Dirty private area…..please help!

[chefcv3]

Hi all,

I’ve posted on this board a while ago and was helped tremendously so here’s another problem I have.

I have a chinchilla bunny, Norma, who’s pretty big….about 12 lbs.  My daughter and I were doing our usual check up on her and was surprised to see that she is extremely filthy in her private area.  Very dark brown/yellow stains on her beautiful white fur.  There also was a little poop stuck to her down there that was impossible to get off.  I used a warm wet cloth to try to remove the dirt or whatever it is and she was freaking out.  I didn’t know how much pressure that I can use down there but all I know is that it doesn’t look good at all and was wondering if anyone out there has a suggestion as to how I can properly clean her short of taking her to the vet.  It looks awfully irritated there and I’m not sure if she is uncomfortable or in some sort of pain there.  i do keep her cage and her litter box clean but I am thinking that she may weigh too much to be able to reach down there and clean herself 

I appreciate any help you could give me in this matter.  Thanks!

 

chris

[MooBunnay]

Hi Chris, it was a good idea to try to get her cleaned up as best you can, it is pretty irritating for a bunny’s skin when they have pee or poop matted to their fur, so she might have been struggling because her skin was irritated. A recommended way to clean a bunny is to cradle the bunny over a sink, making sure to support the hind quarters and back, and have someone gently rinse the bunny’s bum area with a very slightly warm stream of water from the faucet. While the person is rinsing they can use their fingers or a paper towel to gently try to remove some of the urine or poops from the fur.

To me, this sounds like a potential dietary issue, is there something new that you have introduced to your bunny’s diet? No matter how large or small a bunny, if they are a healthy weight they should be able to clean themselves, so maybe there is something she is eating that is causing her to gain weight. Often bunnies at the shelter I volunteer at get “poopy butt” which causes a dirty private area – this can be caused by too many calories, maybe from alfalfa based pellets or too many veggies? A typical bunny diet would be unlimited timothy hay (or another grass hay, but not alfalfa), around 1/4 cup of pellets per day, and 2 cups of a dark leafy green. Does this sounds like Norma’s diet?

[Beka27]

Welcome here! I am not very familiar with that breed, is 12 pounds within the normal range for weight or does she appear to be overweight? I’d recommend evaluating her diet and getting her eating what MooBunnay suggested if she is not already. If her diet is good and she is not overweight (she can clean her backside and eat her cecals without a problem), it’s possible there may be some other underlying health issue that would need to be seen by a vet. A vet visit might be a good idea anyways. They can do a “sanitary shave” which would clear out all of the dirty and matted fur around her bottom so she will be easier to clean and groom.

[KatnipCrzy]

If the skin is irritated she might have urine scald or a secondary bacterial infection that the scalding allowed to start- you will want to monitor her closely and if you do not see any improvement after cleaning her she should see a vet.

I have given my bunny a butt bath by putting an inch or 2 of warm water in the bathtub and my husband knelt down and held her standing in it while I knelt down and used my hand to wash her fur and loosen any chunks of poo.  As soon as she felt poo free I picked her up and wrapped her in a towel- she has dense for so I went thru about 3-4 towels just getting her mostly dry.  I kept switching to a dry towel until she was not soaking wet.  Then I left her in the bathroom where it was warm with more dry towels on the floor so her bottom could air dry. Her cage has fleece blankets and I did not want her to get those damp and them lay on them since moist skin can cause as many problems as urine or poo problem skin.

Sometimes if she just gets an occasional poo stuck in her fur and it is dry I will use her comb to gently comb it out.

Whatever method you can use to clean the bunny that stresses her the least is best.  Only wash the areas that need to be washed to prevent further stress and chills or problems.

I would cut out any treats for now to get her poo solid again and her skin healed.  But if you are having to constantly clean her she will need to see the vet as something is going on that needs to be addressed- the soft poo or maybe a bladder infection.  Having a dirty private area can lead to a urinary tract infection since the bacteria is trapped by the urethra.

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