Sticky bum, need advice!

[RH1997]

Just looking for some advice from anyone who has experience or knows anything to help sticky bum.

My rabbit has been getting frequent sticky bum for a few months now, it started a couple of months ago when he had an incident of diarrhoea but he was still eating and drinking so I assumed something had upset his tummy.

Since then I’ve changed his diet and he’s eating hay everyday and I’ve alsk reduced his pellet intake and treats. However he’s still been getting regular sticky bum and when I catch it quick enough (before it squished under his bum) it’s just normally formed cecotropes that he doesn’t seem to be eating for some reason.

All I can think is that he’s been shedding a lot over the past few months and as the fur is so long it’s trapping the cecotropes?
Or when we changed his diet the times he has cecotropes has changed and he doesn’t realise as he used to eat them at night time around 8pm-9pm however now around this same time I notice he is producing normal poo instead but he is eating these from the floor?

Could anyone tell me if these could be a possibility? Or if there’s anything else it could be that I can help with?

[Bam]

The standard recommendation is to gradually switch the rabbit to a hay only diet, until the gut has stabilized. Then you can gradually add in pellets and small pieces of vegetables. It can take several months to get the gut back in order again, and hay is the best medicine. You can also give a probiotic to help the gut microbiota to normalize.

If your rabbit is overweight or old, he could have difficulty reaching his cecotropes when they come out. That could be why he eats them off the floor, if he finds them before he’s stepped in them. Another possibility is of course that he produces more cecals than he needs to eat.

This is a good article about sticky poop in rabbits:
https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

[RH1997]

I tried this a while ago and them reintroduced pellets and he started getting it again. I will call the vet and give the probiotic a try that sounds like the best option.

Thanks for your advice !

[Bam]

Your vet might want to try a dewormer, if the hay only diet doesn’t do the trick. My bunny Bam was prone to poopy butt, but it didn’t seem to affect his quality of life much. It got better with lots of grass, but it never quite went away. When he had bouts, I gave him probiotics. I gave him butt baths when he needed them, but I mostly used the cornstarch “dry bath” method. If your bun has long hair, you can cut it around the butt area to reduce the risk of poopy fur. Don’t cut too close to the skin.

[Author]

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