Eep! Some runny poo! (Hey, Mimzmum! 8D)

[Binkles]

Eek, so I woke up this morning to find a few mushy poos in Little-Bit’s litterbox. Definitely not cecals, just mushy malformed fecals. She was acting okay and hyper and social as usual, but obviously this still needs to be adressed.

I’m almost positive it’s related to her diet because she has been having some gas issues here and there lately. I’ve been aware that I need to play around with her diet some for a while now, but just haven’t gotten around to it. (I know, I know! I feel horrible. T_T Everyone please tar and feather me.)

So now I’m going to try expiramenting around with it some. Right now she’s getting around 2 cups of fresh romaine a day, unlimited hay, and about a teaspoon full of pellets. I know that I need to add variety to her fresh greens. Going out to buy some parsley today.

(I also wonder if her chewing on my bed might be upsetting her stomach a wee bit too…I’m not sure what kind of wood it is. =s I’m also going to Home Depot to buy some un-treated pine wood for her today.)

But I’m wondering if her pellets may have something to do with it as well. As I recall, about a month ago she had a gas episode and I didn’t give her ANY pellets for a day and she seemed to do great. So that’s where my inquiry to Mimzmum comes in. 8D

Mimz -as I understand it, you CAN’T give Mimzy pellets because he’ll go mushy/ runny, right? What is your approach?

And my biggest general question to everyone is this; if I DO try to take her off pellets, what do I need to do to suppliment her diet? Does anyone think that probiotics will help? Etc.

[Sarita]

Most of my rabbits are pellet free and I don’t give them a supplement. I just give them a variety of vegetables and their hay. That’s just a natural diet anyway for a rabbit.

[Binkles]

Is there anything I should be giving her to suppliment while I’m expiramenting around though? I mean, I really regret not giving her variety earlier, but I certainly can’t just start throwing tons of new things at her all at once, and if I’m going to try taking her off of her pellets while I’m also trying new veggies out isn’t she going to be lacking some nutritional something somewhere?

Ugh, I don’t know if that was worded right at all. 😡 I hope it’s understandible though.

[Sarita]

I think you should first start giving her the additional vegetables and just reduce her pellets until you are able to give her a varied diet. It would be best to slowly reduce the pellets anyway instead of just quitting cold turkey with them – how much pellets are you giving her?

[BunnyMuffin]

I agree with Sarita. I was thinking that if you cut off the pellets cold turkey and then start introducing new veggies, that sort of creates confounding variables if there is an adverse reaction. But I would just add one veggie at a time until you know her stomach handles it well. Then once you have a few different types to provide some variety, start trying to eliminate the pellets if they do seem to be the problem.

But honestly, a teaspoon of pellets is hardly anything. How long has she been eating them and have there been any changes lately? A new brand or a new bag or anything? It just seems odd to me that if she’s been eating them long term in such a little amount with no recent changes that she would suddenly have an adverse reaction.

My bunnies get pellets some days, and some days not depending on if I remember and if they’re looking particularly hungry (they go into forage mode and start searching around). But when they do get pellets they share 1/4 – 3/8 of a cup between the 2 of them, which is obviously a heck of a lot more than a teaspoon.

But I wouldn’t worry about a supplement. Keep lots of hay out and back off the pellets once you have a few safe veggies tested out and I think she’d be fine.

[Binkles]

They’re the same Oxbow Bunny Basics T I’ve given her since she was about six months old, and I’ve been giving her about a teaspoon for about, oh three or four months now. Do you guys think that I should be giving her more pellets? It’s just that being a longhair breed, she has gastro problems easier, and in addition to pellets sometimes compounding the gastro problems I figured that by cutting back on her pellets I would also be leaving more room in her stomach for fibrous hay.

Anyway, you guys are right about the variables. I’ll do it one at a time. How long have you guys found that it takes to figure out how a bunny responds to a new food?

[BunnyMuffin]

Oh – I wasn’t trying to imply that you should feed more pellets. Just trying to say that I’d be more concerned that pellets were the problem if she were eating obscene amounts. There’s just not a lot of room to “cut back” when you’re already at a teaspoon. 😛

My bunnies have never reacted poorly to a new veggie (other than not wanting to eat it right away)…so I don’t have any personal experience with how long it takes negative effects, like upset stomach, to appear. But what I do is buy my bunny veggies once a week and if they eat it all week without incident, I put it on my mental “good list” for future variety options, then try another new veggie the next week. So maybe if you buy parsley and feed romaine and parsley all this week, then next week you could buy romaine, parsley and something else. I usually stick with romaine and parsley as constants, and just sub out the 3rd veggie among the other bunny-approved alternatives, depending on what looks good.

[jerseygirl]

Maybe wait until poop returns to norm too, then remove pellets, keep rest of diet consistant – then reintroduce pellets to see what effect it has. A teaspoon of rolled oats is good for helping with soft stools. Also, straight hay diet but looks like she’s has hay as main part of diet anyways. What do you give in the way of treats? Papaya tablets? I have heard this can cause imbalances for some bunnies.

[RabbitPam]

I’m wondering if the romaine is a bit strong for her at the moment. You might try green leaf lettuce, which is milder. (If you smell it, it is lighter than Romaine’s scent.) I usually fall back on that if I have any concerns. Then I mix them or use them alternately.

The pellets you’re using are the most nutritious kind. She just might have nibbled something she shouldn’t. Are there more mushy poos or have they gone back to normal by now?

[Binkles]

Jerseygirl -yes, her treats are papaya tablets. Hmm…perhaps I’ll try backing off those for a while too..

I haven’t seen anymore mushy stools today. But then, she’s a nighttime poo-er, so we have yet to see most of her day’s fecal matter. We’ll see soon I guess!

I bought her some parsley. I’ll probably slip her a sprig here in the next few hours.

[jerseygirl]

Beka had issues with treats and Meadows gut. Was getting pre GI stasis issues. She might have some advice. Woo hoo – parsley!

[Binkles]

Yes! Parsley! 8D Lol I gave her a sprig and it was a hit! (Ironically, the zest I think must have given her the munchies because she’s mauling her hay right now.) So hopefully it agrees with her system.

[MimzMum]

Sorry Sarah, just got in to see this now. I hope Lil’ Bit is feeling better! (((((vibes))))))

Actually, it was Pip who cannot eat pellets at all due to digestive upset. (Mimzy turned out to have that branhamella virus, not allergies to pellets.) We went cold turkey off them and she stopped leaving cecals behind. She’s never really had mushy feces, although they do change depending on what kind of hay I’m feeding her. Oat hay seems to bring about the best results in the litter box, however, this also makes her fat. If I reintroduce pellets, even Oxbow, she begins leaving cecals again. It’s almost like there’s too much sugar in her system, but the only other food she has is orchard hay, oat hay, timothy or one leaf of romaine per day and a few Oxbow barley biscuits. Too many veggies tend to make her stools mushy or cause her to leave cecals.

Some bunnies are just meant to get by on very basic meals I would guess. Perhaps this is the case with Little Bit.

Remember all diet changes need to be made gradually. I would consult Sarita in these matters, but any of the forum leaders have a great grasp on diet changes…especially the section you can access under “Bunny Info” BB has posted on what causes the dreaded poopy butt in bunnies.

Sorry to hear she is having troubles. Bunny tummies are iffy things, I am still trying to figure out what is best for my three, it seems to change on a weekly basis sometimes!

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