Dried Up Poop - Paw Talk

Tessa83 · #1 12-02-2008, 06:19 AM

How do you clean dried up poop off a bunnies butt? He doesn't stay very still.

Jennicat · #2 12-02-2008, 08:44 AM

You may have to give him a "butt bath", but I would honestly look to the cause of the problem first. A young rabbit should not have feces matted into his butt.

Common causes of this are:
-- obesity (rabbits unable to reach their hindquarters to groom; can also lead to dietary problems when they are unable to consume cecals)
-- dietary upset (soft stools sticking to the rear unnaturally; abnormal cecal production, etc)
-- dirty cage (litterboxes should be refreshed daily and completely emptied at least once a week)
-- other medical problems (pain or discomfort while stretching, bloating or gas, all can lead to a disinclination to groom the hindquarters)
-- advanced age (often older rabbits can become more slovenly in their grooming habits and may require help from their human friends)

kathydip · #3 12-02-2008, 06:43 PM

If you do need to give him a butt bath please be sure he is fully dry before you put him any where chilly. Bunnies can catch a cold easily that way.
I have been lucky that when I have had to give butt baths that the buns didn't mind the hair dryer too much. If you are unable to use a hairdryer then be sure to dry him really well with a towel and keep him warm until his tush fully dries.
Jennicat is right - he really shouldn't have a messy tush. I have given Penelope a messy tush by giving her too many greens for such a small bunny. That could be another reason.

SueD · #4 12-02-2008, 07:56 PM

Ditto to what the others have said. First to get it off easily, well thats like giving a cat medicine! Well, maybe not so extreme, but I would suggest a warm wet cloth to soften the feces and then easing it off gradually. It will take time, but if you do have to soak, as Kathydip said, make sure he is dry afterwards so he doesn't get chilled.

The next step after cleaning is getting to the bottom of it all (pun intentded)...what have you given him to eat recently that is new to his diet that could be causing an upset tummy, if anything? If you can think of something in particular, I would cut that out of his diet immediately. Hopefully it is remedied that quickly and easily, otherwise it could be something that needs a vets attention.

Is he able to get around to groom to consume his cecals? Like Jennicat said, if he can't it could lead to it matting up there on his hiney. So it may not truly be the "runs" or loose stools.

Let us know how he's doing.

Tessa83 · #5 12-02-2008, 08:56 PM

We gave him a warm water butt bath and it's not dried up poop. It's just matted up hair. We got it pretty good. He liked being dipped into the warm water, but not the gently pulling apart the matted hair. I'm gonna try to brush it more tomorrow.

Purple-Hops · #6 12-02-2008, 11:41 PM

im glad its not terminally serious...but he should still be checked because a bunny-button should come out in a well,a button..it just pops out and rolls away(mind my imagery) Akina has a little weight problem,or she did rather, and i had to dip her bumm in warm water,rinse it in warm water and sqeeze warm water froma cloth on it to loosen it up...all of this she hated but knew she got to run around extra long as i watched her bumm dry.

like others said-and jenni-cat pointed out, you still need to check out why his poop was runny in the first place to have gotten matted in the fur..he might have sat on it in his litter box.??

Tessa83 · #7 12-03-2008, 05:35 AM

His poop wasn't runny. His fur was just matted up and we're already working on it. We did not see any poop in it. And we don't have a litter box.

kathydip · #8 12-03-2008, 05:16 PM

Owie! That is not a nice place for a matt. Good thing you saw it.