grooming question..brushing? yellow feet?

[Samantha1357]

I have four bunnies and they ALL have yellow feet. Two are predominately white with some spots and the yellow feet look terrible the other two also have yellow feet but its less noticeable because one is brown with one white foot and the other is a blue point. Everyone always comments on their yellow feet. Ive had them for 7 weeks, theyre almost potty trained and dont sit in the litter box. Anything I can do to clean their icky yellow feet? Also brushing…we fight on this every week. they HATE being brushed. I got a small animal furminator which works great but the fur flies everywhere when brushing. i have to like pin them down to brush them and they thump at me and its not fun but i dont want their tummies getting clogged with fur. They always get a special treat (banana piece) when done with brushing as a reward but it doesnt seem to be an incentive to sit and be good. Any suggestions on a better way to brush them or a better brush to use? One is longhair, one is medium hair, and two are shorthair. Thanks

[LBJ10]

I would leave them alone. There is no need to wash their feet. The yellow won’t come off anyway. You will have to wait for the fur to be replaced naturally.

[peppypoo]

What does their litter box setup look like? Are they walking on soiled litter? If their feet look clean except for the yellowing, there’s no need to be washing their feet…like LBJ said, the color with gradually come out as the shed/grow new fur as long as they aren’t continually getting dirty. As for grooming…how do they feel about being petted? Are they the more skittish type, or do they enjoy pets?

[Samantha1357]

They have two large litter boxes, slightly bigger than a standard cat litter box. One inside their cage (they are never locked in it though) and one outside the cage in their pen. There is yesterdays news, then a layer of carefresh natural bedding, then at the top is their hay (timothy, orchard, meadow, and oat). Their litter boxes get dumped and refilled every morning.

three of the bunnies love to be pet, surprisingly the one who is more skittish is the best for brushing time and he just snuggles up into your leg.But the other three are terrible about the brush.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My white lop has yellowish/green stained feet. I clean his litter box every day. It’s just something that you have to deal with. If it’s just stained fur, there’s no need to worry about it. As long as the feet are not wet.

[RabbitPam]

I’m wondering if the color is in part due to the hay? You could try hanging a hay basket from the side of the pen just above the litter pan, so they have to reach up and pull it out to eat rather than eating/standing on the hay in the litter box. But I agree that the color with fade and change out with the better conditions in your home. You’re cleaning the box often enough, that’s for sure.

[Beka27]

I also think the color may be partially due to the hay getting wet and the buns sitting on the hay in the box. It takes 2-3 months for the fur to shed out and regrow, so within that time their feet may whiten, or if due to the litterbox, they may continue to yellow. Both of my buns have white fur and neither have stained feet, but I don’t put hay directly in their box. They have it in a hay rack above the box.

[Roberta]

This morning one of mine had black feet. No doubt due to the combination of newspaper and moist ice bottles (the temps are starting to really get up there now.) So I am going to trial some soft woven cotten mats I found at Red Dot, they seemed to enjoy it this morning but when I left Pipi was working at relocating the mat. Little Stinker !!!

[Elrohwen]

Like others said, it’s normal and there’s really not much you can do about it if you’re cleaning the litter boxes every day. It’s probably due more to the hay getting wet and creating the color, rather than pee (pee is usually orange to red in color). I think it also has to do with how well the bunnies keep their own feet clean. One of mine gets yellow feet, but the other has pristine white feet and they live in the same cage – Otto is just more conscientious about cleaning his feet.

[Malp_15]

My white boy has stained feet as well. He isn’t much of a groomer though and he likes to hang out in the litter box… not for lack of better places to sit. I used to be worried about it, but after a year of it not getting better or worse, I’ve just excepted that I have a “dirty” bun . Since I bonded my two boys, Nate has actually been a lot cleaner all around, because Tait grooms him a lot It hasn’t changed his feet though.

[Samantha1357]

my buns wont eat out of a hay rack. thats why its in the litter box. after a week of them not eating much hay I just put it in their box since they have to eat it. Any other things to try besides a hay rack? Ive done metal and plastic kinds, even a wheel hay holder, but theyre too lazy to pull it out.

[Samantha1357]

I also added a third litter box the other day. Their feet havent gotten any better or worse in the 2 months Ive had them.

[LBJ10]

Your rabbits may just have chronic yellow feet. If the coloring is coming from the hay, like others have suggested then new fur will continue to stain as it grows in and the old fur falls out.
Have you tried a box with holes cut in the side? I made one for my buns.

[Svandis]

My bun was an outside bun the first couple of weeks we had them (before I moved out and brought him with me as an indoor bun), and he had yellow feet for months before they brightened up. They are now nearly completely white, but not as white as the rest of his fur. I tried once to clean his feet a little bit but it didn’t work, and I didn’t mind really. I don’t know if it was from him grooming his feet everyday, or if it was from changing his fur that his feet whitened. I just know they are now pretty white.

If they stay yellow, it really isn’t big deal, I think.

[Elrohwen]

If you’ve only had them two months, I definitely wouldn’t worry. It takes much longer than that for new fur to grow and old fur to fall out, so it’s probably just permanently stained at this point and will shed out. My litterboxes have hay in them and my bunnies’ feet aren’t particularly yellow, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the hay if that’s where they like it.

[Samantha1357]

Okay great, thanks! Hopefully they will whiten a little

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