Best way to clean a dirty tush

[LittleLionMan]

Hi all!

I had a questions about the logistics of a butt bath. Typically with my older, sensitive bunny I clean his dried up poopy butt with a warm wet cloth and/or some nail scissors (depending on matted things are). Well, I just woke up to a dirty tush on my other bun, who typically has an iron stomach/digestive tract. It’s not diarrhea but on the mushier side. I tried using a wet cloth but I feel like that did more smearing (sorry) than anything. What’s the best way to approach this? And as silly as a question as this may be, what are the actual logistics of a butt bath (I.e., what do you use, how deep is the water, do you dry them afterwards). I’m nervous to put either bun in the tub because I don’t want them to freak out and get hurt. Is there a better method? An article online mentioned corn starch to dry up some of the poop? Let me know what you’ve had success with!

Also, I know I need to figure out the cause and not just treat the symptom. I’m going to strip back their diets and see if I can resolve the issue prior to taking them to the vet.

[pinkiemarie]

I have a bun with chronic dysbiosis and to be honest if he gets just a small amount of poopy butt I leave it for a day or 2 and he cleans it up. Once he did have a bigger problem and I ended up having to do a butt bath which was very traumatic for us both, which is why I try to give him an opportunity to deal with it himself first. Sometimes the washcloth really just doesn’t do it but he can habdle it with a little time. It sounds like you have quite a bit of poop though so a butt bath might be needed. If that’s the case, I used a clean litter box and put about an inch of warm water in it and just dipped his hind end in. He obviously freaked out and ended up on my lap where I was able to finish the cleaning with a washcloth. Keep in mind if you do this that you need to dry the bunny as thoroughly as possible an keep an eye on it because even if it’s warm out he can get very cold after. Their fur will trap a lot of water and it takes a long time to dry so get him as dry as you possibly can.

[LittleLionMan]

Thank you! I imagine my bunnies would similarly be unhappy in a wet bin. How did your bun do with the hair dryer? I feel like it’s quite noisy and would maybe spook them.

[pinkiemarie]

I didn’t use the hair dryer. He was way too upset. I just dried him with towels as best I could but his poor little legs were so wet.

 

[DanaNM]

He didn’t seem too upset about the hair dryer itself, it was more the fact that I had to touch his bum so much to floof up the fur to help it dry more quickly (he hated having his bum touched). They were stressful times tbh, but it fell under the “tough love” category that sometimes happens with pet care.

I had to do them often with him so I got better about minimizing how wet he got. Using microfiber towels to towel dry first also helped things go more quickly as well.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Personally, I have had better luck with a handheld shower head. I would place a towel in the bottom of the bathtub, prop bunny up with one hand under his chest, then use the shower head with the spray turned way down to wet just his butt. Keep in mind though that he was elderly and he didn’t really try to struggle at that point. I would turn the shower head off, use a little bit of castile soap to loosen the poop, then rinse. I would use a blow dryer on low to dry his butt.

Having a dirty butt is not normal, even for a long haired bunny. It sounds like you know you need to figure out the cause. Do let us know if we can help with that as well.

[LittleLionMan]

Thanks for the input! I wish I had access to a detachable shower head, as it does sound much easier to deal with. I guess people’s experiences with wet baths are quite different than the House Rabbit Society presents with their super calm bunnies. Given that I did a bit of spot cleaning this morning on her, I may see if she can resolve the rest on her own before traumatizing us all.

Realistically I know I need to cut back on treats, so I guess the diet starts today! My bun with more recurring issues is 7, so isn’t as young and spry as he once was. He has always had a sensitive tummy and used to get symptoms of stasis relatively often, but this completely stopped once I adopted my second bun three years ago. Despite his robustness (as my vet lovingly calls it) his most recent bloodwork showed that he is a healthy boy. I imagine his issues are largely mobility/diet related, but I guess we will see!

[pinkiemarie]

My dysbiosis bunny eats dried herbs as treats, like sage, mint, dried bunny safe flowers and his favorite, dandelion greens. You can buy them in bulk and a couple of 1 lb bags of herbs should last you a while. This has low to no sugar in it and hopefully would clear up the issue without depriving them completely of treats 🙂

[DanaNM]

I use the method shown here:

I use either my bathroom sink or a tub like the one shown in the vid, with just an inch or 2 of water and a towel at the bottom for some traction. I hold the front end up so only the bum ends up in the water. Then I towel dry and blow dry on a low setting.

You can also get pretty far with baby wipes if the bun will tolerate you messing around with their bum. I would soak baby wipes to get them even wetter and then use those to remove the poops. But honestly, that usually took longer than just doing the bath! If your bun doesn’t mind being handled then the bum baths really aren’t too bad.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

With my dydbiosis bun Bam, I pretty much used the method in the HowCast video in Dana’s post, with 2 differences:

1) I had the litterbox/wash basin on the floor, in the bathroom. If the bun decides to hop out of the bath, it wont be a big drop to the floor. Plus inside the bathroom any mess that might occur will be manageable. 2) I let Bam support himself by putting his “hands” on the rim of the wash basin. That way he could stand up while I scooped up warm/tepid water on his behind. I felt that it gave him a sense of control over his situation.

I did use a hair dryer on him, on a low setting. I sat him on my lap and held my free hand on his behind so I could ruffle his fur with my fingers at the same time as I could continously feel how warm the air got. We obv dont want it to get too hot. He often fell asleep in my lap as I dried his butt 🥰 In the summer a (preferably microfiber) towel will as a rule do great though.

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