Does my bunny pick up on my stress?

[kaitland]

Hi! I have a little holland lop named Alto hes a bit over one year old. He went into stasis about 2 months ago and I’ve been the poop analyzer even since!! Thank goodness the vet helped him recover, but I have been a little nervous about some of his poops sometimes. The last few days hes had some small poops on and off. I read online this is from stress most of the time. I have post traumatic stress disorder so I am very high stress a lot of the time (especially since he went into stasis.) Could he be picking up on my stress and thus making him stressed? I also have another question. Whenever I notice he isnt pooping as much as normal, isnt eating a lot of hay, his belly feels harder than normal or has more than one stringy poop I give him a little bit of critical care watered down a little bit (its called recovery food on the package its just hay dust and water I believe). Is it alright to give him this? Or should I save it for when he is in emergency stasis?

[DanaNM]

Welcome to the world of being a poop obsessed bunny parent! I think there are a lot of us here haha.

I think giving a little watery critical care when you notice something is just slightly off is perfectly fine and a great thing to do (I do the exact same thing with my bunnies). The only time I wouldn’t is if you really suspect a severe blockage or bloat (like you notice a large chunk of foreign material was eaten, or something like that).

To answer your question about stress, it kind of depends on the bunny, but probably not too much. I think that they can pick up on our stress, but the type of stress causing small poops is usually something much more stressful (like perhaps a trip to the vet or maybe a loud dog barking outside for a long time).

Have you had his teeth examined? Lops are somewhat prone to dental issues, so that could be influencing his hay-eating (and poop size).

. . . 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.  

[kaitland]

Thanks for your reply! I don’t think the vet checked his teeth when he was in for stasis, he did have them checked way back when he was 6 months and the vet said they looked good. But I will definitely have her give him a little check up and have his teeth looked at when he goes in for his nail trim in about a week or so. His poops are normal about 90% of the time, he seems to have a really sensitive digestive system. I was wondering myself if maybe the brand of pellets he eats is to blame (Kaytee) and am going to start slowing introducing him to a new brand I’ve heard is better (Sherwood)

[DanaNM]

They can definitely be sensitive to certain pellet ingredients, so that sounds like a good plan as well. You might talk to your vet about doing a hay only diet for a little while to try to identify the problem (but important to rule out dental issues before trying that, to make sure they do eat enough hay).

. . . 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.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Not likely, bunnies do pick up our moods, but not as extremely as that.

My rainbow bunny Breintje noticed it when I was in a lot of pain, and he groomed me a lot on those days. Sometimes when it was really bad he’d skip his afternoon sleep to watch over me in bed. It never affected his health though.

I’d say: rule out medical reasons first as well.

Of course it never hurts to work on bunny relaxation techniques. Some things that worked really well for Breintje were: letting him lay against my bare arm for skin contact, gentle rabbit massage, and purring together to create a happy and relaxed vibe. I wrote a topic about that last one:

Bonding with your rabbit: purring together to create a happy, relaxed vibe

[Author]

Messages