Smelly girl

[lapoppa]

My house rabbit Poppy -approx 18 months dwarf girl, got her "fixed" about 6 months ago - hasgot really smelly. She is quite happy, eating well, bright eyed butmoulting alot, the smell is really peutrid, think it must be her urine,her poo is normal but her bottom gets dirty, she lets me clean her anddoesn't seem to be in any distress. Any ideas?

 

[pamnock]

Cleaning the scent glands with a Q-tip and babyoil may help a little. The scent glands are located on eitherside of the genitals -- you may note a dark, waxy substance excreted bythe glands.

Trimming the butt fur and applying a little vaseline can help to keep poo from adhering.

Pam

 

[naturestee]

Normal poop but she has poop mushed to herbutt? That sounds like a cecotrope issue, and cecotropes canbe smelly. Some rabbits make more cecals than they can eatbecause of diet issues. Often it's because they've becomesensitive to high-protein foods such as alfalfa pellets or alfalfahay. It can also be from too much sugar/carbs in thediet. What are you feeding her and how much? Maybewe can help you change her diet.

There's more info in this thread from Rabbit Health References:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11935&forum_id=10

 

[lapoppa]

Thanks for that, I didremovea hard dark waxy lump from her tonight so will followthe baby oil, trimming and vaseline treatment.

I feed her on a mixed rabbit food but she is picky inthe bits of it she eats, she gets a little kale, broccoli orcarrot3 or4 times a week, I admit that I have beengiving her a bit of dried fruit - apricot, raisin etc as a treat whenmy chinchilla gets his, she always has a pile of meadow hay in with herwhich she seems to enjoy munching. Do you think she should see the vetor is it her diet, I don't want her on medication unless it's reallynecesary.



Thanks again
:bunny5

 

[naturestee]

If you removed some waxy stuff then that was atleast part of the smell. That's scent glandbuild-up. But rabbit mix isn't very healthy, it just looksattractive to us. So it could be causing poopproblems. Rabbits should have plain pellets. For UKbrands, I've heard that Science Selective is pretty good. Theveggies and treats sound fine, and lots of hay is great.

 

[Jenni]

If you limit her rabbit pellets and feed hermore hay and fresh veggies that might help. I've heard thatthe rabbit feed can make bunny urine smell worse.

 

[lapoppa]

Just wanted to thank you allagain for all the advice, I know it's not been long but Poppy issmelling sooo much better.

I have lowered the amount of dried food and raised theamount of meadow hay and making sure she has a little fresh veg everyday, the pet shop sold me a better food for her which I am introducingslowly. Her bottom is trimmed, cleaned and vaselined and not showingsigns of any more waxy stuff.

We are looking forward to a happy and fragrant future,just hope if I have any other problems they can be sorted by tappinginto the knowledge available here.

Thanks again,



Jane



:bunnybutt: