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› FORUM › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Fern – EDIT: Not pee, Diarrhea
Well I have to make this short because it is late and I WAS going to go to bed but I went upstairs to find pee all over the carpet in various places, it was either a brown color or it was a dark yellow color.
Earlier this evening I gave the bunnies a cardboard box and a cardboard toy that dispenses pellets (if any of that is relevant). Also lately I have been giving them collard greens and it has not seemed to cause any problems.
I know it was Fern because I flipped her over and there was brownish pee stains on her bum area.
So what do you think would cause this? I know it could be a UTI.
Fern is fine now, but I am going to keep an eye on her of corse.
Will update later when possible.
Thanks.
i am not sure what could have cosed this but i hope she feels better ![]()
The color doesn’t bother me as much as the fact you are finding pee in more places than normal and there are also stains on her bum area.
The collard greens could be the culprit for the change in color, but the rest of the symptoms make me think it could be a UTI.
As far as her bum area – was there more urine there than normal?
Well now I am not so sure that it was pee, I found some diarrhea this morning, there were some whole soft poos but also some diarrhea. SO that must have been the brown stuff I saw, also when I cleaned up the diarrhea then it was yellowish if it was only a little on the paper towel so I think that is what it was last night. It must have been the collard greens.
Will come home early to check on her.
I will update.
Ok I am at school and should not really be on, but I am desperate.
There were brown splotches all over this morning, Fern seemed fine, eating, running about ext. When I woke up there was nothing, but when I came up after breakfast it was all over. I think was the same last night, I just mistakened it for pee because it was less thick. I am pretty sure it was the collard greens so I will not give them any more. But I am still worried. What are the risks when a bunny had diarrhea? Dehydration? Because the diarrhea was not in vast enough quantities to dehydrate her (I think), but it was just all over.
Any words of comfort you can give me? I am really worried now and I am coming home early to check on her.
I’m actually wondering if she’s passed some bladder sludge or calcium crystals if not true sludge. Different foods can cause some loose poos but I think you’d know mushy poop when you see it. Watery diarrhea is not that common….. Either way, a vet check sounds like the next step when you can. Test for either UTI, sludge or a fecal/cecal test for parasites I suppose.(((Fern+MLW)))
Now that it’s morning I would definitely call the vet and take her in today. If it were just one time (last night) I would be inclined to think it was a food she ate and passed with difficulty. That’s happened to all of us.
But continuous diarrhea into the next day worries me that there is a problem, and while we can guess, you really want to know for sure and treat it immediately before it gets worse. Please have her looked at and keep us posted.
I would also suggest picking up some of her poo and bring it in a baggie in case the vet needs a sample, or ask when you call if she’d like you to do that.
Well I am pretty sure it was poop because in one of the spots there was a partially smoosehd poop that was part diarhea and part poop (gross I know).
I am going to go home as quickly as possible, I do think it was the collard greens because they were new and I did feed them again last night, so that might have caused this mornings bout of diarrhea.
She did not have diarrhea through the night, because when I woke up it was not there, just when I wentupstairs to check on her there was diarrhea on the floor.
Hopefully everything will be alright.
Thanks everyone, I wish I could drive now, because then I would drive home to check on her…
I came home and there was no more diarrhea, so I cleaned Fern’s butt. I am going to sit with her and see if she is fine otherwise (eating, drinking). She was not lethargic so that is good, I am going to see how she is doing now and then decide if she needs the vet or not.
Fern is eating well, she ate some lettuce and some hay, but surprisingly did not want to eat pellets. I will check her again to make sure she is eating. I do not want to take her to the vet if the diarrhea was just because of the collard greens. The vet will probably just give me critical care to take home, but I already have critical care, I fed some of it to Fern (Just because I wanted her to eat something that has the nutrients of pellets and liquids), and Thistle REALLY wanted some so he got some as well.
Hi I think Fern is fine now, she is eating, but I don’t think she had pooped yet. Does anyone know what could cause this? I still am reluctant to take her to the vet because I don’t want to take her if it is only a stomach upset from some new greens. I sent Dana Krempels, Ph.D. a message to ask her opinion on what I should do next, I wanted a vets opinion.
This is what I sent her:
“Hi my rabbit had diarrhea (She seems fine now – is eating, not lethargic, and no more diarrhea as of now)
But I want to know what caused it or if I should still be worried for her even if she seems fine now (I will monitor her eating and check to see if she has any hard poos)
It started yesterday night, I came upstairs late at night to find diarrhea in different little splotches on the carpet of the bunny room. I guess it was watery (It might have not been but been smooshed into the carpet or soaked in or whatnot)because I actually thought it was pee, I just saw dark patches on the carpet and thought it was wet with pee. The ‘pee’ was brownish yellow, (which is the color of poop if on a paper towel in a thin layer). So I cleaned it up and actaully suspected my boy bunny because he was the hardest to litter train and I thought that maybe something had spooked him causing him to mark his territory?? But I also thought that it might be a UTI so I Picked up Fern, my female, and there was the brown ‘pee’ I must have been tired because I was still 100% sure it was pee, but thought it might be a UTI – Either way I was going to moniter her to see how she was doing.
The next day I checked on them – fine, no diarrhea. But right before I left for school I went to check on them again and there was diarrhea everywhere again. This time it was thicker and very obvious to be diarrhea (also the diarrhea was everywhere but there was not a vast quantity of it). I cleaned it up and checked on her, she was fine – not lethargic (she objected severely to me flipping her over) and she was eating. Her butt was really dirty but I resolved to clean it after school, because she seemed fine then.
I come home to no more diarrhea and she was fine (until I cleaned her bum – then she was really angry). She was eating fine(I gave her some ‘special’ hay and a little bit of lettuce), but I didn’t know if she had passed any normal poos (I cannot tell my two bunnies poo apart).
SO she is fine now eating and all that, but I just want to know what caused this and if I should still be worried.
I suspect is was the collard greens I fed them for about a week, maybe they disagreed with her – (but why would it take a week to start giving her diarrhea?
The only things that were different that night was I gave them a cardboard box to play in, and I gave them a cardboard egg carton that I cut holes out of so it dispenses food (I put pellets inside it – but it had some pellets already in it from another time because I had to take it away at night so I could sleep in peace and the pellets might have been old). I also gave them a willow ball which they ate in no time.
What do you think? I only want to go to the vet if I really need to, I am willing to pay (I have special savings) but I don’t want to go just because the new greens disagreed with her or something minor like that.”
Fern is a lop, right? Could there be something wrong with her teeth? I just got off the phone with Mimzy’s vet and she’d already had to trim a few hooks off his teeth again (the same ones as a month ago) and he’d already shown the same symptoms he’d had before when he had tooth issues (violent sneezing and trouble eating).
I know anything that disturbs their teeth disturbs their tummies…so…
The truth is I do want to go to the vet, I have the $$ saved up, but the question is do I really need to now? The Diarrhea really wasn’t in puddles, just little splotches and it looked like it got tracked all over the place. Also is there any way to know weather she has pooped? Should I separate her and Thistle (one in the condo and one out) so I can see if she has pooped (I cannot tell their poop apart). Do you think separating them for a while (they would be able to see each other) would break the bond?
Yes she is a lop, hmm, her teeth don’t look bad, but I guess it could be the molers, she isn’t having any trouble chewing or anything though. When I go to the vet for their yearly visit in April(ish) I will be sure.
I think as long as they can see one another, they can be kept separate for the amount of time it would take to see if Fern has pooped. I know one of our members had to do that with a bonded pair recently, I just don’t recall who it was.
I think the deciding vote would be if you see her next poop is normal, or if she has diarrhea again. If she returns to normal, round, hard poos, then it probably was the collard greens or the meds you’ve administered have worked. If she is still runny, or soft again, then there is a problem that a vet needs to address.
Yea that it what I was thinking. If she is not pooping properly or stops eating it is to the vet, It is a good thing I had my physics test today, so I won’t miss much at school if she does need to go to the vets tomorrow.
(((Fern))) No advice to offer but poor thing. I hope she’s feeling better soon!
{{{{{{Fern}}}}}}}} Keep us updated!
Did she poop overnight? If she’s not pooping, she needs to go to the vet… Is she a better hay eater now (didn’t she have hay issues before?) I would maybe give her hay today exclusively… that’s my thought.
I’m fairly certain that Dana will refer you to her article on this:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
Ok Fern is still good! She did poop overnight, it was a bit mushy at first but it hardened up and she is currently eating hay with Thistle. She gave me quite a scare there! Since I only Fed her a little Critical care, I had some left and she has a thing against it so thistle (who was dying to eat some when I was trying to get Fern to eat some) got to finish it off, he was a happy boy! Anything that is food makes him happy – he eats like mad!
Yes beka Fern was not a good hay eater before I got thistle, but he really has gotten her to eat more hay!
Thanks for all the vibes guys! I think they worked!
And Sarita, yea as soon as I sent that to Dana then I thought – “she’s probably just going to send me that link.” But I sent it anyway.
› FORUM › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Fern – EDIT: Not pee, Diarrhea
