Poop over rear of holland lop.

[David k]

We have had a holland lop male bunny for about 9 months, He is about 3 years old now. We have a problem that every day, his rear end is caked with poop. So much so, that it takes us a good 10-15 minutes every day to try clean him. In his cage, we have tried all sorts of cat litter/different absorbing things. It was not like that a few months ago. It is like he is not cleaning himself at all. My wife is about to give up on the bunny unless I can figure this out.

I should try get a photo. I

Any help please.

[Rookie]

Rookie is a holland lop as well and we had to go through that in a milder version a while back….the cause was that family members gave him too many sweets behind my back and it was making his poop sticky. As well it made him put on weight making it more difficult to groom himself. Since then he lost weight and it back to normal.
During that I used and still use yesterday’s news cat littler. I find it works best for a bunny that tends to sit back down after going…aka rookie…I mean seriously move your bum!
But if your guy isn’t grooming maybe a vet visit might be in order cause there might be pain somewhere preventing the grooming process. Also just cut out any treats or sweets and give lots of hay to see if the poop consistency improves.

[tobyluv]

Poopy butt is often caused by diet. A diet with too many pellets and/or treats, and not enough hay. Besides the fact that kind of diet makes loose poop, it also can cause a rabbit to gain weight, and as Rookie said, being overweight makes it harder for a rabbit to groom and clean himself. A Holland lop is a small breed, and they should get 1/8 cup (or less) of pellets each day. They should always have hay available. If he isn’t a good hay eater, decreasing the pellets should help with that, plus you can try different varieties and brands. Also make sure that he gets exercise to keep any excess weight off of him.

If he already has a good diet, which would be a small quantity of pellets, plenty of hay, and very little treats each day, and gets good exercise, then there might be some other problem. To diagnose other problems, you would need to take a stool sample to his vet.

[Bam]

Like the others have said, poopy butt is most often about diet. If your bun has a good diet i.e. eats plenty of hay, doesn’t get a huge amount of pellets and treats and gets fresh veg, it could be a veg or possibly the brand of pellets you are using that doesn’t agree with him. My Bam can f ex not have carrot, it gives him poopy butt.

Poopy butt is due to a disturbance of the gut microbiota. The condition is known as ISC, intermittent soft cecotropes. Here’s a good article about it. It’s NOT true diarrhea your bun has, so you can skip that part of the article: http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

[vanessa]

My little guy Lancelot is a Lop. He gets poopy butt if I give him too much fruit, or any dark colored fruit. So I stick to banana, apple, and strawberry – only when I’m eating them myself, or I need to hide his medicine. He also gets poopy butt because he doesn’t eat hay, so I feed him critical care cookies and hay cubes, so he gets the fiber and digestive health/bacterial action to avoid the sticky poops. What is your little guy’s diet like? Some bunnies are more sensitive than others. My other 3 don’t react that way to fruit. They have never had poopy butt once. But I keep them off fruit as well, so that Lancelot doesn’t smell it and go crazy. You didn’t notice the cecotropes before because they were nicely formed so he ate them. Bunny’s won’t eat the squishy soft ones, they will just get stuck to them and become a smelly mess. If Lancelot does get poopy butt and he hasn’t had any fruit, then I give him more critical care cookies (increase the hay consumption), and I put benebac in his water (probiotics).

[Rookie]

I am sooooooo glad to hear rookie is not the only bunny who refuses to eat hay on a regular basis….and we have tried them all! And I do mean all…the only way I can get him to eat it if I mix it with Alfalfa hay and even then he only really likes the powder stuff if the bottom of the bag…I mean come on!

[vanessa]

Yeah Lancelot hasn’t eaten hay since June last year. His dental bills have doubled…

[Rookie]

Yeah I’m trying to force rookie as much as I can. But he is very stubborn…he’d rather just not eat all day then have to eat too much hay. The trick with the alfalfa mix has been working pretty actually so fingers crossed it only gets better

[babybun]

Would you mind telling us a little bit more about his diet? If he’s ingesting too much sugar, that would definitely cause him to have loose stool. You want to avoid giving him too many pellets and fruit. Instead, try giving him some more greens and hay.

[Tracy K]

Hi There All

Thanks for the advice, it is all very helpful, I am stepping in to answer her on the post my husband posted since he has no clue what the bunny is eating at this point. When we got him last Summer they had him on a All Living Things Daily Diet bought at Pets Mart with that they mixed in some Wild Harvest Adult Rabbit Advanced Nutrition Diet which had Fruit Amp Formula. He would finish off a good amount of that in a day. They would also give him Timothy Bites which honestly we put in his cage but I don’t think he ever touches it and they gave him Vitakraft Slims with Carrot which he loves but I don’t give it to him often. They also had some sort of yoghurt looking drops but he doesn’t like that too much so I don’t give it to him much. They also had some Timothy Hay and water and the cage was covered with CritterCare Paper Bedding.

All went well for a while, the only difference we made is I would occasionally give him Iceberg lettuce if I was making a salad which I found out was not good for him so stopped giving that to him, now the only real fruit he gets is the occasional raw carrot and it’s a slice of carrot so not much. I know the lettuce could have caused the poopy butt but it’s been a while ago now so it shouldn’t be an issue anymore and the raw carrot is so occasional.

When the poop started getting worse and worse, I started trying different things in the cage, nothing absorbed the pee well that the smell wasn’t so bad until I just started using the Aspen shavings, they are great. He has that in his litter area and some of his cage and the paper bedding in the section he sleeps, the problem is sometimes he sleeps in the litter area and I think that might be half the problem but I don’t know how to stop him doing that, it totally grosses me out.

Over the last week a friend with Holland Lop told me to just give him Oxbow Essentials Adult Rabbit Food also bought at Pets Mart and not give him any snacks for a while and see if it clears things up. For a couple of days he hardly touched his food, he did not like this food but maybe it is because it has not snacks or fruit in it so maybe that’s why … so I tried to mix in a bit of his other food which he gobbled up right away but I think it was only the other food with they yummy stuff in he ate so I think that defeats the object a bit if that is what is making his poop runny.

He has a good amount of Timothy hay in his cage which I replenish daily so is it safe to assume that if he is being picky with this new food I just need to hang in there he will be getting enough from the timothy hay so he doesn’t starve ? Should I just hang in there with this very neutral food for a while and see what happens. I think maybe from what everyone has said, maybe he was getting too many treats in these pellets we were giving him, that maybe we just need to go the plain pellet route and hope for the best ?

When you say lots of hay, you are talking about timothy hay right ? Not anything else. Where do you get the critical care cookies, maybe I need to go get some of those, there is nothing sweet in those that could make the poop runny ?

Right now I have this new full bag of Oxbow and little bits of his older food that has the fruit and other goodies in. I have a few Timothy Bites left, some of the Vitacraft slims with carrot and some of those yoghurt looking drops plus lots Timothy Hay. I have the Critter paper bedding and Aspen shavings … what would you suggest the best route to take is at this point ?

I never wanted pets in my house because I have such bad allergies but in a weak moment I took on Brody and the kids love and adore him and yeah I love him too, they would be devastated if I passed him onto someone else but I really, really need to get this sorted out so this becomes easier. I know he needs lots of exercise and am happy to have him run around daily but with this poopy butt, he is not coming out so much so if it is weight he needs to lose with exercising, I am messing up there but he will be losing weight I think with not eating as much as he was before.

Help … thanks y’all.

[tobyluv]

It would be best to throw away the yoghurt drops. Those are not good treats for rabbits. Rabbits should not have dairy products. For treats, you can give a little bit of fruit or some prepared treats such as Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats. But, really go easy on the treats if you are trying to stop the poopy butt.

The pellets with the colored bits are not good for rabbits, but when switching varieties, you should do so slowly. Start with a mix of 75% old pellets with 25% new. The next week go 50/50 with the pellets, then the following week 25% old with 75% new, then all new pellets. Oxbow Adult pellets are good. Some people might advise you to stop feeding the old pellets altogether, instead of doing the gradual mix, but you can decide on that. You do need to make sure that the quantity is small.

Any of the grass hays are good for rabbits – timothy, orchard grass, oat hay, meadow hay, and others. Some rabbits have definite likes when it comes to hay. Orchard grass is sweeter, which many rabbits like. Since you have allergies, timothy hay might not be the best choice. It is usually the hay that causes problems in people with allergies.

Have you looked at the BUNNY INFO link here, at the top of the page? It is very helpful and covers all the basics of rabbit care.

Regarding litter/bedding.  It is best to only have litter in the litter box.  If you have it all over the cage, that can confuse the rabbit.  If he has not been neutered, it may not be as easy to litter train him. For sleeping, you can have a small fleece blanket.  If he is a bad chewer, you may not be able to have one, though.  A little bit of chewing is okay, but you don’t want him ingesting foreign material.

[vanessa]

Thank you for the description. I did a google on the all living things daily diet from petsmart, and I came up with hamster/gerbil food which is starchy and fattening. I wouldn’t use anything by wild harvest. The oxbow was a good suggestion. You want to aim for a fiber content of 20-26% in pellets. It’s good that he eats a lot of hay. From your write-up, he sounds overweight. I am trying myself to help one of my bunnies lose weight… Try telling that to the bunny… Anything that looks like yogurt drops is a hamster/gerbil treat, and bad for bunnies. I wouldn’t use vitacraft slims. Unfortunately, those colored brightly packaged foods are designed to catch your attention, not designed to cater to your bunny’s well-being. Vitacraft slims are on the bad bad bad starchy list. Timothy hay, meadow hay, orchard hay, all are good. He is definitely being picky. He was used to his yummy treats, and is holding off until you return his treats to him. Stick it out and don’t give in. It’s good that he is eating hay. I would give him 1/8 cup of oxbow pellets a day, unlimited hay, and nothing else until the poopy butt clears up. Some suggestions are only hay, and nothing else not even pellets, until the poopy butt clears up. That is a good suggestion too. How much does he weigh? It might very well be that he can’t clean his butt properly, in which case the scent glands will also start to get skunky. But the sticky poop is there because of improper bacterial action in his gut. I buy critical care powder and bake the cookies myself. I can look up the recipe I use if you want to do the same thing. I’ve posted it somewhere on the forum… But I think I’d focus on lots of hay, and either 1/8 cup or no pellets, to clear up the butt. You could also order some benebac. I think it works wonders. Once the poopiness clears up, don’t go back to giving him snacks. We like to spoil our critters, but more often than not we are hurting them. I spoil mine with bell pepper, celery, mixed greens, and radishes. No fruit, no snacks, no treats. Veggies are their treats.

[Tracy K]

Wow … that’s all amazing information, thank you !!! As for eating lots of hay, I am not sure how much he is really eating, he does eat some on a daily basis for sure but not sure if it’s enough to fill him up as such. Today when I cleaned out his cage, his poop definitely looked less yucky and then when I did his food bowl, other that the hay in the hay holder in his cage, I put some in his bowl and then added the Oxbow pellets and sat and took all the colored goodies out of the other food I had and only added those pellets in together hoping he would eat those pellets at least but I guess as long as there is hay in there then I don’t have to worry about him starving. Also I guess I didn’t think he would be overeating either and that I needed to put less pellets in their daily, definitely will be more on top of that 🙁 really didn’t realize he was getting fat as such and no I have not weighed him so have no idea how much he weighs.

I also didn’t realize there were so many different hays, he came with the Timothy hay so that has been all I have been giving him as far as hay goes. So won’t buying any of the other hay that may be sweeter not mess with his stomach as well ?

All the food and snacks I have said it is for bunnies, that I am sure of 🙂 I will not be giving him ANY snacks of any kind until the poopy butt stops !!! The poor little guy is going to feel like his throat has been cut 🙁 I feel so bad !!!

I get the using the the Aspen Shavings throughout his cage might be confusing to him but he has been very good with going in his litter box most of the time but maybe I will cut back on that too, so having a litter box and and a tray with paper bedding in for him to sleep in is enough, I could leave the rest of the cage with nothing on the bottom ?

I have not read the content on this page yet, my husband just posted the plea for help but I will now go take a look, thanks again 🙂

[tobyluv]

Any of the grass hays that I mentioned before would be good for him. It’s not that orchard grass is actually sweet or has sugar content, it just tastes a little sweeter than timothy or some other hays. It also is usually a bit softer. Some rabbits prefer harder, stalkier hay, such as first cutting timothy or oat hay, others like softer hay, such as second cutting timothy (like American Pet Diner Timothy Gold) or orchard grass. I keep a few different varieties of hay on hand for my bunnies, and usually mix it for them.

There are many snacks labeled for rabbits that are not good for them. There are also some brands that aren’t so good. You definitely don’t want to give yogurt drops to rabbits. The Oxbow baked treats that I mentioned have timothy grass as their first ingredient. They do have a little molasses in them, which is why you should limit even snacks like these, which are considered healthier than many others. I see that the first ingredient in the Vitakraft Slims is wheat flour, then corn flour, then alfalfa meal. Those are not as healthy.

I take it that the bottom of the cage is some kind of plastic? Unless they don’t like the slippery feel of bare plastic, some rabbits like to lie on the bare plastic. It may feel cooler to them. You can also get woven grass mats to use in place of bedding, if you don’t want to use a fleece blanket or some type of rug.

[LBJ10]

You’re getting some really good advice here and I completely agree with the others. His problems are likely diet-related, so getting him on track with that is the first step. The Oxbow pellets are a good choice. But since he’s been getting a lot of “junk food”, the Oxbow is probably not going to be very appealing at first. This is normal, so I wouldn’t be too worried. Just keep doing what your doing and try to switch him as painlessly as possible. He will eventually eat them. Grass hays are what to look for and, as others have pointed out, orchard grass is a soft/sweeter hay. It might be more appealing. Also, the fresher the better. I remember buying Kaytee hay once for my buns because they were out of Oxbow. It smelled so stale and the boys would not touch it. I went to another store to get them some Oxbow hay and they were very happy.

As for treats, I would cut out everything for now. His tummy needs to be cleared out first. Then, once his poopy butt has improved, you can offer him healthier treats like the Oxbow cookies or a small piece of fruit to see how he does. Tobyluv is right about the yogurt treats, they are not good for bunnies. This isn’t unusual. Unfortunately, companies often market things that are inappropriate for a particular pet simply because they sell and make a profit.

[jerseygirl]

All the food and snacks I have said it is for bunnies, that I am sure of 🙂 I will not be giving him ANY snacks of any kind until the poopy butt stops !!! The poor little guy is going to feel like his throat has been cut 🙁 I feel so bad !!!

Aw, I know. It feels like tough love. But he will probably start to liking the healthier alternatives just as much as he had the other treats. It’s nice when you get to see them act enthusiastic when you pop fresh hay in the litter box for them. You could give some things like fresh or dried willow, or some rose leaves, stems and petals. Most buns really enjoy them.
You could also offer a tiny pinch of rolled oats as a treat but it does add to the carb load, so only give occasionally.

It takes their body a lot of effort to manufacture cecatrophs and they need to be eating them, not having them mushed on their butt. And obviously you’d not like to be dealing with that either! So you are doing him a huge favour but nixing some of the things that might be causing this. Good luck!

[Tracy K]

Thanks you guys, you are awesome … I cleaned out his cage this morning and the poop is still stuck to his butt but I am going to try and be patient and do all the things you suggested. I am leaving the bottom of his cage clear now and yes it is a plastic bottom. So he has the Aspen Shavings in his litter box and the paper bedding where he likes to sleep.

I have thrown out those yoghurt things which sound like they are bad news and will continue just to put the oxbow pellets and a few of the old pellets in without any of the colorful goodies that was mixed in with them into his bowl and keep lots of hay in there for him to munch on if he feels like he doesn’t like the new pellets.

I am not going to give any snacks of any kind till we get the poop sorted out. Will also try and go get some other grass hay for him to try out.

I will keep you informed, you guys are awesome, thanks again.

[LittlePuffyTail]

If he’s not eating a great deal of hay, try Oxbow Orchard Grass. It’s softer and a lot of buns (including mine) prefer it.

I hope you can get this figured out soon.

[Author]

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