sudden strong smell in cage

Question
We have had our pet rabbit for about three months.  For the last couple of weeks, her cage, even within hours of cleaning, has smelled horrible!  It is a very strong and "sour" smell.  Any advice on what it might be?  We reduced her diet to just pellets to see if it might be some of the vegetables we were feeding her, but that didn't any difference at all.

Help!

Answer
Dear Christi,

If it's a strong, sour smell, are you absolutely sure it's coming from the cage, and not the bunny?  If it's coming from the cage, then my guess would be that urine has seeped into a crack and is fermenting and getting nasty in there.  The best solution would be to take the entire cage outside, hose it well with a pressure nozzle, being sure to get the water strongly into any cracks.

Next, wipe down the cage with white vinegar, being sure to get it into the cracks, too.  Rinse very well with water after letting the vinegar sit for about 15 minutes, and then let the cage dry in the sun until it's very dry.  That should get rid of any residual odor.

If you have carpeting or mats in the cage, those could be the source of the problem.  You need to locate the exact source of the odor, and then you'll know what to do.

If the odor is coming from bunny, be sure to check her back end for any sign of clumping poop.  If she has that, please read:

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

If bun is not spayed, her urine will smell much stronger than if she is.  Spaying will also remove the very high risk of uterine cancer. Please see:

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

If you don't already have a good rabbit vet, you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

It's very important to have a vet who's not just a dog/cat vet, since they often don't know enough about rabbits to be safe.  I'm sure you can find a good one on that list above, but if not, please write back with your general location and I'll try to help you connect.

Hope this helps!  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana