Hi,

Sorry to hear about your bunny.

The grunting and squealing is a sign of pain, not to scare you but yes you should be worried because diarrhea in rabbits is serious it does not go away on its own, if left untreated it is deadlly, they can die within a couple days. In rabbits diarrhea or watery stools are caused by a decrease in intestinal motility and as the intestinal motility decreases, the material in the cecum is retained for excessively long periods of time which changes factors such cecal pH and volatile fatty acid production resulting in alterations in the flora. This is when Clostridium and E. coli can overgrow, produce iota toxins and thus wreak havoc on the body (from an article).

For the diarrhea i would take the bunny to a rabbit savy vet. The main thing to keep in mind is to keep the bunny hydrated, because rabbits with diarrhea quickly get dehytrated and It is important that the bunny eats to keep the gut moving or it can lead to problems like Stasis (discussed in this website http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html). Make sure you eliminate all treats and greens while the diahrrhea is active. High fibre food is reccommend like hay and high fibre pellets.

What is your bunny’s diet?

Foods that are high in calories, protein, starches, (example like rabbit pellet mixes with corn, nuts, fruit, seeds are really unhealthy) and low in fibre can be a cause of diarrhea. As well, stress, parasites, and diseases such as Coccidiosis, Tyzzer’s Disease, and Mucoid Enteritis can also cause diahrrhea.

To determine if its parasites i would reccommend you get a fecal test done by vet.

The following websites contain information on diarrhea, some great sites with good info, take a look

http://www.islandgems.net/diarrhea.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=670&S=5

In the mean time make sure your bunny is hydrated and is eating..when the vet opens i would reccommend you take Bambi in since she has very bad diarrhea its serious, needs proper medication and vet care.

I really hope she gets better soon. Keep us posted on the situation.

You need to get her to an emergency vet RIGHT NOW. If she has true diarrhea, she needs those fluids back in her FAST.

Bunnies can die within hours of having a blowout. Irregardless of what the underlying problem actually may be, you need to have some inraveinous fluids into your bun IMMEDIATELY.

oh no!  the poor poor thing

i have no idea if cocoa could have passed something on to bambi… its possible that bambi could be reacting to having another bun in the house.  i do not have experience with this… hopefully others with experience will respond soon.  i think the most important things are that bambi is eating, drinking & pooping – even if the poop is not right at least her system has not stopped.  def goto the vet as soon as possible.  ((((((bambi))))))

edit:  by the time i responded others had already done so too with more specific advice… good luck & keep us posted ok?

For the record, Binkles had a blowout once -probably from too much watery foods. And it scared the CRAP out of me.

We took her to the vet to have her rehydrated intreveinously (we also had to isoflourine her to do this..><) and she was fine the next day. In order to get the fluids in, you don't really need a rabbit-savvy vet either. Just isoflourine and hydration.

What information did they give you? If they don’t take rabbits, how do they know what will stabilize a rabbit? It’s not the same as a treating a cat or dog. I know your vet’s office is closed now, but many times vets will leave an emergency referral on their recording when you call after hours. You might want to check. I am really concerned, because rabbits normally don’t show or express pain unless it’s very serious. She could have gas, she could have an injury, but anytime a bunny is in pain, it can cause so much stress it can shut everything down.

Does her stomach feel bloated? Is she grinding her teeth at all? Poor thing. I would keep trying to find an emergency vet that knows how to treat rabbits.

Keep us updated

Oh my! I hope your bun is okay. It’s so hard when they are sick! I know how much it sucks to only have vets who don’t do rabbits in an emergency. Take care of your bun, we’re all here for you.

Oh my! I hope your bun is okay. It’s so hard when they are sick! I know how much it sucks to only have vets who don’t do rabbits in an emergency. Take care of your bun, we’re all here for you.

phew!  so glad she’s stabilized!  you must feel exhausted today.  i wonder why the runny poops?  

Glad she’s better!! Did they say it was true diarhea (rare in rabbits) or poopy bum, stasis, iss? Just curious! *hugs*

Well “poopy bum” is a symptom of something so that just doesn’t make sense to me. Did they say what caused it or give you any advice how to alleviate it?

I’ve never had a sick bunny – Thank Goodness. I thought that it might help if I shared this story though.

When we first brought Mango home to bond with Hopscotch she had loose poos. Boy did they smell too!!! The vet and the ladies at the rescue says that it is very common for the stress of a new home or new bonding candidate to cause runnier stools and an odor. It is a combination of stress and marking of their territory. Boy was I glad that it only lasted a few days and all is fine now. Perhaps things will get back to normal once both bunnies are used to sharing their homes.

Valerie

Its my understanding that often what we humans call diarhea is really loose stool.  Loose stool is more soft & mushy vs. totally watery/ liquidy.  So maybe that would help for clarification sake.  I know when I initially got Oreo, she had loose stool.  The vet stated that it was due to stress, w/ moving to a new home and new cage mate.

Jessica grunts and makes like a pig sound at me when she’s upset that I’ve invaded her space.  Its not so much as a squeel but more like a higher pitched, drawn out grunt.  I can’t really explain it, except that it reminds me of sounds I’ve heard from pigs.  She also has a flittery high pitched sound she makes when trying to get Leo’s attention!  I think overtime you start to know there specific sounds and what means what.  Just like how mommies can tell what babies want from their cry.  Did the vet think it was just stress?  Did the also give you some of that belly flora stuff…what’s it call alphocidious…lipididious…beneficious…sorry I really can’t remember.

Happy ending, yay! Glad to hear everything is O.K.

ooo glad you were able to find out what the problem was and hope the poopy butt will stop without the corn and so many carrots

I just read your whole thread now, and was very relieved to hear that she’s better.

Is “poopy butt” when the stools are very soft and mushy, so th bun is messy on its own fur as well as in the cage? My bun had this a few times, and it was always due to a treat that he didn’t digest well, like certain fruits. The corn and carrots make perfect sense. By the way, keeping family members from sneaking snacks to your pet can be hard sometimes. One day about 4 different relatives slipped him a little treat, one at a time, not knowing the others had just done so. He pigged out!

I want to learn more now so when I get a new little one I will be more informed than last time, when I would wing it and call vets. (ie, do not need to call for flops, DO need to call for mushy poops, but not for cecal poops) It’s a lot to learn for new bunny moms. Bambi is very pretty, BTW.

Firstly, I am glad that your bunny is OK now!  Corn and carrots, yikes no wonder she had problems with her tummy.  Those foods are loaded with calories and carbs, hard for a bunny to digest.

I have experienced problems first hand with “poopy butt” and coming into a new home.  Almost every foster that I’ve had has gotten a bit of poopy butt the first few days.  The stress of a new environment, coupled with a different diet at a new place can often lead to poopy problems.  The saddest is the bunnies that I have pulled from the shelter, who are used to a diet of cheap pellets and water.  I give them greens and hay, and their system goes crazy for a little while until they get used to it.

Now, the most common “poopy butt” is actually cecal droppings getting smeared on the bunny’s fur.  For a little Poopology 101 if you don’t know what I am talking about, rabbits produce 2 kinds of poops – fecals, which are the little raisins that they drop all over, and cecals, which sometimes look like little grape clusters and other times look like big logs.  These have a distinctive nasty smell to them, and are wet and squishy.  Fecals are hard and dry, and turn to powder if you crush them.  The cecals come out and the rabbit is supposed to eat them, as a way to redigest some of the fiber she has consumed.  if a bunny is stressed, they are too upset to remember to eat the cecals, and they get dropped and sat in, which causes poopy butt.  A diet with too many calories causes too many of the cecals to be generated, so bunny just leaves them behind, causing the same problem.

My opinion only, I am not a vet, please use your own judgement:

Poopy butt is messy, smelly and indicates a problem with bunny’s diet, but as long as the bunny is producing fecals and eating, I would say small bouts of it do not warrant a trip to the vet.  If it persists, or if the bunny shows signs of pain or refuses to eat, then a trip to the vet is in order.  Persistant poopy butt sometimes shows up in some bunnies, and can be eliminated with dietary changes.  I know of at least one bunny, for example, who cannot tolerate pellets, even timothy ones.  They give him gas and poopy butt, so he eats only hay and veggies.