soiled bunny

Question
Our school rabbit (quite old now) gets badly soiled every couple of weeks, which leads to caked-on feces and urine and a bad smell.  The vet tries to shave him every three weeks and sedates him every few months so that he can be thoroughly cleaned.  The rabbit has a large two-story cage from Petwerks.  He does not use his litter box and we change the newspapers at the bottom of the cage twice a day except on weekends when feces sometimes build up.  The vet suggested that we look for some kind of soft coated grating that allows the waste to fall though. Have you heard of such a thing?
Thank you for your help.  

Answer
Dear Lore,

I would recommend that you find a good vet who is experienced with the problems an aging rabbit might have.  You can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

You don't say how old "old" is.  But rabbits are living much longer now, thanks to improvements in knowledge about their general care and specific medical conditions.  A rabbit who's 6 or 7 years old is not old.  They aren't really "old" until they're about 10 or 11.

So if your bunny is younger than that, it is probably a health problem causing his mushy stool/messy bottom problem, and that can be many different things.  A good place to start is to read this:

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

The most common cause of chronic mushy stool is incorrect diet, which you can check here:

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

and undiagnosed dental problems causing enough pain to elicit a slowdown of the GI tract:

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

Please get bun to a good rabbit vet for a full wellness exam, diagnosis and treatment of the origin of the problem.  It could be something as simple as changing his diet to what's explained above to something as problematic as arthritis or other pain making him reluctant to jump into a litterbox.

If he doesn't have a litterbox, I'd recommend you get one and cut the side down on one side so he can step in.  The best type of litter is pelleted sawdust, which can be composted, and is excellent for absorbing odor and moisture.  Brands include things like Feline Pine, AspenFresh, and even just plain old wood stove pellets from Home Depot.  Cover with a thin layer of fresh timothy hay for comfort, and you're all set.

I hope this helps get you started on the road to recovery for the bunny.  Please get him to a good rabbit vet who will not--like the one you've already seen--simply give you a method by which you can ignore a health problem by preventing it from becoming too messy.  You need a vet who understands cecal dysbiosis, and how to stop it, not a soft grating for the poops to fall through (but which might cause even more problems due to sore feet or joints).

Please also see:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-10/classroom.html

Maybe your pal can come home with you, and retire from the stressful life of being a classroom pet.  It's really no life for a rabbit, as the article above will explain.

Hope this helps!

Take care,
Dana