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Hello! I’m new here. I’ve had rabbits for about 5 years – we had our lovely Stan (dwarf/lop seal point) who we adopted from a rescue at 10 and who lived to nearly 14. We now have a 6yo bunny named Dolly and her 2ish yo companion Frank – we had them bonded in the rescue before taking them home (Dolly had lost two husbun’s in her life, and she was lonely as a solo rabbit), but we don’t really know much about his age because he was found roaming around on his own, poor fella. But he’s healthy and fit as a fiddle now.
At the end of last year Dolly had a nasty EC episode and has since been largely incontinent since. We’ve been advised by our vet to start giving her butt baths, and we did for the first time last night. The bath went fairly well, but the drying is another issue. We are able to use a hairdryer on her fur on a low temp, which she tolerates alright (if there are treats involved
). However – to complicate matters, Dolly has large folds of fur/skin just above her tail that are proving impossible to dry, mainly because of them being folds.It’s been about 16 hours since the bath and she’s doing fine, if a bit annoyed with us – but these folds and the area around her tail is still a little damp and the fur is quite matted (before it was matted with urine, so I know she’s used to it, but it can’t be comfortable and I’m worried she’ll get sick).
I’ve texted our vet for advice, but can anyone help in terms of how to dry these tricky areas? She’s impossible to hold unless she’s in a burrito or upside down (which we won’t do and have never tried to do as I know its traumatic for them) so towel drying isn’t a good option.
I’ve attached some photos of Dolly’s behind (and also two of both Dolly & Frank, for good measure!) I’m there are two folds that are causing the issues, one directly above her tail (that covers her tail, which also means we cannot see her lift her tail to urinate) and the other one slightly further up on her back (not as much of an issue as the one that sits directly over her tail).
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Hello again
Im taking the lazy option and pasting my reply to you from the other thread.I can’t think of anything that would dry her faster other then what you are already doing. An alternative would be to get a sanitary shave done. This will prevent the fur from holding urine altogether and you can protect the skin by applying a layer or barrier cream. It will also cut down on the amount of bathing you’d need to do. You could probably clean her up with wet wipes then, or doing the “dry bath” techinique using pure cornstarch.
But now having seen the pictures, Im wondering if simply rubbing cornstarch into the damp areas and combing it out would help? Or is that likely to make a pasty mess?
She really looks great! It’s also good she can extend her tail out like that when lying down as Im sure that helps in the drying process.
You mention not being able to see her lift her tail when urinating due to the loose skin fold. Is it possible she isn’t really lifting it though? Is she or has she been on any anti inflammatory meds? If she’s been on them in the past, did you notice an improvement with the toileting?
I just wonder if they’d help her posture correctly if she’s not currently doing that.How is her weight? The folds remind me of what my elderly rabbit has. They loose some muscle mass and get these loose skin folds.
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The photo of her tail was taken long before the bath, unfortunately – now it’s a wet matted mess
I feel awful for her! Our vet gave her a sanitary shave a few weeks ago, and I think will come back and do another one. I think putting cornstarch in her fur now will just add to the mess – it’s really quite frightful, very matted. She looks a little uncomfortable and angry at me (I don’t blame her).
It’s hard to say about the tail lifting – it’s very possible that she’s not lifting it at all. She isn’t currently on any medication except for painkillers (metacam) and just a small dosage to her with her mobility.
She is quite underweight and we’re trying to fatten her up, on our vets advice. She feels like skin & bone and while she gets a lot of fattening foods (banana at night, and quite a lot of pellets to keep her weight up) she struggles with weight gain.
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