My rabbit may have urine scald?

Question
My rabbit Luke, who is about 6 years old, has always had trouble with going in his litter box. He leaves quite large poops (along with the regular sized ones) as well as puddles of pee everywhere around his cage. I clean all of this up as best I can every day, but he still seems to be spending a great deal of time sitting in his messes because his bottom is always dirty. Recently I have noticed he is losing fur around his upper back legs and the areas are quite red. I gave him a bath today but I was wondering if there is anything else I can do, either to relieve his soreness or to fix the problem at the root. Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hi Melissa,

I think the best thing to do is if Luke hasn't seen a good rabbit vet in awhile, to get him in and discuss the issues you are seeing with them.  I can'treally tell you why he's doing this but I can point out possibilities.

To help with the red area, vaseline can be used at the moment.  A little regular preparation h can help reduce swelling and redness.  Don't use anything with aloe in it.  Just regular stuff.

For one, he could very well be overweight. "Messy butt" as you describe is common in overweight rabbits because they have trouble bending over to eat their cecal pellets.  Further he is six now and technically considered older, so you really do want to have him be given a good exam right now.

The other thing that might be good for his gi tract would be some probiotics.  I would suggest the larger feeding syringe (15 mL size) of Bene-Bac because it is slightly sweet and has fat in it so some of the probiotics can survive the acids of the stomach and help balance things in his gut.

Further his poops in general would be better if he's eating more hay, and less of anything that has sugars or carbs in it.  That means no food pellets with 'extras' in it like corn, fruit, nuts, seeds, nuts, etc.

As far as the pee goes, it could be linked to being overweight (he's hitting himself).

The other thing that helps the gut work better is exercise, at least 3-4 hours a day outside the cage, to make sure he can move around and run if he wants.  That kind of movement stimulates the gut to work and push things through.  Just remember to put an extra water bowl out for him when he's out playing.

But you really do need to get him in to a good rabbit vet to have him checked out and help him with his problem.  I wouldn't bathe him again because being in water is stressful for rabbits and if you don't dry them safely and well enough they can get really chilled and get sick.

Start here for a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

to find a House Rabbit Society recommended vet near you.  He needs to see one at least once a year, and anytime you have a problem like this because they can get you the prescription items that deal with the problems the right way (and also safe pain medicines for your boy).