Hi there,

I have a 4 year old “big ugly” Netherland Dwarf named Bunard. Every morning he gets a 1/4 cup of pellets that he eats throughout the day and usually in the evenings I give him a big handful of lettuce with parsley and cilantro. He also gets a large handful of hay every morning in his potty, and treats that I know are too high in sugar, but he loves them so much and it’s hard to say no to him. Yesterday I was traveling and so he spent about 3 hours in a travel carrier and he did not poop or pee in it at all (like a good boy) but then when I was able to set up his litter box he did not use it for another 2 or so hours, so about 5 hours in total that I was sure he had not pooped at all. Usually when we travel and I am able to set his litter box up he uses it pretty soon after I do. (And unfortunately, I have been moving him around fairly often, so I’m wondering if he is just stressed from that.) In the case of yesterday, he had not pooped for at least 5 hours, and then when he did it was just a couple, normal pellets. But as I was getting into bed I checked again and there was a cecotrope in his litter that was not eaten, as well as smaller, drier, oblong poops in one corner of his litter box. At this point I was sure I was going to take him into the vet today, but when I checked this morning there were a lot of normal pellets and the cecotrope had been eaten. My question is: do I need to be concerned for GI stasis or bloat or something similar? I’m going to cut down the amount of treats he gets, increase hay, and maybe decrease greens as well, but does he need urgent attention?

His behavior has been fairly normal, he’s not grinding his teeth like he’s in pain, and he is still eating well. I squeezed his tum this morning to check for bloat and it squished like I thought it should, but I have never done that before so I have nothing to compare it to.

I’ve attached a picture of what he looks like because I think he’s the greatest man to ever grace the Earth and I want you all to see him too! 🙂