Rabbit - dirty bottom solution?

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Veronica

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
97
Location
Michigan
We have 11 indoor spayed/neutered rabbits. Flopsi, a 5-year old mini lop, has had problems with a dirty bottom off and on for the last couple of years. We have to bathe her backend periodically because urine & feces collect into a big clump. It's pretty gross.

We do not feed her any wet veggies - like romaine - in hopes that would help solve the problem. No change. Any ideas what causes a long-term problem like this? None of the other rabbits have this problem.
 
I had a Netherland dwarf that had this problem. She had trouble controlling her bladder, and as a result, she would pee on herself. This caused massive problems with her skin around that area. I had to bathe her heiney regularly and I clipped the fur in that area very short, but in the end I had to have her put down because she just couldn't control her urination and her quality of life was not good because of her skin problems that the contact with the urine caused.

I've also had a couple of mini rex who would occasionally get dirty rear ends, usually as a result of softer droppings from being stressed or eating something that upset their systems. I eventually cut out all "treats" from my rabbits' diets except for oats and the very occasional piece of carrot, and just fed pellets and hay, because that was the type of diet that was least likely to cause the poop issues.

I've noticed that the older does in particular sometimes start to get messy (almost all my dirty butt issues have been with does and not bucks), and I'd look into changing the diet to something more simple (this may mean switching to just hay and pellets and maybe some oats, with no veggies); looking at the type of flooring your rabbit is on and switching it to something cleaner (for example, if the rabbit is on a solid floor with shavings, maybe switch to a wire floor with a resting board so that she can get off the wire if she wants), keep the fur around her vent clipped shorter than normal to try to avoid some of the build-up, and give her more exercise. The exercise is important because sometimes overweight rabbits will have more trouble reaching their privates to clean them, and even if she's not overweight, exercising will help build up muscle strength and this can help her control her urination better, if that's part of the issue. Good luck! I know it's no fun for owner or rabbit to deal with a dirty bottom.
 
I only have 1 neutered male which cost me 1 year $700.00 for surgery because of maggots. He still gets a dirty butt, in fact, yesterday I had to wash his bottom. I was told because he is a fat rabbit that is why I'm having problems with him. I now feed him timothy pellets and timothy hay. He used to get alfalfa pellets. He still gets carrots which I think is causing the problem now so that will stop. He gets plenty of excercise he runs around the backyard with the dogs. If you're not checking or cleaning his butt that will cause the maggots. I check my rabbit once or twice a week.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the replies. Flopsi & Mopsi are in a solid bottomed cage with pine chips now, so maybe the wire bottomed cage would be the way to go. I think it's the cecotrops that give her problems and not sure what will happen with those in a a wire bottomed cage.

And I'll decrease her carrots - which is the primary veggie she's been getting. I'll try smaller pieces and if that doesn't help, eliminate all together. She has a good-sized dewlap, so cleaning down there probably is an issue, but not sure what else to do to help her be less "Flopsi".

The exercise thing is a catch 22 - can't really have her running around the house with a dirty bottom, but that same running around might be what helps!
 
The solid bottomed cage should help - if she wasnt able to eat her cecotropes that could have been part of the problem - she wasnt getting all the nutrition she needed.

I've had decent luck in the past of drying out leaves of Romaine & Kale, instead of giving it fresh. This way they still get their required veggies, but with less water intake. Plus I can store their veggies longer this way.
~Barb~
 
With a wire-bottom cage, the cecotropes should just fall through the wire. Rabbits really only eat their cecotropes straight from their bodies, so she likely won't eat them once they're on the floor anyway. At least, with a wire floor, she won't be sitting in them and walking on them.

Rabbits really don't "need" extra veggies; if they're getting a high quality pellet and hay, they're getting all the nutrients they need. Vegetables are something that owners like to give their rabbits because it makes the owners feel good, and because of course rabbits enjoy treats. However, it's okay to not feed veggies; just make sure that the rabbit is getting a good quality pellet and hay so she's getting all the nutrients she needs.
 
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