Smelly rabbit droppings

Question
A few weeks ago a small domesticated rabbit showed up in our yard. I'm sure she was a dump-off. We easily caught her and have provided her with an indoor cage and good care. We've never had a rabbit and thought we didn't want one. We've had to learn fast about rabbits. We've fallen madly in love with her. We took her to a vet who didn't seem to be very knowledgeable about rabbits. The vet said it was a female "unless it grows testicles" that it was healthy and was from 4 to 8 months old. This vet said it was unnecessary to have it spayed (all info.I've found since advises spaying). I've found another vet and plan to call for an appointment soon. In the meantime, my question is this ....when she first arrived her frequent droppings didn't have any smell that I could detect. All of a sudden in the last couple of days, they really stink. The best way I can describe the smell is like really rank underarm odor. Is this something to be concerned about? Could it be that she has suddenly reached sexual maturity? Other than that she seems to be fine. Thank you! Judy

Answer
(UPDATE)

Hi Judy,

yup, rabbits are very, very smart.  Read up on bunnyproofing rooms and such!  Most people don't think they're smart because they are a prey animal and because sometimes when running around they may bump into something because they have a small blind spot directly in front of them and don't have stereo vision.  But they are as smart as any cat or dog, are creatures of habit and remember floor layouts and when you break with routine.  Extremely smart guys that continue to surprise me and my wife.

PS - you are right that someone dumped him.  What happens is people buy a baby rabbit and it hits sexual maturity and starts acting way different (marking, spraying, nipping, cage aggression) and they don't know what ot do about it, so they either put it in a hutch outside or let it go.

(END UPDATE)

Hi Judy,

thanks for taking care of this little one.  Glad you have found out how great rabbits are if you give them a chance.

You definitely will need to get her (I will just assume it's a her for sake of the email) fixed in order to be an indoor house rabbit.  This will need to be done by a good rabbit vet (as you now know not all vets are).  Start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

for a House Rabbit Society recommended vet in your area.  If you can't find any here, call up your local/state rabbit  rescue groups/local animal shelters and ask them where they would go if they had a rabbit that needed surgery.

The odor is from her scent glands (one on each side of her vent area).  She's sexually mature if you are smelling that.  When she drops fecal pellets she can coat them (if she wants) with scent to mark the place she's dropping them as her territory.

Spend some time at the House Rabbit Society web site (www.rabbit.org) reading articles - they have hundreds on all aspects of rabbit behavior and care.  Also pick up Marinell Harrimann's "House Rabbit Handbook 4th Ed.".

After finding a good vet they need to check her wastes for parasites, etc as she has been out in the wild and probably picked up some (ticks and fleas too).

After her spay (or neuter whatever) insist the vet prescribe post-op antibiotics like baytril (to prevent infection at the incision) and a few days of pain meds (metacam) so that she can be pain free so she continues to eat and move.  If she doesn't eat, she can go into gi stasis and die fairly quickly.

Write back anytime.

Lee