Keeping clean

Question
Hi,

I have a fuzzy lop who is quite long haired.  Frequently his stool catches and accumulates in the hair near his hind end.  Sometimes his urine mixes with the stool causing it to become more sticky.  Intermittently, I will lay him on his back and clip his hair in the area with a clipper and clean him the best I can.  I also apply a vasaline based neosprorin to the area after I clip him. Needless to say, he is less than fond of the procedure (although he is a good boy and behaves for it) and it is difficult to completely clean him or remove all the matts without damaging sensitive skin.

His diet consists of unlimited Timothy hay, small amounts of alfalfa hay, peleted feed, and twice per day he gets salad - usually romaine lettuce with parsley or other greens - and occasional treats of carrots, apple or a few raisins.  

I'd like to know if perhaps I'm feeding him incorrectly.  He seems healthy otherwise - he is happy, perky, curious and and sometimes playful.

I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions to help resolve this problem.

Thank you!
Fran Nawrocki

Answer
Dear Fran,

When a bunny who's getting a healthy diet (it sounds as if yours is, unless he's getting excessive pellets; please read:

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

to be sure), then the next most common culprit for "messy bottom" (cecal dysbiosis) is molar spurs or other dental problems.  These are especially common in lops and other short-faced breeds.  You can read about this here:

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

You will need a good, experienced rabbit vet who will look deep into the mouth with an otoscope, and then file any problematic molar spurs.  You can find a good vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana