. I do seem to have rescued him because the more I see his habits the more I see a totally ignored bunny. He is responding to me handling him and is starting to approve of my dog staring through the cage now and then. So we will see.

 

[CadburysMom]

tonyshuman wrote:

Do you know how old he is? If he's younger than a year, the pellet should be fine. You can start decreasing the amount of pellets if he has a lot of uneaten cecals. However, if you're not sure of his health, and just to get an early idea of his overall, a vet visit isn't a bad idea. He could be carrying intestinal parasites or some other young-bunny GI issues.

And I want to make sure that all our bunnies have some kind of hay available at all times. Obviously sudden diet changes aren't good, but bunnies really need a lot of hay. I would guess that maybe you gave alfalfa hay, jfrykman84? That's a legume hay and it's a lot richer than a grass hay, like timothy, brome, oat, or orchard hay. Alfalfa is ok for young bunnies but can cause poopy butt sometimes (for uneaten cecals). Grass hay is better.

He is only about 8 weeks and has had a lot of uneaten cecals in his his cage. He has unlimited access to Timothy Hay. When I first brought him home, he wouldn't touch his pellets for about 4 days and his poops were fine. As soon as he started eating the pellets, his regular poops were still good, but he had a lot of cecals and then finally that big pile of poops stuck to his butt last night. I took the pellets out last night and checked him out this morning. Lots of good poops in the cage and nothing on his butt - I didn't notice any cecals in the cage either. I think I may just need a better quality pellet. I still plan to call around today though and see about getting him a check-up just to be safe.

 

[CadburysMom]

The soonest they can get Cadbury in is next Wednesday. I went ahead and made the appointment for a full check-up and if we have more problems in between then, I'll look into getting him into an emergency vet. He seems to be doing ok today though.

 

[jcottonl02]

Okay that's not too bad- at least Wed they can sort it out. He doesn't have diarrhea so I don't think it would hurt to wait a week.

Just make sure his butt is clean etc.

Perhaps try cutting out the pellets, and just giving him hay? Or maybe just a very very small amount of pellets? Let his GI system resettle again.

Jen

 

[CadburysMom]

Is there anything in particular I should make sure the vet checks when I take Cadbury in? I know I want her to look at his teeth and ears and maybe give me some pointers on clipping the nails. Should I make sure they do a fecal and is there anything else they should do for a new bunny? Can you tell I am a slightly obsessive bunny mom?

 

[tonyshuman]

I would ask for a fecal just because he's young and new. You can't be sure that wherever he was before you got him was 100% clean, and he probably was in contact with several other bunnies (his mom, the litter) that could be a possibility to get worms. Most breeders will routinely de-worm their herd of bunnies, and shelters and rescues don't keep bunnies around long enough for worms to show up usually, so the chance is there for him no matter where he came from.

I would want the vet to have a good listen to his heart and lungs. There might be a murmur or something that you should know about. My Muffin has a slight murmur but it hasn't caused problems. I just am glad to know about it in case something comes up medically, I can think about that.

I'd ask the vet how to clip his nails. They're probably pretty sharp right now because he's so young, so you'll want to trim them! Have the vet double-check the sex, and ask about when you can do a spay/neuter if that's what you want to do. The vet will feel the internal organs to see if they're the right size/shape. I don't think blood work is necessary at his age. Make sure they look in the ears.

 

[CadburysMom]

Thank you!!!

 

[jcottonl02]

I'd get the vet to weigh him, so you both have a record of his weight. You can monitor this over the months etc. And would be a good symptom if he loses a significant amount of weight, that you may not notice because you are around him 24/7 and might not see a gradual change.
Not hugely important, but I like to know.

Jen

 

[CadburysMom]

Just wanted to report back in that Cadbury got a clean bill of health at the vets office. They checked everything and said he is one very healthy bunny. I was just told to only feed him the hay for a week and then slowly start giving him small amounts of pellets. I have some Oxbow pellets on order and some probiotic. Aside from that though, he is doing great. Teeth, ears, temperature, etc.. all were perfect. I was able to clip his nails myself the night before the appointment, so they didn't have to do that for me. I hope he keeps his good temperament as he gets older. He is so calm right now that it's no problem at all to clean his ears and cut his nails.