Go-to tactics to rejuvenate healthy poos

[Wick & Fable]

I thought it may be informative to have a small pool to gather what various owners do when they notice their bun bun’s poos are deviating from their norm. At his best, Wick’s poos are slightly larger than my pinky nail, and they are dry to damp and circular.

** PLEASE NOTE: This is under the assumption your rabbit is, otherwise, healthy. If you believe the cause is not something easily treated at home, seek medical attention from a trained rabbit veterinarian!
This is meant for short, innocuous spells in rabbit digestion, caused by potential gas episodes, molting, change in food, etc..

If not dry, large, and spherical:
1) What typically causes this in your rabbit?
2) With your response from #1, are there other symptoms besides irregular poo that flag it?
3) What’s the first remedy you try? Second? Third? Concurrent remedies?
4) How long does it take for your rabbit’s poo to ‘bounce back’?
5) How often does this occur?
6) What do you think causes it?

Wick, 10mo Netherland Dwarf, male (neutered)
1) Gas & fur consumption from molting
2) Less willing to lounge when being pet, has a shorter fuse to activate “sassy pees” (peeing outside litter box because he’s frustrated for not getting a treat/attention)
3) First/second: Recycle current hay and put only fresh timothy hay and orchard hay in litter boxes to encourage more eating. Give him belly massages during pet sessions. Third: Syringe feed water and dump/freshen all water bowls. Fourth: Give 1mL of simethicone. Fifth: Groom off excess fur
4) About 24 hours. I may notice smaller, less frequent poos on a Friday, start remedies all day Saturday, and the poos will be big and grand again Saturday evening, or Sunday morning.
5) One or two times a month, if at all.
6) For the most recent two instances, I believe it’s fur consumption from molting. It’s his first big molt, and the symptoms usually proceed a string-of-pearls poo the day prior. For all other instances, most likely gas.

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.

[joea64]

Actually, I have a question about size so I know what to record for any future incidents – how large is “large”, relatively speaking? All the poops I’ve ever seen from Fernando and Panda, since my first meeting with them, have been the size of smallish berries; they’re abundant, dry, spherical and medium brown to tan. Being Polish rabbits, they’re small buns, about 4 pounds each adult weight, so I’m pretty sure those are normal size for rabbits of their size.

[Wick & Fable]

@joe64 – Others can chime in, but I think it’s a combo of knowing it shouldn’t be as small as a rice grain (if those were spherical instead of elongated), as well as what your rabbit’s usual poo sizes are. Wick’s started out the size of an eraser on a lead pencil, and now they’re about the size of the gentleman’s head on a US dime. Generally, the more hay eaten = bigger poos. Some people say their rabbit’s poo size fluctuates during the day, and this could be because of fluctuation in when they munch on 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.

[DanaNM]

Wow Wick, that’s a great protocol! I might just steal that…. 

Bertha seems to always have beautiful poops… but when I switched to orchard grass hay they got a bit smaller and darker, but still nice and round. Back on timothy they are larger again.

Moose gets weird poops when he’s molting, or sometimes stressed. String of pearls, or just weird shapes, intermittent with normal ones. His have never been quite as beautiful as Bertha’s, but according to our local rescue coordinator, Bertha’s are exceptionally good, ha! 

Whenever I notice weird poops due to molting issues, I tend to groom, restrict pellets, make sure to feed dripping wet greens, and give some kale. Moose doesn’t seem to get gas from kale, and the extra fiber tends to help his poops look better! 

. . . 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.  

[sarahthegemini]

Buttercup does beautiful poops – fairly large, golden to dark in colour and dry. Easy to break apart, and tiny bits of hay inside. Glorious! Peanut on the other hand…his poops fluctuate. His poops are always on the small side but sometimes they are a little smaller. Occasionally they’ll surprise me and be a touch bugger than his average. His are always dark. I think his were lighter when they were on timothy hay. He has oat grass which is what makes them darker. I’ve no idea why his poops are so inconsistent. I don’t panic though (anymore!) because I know he eats plenty of hay, drinks plenty and has never had stomach issues. He’s also a happy little rabbit

Forgot to add, with this weirdly hot weather both buns seem to be permanently moulting. I try and groom them but they do not tolerate it at all. So strings of poops are a common occurrence

[ThorBunny]

Thor usually has lovely poops, about the size of the man’s head on a dime (lol good size reference!) and golden. Occasionally they will be smaller or darker for some reason, but it’s never accompanied by any symptoms. It often seems random, not related to stressors in the environment, etc. I used to panic every time this happened, but she’s never gone off her food and it always resolves in a few hours, so I’ve chilled out a bit

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