All veggies causing digestive issues

[M&MBunnies]

Hi all

I have a 4.5 year old bun who keeps getting a bad tummy or full on stasis everytime I give her the smallest amount of vegetables.

She currently only eats 3 different kinds of hay and some fresh grass.

I have tried, Bok Choy, parsley, corriander, dill, sweet potato leaves, chicory, fresh Oaten grass, celery leaves.

They have all caused either soft cecotropes, soft dark moist poop or gas/stasis where she stops eating.

I have tried oxbow, Burgess and science selective pellets and they also cause soft cecotropes or excess cecotropes

I feel very bad that she is unable to have any vegetables.

We’ve had blood tests and x-rays done. Nothing the vets are concerned about.

Any idea what may be causing it and if there is anything else I can try? I hate seeing her not be able to have variety in her diet.

TIA

 

 

 

 

 

[DanaNM]

Unfortunately some bunnies have really sensitive tummies to greens and pellets, and it’s not clear why. One theory is that they didn’t develop the normal gut flora when they were weaned as babies.

The best thing to help promote good gut flora is lots of hay, so you are doing the right thing with giving a variety of hays. Some bunnies also do well with dried greens as opposed to fresh ones. I know you can find dried dandelion online, which is typically very good for rabbit digestion, so you could try a tiny amount of that and see how she does.

As far as pellets go, have you tried Sherwood? Might be worth a shot because they have a bit of a different formula than some other brands (and since you’ve tried all the other main brands!).

Is she maintaining her weight OK? If so, then thankfully you don’t need to stress too much because she is fully grown.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[M&MBunnies]

thank you 

Im from Australia so we don’t have Sherwood brand. I had a look online and couldn’t really find a website that ships to Australia either.

I’ll give dried herbs a try, I just didn’t think they had much nutritional value. I’m worried she isn’t getting enough nutrients

 

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

My bunny had the same problem but when I stopped for a few months had her just hay and pellets, and tried again slowly she had soft poops so I had just romaine and about 1/4 leaf for a week and than she was getting better 2 years later and her diet is mainly veggies

[M&MBunnies]

Oh can I ask a few more questions.

Was your bunny able to eat a range of veggies before it started to get unwell by them.

Which veggies did you start with and how much?

In the end which veggies didn’t make her tummy upset?

What veggies does she eat now?

Which pellets did you feed her?

Thank you and I know it’s a lot of questions!

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

No she was not able to eat any before. I started with just romaine and half leaf a day, than added green and red leaf once romaine was ok just very little bits once that was ok it started with parsley and cilantro when that became ok I started to increase amount slowly. Cilantro was the only one that didn’t cause problems for her. She did have some problems while doing this but I continued till she didn’t increasing and deceasing amount as needed. She now has no problems with any veggie any that rabbits can have she is good with. When I was doing this was was on science selective adult rabbit pellets. Now she is on Sherwood which is the best but I see that you were unable to get them. There is never to much questions and I hope this helped.

[tobyluv]

Maybe some herbs would be good to add to her diet and not cause problems.  Lemon balm, mint and thyme are herbs that are safe for rabbits.  I think that lemon balm and thyme both have properties that help with gas and bloating.  If you click on the Rabbit Info link here, then click on healthy diet, you can see lists of good veggies/greens, herbs for rabbits.

[Azerane]

My first question is to ask how did you introduce these veggies and pellets? What size amount did you give for how long? Introducing new foods correctly can be the key difference between a rabbit tolerating them or not. Their gut bacteria needs time to adjust. With a really sensitive rabbit 1 piece of leaf the size of your pinky finger once a day for a few days, and then double the size every day if there are no adverse reactions. After 2-3 weeks introduce the next green in the same manner. I would not introduce greens and pellets at the same time either, pick one thing and go with that. Once they’re settled on that for a month, then try introducing the other. For pellets, start as small as a 2-3 individual pellets a day and slowly increase that number until you get up to about 1 tablespoon.

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