Dirty bottom

Question
Hello, I have a 6 year old lop who has dried feces stuck to her bottom.  I've tried everything I've read about to get it off.  The cornstarch didn't work at all, because the feces has dried on too much.  Is it safe for me to use oil to try to slide it off?  I thought for a second about just cutting it off, but I know that's risky and I could hurt mu bunny.  What do you recommend?  Should I try to give her a bath?  Can I try oil?

Thanks very much!

Answer
Dear Bethany,

I'm surprised the cornstarch powder didn't work. Did you use plain, kitchen cornstarch, or did you use *baby* cornstarch. The latter is what you need, as it also contains pulverized silica, and *that* is what makes the poop slide off the fur as you very gently and patiently work it into the poop mass.

I would not recommend oil.  The poops are not oil soluble.  But they *are* water soluble, and if all else fails, you can give her a wet butt bath (keeping the rest of her as dry as possible!) as per the instructions here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

But before you resort to that, give the commercial "baby cornstarch" a try, if you haven't already.  You just need to use very patient teasing, and the poops will come off.

Once you have her clean, it's time to figure out *why* she has a messy bottom, and get to the root of the problem to solve it.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

A very common cause of this problem is incorrect diet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

but in lops, especially at this age, molar spurs can become a trigger for GI slowdown and mushy poops.  Please also see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

and find a good rabbit vet here to help you solve the problem once and for all:

www.rabbit.org/vets


I hope that helps!

Dana