Dirty bottom - bath?

Question
My female Holland Lop likes to kick all (and I mean ALL) of her litter out of her litter box (CareFresh bedding) and THEN go pee in her box. Because of this little habit, she is usually sitting in her pee when she goes to the bathroom because she kicked out all of the litter that would have soaked it up. Her bottom has been getting really dirty because of this and I need some advice on how to clean her up in a healthy, safe way that is going to be the least stressful for her. I have tried spot cleaning it with a waterless bathing spray for rabbits, but it's not working very well. Can I give her a bath on just her bottom? I don't want to give her a bath all over, I heard that baths aren't good for rabbits, but I need to do something to clean her up. She's starting to smell, and since she has white fur, it's really quite disgusting to look at. I know she doesn't have diarrhea...her stool is nice and firm and as it should be. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Brittney,

first, I'd try different litter.  I started with carefresh but moved on to both Yesterday's News (big 40-lb bags) and also wood stove fuel pellets when I can get them.  Carefresh is safe and fine but it's harder to clean up and easier to kick out.

Second thing to do is get her a rectangular cat litterpan that has an attachable kick-out guard that runs along the upper rim of the litterpan.  Basically it makes the litterpan that much deeper and it is very difficult to kick out litter.  That is not to say she can't dig out an empty spot but because the litter is still in the pan it makes it more likely that the urine will get soaked up.

I do know from experience that lops tend to be diggers and enjoy making messes!

To clean her back area:  take a very lightly damp washcloth and work her back area, especially any clumps in matted fur areas.  The damp cloth will help to start breaking these down.  Pull out any loose  clumps and fecam material that you can get off her.  Then take a man's comb, using the finer bristles, and try to run them through the clumps - not too hard, work a little at a time.  Alternate between the lightly damp washcloth and the comb until most of it is gone.  If you can get most of it out, she will be able to take care of the rest with regular grooming.

I do not recommend water baths or even butt-dips in water unless absolutely necessary.  This is not one of those cases.

I would also make sure she is not overweight for her size.  Diarrhea does not produce the same kind of messy butt that an overweight rabbit does.  Generally rabbits should not be being fed high calorie, high carb items, nothing with sugar added to it, no starches.  Pellets should be a maximum of 1/4 cup (without seeds, nuts and hi-cal crap) per 5 pounds of body weight per day.  Greens (if she gets them) should not be a total of more than 1/2 cup per 5 pounds of body weight per day.

I do think switching litter will help, and the kick guard litterpan should help.

Write back anytime. Lee