Please help! I can't stop my bunny sitting in poop! Struggling to keep him clean.

[HipandHop]

Hello everyone.

I have a dutch and an English bunny, both male, 4 years old and neutered. The were bought together and lived happily for a year, however we had to separate them as they fought. The now live in the conservatory with a perspex screen divide to keep them apart.

I have serious issues with the English, he insists on pooping in his bed and sitting on the poop in his litter box, he then get this built up on his under side and its so difficult to clean him up! His skin looks so sore.

Please can anyone suggest a solution to my dilemma?

Many thanks,
B

 

[Kzbun]

Maybe switch the locations of the bed and the litter box? I've never had this issue, so I really don't have any other idea, but if he's pooping in the bed and laying in the litter box, perhaps he just doesn't like where they are.

 

[JBun]

You may have a different issue going on here. Typically a rabbit's normal fecal poop isn't going to stick to the fur. Fecals are the round poops that you normally see coming from a rabbit. It's most likely that it is the rabbits cecotropes that are sticking to the fur, and that is a problem because normally all cecotropes are going to be reingested by a rabbit, and so you shouldn't be seeing any of them(or very few) or having them sticking to fur. There are a few reasons why a rabbit won't be properly ingesting their cecals: overweight and can't reach down there to eat them, too many pellets and too much protein in the diet, baby bunnies with short attention spans, other health problems causing the rabbit not to eat them, and soft mushy cecals caused by digestive problems from too many pellets/treats or a bacterial/parasitic problem. Some veggies can also cause the soft poop with some rabbits. So if you can solve the cecal problem, then the poop sticking to the fur will go away. In the meantime you'll want to keep the area clean and dry, to avoid other complications from occurring. Unscented baby wipes or a butt bath will work, just make sure he is kept warm until the fur is thoroughly dried. And you may need to apply something to the skin if it is really bad. You'll just want to make sure it's rabbit safe.

Some solutions for getting him from sitting in his poop. You can make a grate to cover the litterbox with, so that all his waste goes through the grate. I have a rabbit that likes to lay in her litter box sometimes, and I just put a fresh layer of grass hay in there every day, until it's time to clean the whole thing out and start over with new litter.

 

[whitelop]

Are his poops soft and thats why they're sticking to him?
If its a soft bed, like a pet bed for a dog or cat, then I would take it out and let him just have a litter box. What kind of litter do you use?
I would also suggest that cleaning out the poop from the bed and/or litter box more frequently would solve the problem of him being ON the poop.
How much out of cage time does he have? And does he have a large enough cage, so that he can get away from his litter box/bed?

I use the wood pellet litter, the pee goes into the litter and leaves saw dust behind, but it doesn't get her wet. And her poop just sits on top, but it doesn't stick to her, thats why I asked if his poop was solid. Soft poops are a totally different topic! My bun also gets a ton of out of the cage time and has several different litter boxes that I clean once a day.

 

[Blue eyes]

I just wanted to chime in and reiterate what others have said -- it is not normal for bunny poo to stick. With normal poo, they could sit in it all day and never have it stick. Something else is going on. It could be diet related. Perhaps some type of green is making his poos mushy. A healthy poo will be perfectly round and about the size of cocoa puffs. They can also be picked up by hand without sticking to your fingers (not trying to be gross).

 

[ams1786]

Hi so I know it's not supposed to happen but I think I've had a similar problem to what you're describing. Provided that what everyone said above isn't the case and there aren't any digestive problems, I think what happens is when they're good bunnies and use their litterbox all the time for both no. 1 and no. 2 it can sort of turn into a sludge, which is why otherwise normal droppings can stick to them if they insist on sitting in their litterboxes for hours at a time. Try cleaning out the space every day if you have to - like do a full clean and remove all the droppings - and then put hay on top of their favorite corner since that wont turn to sludge. If that doesn't work, you can assume something else is going on even if the droppings look normal and work on their diet.

 

[Imbrium]

in that situation, I'd say the issue is more that either you're not using enough substrate in your litter box or you need to change litters - with most good bunny-friendly litters (particularly wood pellets, which are very popular due to how cheap and effective they are), the pee has a way of sort of soaking down to the bottom. a litter box grid is also very handy for preventing that issue.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53690&forum_id=93 - check 1/3 of the way down the first page for instructions on making a grid

 

[HipandHop]

Cecals are the grapey looking ones, right? Should the cecals be firm and not particularly wet? His are kinda mushy and he absolutely stinks, real strong smell when he's running by.
Thanks for your time

 

[HipandHop]

Hi there.
For his bed he had a bottomless wooden box with a lid and two tunnel exits. I have a piece of carpet under that which we stack straw on so he can bed into it. I don't keep the rabbits in a cage, they have half of a conservatory each, so absolutely loads of room. In addition to that they have full run of the living room and dining room for a minimum of an hour every evening. The litter box is actually a paint/ roller tray with a raised bit so all the pee runs down to the bottom away from their feet. They are so spoiled but something isn't working for him!

 

[HipandHop]

Hey there.
We feed our bunnies a ramekin sized dish of mix of "Wagg Bunny Brunch" and "Adult Pellets" daily and dandelion leaves every other day. They have access to hay and water all the time. It could quite possibly be down to diet, he does seem a little chubby.

 

[HipandHop]

Thanks for the link

 

[whitelop]

You're saying that he stinks all the time? His scent glands are probably clogged and they need to be cleaned!
Of course, I can't find the medirabbit link right now how to clean them.

Cecals are the poops that look like a blackberry. They're pretty moist but they aren't a liquid, but they are mushy. They do stink sometimes.
If you rabbit is sitting in cecals then there could be a number of things causing it:
1 being that your bun is over weight and is having a hard time reaching around to eat the cecal. They eat them immediately.
2 being that your buns diet is too rich. How many pellets are you feeding in a day? If there are too many pellets being fed, then the bun won't eat the cecals like normal and they leave them behind to make a mess with them.
3 you cleaning schedule is off, no offense. But sometimes when you don't clean the cages/litter boxes/beds frequently enough, then they make a mess. Even after 3 days of not cleaning out my buns litter box, there is still nothing stuck to her. What kind of litter do you use? The litter I use sucks the pee down to the bottom and doesn't get the poop wet, so it doesn't stick to her.

I would also suggest using a grid over the top of the litter box or something, that way you can keep the bun off the dirty stuff. If its sticking to him from the bed, like I suggested before, you should remove the bed.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Decrease the pellets, increase the hay and for us, we had 2 with this problem and we cut down on their veggies. I also keep unscented baby wipes handy so I can clean them before it hardens and clings to the fur. We only had that problem with 2 mini Rexes.

 

[JBun]

Yes, cecals are the grape cluster type rabbit poop, and they are semi firm, but can be smooshed into fur if sat or stepped on. If there is an imbalance of flora in the GI, the cecals can be semi formed and more mushy, to completely unformed and very mushy. Cecals can be somewhat smelly, and the less formed they are, the more smelly they will be because of an overgrowth of bad bacteria. Here are some pictures of normal fecal and cecal poop, and also some abnormal rabbit poop.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

I'm still not sure what amount you are feeding, but the general recommendation for adult rabbits, is 1/4-1/2 cup of rabbit pellets per 6 lbs. body weight, and unlimited grass hay. But it's very likely that too many carbs and/or protein in your rabbits diet, is the culprit. I checked out the Wagg food that you are feeding, and I can see a few problems with it that could be the cause of the poopy bum. It looks like it is a 'treat' food, and is chock full of carbs and protein. Peas generally shouldn't be fed to rabbits. Whole corn should never be fed to rabbits, as they have too many quick carbs, can contain dangerous mycotoxins, and whole kernals can cause GI obstructions and create a deadly blockage. It also contains lots of other grains as the first ingredients in the food. Grains should always be a very minimal amount in rabbit food. This food would be providing far too many carbs for your rabbit. Too many sugars and carbs can actually lead to dangerous digestive issues, aside from a poopy bum. If not corrected, it can lead to a potentially fatal GI blockage called GI stasis. A poopy bum is just the start, and the gut imbalance can continue until you are dealing with a blockage. I lost a rabbit to this exact thing. I'm not sure what your adult rabbit food is, but a plain rabbit food without treat pieces, is the best thing to be feeding rabbits. Timothy grass based pellets are best for adults, but a lot of people will feed lucerne based pellets. But you will want to limit the pellets based on your rabbits weight, but you may have to adjust up or down on the recommended amount, to keep your rabbit at a healthy weight. In addition, feed unlimited grass hay, and veggies are good as well.

I would suggest to stop feeding the Wagg Bunny Brunch, right away, and that may solve your problem. If your adult rabbit food, has treat pieces as well, then you will want to gradually transition off of that food too. But I would stop the Wagg food first and give it a few days to see if his poop goes back to normal, and doesn't have mushy poop or excess cecals anymore. If you need to switch to a plain adult rabbit food as well, then you want to do the change very gradually starting with a small amount of the new food added, with a similar amount of the old food decreased, and slowly increase new food/decrease old food, each day, until at the end of 2 weeks you have completed transitioning to the new pellets. Keep an eye on the poop, and as long as the poop doesn't get mushy, and stays normal, then your rabbit is doing ok with the transition. You do this kind of thing with any new food you introduce to your rabbit, like pellets, veggies, but you don't need to with grass hay(non grain grass hays). Doing this gradual introduction of new foods helps give your rabbits gut flora the time it needs to gradually adjust to the new food. I'm including some good veggie lists for rabbits too, and how to introduce them to your rabbits. I would wait til your rabbit no longer has soft poops, for at least a week, before you try to introduce any new veggies to him.

http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#top
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

 

[Blue eyes]

JBun has some great advice -- perhaps that will solve your dilemma. You may also want to consider a different litter box set up. Imbrium suggested the grid on top (she prob has photos too). I'm too lazy for that and just use the wood pellets with hay on top. My buns have free run all day long downstairs. I only need to change/clean the box twice per week. They never sit on their "mess" with this set up even if they lounge in the box, and it doesn't smell: