Poopy Bottom

[RustedRabbit]

I've been searching the web over and over, and I'm at my wits end. I've gotten several good ways to deal with 'poopy bottom,' but everything is a two person job - and getting help from my family is near impossible. The first and last attempt at using cornstarch to clean her matted bottom ended with me having a horrible scratch wound, Lupin so freaked out she still hasn't come out from under the bed, and mom once again telling me that we can't afford to take her to the vet. We can afford a 2000 dollar TV, but not a 100-200 dollar vet bill for an 8 year old rabbit. Sorry....ranting.

This is what I've gathered about poopy bottom so far; either I'm giving her too much sugar and she's overproducing cecals, she's got some kind of intestinal problem, she's got some kind of infection, or she's got arthritis and can't clean herself properly.

I did manage to make a game out of catching her bottom and snipping the clumped poop off her fur, but there's some clumps I can't reach and I'm terrified of hurting her. Plus after the cornstarch catastrophe, lord knows if she'll even trust me again.

AGE; 8
BREED; Unknown, but here's a picture

DIET; Nutriphase pellets (not my first choice, but I don't have a choice,) Timothy Hay, Lettuce or Dandelion Greens depending on what I have at the time.
OTHER; She's still fairly active for her age, and has a very feisty personality; thus why it's so hard to hold her still. I wouldn't doubt her having arthritis due to her age and the stiffness she exhibits when hopping out of her cage. She has been able to tear some chunks off herself before, but it just keeps building up.

I'm desperately searching for a job so I can pay for a vet visit, but I'm having just as much luck as last year. Apparently volunteer work isn't very impressive to potential employers. Until then, taking Lupin to a vet is a near impossibility; if I say that it's vet recommended to take her in for a check up, my mother will just laugh and say 'of course they do.'

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do for her in the interim? I wish I had a picture of the poop matted on her underside, but again no one wanted to help with that. She's got at least four chunks hanging down from her underside, with one matted across an expanse of fur.

 

[Maureen Las]

Oh she is very sweet ..looks likea harlequin mix
First of all she may be getting poopy butt for many reasons. She may have arthritis and it would be best to have that diagnosed by a vet ; some pet bunnies can be put on liquid glucosamine/chondroitin supplements which over time can help a bun with arthritis.

NSAIDs lijke ibuprofen and baby aspirin, metacam can also be given but this should be supervised by a vet if it is for any length of time

Ibelieve that I have an approx dosage somewhere (for glucosamine) but would need to look for it.

I don't know exactly what amounts you feed but I would suggest giving her a very small amount of pellets

A 5 lb bunny should get no more than 1/4th cup of pellets per day. It is best to decrease the pellets ( if she gets a larger amount) and increase the hay. Some rabbits won't eat their hay so it is important to get a good quality timothy, orchard grass, oat, brome, meadow hay that is really fresh and tasty so she will eat it.

Some lettuces can cause GI upset anda few of my rabbits have had some issues with dandelions

I would cut out the veggies out for now and feed just hay with a small amount of pellets.
When you start the veggies again laterI would try parsley .. and then again in small amounts.

You can also try to give a probiotic like benebac which is available in petstores.

I believe that I remember your last post re. how to give a bath.
it is important to get to the source of the problem

if you need to get a job to go to the vetI would go for it and/ or ask your parents if they will pay you to do certain household tasks.
You are the mature one in ths situation because you realize that living creatures needs to be comfortable and receive treatment
Are you able to tell whether the mushed poop are the smelly cecal pellets ( grape like clusters?) or just soft fecal pellets
; has this bun been outside at all in the grass. ? it is relatively inexpensive to treat for parasites

Let us know and keep trying

Sometimes as a bunny ages the digestive tract can become more sensitive.

 

[RustedRabbit]

Thank you very much for the informative response : ) The more I watch her movements the more I suspect arthritis (my Labrador is developing it too, so the signs are easy to pick out.) The poor thing got her foot caught twice while trying to hop out of her cage...I think her back legs are a little stiff. Gonna line the ramp with cardboard so she doesn’t break anything.

Honestly, I probably give her too much pellets as it is; I’ve never been too sure what her weight is, but on a guess I’d say about 4 pounds...? She wasn’t too heavy to pick up, but I’m used to doing heavy lifting so I’m not a good judge. And I’m willing to bet that she isn’t as poofy as her fur makes her look. I likely have been giving her too many pellets, so that is my fault.



I’ll cut down the pellets and lay off the veggies for now, hopefully that’ll help until I can get her to the vet and get a diagnosis. I actually have a constant supply of timothy hay now thanks to a friend that recently got her own bun, from which I get a bundle of hay whenever I need.

I do know that she’s never been outside; strictly an indoor rabbit. We did try to put her on a rabbit harness when we first got her, a harness which she promptly ate. As for the poop itself, the stuff matted to her fur is hard and has the occasional fluff ball inside it. I’ve never seen any cecals in her cage, though she has pooped some out on the carpet before and they dropped just fine. She still poops out the small round balls as well, the only time her poop was mushy was when she got too many treats in one day, and even then it was just lighter brown and a little softer than normal. She doesn’t get too many treats nowadays.

If worse comes to worse and she stops eating, I can likely go to my grandmother for help. But she’s already having a hard enough time keeping payments up for her house, and she already helped so much in the past when we’ve had financial problems, that I just don’t feel right bothering her about it. Once I find a job my first course of action is taking Lupin and the lizard to the vet, I’m just hoping I find one soon.

I’ll update the thread if anything new comes about. Thanks again for the help, I’ll make the changes to her diet and hopefully the matted poop will fall off on it’s own.

 

[Anaira]

For the dry butt bath, I find it's easiest and safest if I kneel on my bed(covered with old towels) and place him facing away from me. I then gently(but quickly) flip him backwards, so he's lying on his back, wedged between my legs. You have to grip fairly tightly(but not too tightly!), or she'll just wriggle over. It helps him feel a lot safer, and he's a LOT calmer. I then place a towel over his paws, to keep him steady, and protect myself. I'm afraid I have yet to do a butt bath where I don't end up bleeding, but long sleeves help.

 

[Djakarta]

I have a foster rabbit with splayed legs that needs periodic butt baths.

I wear a water proof/plastic apron and use a mattress pad wrapped around a pillow. I put the pillow on my lap with a towel on top of the mattress pad. I put Ditto on her back with her head by my left elbow. My left arm supports her body. The pillow in my lap cushions her and raises her to a comfortable height for me to work. Her head is slightly lower than the rest of her body, so she is in a tranced position. ( some people use this position to trim nails)

If she has dried on material, I soak it with water to soften it. ( I use wash cloths cut into 1/4's). If I wish to trim the fur, I place a section from a plastic comb through the fur and then use a cuticle scissors to trim on the side away from the skin. This protects the skin from nicks and lets me cut "one-handed".

Once I've finished trimming the fur and/or soaking the dried on material, I can use cornstarch to work out any remaining material and to leave the fur dry and fluffy.

If she shows any sign of urine scald, I apply Neopredef powder ( prescription medication from the vet) as the final step.

I always give her a small piece of dried papaya as a treat/reward when her bath is finished. She isn't fed sweet treats at any other time, so she has something positive to associate with her baths.

 

[Bassetluv]

Since you don't have the funds for a vet visit, one thing you could try is to call your local vet clinic, explain that you can't bring your bunny in right now, but ask them for a bit of advice. See what they think about glucosamine and chondroitin, for example, and what dosage you could try giving. Pain meds can be given, but this is another thing to ask them about, as giving pain meds to an animal for a condition such as arthritis can run a small risk of more harm than good...i.e., if the rabbit is feeling better, he/she becomes more active, and the arthritic area gets more irritated. The clinic may or may not give you advice (some clinics adamantly will not dispense any suggestions without seeing the pet first, while others can be helpful with guidance) but it's worth a try.

My rabbit Anna is one of those *poopy butt* bunnies, and I discovered that the problem lessened itself considerably with a change in her diet. This may or may not work for your bunny, but with Anna she had to become a strictly *no-treats* rabbit (not a craisin, or piece of banana, at all). I switched her to only hay, pellets, and parsley for the first couple of weeks, and it helped considerably. Then I began to allow her small bites of carrot every so often, and some other greens such as rapini, kale, and dandelion. Still smaller amounts than she used to get, but at least she could handle it in her diet. The only lettuce I give her might be a bit of romaine, but only on occasion, and in a small amount. She lost a bit of weight and her *poopy butt* became much more manageable.

And one more thing: You have an absolutely gorgeous bunny!

*Oh, I just noticed that you're in Nepean! If you don't know of any rabbit-saavy vets in the area (if you decide to call a clinic and/or if you are able to take your bunny in at some point) I'd highly recommend Dr. Johnson at the Carling Veterinary Hospital (on Carling Avenue, obviously ). He treated my rabbits a couple of times now and he's by far the best *rabbit vet* I've met around here.

 

[Bassetluv]

If I wish to trim the fur, I place a section from a plastic comb through the fur and then use a cuticle scissors to trim on the side away from the skin. This protects the skin from nicks and lets me cut "one-handed

I love that suggestion!

 

[RustedRabbit]

Bassetluv wrote:

And one more thing: You have an absolutely gorgeous bunny!

Thank you ^_^ She appreciates the stroke to her ego lol.

Just posting an update, I managed to work up enough to take Lupin to a vet. We had a very scary night a few days ago, where she kept getting exhausted just trying to poo. My grandmother surprised me by offering to pay for the vet visit (since I clean her house, car and yard every year) and we've found that Lupin is completely healthy, no signs of tumors, heart and lungs sound good, no glaucoma, and it's highly likely that the cause of the poopy bum is arthritis.

I got a sample of some medicine to try on her and so far she's taking to it very well. She's still going to stay on her low-sugar, high-fiber diet and not get as many treats as before. The poop clumps were shaved off at the vet's, there were no signs of urine burn on her skin, and she peed on my sweater as revenge for tricking her into the cat carrier.

I cannot stress how helpful all the replies to this topic were, thank you SO much for the advice and tips. There's likely going to be some butt baths in our future so I've copied down the tips and tricks and gotten some non-talc baby powder in preparation. The dry baths should be less stressful, so we'll try those first.

TL;DR - Vet says Lupin is healthy but likely has arthritis, gonna practice bathing to get her used to the procedure, thank you everyone for the responses and to my grandmother for helping me give Lupin the best.

 

[Yurusumaji]

So glad it all turned out for the better!

 

[tamsin]

Now the vet has done the shave to get rid of the mats, you might find that you can keep the fur in that area shorter with scissors and that will make it much easier for you and her to keep clean. She's a lovely looking bun and very lucky to have such a dedicated owner!

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I have read that a little dry oats (not the sugared oatmeal) but the quacker stuff in the canister can help with a poopy butt.

 

[plasticbunny]

Sometimes it's easier to enlist a helper to hold our "little demons" still while we provide much needed grooming assistance.:biggrin2:

I'm over in the Bayshore area, so if you can't find someone who's comfortable with helping I'd be happy to lend a hand.