Bunny help! Diarrhea/Wet tail?

[Crys]

Last week on Saturday I came home from work around 11pm from my shift and he wasn’t eating much but he had diarrhea. I took away pellets and found out my parents had been overfeeding him carrots here and there, but they both didn’t realize it. Apparently my dad gives him two carrots in the morning and in the evening but they’re baby carrots. My mom how ever would give him up to five or so when she would get home from break and it wasn’t until I asked that I had found out, so lately I tried sticking to just romance lettuce and hay. He had an unlimited amount of hay and on Sunday morning (the day after he had diarrhea) he was fine, pooping normal hard pellets again, he was drinking more water and eating his hay and I told them to not feed him carrots or anything else that could be high in sugar…
A few days went by, it was on Thursday I noticed he had a wet bum, and I’m sure it was from urine, I cleaned him up immediately when I got off work and noticed it, on Wednesday which was my only day off for the week I bought him a brand new cage. I’ve been working only one or two double shifts because I work at a restaurant and the owner just opened a new one so I’ve been helping out lately. I normally have more time off to spend time with h, but I noticed Thursday he had the wet bum, I cleaned him, he was fine Friday and when I got off work around 4pm I came home to his bum being wet again so I cleaned him up, cleaned up his brand new cage that I had gotten him on Wednesday, and he was fine up until last night which was Saturday night. He started having his poop pellets stuck to his bum, I noticed since Friday evening he hasn’t really tried hopping out of his cage either when normally he’ll run around and do binkys (when they do a double jump or kind of kick while jumping) but he hasn’t been doing that. I took him outside today for a good 45 minutes so he could wander and eat regular grass, and he only munched on a few clovers, ate grass, but didn’t hop around much. I asked my best friend to check up on him for me right before I got off work and she told me he had diarrhea again, so I rushed him to find poop (wet and dry) stuck to his bum, it’s swollen and irritated but he let me groom him with some grooming wipes I bought last week for when he got diarrhea last week. He’s eating just fine, we cleaned his cage again since there were spots with smeared poop, but now it’s really noticeable that when he hops he’s trying to keep his bum down. I called a 24 hour emergency vet that’s in Seattle, the only one open around my area right now but the doctor available is doing surgery right now so I’m still waiting on the lady I was on the phone with to give me a call back. I plan on taking him to the vet first thing by 830 tomorrow morning to anyone that can help my out right now, buthe until sunrise I need some advice to help out this issue!!! I’m scared and worried, is there anything I should be doing that is something I haven’t done yet?? He is clean, his cage is clean, he has unlimited hay, and I refilled his water for the third time today and I haven’t refilled any pellets. I was also scared that he might start getting overweight but a few people have told me he seems fine and I can still find his ribs. Any help please?!?!

[Bam]

Do you see any round “normal” poop at all besides the sticky diarrhea-like poop?

This is key, because if you do, this is not diarrhea but what’s known as sticky poop, poopy butt or intermittent soft cecotropes. And that is not an absolute emergency. Tru diarrhea with liquid, often mucos-y poop is true diarrhea and needs emergency vet care.

[Bam]

Sticky poop is caused by too rich food, particularly food rich in sugars. Carrots have lots of sugar, and contrary to what people generally believe, carrots are not bunny-appropriate food, they are to be regarded as treats and only fed in small amounts.

Sticky poop needs to be dealt with, because it means the gut microbiota, esp the microbiota in the cecum (big part of rabbit intestines), is out of whack. Sugars make the wrong microbes grow excessively. This makes the cecals sticky and plenty and the bun can’t eat them like he should (there are very important nutrients in cecal poop) and the result is the bunny gets poopy butt.

You treat this by cutting out all sweet treats, cut back on pellets, feed extra hay and choose vegs carefully. Fresh grass is good if he’s used to getting that. Make sure he eats, he mustn’t stop eating or you need to take action. It’s also good if he gets exercise. 

It can take a while for this to right itself, the good microbes in the gut need time and fiber to re-establish themselves. So you need some patience and if the poopy butt goes on, you might have to give your bun a butt bath. This is particularly important if he gets outside-time. Flies like poop and can actually and disgustingly enough lay eggs in the poop on the bunny and cause an awful condition known as fly-strike.

Don’t hesitate to ask more questions and if you like, keep us updated!

[Author]

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