Help! Bunny Diarrhea!!!!!

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 12sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 2 months ago by Excript.

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- 05/18/2015 at 3:57 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  Okay, so this is kind of a long story. I hope someone can help me though. (I am planning on taking my rabbit to the vet next week).
  
  So my rabbit is 2, almost 3 years old. Last year he had diarrhea, took him to the vet, and vet said to lay off pellets and only feed him hay and gave me some medicine to give to my rabbit.
  
  This year my rabbit has it again, and it’s been maybe a month he has had diarrhea. I know, sounds bad like I’m neglecting him. But it’s on and off. So every time I THINK i fix it, it’s back. He does poop regular little pellet turds, and they aren’t wet. But some times when I check up to see him in the morning, there is diarrhea poop smeared on the floor all dried up. So he basically has one big diarrhea every other day.
  
  I looked this up to see what could be causing this, and some people say a stomach virus. I’m either feeding him too much vegetables or not enough. It could be my water? But I drink my own water so I don’t think it’s that. I don’t use a water bottle thing to give him water, it’s in a bowl that I clean basically every other day. So I’m thinking, is it what I’m feeding him?
  
  I’m new to bunnies, never owned one and this is my first. I love my rabbit to death and I’ll do whatever it takes to bring him back to health. But do you guys think it could be the brand of pellets I’m feeding him? It’s Kaytee timothy hay based pellets (No fiesta mix haha). I did a quick google search and a lot of people say Kaytee products aren’t good? Is that true? My local pet shops mainly ONLY sell Kaytee pellets for my rabbit. If Kaytee isn’t good, what do you recommend I get for his pellets? And is Kaytee brand timothy hay okay?
  
  Sorry for so many question! But I want to get the source of the diarrhea out of my rabbits life!
  
  Thanks sooooo much in advance!
- 05/18/2015 at 4:03 PM
  Elliriyanna
  Participant
  588 posts
  I recommend Oxbow pellets, They are a great brand and can be ordered online if needed. Their brand of hay isnt the best but Its also just hay its not something they are really manufacturing so its not the end of the world.
  
  As for the veggies, How often and how much? Have you changed what kind or anything lately?
  
  can You think of any recent changes at all that could have upset his system?
- 05/18/2015 at 4:12 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Did the vet check his teeth?
- 05/18/2015 at 4:26 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  I took him to a check up the beginning of this year, and he looked at his teeth and said they were fine. Nothing much more.
- 05/18/2015 at 4:32 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  Okay, thanks! I was thinking if I HAD to order it, I guess I would.
  
  I use to give me a cup full of veggies, but I thought that caused the diarrhea. Now I mainly feed him pellets and a veggie everyday. It was a slow change, nothing drastic. And as of this week I’m feeding him only hay and maybe a quarter a cup of pellets a day, sometimes less.
  
  I honestly don’t really know. My rabbit acts crazy for pellets, like it’s a drug. I don’t know if that’s normal or not. But when I refuse to give it to him, he eats his cardboard.
  
  I leave in clean cardboard for him to entertain himself, but now he eats it. So I have to take it away to force him to only eat his hay.
- 05/18/2015 at 4:54 PM
  JackRabbit
  Participant
  5451 posts
  If his teeth are ok then the mushy poop thing is usually too rich if a diet.
  
  *After* taking him to the vet to rule out any medical issues and having his teeth checked again (both really important, and try to take a fresh sample of the mushy poop with you to the vet!), then you can try adjusting his diet.
  
  Some bunnies are sensitive to too many pellets, others to too much salad, and sometimes its the types of greens that the bunny is sensitive to. In the Bunny Info section under Menu at the top of this page, their is info on healthy bunny diet — including alternative diets. One of my bunnies sometimes has the once a day mushy poop, and the stories about Jack and Bailey helped me figure out how to troubleshoot my Moshi’s diet. In our case (apparently pretty rare), increasing Moshi’s pellets a bit and reducing the amount of salad he gets a bit was the answer. We also had to narrow down exactly what he can handle in his salad. Every bun is different so use the stories as a guideline on how to go about figuring out your bunnies needs. As always, hay, hay, and more hay is alwaysca good thing.
- 05/18/2015 at 5:21 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  Posted By JackRabbit on 5/18/2015 4:54 PM
  
  If his teeth are ok then the mushy poop thing is usually too rich if a diet.
  
  *After* taking him to the vet to rule out any medical issues and having his teeth checked again (both really important, and try to take a fresh sample of the mushy poop with you to the vet!), then you can try adjusting his diet.
  
  Some bunnies are sensitive to too many pellets, others to too much salad, and sometimes its the types of greens that the bunny is sensitive to. In the Bunny Info section under Menu at the top of this page, their is info on healthy bunny diet — including alternative diets. One of my bunnies sometimes has the once a day mushy poop, and the stories about Jack and Bailey helped me figure out how to troubleshoot my Moshi’s diet. In our case (apparently pretty rare), increasing Moshi’s pellets a bit and reducing the amount of salad he gets a bit was the answer. We also had to narrow down exactly what he can handle in his salad. Every bun is different so use the stories as a guideline on how to go about figuring out your bunnies needs. As always, hay, hay, and more hay is alwaysca good thing.
  
  I’m curious on what Teeth indicate? Can you explain it to me please?
  
  What would it mean if his teeth were bad?
  
  Ahh okay! Thanks so much. Maybe my bun is just sensitive to certain diets. I’ll make sure to change it.
- 05/18/2015 at 6:30 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  It is possible he has molar spurs and many times the only way to see those very very back molars is to put your rabbit under anesthesia to check those teeth.
- 05/18/2015 at 7:01 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  Posted By Sarita on 5/18/2015 6:30 PM
  
  It is possible he has molar spurs and many times the only way to see those very very back molars is to put your rabbit under anesthesia to check those teeth.
  
  What are molar spurs?
  
  Should I ask the vet to check? I’m afraid of putting my rabbit under anesthetic. Is there any other way of identifying molar spurs?
- 05/18/2015 at 7:13 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  They are points on the molars that grow either into their tongue or cheek.
  
  I understand you may be afraid of putting your rabbit under anesthesia – my rabbit Bobby who is 5 years old has been going under anesthesia every 3 months for the 4 years I’ve had him – it can be necessary.
- 05/18/2015 at 7:52 PM
  Momo
  Participant
  37 posts
  Posted By Sarita on 5/18/2015 7:13 PM
  
  They are points on the molars that grow either into their tongue or cheek.
  
  I understand you may be afraid of putting your rabbit under anesthesia – my rabbit Bobby who is 5 years old has been going under anesthesia every 3 months for the 4 years I’ve had him – it can be necessary.
  
  Okay thanks!
  
  What is the molar growth caused by? Do you know?
  
  I’ll have my vet check it out, and maybe see if they can do a scan instead.
- 05/18/2015 at 8:27 PM
  JackRabbit
  Participant
  5451 posts
  I don’t have any experience with teeth issues, but pretty sure this is how it works ……Spurs are caused by uneven wear on the molars. Bunny teeth grow constantly and the fibrous hay they eat helps wear the teeth down so they don’t overgrow. If the teeth aren’t aligned exactly right then they can wear unevenly and result in points on the part of the tooth that isn’t being worn down evenly. Those points can be pokey to bunny cheeks and tongue and can cause ulcers, etc. When those points irritate the inside of the bunny’s mouth, they may salivate more to soothe the mouth. Some buns will then have damp chins from “drooling” and some may produce enough saliva to result in mushy poops. Some bunnies will wven stop eating when they have even tiny points. You just never know how sensitive a bunny might be to the points.
  
  Moshi has always had *some* issues with occasional mushy poop, and while we’ve never had him anesthetised to have his teeth checked specifically, our vet does look at his teeth every time we’re there and so far they look good. After no signs of uneven tooth wear per the vet, we started adjusting his diet. Had we not figured his mushy poop out with diet, we would have taken the next in tooth checks.
- 05/22/2015 at 12:23 PM
  Excript
  Participant
  70 posts
  could it be the water? i read that we should change his bowl of water every day and not every other day. For me after 24 hours the water for my bunny tends to be thicker and and not as clear hence i change it every morning
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