Gross anal glands!!!

[BunnyLiz]

Cleaned Mae’s a few days ago, and they were so so yucky.  Both of her glands were literally glued with a dark skunk smelling rock.  Is that normal?!  It toke me 15 minutes of warm water with a wash cloth to clean it alll out, q tips were no help at all.  Hammer and Lucy are normally fairly clean, super smelly but a few swipes with a qtip and good to go!  I thought maybe it was old poo… from when she was at her breeding place or maybe when she was sick at the rescue and maybe had some serious poopy butt?  She is 5 or 6 so who knows how long thats been in there, had to be uncomfortable!  Just curious, for buns that regularly need them cleaned out, is this normal scent gland grossness thats been building up?  Or buns with poopy butt, this happen to you?  We need a gross forum, for poop and gland topics lol.  That forum would get used just as much as the others

[jerseygirl]

Rumball had one gland that was plugged when I got him. I just figured they’d never been checked before. They’ve been fine (little discharge) ever since so it was likely just a build up over time. Maybe it’s like the waxy substance that gathers grime after being there a while. How did she go with it?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Kahlua has hard plugs when I clean her-the rest have kind of mushy ones. I think really they are just dependant on the bun and how often you clean them-though Kahlua always has hard ones.

I’m fairly certain what your describing are glands like Kahlua’s -not poopy bum-the glands close and I doubt poop could get in them

It’s totally gross. I will admit-I use my fingers after freeing them with qtips-just works better with the hard ones as they wipe out but won’t stick to the qtips. I know-sick but I’ve done a lot and you get used to it

Oh and gross..

There’s my gross confession. TBH they are way way way less gross then dog anal glands Dave’s mom and sis have me do their dogs bums

Also Mikey had to puke the other night-and I didn’t know why-he has a stomach of steel-so I got him to puke on paper towel and dug through it…

Bahahahah I’m one gross lady

[Monkeybun]

*shudders* nasty nasty K&K. Just nasty. Ick ick ick.

[boogercj]

Mmmmmmm. Have to say I’m not looking fwd to doing my first anal gland cleaning – my buns won’t be still for anything! And those are words I never thought I’d say!

[BunnyLiz]

She did pretty good with it, all things considered.  The worst was catching her, I think she truly thought I was going to hurt her.  She didnt scream but kinda squealed a few times and kept butting her pen walls (broke my heart! *misty eyed*).  Once I finally caught her though she stayed still and let me burrito her, nails, and glands.  Grunted a few times when I was trying to get her glands done, dont know if that was because she thought I was being impolite or just scared lol.  But I was forgiven as soon as I gave her a few pets.

Its not gross KK, sometimes the qtip works to get it out but then its in the fur and you need to act quickly so your forgiven sooner lol.  Dog vomit however.. yuck.  This plug was beyond qtips though, shaped and sealed to her gland on all sides!  I cant bear doggy anal glands, id lose my lunch.  Sage, our beagle, has to go to the vet for that.  She stinks and I cant handle it!

[BunnyLiz]

boogercj- Im sure none of us bunny slaves thought we would someday be doing this gross stuff without a second thought, nor discussing it like it was nothing lol. Its not so bad though, once you find them youll see its not a big deal. And wrapping the bun up in a towel (bunny burrito) helps a lot.

[Balefulregards]

I have to get very warm water and a washcloth and let Coco’s glands “soak” before I can get hers unplugged. She also gets a very hard, waxy plug. And I diligently clean them monthly – Just the way she is, I think.

I have some very blunt nose tweezers that I use, in conjunction with the soaking of the warm wash cloth. I find once I get them loose, I can just pull them out – carefully and slowly to make sure that nothing is still stuck to her skin. You can see how delicate rabbit skin is too in the glands, as you can see right through it.

I actually once thought of the “ear Wax candles” in Shrek and wondered it I was essentially getting Rabbit Anal Gland candles.

[Denise12]

How do I know when they have one?

[bunnytowne]

I clean my buns 1x a month and Cotton tends to have one gland with a dark hard one.   I use a tweezer to pull it out.   Have to be careful I dont’ grab his skin tho.  

I wear my reading glasses when I do them I can see lots better that way

[Balefulregards]

Denise, I do the anal check when I do their nail check. As I said, One of my Buns gets plugs, the other has nothing.

There is a great diagram in the BB Monthly Maintenance/Bunny Info Section.

I also know with Coco, because she gets a little messy with her cecals. I don’t know if other rabbits have this “tell” – but with Coco, If I see her with a little cecal left on her bum…It is nearly 90% certain she has a blocked anal gland.

But other than that, I think you just have to Look.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

How do I know when they have one?

The information on how and when to do anal gland checks are here in the ‘monthly maintenance’
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/MonthlyMaintenance/tabid/64/Default.aspx

It’s BEST to get a vet to show you how first-especially if you aren’t experienced. I’d put it this way-if clipping nails is an ordeal for you I wouldn’t do anal glands yet. If you do nails no problem and bunny is good and still for you-then you can attempt glands

[Author]

Messages