Best Way To Clean Feet?

Have the last show of the season coming up, and the rabbits I have entered have yellow feet from peeing and then sitting on their hay. What's the best, safest way to clean them without leaving too much of an odour?

I'm not sure if this would work for rabbits as I've only done it with dogs, but it makes a big difference. One thing I found that helped with stains on white fur was to make a loose paste (about the consistency of turkey gravy, lol) with a good whitening shampoo and baking soda. Rub it into the fur and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then add water and lather it up, then rinse. I will warn you, this can dry the coat out.

Again, I've never done this with a rabbit so I don't know how it might go. Good luck.

edited to say that a lot of whitening shampoos have a baby powder or lavender scent, so if you're worried about your buns smelling like shampoo at the show then maybe this isn't the best option.

best thing for pee fur on rabbits in general is moistening it with white vinegar (some prefer to dilute about 50/50, I use full strength), toweling it off, then kneading cornstarch deep into the moist fur until it feels dry and then brushing out the cornstarch. It doesn't give them a weird fur texture like peroxide does. Peroxide is if this process fails to get you where you want. I have heard that peroxide can DQ some people from showing, but I think that's bollocks as almost every show page will recommend using it if all else fails. (I was told it was a DQ by someone who was showing against me)

I bought a doe who ended up having actual skin burns from being cleaned with peroxide, so I wanted to avoid using that. It's just his feet that are yellow, the rest of him is brilliantly white, lol. I'll try the vinegar and corn starch

i was just using wet wipes once to twice a day depending on how yellow they were.

Bad Habit":3ochldua said:

I bought a doe who ended up having actual skin burns from being cleaned with peroxide, so I wanted to avoid using that. It's just his feet that are yellow, the rest of him is brilliantly white, lol. I'll try the vinegar and corn starch

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yeesh, they had to have been using a highly concentrated peroxide (like barbers use for bleaching hair) I have never heard of normal over the counter medical peroxide doing that. It breaks down into just plain water and oxygen when exposed to air.
If this was you who used it; Are you sure her burns weren't from the pee and the peroxide just made it hurt like heck because that WILL happen (if anyone here has stupidly poured peroxide on a rash before - basically that.. I have done this to myself once and yowee! :x ). Always start with just water on a bun who has severe urine stains (I assumed in this case your buns couldn't be that bad or you'd be talking about their entire belly and sides :lol: ) I'd NEVER suggest peroxide on a neglect case (they could have all kinds of sores that would aggravate)

Nope, wasn't me who did it. I used peroxide on a rabbit once(diluted 50/50) and the doe screamed like I was ripping her toenails out, so I've been skittish about using it again. May have been urine scald, however the doe smelled like peroxide. She also was missing most of the hair from her hindquarters and had insanely bad nails, so...

I'm kicking myself for letting the buck get so bad, but in my defense, I didn't think I'd be doing this show, and don't care if my breeding rabbits have yellow feet.

I'm starting to think peroxide there is different from here. The peroxide we get (and would use for this purpose) has no smell at all. Unless you consider water a smell. D: It looks like this (click for link). It is used in ears, on wounds, as a gargle, some folks brush with it, and vets here use it to clean up blood from dog fur (nothing will get blood stains out better or safer).

Also yikes, I hope you don't think I've insinuated at all that your buns are neglected. My own have slightly yellowed feet which I show them with. But mine are on wire which makes it less apparent. (I meant the previous owners who let it get to "hutch burn" status)

I don't see yellow feet as neglect/abuse, because no matter how frigging clean I keep them, they still get yellow feet, lol. It doesn't hurt them, just unslightly. I can pretty much guarantee my rabbits would find it more abusive to have their feet washed weekly, lol.

I think peroxide is the same between US and Canada, and when I said peroxide smell... it's hard to describe, but to me, there is a slight, distinct odour to peroxide. I've always had a very sensitive nose(which is weird because I smoke), like, I can smell when a rabbit has given birth. There is a distinct odour(not a blood smell, it's different than that) that I notice when a rabbit gives birth. When peroxide is used on a rabbit, to remove urine stains, it combines and makes a strange musty peroxide-pee smell.

The doe I had who screamed when I used peroxide(this was a couple years ago), it might just have been screaming in shock of going into the water. She had no wounds, no scald, just staining. Didn't have any rashes or hair loss or anything after I used it either, so... It doesn't take much to unnerve me and scare me off something, especially when it comes to something that could be causing pain.

I just need to work up the nerve to clean walker's feet. Probably friday or saturday, so they don't have a chance to get stained before the show, lol.

Just wanted to say I appreciated these posts. I usually don't have issues with yellow feet with my rabbits. However, one of my daughters had put a wood resting spot in the cage for them and apparently they were all hanging out there going potty. The damage was done before I realized the problem. They all had yellowed feet.
I just tried dipping their feet in full strength white vinegar, toweling off, and then doing the cornstarch. It definitely made a difference and significantly lightened the yellow.

Thanks all!