A warning to others so you don't make my mistake

[JMae]

This is embarrassing, I'll preface my story with the obvious. I'm brand spanking new to showing rabbits, and like many others, I grew up familiar showing large animals. I am very familiar with using blue shampoo and natural whiteners, none which ever BLEACH the animal, but cleaning stains has been a constant battle with goats, horses, and cattle. I have a white rabbit and his feet were more yellow than I desired them to be for his first show and I wanted to make my absolute best effort to show him with white feet. Several people told me (yes, they were rabbit showing people) that it's okay to clean pee stains from feet and the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to do so is hydrogen peroxide. I was briefed to keep them warm, don't overdo it, and was careful to do it exactly how I was instructed. My rabbit is still working on laying on his back and he decided to flop around a bit, which spread the peroxide over his spots, and now I have not a broken lilac, but a white, grey, and orange rabbit. Needless to say he will be missing this show, and I will never ever again clean pee stains with hydrogen peroxide. I highly recommend no one does. Just stick with the baking soda and baby wipes. I hope this Embarrassing story saves someone from taking very bad advice or trusting people too hastily. Thanks for coming. I absolutely feel like a dunce

 

[R Buns]

While not the same way I think most of us have taken advice that's backfired. So very sorry this happened but major props to you for sharing so maybe someone else doesn't make the same mistake.

 

[Alaska Satin]

This is embarrassing, I'll preface my story with the obvious. I'm brand spanking new to showing rabbits, and like many others, I grew up familiar showing large animals. I am very familiar with using blue shampoo and natural whiteners, none which ever BLEACH the animal, but cleaning stains has been a constant battle with goats, horses, and cattle. I have a white rabbit and his feet were more yellow than I desired them to be for his first show and I wanted to make my absolute best effort to show him with white feet. Several people told me (yes, they were rabbit showing people) that it's okay to clean pee stains from feet and the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to do so is hydrogen peroxide. I was briefed to keep them warm, don't overdo it, and was careful to do it exactly how I was instructed. My rabbit is still working on laying on his back and he decided to flop around a bit, which spread the peroxide over his spots, and now I have not a broken lilac, but a white, grey, and orange rabbit. Needless to say he will be missing this show, and I will never ever again clean pee stains with hydrogen peroxide. I highly recommend no one does. Just stick with the baking soda and baby wipes. I hope this Embarrassing story saves someone from taking very bad advice or trusting people too hastily. Thanks for coming. I absolutely feel like a dunce

What a bummer. It's certainly a disappointment, but don't feel like a dunce. It sounds like maybe there was something missing in the instructions you got from the other folks. And you're right, showing rabbits is a lot different from showing large stock. I started showing livestock in the rabbit world, where altering the animal's natural appearance in any way - dyeing, bleaching, plucking, etc. - results in the disqualification of an exhibitor's entire entry. So when I went to a large stock clinic and heard instructions to use baling twine and glue to fit steers, rub oil on hogs, and use whiteners on sheep, I was fairly appalled. Different worlds!

But white rabbits are notorious for being pigs. If you have a sprayer, or a rabbit that lies in its own waste, you can bet it'll be the white one, or a broken if you don't have whites. I had a white Satin that made a pile of hay in the corner, peed on it regularly, then rolled and sat in it all day. She was incorrigible. No show career for that pretty (but smelly) bunny. I've since quit giving the rabbits loose hay.

So it's a challenge, but there are some things you can do. First, prevention is golden, since the longer they're yellow, the harder it is to get out the stains. If you've got a pig in rabbit's clothing, try to figure out how to fool it into staying clean. Sometimes for me that's been putting up solid barriers between a nasty spraying buck and his neighbors (but the barrier had to be outside the wire walls of his cage, and an inch away from them, since if it was inside or up against the cage wall, he'd spray it and then rub himself on it). It's definitely meant keeping the rabbits in all-wire cages with no solid floors or walls. Sometimes it's meant taking away the sitting board and replacing it with a plastic mesh resting mat. Holland bucks are the worst, and even our tort bucks can look stained. While they're young (meaning anything under 5 years old), we often have to bathe them several times between shows, and again a day before the show, and then bring bales of baby wipes with us to the show.

No matter what, though, white rabbits will get dirty. The best approach I've found is to use corn starch; sprinkle it into the fur and rub it around, and let it sit for a while before brushing it out. This won't take out horrible stains, but it's amazing how much better the rabbit can look afterwards, especially if the pee was still wet. You might have to do it more than once.

People do use hydrogen peroxide, and it will get out harder stains, but it's really best for all-white rabbits (as you found out). I don't like to use it, though, because if you leave it in too long it can stain even white fur; it can also subtly change the texture of the fur, which I don't like.

If you're new to showing, you might be relieved to hear that yellow on the bottom of the feet is rarely cause for even a comment. If the whole foot or the hind end is stained, or the feet are sticky and smelly with urine, that's a problem. But most white or white-footed rabbits have yellow soles.

 

[MsTemeraire]

If you're new to showing, you might be relieved to hear that yellow on the bottom of the feet is rarely cause for even a comment. If the whole foot or the hind end is stained, or the feet are sticky and smelly with urine, that's a problem. But most white or white-footed rabbits have yellow soles.

That's so different to showing in the UK. Here, the underside of the feet must be perfectly clean, and that means as white as the body on white rabbits. It's very hard work to keep them that clean.

 

[JMae]

What a bummer. It's certainly a disappointment, but don't feel like a dunce. It sounds like maybe there was something missing in the instructions you got from the other folks. And you're right, showing rabbits is a lot different from showing large stock. I started showing livestock in the rabbit world, where altering the animal's natural appearance in any way - dyeing, bleaching, plucking, etc. - results in the disqualification of an exhibitor's entire entry. So when I went to a large stock clinic and heard instructions to use baling twine and glue to fit steers, rub oil on hogs, and use whiteners on sheep, I was fairly appalled. Different worlds!

But white rabbits are notorious for being pigs. If you have a sprayer, or a rabbit that lies in its own waste, you can bet it'll be the white one, or a broken if you don't have whites. I had a white Satin that made a pile of hay in the corner, peed on it regularly, then rolled and sat in it all day. She was incorrigible. No show career for that pretty (but smelly) bunny. I've since quit giving the rabbits loose hay.

So it's a challenge, but there are some things you can do. First, prevention is golden, since the longer they're yellow, the harder it is to get out the stains. If you've got a pig in rabbit's clothing, try to figure out how to fool it into staying clean. Sometimes for me that's been putting up solid barriers between a nasty spraying buck and his neighbors (but the barrier had to be outside the wire walls of his cage, and an inch away from them, since if it was inside or up against the cage wall, he'd spray it and then rub himself on it). It's definitely meant keeping the rabbits in all-wire cages with no solid floors or walls. Sometimes it's meant taking away the sitting board and replacing it with a plastic mesh resting mat. Holland bucks are the worst, and even our tort bucks can look stained. While they're young (meaning anything under 5 years old), we often have to bathe them several times between shows, and again a day before the show, and then bring bales of baby wipes with us to the show.

No matter what, though, white rabbits will get dirty. The best approach I've found is to use corn starch; sprinkle it into the fur and rub it around, and let it sit for a while before brushing it out. This won't take out horrible stains, but it's amazing how much better the rabbit can look afterwards, especially if the pee was still wet. You might have to do it more than once.

People do use hydrogen peroxide, and it will get out harder stains, but it's really best for all-white rabbits (as you found out). I don't like to use it, though, because if you leave it in too long it can stain even white fur; it can also subtly change the texture of the fur, which I don't like.

If you're new to showing, you might be relieved to hear that yellow on the bottom of the feet is rarely cause for even a comment. If the whole foot or the hind end is stained, or the feet are sticky and smelly with urine, that's a problem. But most white or white-footed rabbits have yellow soles.

Thank you for being kind, I actually feel a lot better. I also really appreciate the recommendations because I didnt even think about using mesh! Big lesson learned and hopefully soon I can laugh about it. His feet are perfectly white at least.

 

[JMae]

While not the same way I think most of us have taken advice that's backfired. So very sorry this happened but major props to you for sharing so maybe someone else doesn't make the same mistake.

Thank you so much. I'm so relieved everyone has been kind about it.

 

[Mckatie]

I use corn starch. Thank you for sharing your learning experience. I am currently not showing.. not sure I will show, but one of the kids might choose to do so next year. I always appreciate helpful information. Thanks again!

 

[Alaska Satin]

That's so different to showing in the UK. Here, the underside of the feet must be perfectly clean, and that means as white as the body on white rabbits. It's very hard work to keep them that clean.

Sorry, maybe my writing was a little misleading. Here the rabbits definitely must be clean, all over, especially for any hope of winning one of the top prizes. Slight staining on the underside of the feet might pass, but dirty will not.

But I don't think I've ever seen a white rabbit with soles exactly the same color as the body. They always seem to have an off-white to pale yellow tone, analogous to the contrasting dark gray color on the bottoms of the feet in a black, or the milk chocolate color in a chocolate. Is it allowed to use whitening or other enhancement products on your show animals?

 

[MsTemeraire]

Sorry, maybe my writing was a little misleading. Here the rabbits definitely must be clean, all over, especially for any hope of winning one of the top prizes. Slight staining on the underside of t he feet might pass, but dirty will not.
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Is it allowed to use whitening or other enhancement products on your show animals?

Faint yellow might pass, but they have to be as near white as can be, on white/white-footed breeds. Very few ppl keep rabbits on wire here, so it is possible to keep them spotless on thick, clean bedding. Rabbits naturally soil only one corner, so that can be cleaned every day, and selecting for the 'cleanest' rabbits (as in, don't pee on themselves or dig in the dirty corner). I once had a REW Polish (Brit Petite) who was obsessively fastidious - I swear he all but stacked each poop in the corner individually! So he always had immaculate feet.. Currently I have an Orange Pole (Brit) who has only ever been shown once; as soon as puberty hit, he became the filthiest beast known to humankind. His favourite habit is digging in his poop and he still manages it somehow with daily cleaning.

Which brings us to whitening, etc. Many of us do use products such as cornflour, whitening sprays and so on. Our rules are that whatever is used must not be present in the coat during judging, so any powder, dust or strong scent must be gone. But years of experience has taught me the only real way is to keep them clean all the time. Slight ivory yellow stained feet can be improved upon but past a certain shade of yellow, nothing will work except keeping the rabbit at home, keeping it clean, and waiting for a moult to happen to bring in new clean footpad fur.

Edited to add: I've streamed a few of the ARBA Conventions and have noticed stained feet occasionally in Best of Breed winners - that just would not happen here. Any winners must be perfectly clean.