Hannah kind of … stinks

[Elrohwen]

Sometimes Hannah is just stinky! And I can’t figure out why. I never ever noticed a scent coming from Otto or his cage, other than hay and maybe wet litter, but now I get a nice whiff of onion-y smell at least a few times a week. It’s not terrible, but I notice it, and I’m afraid visitors will notice it.

She did smell when we first got her, but I assumed it was a combination of marking new territory, and being nervous. She definitely smells much less, but it’s still the same scent. I don’t notice it on her personally, and I can’t really pin it down to a certain area, other than generally being around the bunny cage. The vet has checked her anal glands and underside a few times and said she’s totally clean. My vet also doesn’t think anal glands need to be cleaned, so I guess they could be a little plugged up and the vet doesn’t think it’s an issue?

It’s definitely not the litter boxes – I’ve spent enough time at the rescue to know what uncleaned litter boxes smell like. It does kind of stick to surfaces and seems to get better when I wipe down the cage and floor with vinegar, but not always. I was hoping to get an area rug for their area, but I could only spot clean and I worry the smell will get in there.

It’s not territorial poops – she never poops outside the litter box anymore (during bonding I thought this might be it). And I don’t notice it when she’s doing anything in particular. Today I noticed it and looked over to find her sprawled out and lounging. She’s been spayed for 3 years.

Help? Should I see if the vet techs will swab out her glands anyway next time I’m there for nail trims? (no way she’ll let me do it) That’s the only thing I can think of at this point, but I’m not even sure if what I’m smelling matches the anal gland smell. Do some bunnies just smell funny for no specific reason?

[Minty]

Sully gets that strange oniony smell too sometimes… I have no idea what it is, it was WAY worse when he wasn’t neutered though. At first I thought it was because he was marking territory or it was because he was stressed. But I’ve noticed it at completely random times when he’s relaxing. I thought it was usually the males but I guess females could smell too? Sorry, I don’t really know what it is, but you’re not alone!

[Elrohwen]

At least I’m not alone! That makes me feel a little better at least.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Haha, Zeus gets randomly stinky occasionally too when he’s relaxing.  I wonder.. do buns toot?!  

[Elrohwen]

Maybe! I would’ve assumed they would be stinky while getting excited or something – it doesn’t make much sense to me that relaxing time is the stinkiest time.

[RabbitPam]

Posted By bunnnnnnie! on 06/09/2010 03:57 PM

Haha, Zeus gets randomly stinky occasionally too when he’s relaxing.  I wonder.. do buns toot?!  

Surprise! You bet they do.

Yes, friends, it could be old fashioned run from the room SBD gas.

That’s one way you know if something like broccoli or kale gives them gas. “Me? Wasn’t me. Nope.”

It could also be a few cecals just before she eats them, which makes the smell go away. They can be pretty stinky when first served.

[Elrohwen]

I don’t think it’s cecals – I’ve smelled enough of those. And I’ve never smelled it near a time when she was eating her cecals.

[Sarita]

Is her fur ever wet or discolored in her anal area? I’m wondering if a sanitary shave might help if she’s super furry. Oh and Hannah said she didn’t think it was very nice of you to call her stinky!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By RabbitPam on 06/09/2010 04:20 PM

Posted By bunnnnnnie! on 06/09/2010 03:57 PM

Haha, Zeus gets randomly stinky occasionally too when he’s relaxing.  I wonder.. do buns toot?!  

Surprise! You bet they do.

Yes, friends, it could be old fashioned run from the room SBD gas.

That’s one way you know if something like broccoli or kale gives them gas. “Me? Wasn’t me. Nope.”

It could also be a few cecals just before she eats them, which makes the smell go away. They can be pretty stinky when first served.

That’s really funny, but I should’ve expected it!  Rabbits and horses have REALLY similar digestive systems, and horses toot all the time! 

 

[Beka27]

I’ve actually been wondering about the bunny… fart thing. (Ew.) Sometimes I’ll walk into the bunny room and there is just this… stink. It smells kind of like cecals, but there are none in sight. It’s pungent, but it’s gone within maybe 5 minutes. Could that be what that is?

[Zombie-Sue]

bunny farts! HAHAHA!

Poor Hannah ): Wish I could think of some suggestion to toss atchya, but I can’t ):

[MimzMum]

Perhaps she’s been reading some Benjamin Franklin? (his book that was called ‘Fart Proudly’?)

I find that ‘scent’ too in my bunny room, once in awhile. Definitely look into what she’s eating, perhaps just one particular something doesn’t agree with her?
Also, I notice an overall change in my bunnies’ ’emissions’ of any kind during the change from winter hay to summer growth. I am certian winter dried hay doesn’t cause as much ‘gas’ as summer’s does.

And when I was a kid I can remember milk tasting different between winter and summer, when cows weren’t being fed nothing but man-made feeds and stuff….usually it was when the farms had turned over to fresher grasses that the milk would turn it’s taste. Just a thought.

[jerseygirl]

I remember that too MM. The milk got a certain taste when the cows ate the clover.

El, Jersey emits that exact smell too. Rumball doesn’t. I put it down to some territoral smell. I’m wondering if Hannah eats as much hay as Otto? Are her poops darker in colour? Jerseys are and I think because she eats more green than hay this effects her poop and possible smell she emits.

[Ali925]

I think it does happen. Is it just the loppies that stink? haha… My Oreo (female lop) used to have the onion-y smell before her spay but then it stopped. However recently I’ve noticed it slightly here and there…my husband and I definitely believe in bunny farts. haha He’s thinks its hilarious (of course…he’s a boy and farts are funny.) They do eat VERY high fiber diets…do that to a human and you’d get the same “issues”. sorry if that’s tmi, but it’s true!

I do think it could be territorial though, because we recently started putting her in closer proximity to Blu (male lop) and that’s when I started noticing it again (just slightly). I think even though they are spayed/neutered, they still have some of those lingering traits (i.e. stinkyness). haha

So perhaps it is related to the bonding a bit? and more common for the females? Oreo also eats a lot more salad too, like Jersey said.

[Elrohwen]

You guys are such good bunny problem solvers!

I’ll see if I can answer some of the questions you guys posed.

Sarita – she’s not wet or messy at all. The vet has checked her a few times even and she’s always pristine down there. Perfectly white fur.

As for diet – not sure how much hay she eats, since they’re eating it together, but they eat a decent amount and I often see her eating it. The only greens they get are parsley and a type of lettuce, usually. She loves parsley, but maybe I should take it away for a few weeks and see if that helps? I don’t really have a choice about the lettuce since that’s all Otto will eat. Her poops are bigger than Otto’s and lighter in color, so I always assumed she was eating more hay than him.

They’ve been living together for 6 weeks now, so I don’t think it’s territorial. And she never poops out of the litter box anymore.

I’m laughing so much at the thought of bunny farts! My husband will feel so vindicated after blaming so many of his farts on the bunnies 😛 That sounds like the most likely option at this point. Poor Hannah! And no, she doesn’t think it’s very nice when I call her stinky. Haha

[RabbitPam]

OK, guys, it’s time to drag out the old, ultimate bunny fart video, thanks to You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch

[RabbitPam]

Sorry, I forgot how to embed a video. Please click the link above. Naturally, I saved this to my favorites.

[Elrohwen]

Hahaha.

Hannah is a lady!! She doesn’t fart!

Or if she does, they’re the silent-but-deadly type.

[jerseygirl]

Does Hannah do terri poops in the litterbox perhaps? It really is the terri-poop smell that I smell from Jersey, maybe she has over active glands (different scent glands/not the musky gland smell).  I really like using the bowl of vinegar as a air deodoriser. Still trying to work out who mentioned this (was it you?) but it works well. I’ve even reverted to using just newspaper in a couple litter boxes as the vinegar absorbs the room odours.

[Elrohwen]

Jers, I’ve wondered that same thing. It’s hard to tell – I don’t really smell it as she’s using the litter box, so it’s hard to say, but that’s one of my other top theories.

I should use the bowl of vinegar! It was me who recommended it, but I never thought to do it because I was out of vinegar for a while (I mixed it all up with water and didn’t have any of the pure stuff left). I have some now though, so I’ll definitely set it out on the ledge above the bunny area. Thanks for reminding me!

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