Bathing a bunny

[b.klauci]

I reaaaally need some help!

I got my bunny about 3 weeks ago and her previous owner said that she used to give her a little bath without any problem. First I wanted to build a good relationship with her then I attempted to give her a bath… she hated it.

Since then she’s not the same bunny, she’s very upset and growls at me or the food I’m offering her. 

I’ve read a lot about bathing them, some say NEVER bath a bunny, but then they’re all different and you can find a lot of videos on youtube of bunnies having a bath.

I don’t know how to make her happy again. She came to me last night for pats, and cuddled next to me but then she switches and hides under things for hours. I am so so very sad, please tell me how can i make her the old bunny again??

[LBJ10]

How old is she?

You can give a bunny a bath, but not like you would give a dog a bath. It really isn’t good to soak them because it’s difficult to get them dry. People have needed to give their bunnies butt baths though, where just their rear gets washed. So it isn’t like bunnies never get baths. It’s just that it’s not something that is normally necessary. Bunnies clean themselves pretty well, just like cats do. I don’t think you should give a bunny a bath just for the sake of giving them a bath. They really don’t enjoy it and you run the risk of them freaking out and hurting themselves by struggling on a slippery surface.

[b.klauci]

Thanks for your reply.
She’s about 30 weeks old and her previous owner said she used to bathe her with no problem. She said she was angry after her bath and sneezed as well, but I can feel that something is not right

I just ran home in my lunch break to check on her and she hasn’t even touched her food… It’s her first day without eating, she accepted leaves and apple from my hand yesterday but now she just growls which makes me very upset too…
She’s lying in her cage or under the cupboard. When we got home from work she used greet us with jumps and she bolted out of her room, now when I open the door she runs away… I know she’s not her old self and something is not right, so I’ve got an appointment with the vet tonight, fingers crossed she’s just sooking….

[b.klauci]

I’ve put her in shallow, lukewarm water, I didn’t throw her in to “swim”… Anyway, I’ll take her tonight see what the vet says…

[Tessie]

I agree with LBJ. Bunnies should absolutely not be given baths unless under extreme circumstances, and even then it’s just a case of gently cleaning their bottom.
Baths are very dangerous for rabbits, they can lead to various health problems.

I suggest you just give her some time, if she’s only been with you three weeks, she’s still getting used to you.

[BunnyLady1989]

I agree. Give her time too. Lulu will only get a bath after we go outside for playtime. She likes to dig a lot in the dirt which gets her paws and butt dirty. And I will only get her paws and butt wet before she jumps out and attaches to my neck and shoulder.

[Tessie]

Please don’t bathe your rabbit guys, it’s only necessary in extreme cases of poopy butt or disabled bunnies, and it is very dangerous. Healthy Bunnies are very capable of cleaning themselves.

Any update on the vet trip?

[LBJ10]

Hmm, could her behavior have nothing to do with the bath and instead be her hormones kicking in? Is she spayed?

[LopNessMonster]

Ollie has had a butt bath or two but he doesn’t like them. I gave him one when we first got him since he had some poop stuck on his butt. I first trimmed off a bunch of poops stuck to fur and then a little extra fir to try and fix it. He’s not great at eating his cecals so it’s the gross smelly poop instead of the inoffensive quick-drying spherical poos. I’ve given him one more quick bath as well and he definitely doesn’t like it. I would be very surprised if a rabbit did actually enjoy a bath. I basically ran some water in the tub, blocked the drain so he wouldn’t get his paws stuck, and splashed his butt a bit and tried to keep him from scrambling too much. I let the water get to about 3/4″ and did my best to keep the rest of him dry. After a quick butt-wash, I wrapped him up in a towel and dried his bum as much as I could with the towel. The rest of him remained dry, so not a big deal.
Nessie has never needed a bath. She got some poo on her foot when she was recovering from her spay but I decided to wait and see if she cleaned it herself and she did.

As far as building up friendship again, take it slow and don’t worry. Bunnies love hiding under things. My bunnies will spend tons of time under the futon and even nap there. Doesn’t mean they don’t love me, they just like getting under and behind things. If she comes over for pets, that’s a good sign. If she stays around while you pet her, that’s also a good sign. You can encourage her to hang out with you by giving her treats or greens or pellets from your hand. I had “dinnertime” with Nessie before I got Ollie and I would put a pile of greens down in the living room for her. She has quite the appetite so she goes right for the greens and will hang out and munch away even with me petting her. If she smells food on me, she’ll climb all over to try and get to it. Ollie has a much smaller appetite so this doesn’t really do it for him. Luckily he’s so laid back, I can scoop him up and cuddle him on the couch for quite some time before he decides he has better things to do

[BunnyLady1989]

Hormones could be a possibility actually. I didn’t even think about that.

From now on though I wouldn’t bath her unless you absolutely have to. I’ve only had to bath lulu twice after being outside over the past four years. Last summer she needed a bath after she got applesauce and medicine all over her.

[b.klauci]

Thank you everyone for your kind messages and help. She hasn’t been spayed so that might be an option to try and calm her down.
I took Moo to the vet and she has a little problem with her guts. I have to give her 2 types of medicines- which I struggle with because she hates me as it is and now when I try to hold her she kicks so hard, I don’t want her to injure herself..

I also thought about the hormones but I’m just wondering can it all happen at the same time? I mean she was sooo happy with us right until Saturday then I’ve put her in the bath and now she doesn’t even want to be around us…
To be honest I was very irresponsible because when I took her to the bathroom she was munching on her food so now when I give her food from my hand she growls, so maybe she associates food-time with “something bad is going to happen time”…..
I definitely won’t give her another bath, I only tried because her previous owner said she did it and there was no problem.

About the hiding- she hasn’t done that either in that 3 weeks when she was happy. As soon as we got home we opened her door and she bolted out and followed us EVERYWHERE, and just lied down somewhere very close to us… At least she’s eating and her health is alright but I am still worried that I’m not gonna get my cute adorable furball back..

[LBJ10]

A lot of times hormones can come just as if someone flipped a switch. It’s that quick.

[b.klauci]

Thank you LBJ, I rely on your answers, because it seems hopeless however it’s been only a couple of weeks since we got her.. I really appreciate your kindness!

I am trying to keep positive and hope that spaying will help us all out but I’ll have to wait a couple of weeks till her guts sorted… 

[LopNessMonster]

In regards to Moo’s medicine, if you are struggling with getting her to take all of it, I have two methods for getting Nessie to eat hers. After her spay, the vet had me give her two different types, one was a liquid, one was a paste. The liquid I mixed with a teaspoon or two of plain unsweetened applesauce. Sometimes that was enough, sometimes I needed to sprinkle some plain rolled oats on top to get her to eat it. Usually she would eat the oats and a layer and I would just sprinkle more oats on until she finished it. All told she probably didn’t even have a teaspoon of oats total. For the paste, I got a dehydrated banana chip (the kind that only has banana as an ingredient, not the kind that’s loaded with sugar and crap). I would squirt the paste on kind of like frosting on a cookie. If she didn’t go for that, I’d make a sandwich with another banana chip or top it off with oats. She always gobbled that up. Nessie’s a real fighter and it was way easier to get her to eat it on her own than to try and hold her down and force it. She would be constantly twisting her face out of the way and trying to kick and it was not pretty and it was not easy and it was not really working either. Figuring out how to trick her into eating it herself made things way better. Hopefully you can try that with Moo.

[b.klauci]

Thank you LopNessMonster (awesome name ), I might try the apple sauce then. With the tablet, I tucked it in a piece of apple but she picked the tablet out, I only saw it in the morning I’m taking her back to the vet so they can help me with it…

[BunnyLady1989]

If it’s a tablet you have to crush it and then mix with applesauce. I had to do this with Lulu last summer and eventually I had to force feed it to her with a syringe, hence why we needed a bath at one point. At first she freely took it until I changed the ratio of applesauce used. She then was able to smell and taste it more. The most efficient way is to wrap them in a towel to administer. I also needed seine else to hold her head still as I held her and gave her the medicine. She fought me everytime! Good luck! It is not fun.

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