I am worried my bunny smells

[jpgood]

Gosh  my bunny stinks  we clean her cage everyother day  but she smells, almost like a skunk.   Whats wrong with her?

[Molotov]

Is she fixed? Is any of her fur stained w/ pee? I would suspect either hormones or lingering urine stains but you might want to take her to the vet to make sure she is ok and doesn’t have an infection or something up.

[Molotov]

Or maybe the anal glands? I’ve yet to do anything to my bunnies’ bums myself but this page talks about cleaning that area https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=64

[MooBunnay]

It could also be the bunny litterbox and not your bunny herself that stinks – what type of litter are you using right now? We also discussed in another forum that sometimes bunny poos can stink pretty bad if your bunny has been eating a lot of basil. What type of littrbox do you have? You might want to consider using one of those cat litterboxes that has a lid to it (like a “Booda Dome”) that contains the scent of bunny pee.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Skunky probably means the anal glands..you can clean them, I recommend stuffing tissue in your nose, as one does to change diapers…Get a helper, use warm water, and don’t do it before eating or after eating -YUCKY

The advice on this site, in the link that molotov gave you is great…And again, not before/after eating..it’s pretty gross….

[Beka27]

i’ve never cleaned Meadow’s anal glands (or my first rabbit’s)… they’ve never had a problem.  does this happen to every rabbit?  is it something they can sometimes clean themselves?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Uh…well I had never done it either, It really really looks like it’s not something they clean themselves…If you read that monthly care part on this site it tells you how…If you open the glands up and look (I”m gagging as I write this… ) you will be able to tell if they need cleaning…I would say it’s most likely something you should do, but dont’ HAVE to…But I don’t know!

[MarkBun]

I would take her to a vet and have them see about things. I’ve never had any issue with smell myself and I wouldn’t bring myself to do the above mentioned things anyway.

[Sarita]

Is it your bunny that stinks or the cage?

If it’s the bunny then I would have to worry because really rabbits should not smell if they are healthy. However if she’s not spayed perhaps it’s her urine and the smell should be less if she is spayed.

Now if it’s her cage or her litter box then you might look at changing to a different litter or redoing her cage – can you describe what you have in her cage? What litter do you use? Do you have carpets or something in her cage that she is peeing on that could be taken out and perhaps use something more suitable.

More information might help us to help you.

[wendyzski]

Anotehr possibility is an infection of some kind.

My Pepper smelled really wierd and it turned out that she had a terrible ear infection.  When I lifted up her loppy-ears, it was RANK! 

[Firsttimer]

Hi there, my Pepper has a terrible smell about her as well, I feel for you.  Pepper isn’t spayed yet and I can’t see anything physically wrong with her.  I am slowly changing her diet to see what happens as it generally smells like she has farted every time she poops.  She is cleaned regularly with wipes but it is definately not her fur causing the smell.  She’s my first bunny so I’m no expert, but I was hoping to reassess the situation after her op.

[jpgood]

i think it maybe when she toots (hahaha).

[Scarlet_Rose]

A skunky odor can also be caused from some more of the aromatic herbs like with my two, it’s cilantro and they also get a little skunky from kale too.

[skunklionshow]

Are you sure its not the scent glands?  Those are different than anal glands….VERY different, especially when it comes to cleaning.  Anal glands have to be "expressed" and scent glands can be wiped out.  I know that when my buns get kinda skunky, I know its time to clean out their scent glands.  Also, Leo, my unneutered male is waaaay stinkier than my spayed female.

[babybunsmum]

my buns have all had pungent ‘skunky’ smelling urine after they matured and i’m sure it’s because they weren’t altered.  yet another good reason to alter your bun!  not all their pee smells this way, but the pee they use to mark with does.  my first bun used to do what i called ‘twirling pees’ whenever i moved his cage.  to try to mark everything in a 5 foot radius and when he did that it smelled skunky.  the smell is definitely coming from the 2 slits on either side of the genetals.  i got a tour of this area when baby had her vet checkup a few weeks back so i can attest to this.  i imagine the smell is somewhat different for those of you who have altered buns and its very different than a dogs anal gland smell (peeeeeouwww)!

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