# Giving off an odor?



## Callaway (Mar 17, 2013)

I have a 1.5 year old intact male Holland Lop. I have never had an issue with him smelling at all ever. After googling it, do not tell me I am a lazy rabbit owner as so many have called individuals asking about odors. I clean out his cage and his litter box every day. We recently moved to another state and in the moving process he stayed with my in-laws for two weeks. Now, let me tell you. Prior to this move he was not a friendly rabbit, didn't like to be held, coddled, petted, etc. Throughout the entire time he was with my in-laws, he literally begged for attention. If they were sitting on the couch, he would periscope until he could make eye contact and continue till one of them got down on the floor with him. He cuddled them. Still didnt enjoy being picked up but would allow it without freaking out. When he rejoined us, he still was cuddly and lovable, even sits on the couch with us. I have noticed, when he gets excited and begins running around he gives off this foul odor. Sort of smells like a skunk. After researching, I noticed he does his little honking love dance around my feet and that is more or less when I smell it. Is he spraying? It is just absolutely disgusting. Would getting him neutered help with this odor? I dont know if he just randomly peaked sexually. He has also began trying to hump our arms when we are on the floor with him. Any advice?? Its just absolutely foul and I love him to pieces, I would just prefer when he is running around me that he doesn't stink. It's enough to make me gag.

I will note that about 6 weeks ago we noticed him having what looks like seizures. We took him to the vet and they put him on Baytril. While on it, he still had the "seizures". After looking at rabbit seizures online and watching him more closely, I do not know if he was actually having seizures. I think he is just grooming himself and flops over. But that's another issue, He began the above behavior three weeks into the medicine. Could that have had anything to do with it?

-A concerned mommy


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## JBun (Mar 17, 2013)

Not a bad bunny owner, and if anyone says so because your rabbit 'smells', they don't understand rabbits very well. The first thing that can smell a lot with an unaltered male rabbit, is their pee. It can stink a lot more when they aren't neutered, but in a few cases neutering doesn't change this. But you aren't mistaken about that disgusting skunky smell. It is from their scent glands, located between the folds of skin, between their anus and genitals. Because you have a hormonal unaltered male, it is going to stink a lot more than if he were neutered. So yes, neutering will help that a lot. It doesn't make it go away completely, but it helps ALOT, because he no longer has the hormones, and isn't always trying to mark you or his territory. Neutering almost always gets rid of the humping too , or decreases it significantly. The older the rabbit is before a neuter, the more ingrained the behavior can become.

With the seizures, did the vet suspect a bacterial infection causing them, is that why the baytril was prescribed. It's almost sounding to me like his seizures might actually just be normal behavior for a rabbit, maybe just something you aren't familiar with seeing. Can you discribe the seizures a little more? Is it that he is doing the dead bunny flop, and is actually just resting? Rabbits having the hiccups can also look a little like they are having convulsions. I'm more familiar with seizures in people, but I would imagine ones with rabbits would be similar in certain ways. Usually there will either be a period of lethargy where they are unresponsive, or a period of some sort of convulsion, where they are unresponsive, followed by a period of lethargy and confusion. So if that sounds like what happened with him, they he very well may have had a seizure.


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## LakeCondo (Mar 17, 2013)

I don't know about the seizure, but for the smelly anal glands, it might help to clean them out periodically using damp q-tips. I;m sure if you search the topic there will be specifics on it.


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## FreezeNkody (Mar 17, 2013)

it's him being not fixed, my male smells like a skunk too. and also pees and poos on me. =p


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## agnesthelion (Mar 17, 2013)

Definitely agree with Jenny. Unaltered bucks will smell more. Their urine and their stink glands and all. In fact, when I brought my male home less than a week after him being neutered I noticed that skunky smell because hormones hadn't completely dissipated. After a few weeks, the smell was gone.

Also, I'm not sure about the seizures either but this might be something to consider too. After male rabbits mate they fall off the doe. They kind of just fall over. Does this look like what he's doing. I know he's not mating with a doe but does he hump anything and fall over?


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## Callaway (Mar 18, 2013)

The vet gave us two options: either pay out the wazoo and get bloodwork done to check for things that probably will not show up, or see if an antibiotic would "clear up" the issue. We stopped the medicine a few days early because I really dont know if they are seizures. He isnt in a state of confusion or disoriented after them. He sort of leaps then falls over on to his back. All four of his feet sort of go to the center of his body and he shakes. Lasts anywhere from 10 seconds to 30 seconds. Once he comes back to, he sits up and grooms the right side of his chest. I was told that I need to catch it on camera however, its a panic situation and I am not really concerned with grabbing my camera. I typically place my hands on both sides of him and make sure he doesnt flop into the wall. I have caught the tale end of it though on video. Is there any way to post that on the site?


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## PaGal (Mar 18, 2013)

I haven't ever witnessed a rabbit seizure but I have had them myself and that is what it sounds like.


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## Chrisdoc (Mar 18, 2013)

I totally understand the smelly bit...one of mine seems to throw it off at times and it does smell skunky and he´s altered. I clean his scent glands regularly and it´s not something I enjoy but easy enough to do. 

Never seen mine have any seizures and when they flop, they´re completely still so much so that sometimes I have to poke them to make sure they´re OK.


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## tonyshuman (Mar 18, 2013)

It's well known that intact bunnies are "funkier" and it sounds like he's going through puberty hard. I would also recommend a neuter.

However this seizure thing is very strange. Not sure why the vet put him on antibiotics--did he suspect an ear infection? Here's some info on seizures: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm

A loss of balance could make the bunny fall over, and that could be caused by an inner ear infection. It wouldn't really look like a seizure, though.


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## Nancy McClelland (Mar 18, 2013)

Our neutered female mini Rex gets smelly sometimes so I check her glands and clean as needed and sometimes it's just a cecal that's giving off the odor.


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## tonyshuman (Mar 19, 2013)

You should be able to post the link to a video if you have it on a sharing site, like photobucket. 

What you described doesn't sound like a bacterial infection leading to loss of balance. Is he blue eyed or white with only a few dark spots? Bunnies of those genetics can sometimes have seizure disorders. It's usually a sign of serious toxicity otherwise, although could also be related to e cuniculi, a parasite that attacks the brain. Your bun doesn't seem old enough to have developed such a serious case, but it's possible. Antiparasitics might help but often once the damage has occurred it can't be reversed. It sounds like he needs a lot of diagnostics to figure out what is causing the seizures, since there isn't an easy answer. Any chance he was exposed to cat urine (toxoplasmosis) or a toxic chemical? Lead paint, insecticide, human drugs? Toxic plants, fertilizer? Trauma to the head (falling from a height, something falling on him)? This site has a lot of potential causes of seizures:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm


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