Recently rescued overweight Holland Lop with poopy butt

[Kailey Norris]

Hello!
I have recently rescued an overweight holland lop that is estimated to be around 5. I have had bunnies before, but it has been awhile. First off she is very large and cannot get back to her bum to clean herself at all so that has been a big issue. She has a poopy butt and I have to clean her 2 times a day or by the end of the day it is just a giant matt of poop. She also seems to have anal polyps as well Her old owners gave her unlimited hay but and pellets. They really only gave her lettuce and just whatever veggies they had in the house and fed her them about 3-4 times a week. I have slowly incorporated more veggies and have completely cut out her pellets for right now. She does have unlimited timothy hay as well. After she uses her litter box she tends to sit in it and hang out and eat her hay which is sitting right next to her litter box. I was going to invest in one of the scatters litter boxes. I have trimmed up the hair around her bum as well. When i let her have free range she doesn't really run around or play much, she just likes to spread out and relax. Is there anything else I should be doing to help her lose weight and to help clear up her poopy butt and polyps? What else could i do to make her more comfortable

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We found that getting rid of pellets was a big help--just veggies and orchard grass and time. I use unscented wipes from Walmart's baby section help with the cleaning chores.

 

[Imbrium]

It sounds like you're on the right track with her! That said, sitting in the litter box is very unlikely to be the cause of her poopy butt and trimming the hair probably won't help much. Not being able to clean her rear end *also* means that she can't her cecal poops. As long as you're seeing normal fecal poop in her litter box (hard, round, dry balls) then what's sticking to her bum is the cecals. They're super sticky, really stinky and will embed themselves in the fur if sat on. If you catch them relatively quickly, it's usually not too hard to get them off... if they harden and become difficult to remove, a butt bath is in order (use a sink, dishpan, etc. to soak them in about 1/2-1'' of warm water; dawn dish soap can also be added).

Rabbits normally poop out (and eat, if possible) their cecals either early in the morning or late at night - tracking when your rabbit abandons cecals will make it easier to prevent poopy butt, since they'll be left around the same time each day. Look for suspicious looking clumps of poop in the cage, too, which haven't been sat on yet (a clump of cecals can look very similar to a pile of fecal poops). Richness of diet also impacts the quantity of cecals and how inclined they are to eat them (some rabbits will eat them off the ground even if they have trouble reaching their anus to eat them directly) - eliminating pellets, fruits and other treats will make her more inclined to eat cecals rather than abandon them.

As for getting her to run around more... you could try to figure out her preferences and cater to them. Some rabbits dislike hard floors because of the lack of traction and will move around more on carpet, in grass, etc. Every rabbit I've ever had has been most active in chilly weather and on grass/dirt outside. If you've got the time and patience, you can nudge her around with your foot a little or play a "carrot on a stick" sort of game using a small amount of pellets as treats to lead her around a room.