Poop stuck in bum!

[peach&winny]

My bun is around 6 years old, I adopted her from the woman who rescued her a year ago. She’s been mostly fine health-wise.

Maybe two weeks ago I noticed poop stuck on her bum and I cleaned it off (was very difficult and stressful for her.) I figured I had been neglecting cleaning her litter box a bit too long, and I’ve been pretty diligent about it since. Since then, I hadn’t noticed it, but I just saw more poop stuck on her. Her poop is normal, solid, and I can clean it off but,,

Why is this happening? Does she urgently need a vet? What could I be doing wrong? What can I do to make the cleaning up process less stressful for her?

[pinkiemarie]

Can you tell if these are normal dry turds or if they’re cecotropes?

[peach&winny]

I’d never heard of that before if I’m honest, but after googling I think they could be

[peach&winny]

After just quick research I’m gathering (please correct me!) that it’s not an emergency, and may be caused by too many pellets/ not enough hay? What else should I know?

[Bam]

What you describe sounds like sticky poop or poopy butt, aka cecal dysbiosis. It’s not a veterinary emergency. It’s often manageable with some tweaking of the bun’s diet. Rabbits should eat lots of hay, a smaller amount of pellets (2 tablespoons for a 2 kilo bun) plus a small helping of leafy greens. Some rabbits are prone though, and dietary treatment can need quite a bit of time before improvement is seen.

The least stressful method to clean off poopy butt is to massage corn- or potato starch into the sticky clumps, then brush or pick out the clumps. If that’s not an option, you can do a butt bath. You don’t need to bathe the whole bun, just the hind legs and the butt. Use lukewarm water in a (plastic) wash basin that you put on the bathroom floor (it should be near the floor in case the bun jumps out), place the bun so it can support itself with its forepaws on the rim of the wash basin. Gently rinse out the clumpy poop using one of your hands.

In more severe cases you might have to use a small amount of soap (preferably perfume free), but in most cases, lukewarm water will be enough. When the poop is washed out, dry the bunny butt with a  towel, I prefer a microfibre towel. In winter you can use a hair dryer on a low setting, a wet bun gets cold if the ambient temperature is on the lower side. Many buns find this so soothing they’ll fall asleep while they’re being dried!

Here’s some trusted info on Intermittent Soft Cecotropes in rabbits: Intermittent Soft Cecotropes in Rabbits | House Rabbit Society

 

[peach&winny]

thank you very much! she does eat a lot of pellets, so that’s likely the cause. when cutting down should i do it gradually or just go straight to the recommended amount for her weight?

[Bam]

Do it gradually! The rabbit gut doesn’t respond well to sudden changes! If you go slow, she might feel the urge to eat more hay to compensate for the loss of pellet calories. That’s exactly what you want, but the gut needs time to adapt. Rabbits can make starch out of cellulose with the help of their gut bacteria, but they can’t do it from one day to another.

[peach&winny]

thank you very much for helping me! i’m going to be much more careful and calculated with her diet. i’m very grateful that it’s not something serious wrong with her. winny and her gut thank you lol 🙂

[Bam]

It is a common occurence in pet rabbits, and not cause for alarm! I measure up two tablespoons of pellets per day for my 2 kilo bun in a coffee cup, and give them to her over the day in a treat ball or a snuffle mat or one of those pet board games. Rabbits have adapted to having to search for and work for their food, so hiding food or scattering it around the bun’s area makes for a very natural way of foraging for a rabbit. These days this way of offering food is becoming more and more common with horses as well, horses and rabbits have a very similar way of digesting their food (foregut fermenters).

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