What’s the correct way to bathe a bun, if it’s an emergency/neccessity cleaning?

[bunnnnnnie!]

 So I feel really guilty admitting this even though it was an accident, but I spilled craft paint on Zeus last night.   Not just a few drops either, it was all over the back of his neck and shoulders, and a little on his ears and back of his head.  Poor poor boy, I felt like an animal abuser. .

Obviously, this was an instance where bathing him was a neccessity.  I know buns aren’t supposed to be bathed, so I really had no clue what to do or how to clean him.  I ended up using a bunch of washcloths with warm water on them, cleaning him as best as I could with that, and then I had to trim off the ends of some of his hair to get some of the paint off (not down to the skin anywhere at least, he’s not naked anywhere).  The paint on his ears I could NOT get off and I didn’t want to scrub his ears with the washcloth since his ears are so thin and sensitive, so I ended up using like half of a drop of Dawn on his ears, since it was either that or using a human shampoo, so I figured Dawn was the safest.  I of course rinsed the Dawn off really really well, and it was a total last ditch resort to get the paint off his ears without hurting him or being too rough on the skin.

I considered taking him to a vet, but it was late Sunday night so it would’ve been the non-bunny-specialist emergency vet.  Also, the emergency vet is 20 minutes away, and I was afraid that in that time he could’ve licked up a LOT of the paint on the ride there, and that he would’ve been even more stressed getting bathed by a stranger in a strange place, versus me doing it at home.

He didn’t get too stressed washing him, he actually ate carrots and parsley while I was doing it, and even did the “bunny pancake” when I was scrubbing his little neck and shoulders, he thought I was petting him!  My sweet boy, I wanted to cry when he was being so good, I almost did. .

He’s doing totally fine this morning, and even last night after he was clean and dry.  I’ve kept it at 75F in here to make sure he would stay warm while he finished drying.  He’s eating fine, running around and begging for pets, I’m actually petting him as I type this.

I’m just wondering, in the future, if anything like this happens again, WHAT is the correct/safest way to get a bunny clean when they need to get clean NOW?  Did I do ok, with what I did?  I really did try to do what was best for him, I felt so so so bad. 

[Sarita]

I think you did a good job if you got all the paint off – it sounds as if it was water soluable.

I know that wildlife rescuers use Dawn soap on wildlife so I think that would be safe to use as well.

[Deleted User]

If one of my rabbits got paint on them I would shear off the affected fur, but it depends on the type of paint too. If it washes off easily with just soap and water and you can avoid getting water inside the bunny’s ears you should be OK with what you did. ~
I have to ask, how did this happen??

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Sarita on 11/01/2010 07:41 AM

I think you did a good job if you got all the paint off – it sounds as if it was water soluable.

I know that wildlife rescuers use Dawn soap on wildlife so I think that would be safe to use as well.

Yeah all the paint is off minus a few little spots I need to trim today, but the rest is off.  It was water based.

That’s what my mum said, about the Dawn.  I called her in tears asking “What do I do?!  Mum!!! Help!!!”… and I’m in my 20s. 

 

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Petzy on 11/01/2010 07:45 AM

If one of my rabbits got paint on them I would shear off the affected fur, but it depends on the type of paint too. If it washes off easily with just soap and water and you can avoid getting water inside the bunny’s ears you should be OK with what you did. ~
I have to ask, how did this happen??

Honestly, I don’t even know exactly how it happened.  I was working on a take-home project for work that used the craft paint.. and my hand must’ve slipped and I dropped the jar of paint right on Zeus who was sitting by me while I was working, wanting pets.

I pretty much did what you said, cut off as much as I could with scissors after I had used the wet washcloth.. then the Dawn only on the ears.

 

[Sarita]

What color did you paint him :~)

It was an accident and these things happen – I’m sure Zeus will forgive you.

[Deleted User]

yes, what color?

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Sarita on 11/01/2010 07:50 AM

What color did you paint him :~)

It was an accident and these things happen – I’m sure Zeus will forgive you.

Actually the paint was like the exact same color as his brown spots; so it looked like I tried to paint over his white spots!

He’s definitely already forgiven me; that’s what made me almost cry last night, he was munching carrots and still begging for pets while I was cleaning up the mess.  He’s the most forgiving, sweetest bun ever. 

 

[Isabelle]

One thing you could do is to fill the bath tub or a large basin if he’s small enough with maybe two inches of warm water and set him in there, then wash his body with some clean cloths, of course making sure you use a separate, only damp cloth for his ears and face, avoiding getting water in his ears at all costs. This might not work well if he got scared of the situation, in which case the clean wet cloths that you did would be perfect.

Zeus probably thought it was a Halloween costume

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Isabelle on 11/01/2010 09:54 AM
One thing you could do is to fill the bath tub or a large basin if he’s small enough with maybe two inches of warm water and set him in there, then wash his body with some clean cloths, of course making sure you use a separate, only damp cloth for his ears and face, avoiding getting water in his ears at all costs. This might not work well if he got scared of the situation, in which case the clean wet cloths that you did would be perfect.

Zeus probably thought it was a Halloween costume

Yeah I had thought about putting him in the tub with like an inch of warm water, but I was afraid if he started to panick he’d get water up his nose or something, since rabbits’ necks are so short and they’re so low to the ground.

And yeah, I guess poor Zeus was a Picasso for Halloween!

[Beka27]

Haha… poor Zeus. :o)

Sounds like you did great. Baths can be stressful, so I think spot-cleaning was the right thing to do in this case, especially with the location of the paint. For buns with poopy butt, sometimes they have to be in an inch of water to get the dirty parts, but the less water you can use, the better.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Beka27 on 11/01/2010 11:06 AM
Haha… poor Zeus. :o)

Sounds like you did great. Baths can be stressful, so I think spot-cleaning was the right thing to do in this case, especially with the location of the paint. For buns with poopy butt, sometimes they have to be in an inch of water to get the dirty parts, but the less water you can use, the better.

 

Oh yeah, I could see the inch of water working for poopybutt, because you can keep their heads away from the water.  Makes sense!

[KatnipCrzy]

I think you did the right thing for cleaning off paint- if you had put him into a water bath- the diluted paint would have touched other areas of his fur- making a whole body bath necessary.

[MimzMum]

Perhaps Zeus should wear a rain slicker from now on when you need to paint.
I think you did great! If my mom were still alive, I would’ve been calling her in tears too…and she didn’t know anything about bunnies! ^_^

Zeus is such a trooper. So glad to hear he wasn’t angry with you for all that. Wow. Wish my bunnies would put up with general cleanings like that when they need them!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By MimzMum on 11/03/2010 02:00 AM
Perhaps Zeus should wear a rain slicker from now on when you need to paint.
I think you did great! If my mom were still alive, I would’ve been calling her in tears too…and she didn’t know anything about bunnies! ^_^

Zeus is such a trooper. So glad to hear he wasn’t angry with you for all that. Wow. Wish my bunnies would put up with general cleanings like that when they need them!

 

Yeah from now on, any painting will be done while Zeus is closed up in his cage, safe from my accidents.

He really is a trooper, so forgiving.  I really hit the jackpot on my first bun, I couldn’t ask for a sweeter boy.

[Author]

Messages