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Help ! poo stuck to bum !

22 11:08:23

Question
Hi i have an 8wk old indoor bunny - Rusty, we have on;y had him a week but last night i picked him up to find his poo is stuck to his bum as opposed to normal little round solid ones - what should i do - im going to clean him myself - but whats wrong? he eats A LOT - three times a day, i feed him this often because he is always clearing out his bowl and when we got him i thought he was too thin.

Thanks

Katie

Answer
Dear Katie,

Your bunny is probably suffering from cecal dysbiosis.  You must read this immediately:

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

and to clean him off, use the instructions here for the dry butt bath (no bathing of bunnies with water or shampoo!):

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

Please get him to a good rabbit vet for a full checkup:

www.rabbit.org/vets

as runny stool in a young baby like this can be fatal due to dehydration.  If he's eating well, then you've caught this early.  But note that in a bunny this young, the most common cause of cecal dysbiosis is improper diet.  Please read this to be sure his diet isn't the problem:

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

If the food he's getting is that cr*p full of seeds, dried fruit, nuts, etc. then that is very likely the problem. Throw it out and get him on a good diet of regular pellets and unlimited, fresh timothy hay with the other items in the article above.

I hope this helps.

Dana