New Member with possible problem

[Momma Stitch]

Hi,

I am a new member to this site....Stitch is my first rabbit. I have had Stitch with me for about 4 months. He is a black dwarf rabbit - neutered.

I have Stitch in a pen enclosure in the house. His pen is about 4 x 4. He is basically litter trained. He stays in his area during theday and as soon as we get back from work, we let him out to be with us and roam the home until we go to bed he goesback in the pen.

I have a question regarding rabbit cleanliness. I am not sure why it is now a problem, but Stitch had a dirty bottom. I have to clean his bottom almost every two days because he seems to be sitting in his litterbox. He is not a fan of bathing and I don't want to give him a heart attack. But he seems to have poop matted and hard crusty fur (which I assume is dried urine).

Is it normal for rabbits to have dirty little bottoms like that? Stitch has had a few visits with a vet. He did have blood work before his neuter and the blood work was good. This dirty bottomissue seemed to start about four weeks after his neuter. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I do clean his litter almost daily.


Thanks.

Heather.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Is Stitch overweight? Sometimes when a bun is to tubby they have a hard time cleaning themselves. Also how old is he? I had a bun with the same issue but he had arthrites. The third thing is does the poop have a foul smell to it? This could be from him not eating all his cecatropes and then sitting in them These are not like normal poo and he is supposed to eat them. Think of a cow chewing its cud (same thing). They are very soft and bad smelling.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat: Also, with some of ours we had to decrease the amount of greens they got and change to a different pellet. We use unscented baby wipes to clean up and do a daily check. Good luck.

 

[Momma Stitch]

LOL... I have to laugh... momma's is overweight :lookaround, Stitch is definately filled out, but he doesn't have a double chin or anything.

He doesn't smell, his poop doesn't smell. I have checked his cage and he is eating his cecatropes.

Heather.

 

[Momma Stitch]

I love the idea of unscented baby wipes... great idea and I think Stitch will tolerate them more than an inch of water in the sink!

I have just changed him from his alfalfa based pellets to timothy hay pellets... and have been starting him on new foods.

I just know when I went to see the vet she said to make sure he was clean because he could get infection etc.

Heather

 

[gmas rabbit]

Make sure that he has lots of hay to munch on. I put some in Benjamins box, fresh everyday so that he can munch when he poos, also keep him off of any soft stuff.

 

[gmas rabbit]

Just got through a wrestling match with Benjamin to give him his monthly pubic trim. Not something that he is fond of, but a closely trimmed private area, even around the anus really cuts down on feces etc getting caught in long fur. Also find that the area tucked in where his testicles used to be fills up with junk if you don't keep him clipped and washed every once in awhile.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I would like to welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Many bunnies’ recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

Here are somelinks I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*The House Rabbit Society has a lot of good information on what veggies are safe for bunny’s, etc.

*Here is a link to learn what your furry master is trying to say to you How to Understand Your Bunny's Language

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How to Bond with Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions and I am glad you have joined rabbits online; I look forward to seeing you around.