HELP: Reoccuring soft, runny stools! Are these solutions recommended?

[ZooLady]

Sigh

I have taken my precious little fellow to the vet multiple times and they fail to deliever any long term solutions.

My rabbit continues to experience very runny stools no matter what I feed him.  (Usually greens in the morning, pellets in the evening with unlimited hay–which he eats)  It is such a sin because several times a week he gets flattened discs of poo covering over his anus and I have to cut it out on a regular basis.   His behaviour hasn’t changed and he is still healthy otherwise, but this problem continues to haunt him for just under a year.

POSSIBLE TREATMENTS

I know with cats and dogs they often give boiled rice to help diarehha—-could I do the same for my little guy?  Uncooked or cooked?

I am checking to see if the stool hardeners they prescribed in teeny, tiny yet highly overpriced amounts at the vet is available at a people pharmacy.  If so, I will be picking some up and administering them regularly.

For my cat who has a similar problem I was recommended to get acidophillis (hopefully I spelled  that one right!) and mix it in with the soft food.   Would this be okay for a rabbit as well, in appropriate dosage?

Please give me your insights and experiences.   Poor little Mischi needs them as the vets here are completely useless when it comes to helping him.

 

[RabbitPam]

I have no expertise in this, but I sympathize with you. The poor little guy must get miserable when it happens.

One thought crossed my mind when you said it happens to the cat too. Maybe there’s something in the water that’s contributing to the problem.
I would suggest one little experiment: get some bottled water and only give him that for a week or two. Watch for any change. If you are not using tap water, it probably isn’t the problem, unless you change brands of bottled water just in case. It also is probably not the problem in the first place, but it came to mind as a possible common element they both might be getting. Put it this way, it couldn’t hurt.

{{{Healing vibes}}}}}}

[Sarita]

No rice will not help – this is a carbohydrate and that is usually part of the problem with soft stool. Neither will oats as I’ve seen some people recommend, this is also a carbohydrate.

I have no idea what you are talking about with the stool hardener – what is this that you were prescribed?

The best way to get the soft stool problem solved is fiber which is lots of hay and no pellets. Really it’s a matter of getting back to the basics with what you feed them. And cut out treats (or at least find alternative treats to give them) since I know it’s hard to cut out treats. You can get those acidophilus tablets as treats (they won’t necessarily help with the soft stool problem but they are a good alternative for a treat and come in fruit flavors – my rabbits love these as treats.)

Also is your rabbit a little overweight and perhaps these are uneaten cecals that he cannot reach?

[jerseygirl]

Absolutely as Sarita has suggested. Have you tried an elimination type diet? Take out the pellets 1st. Others have reported they were responsible for this problem.

I would also suggest looking into getting a sanitary shave for Mischi so it’ll help keep him clean. Maybe it’s time to try another vet? Could any of his other hair loss problems be related to this? Was that just mites or something else?

[KatnipCrzy]

Rice won’t help- it will only add to the problem.

Stool hardeners seem like they would mask the problem- not make it better.  Do these have a risk of making the bunny constipated?  I would ask your vet about that.

Acidophillus tablets could possibly help- but you will have to figure out a way to administer them without adding something else to the diet that could trigger runny stool.  For example- mixing with applesauce if the bun is not used to applesauce or does not handle sugar well is only adding another factor to the mushy stool.

Is your bunny overweight?

[ZooLady]

Yes the little fellow is kinda pudgy despite my best efforts to feed him correctly. I think it is just because he prefers to lounge around and isn’t incredibly active even when presented with a lot of space. There are cecoptrophs left around too sometimes.

RabbitPam:
It isn’t the water–the cat I adopted had this problem when I first saw him in the animal shelter which is why I suspect he was surrendered. Plus, I have another rabbit, four mice, and two other cats and a guinea pig who drink the same water without issue.

Sarita
I did buy some fresh timothy hay for the little fellow today and I will be offering him mostly this with only a small shot cup of pellets a day. He’ll see the other bunny getting pellets and I don’t want to encourage jealousy, so I don’t want to totally elliminate them. He has entitlement issues!

I did buy some acidophilus capsules today. I bought it from a regular people pharmacy. There was no plain powder and this bottle says it contains bifidus. The medicinal ingredients are:
-lactobacillus rhamnosus -lactobacillus casei -lactobaccillus acidophillus -bifidobacterium longum
Do you think in small amounts this could be beneficial to him? I’m not opening the bottle til I do some research, and certainly not administering any til I feel confident I can do so safely. Any experience here? Guess I should go Google a bit.

jerseygirl
As for the sanitary shave—he pretty well is shaved down there from me having to cut so much poopy fur off.

The mites are still an issue too…so I am abandoning these expensive drops the vets recommended and going back to Ivermectin which treated him sucessfully before. It is a pain because I have to bring him to the vet every two weeks for an injection, but I can justify not doing so when his beautiful little coat is getting tattered by those mean mites.

KatnipCrzy
The stool hardener was prescribed by the vet. It did seem to help as long as he was getting it daily. And I will be trying another vet because the two I have been going to don’t seem to have much of a clue about bunnies.

[jerseygirl]

I do wonder if those meds have affected his digestive system but I don’t really know much about them. Glad to hear you are looking into a new vet for Mischi. Good luck!

[Sarita]

http://www.nationalsupplementcenter.com/076630036177.html

See if you can find these acidophilus tablets – they come in banana, strawberry, and blueberry and are chewable and my rabbits LOVE them.

[RabbitPam]

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html

Glad to hear your other animals are fine.

I am attaching the link to the House Rabbit Society’s list of recommended vets. You put in your zip code and it pulls up anyone who is an exotics specialist that has been known and recommended in your area. This should help you locate a local, rabbit savvy vet.

[ZooLady]

Thanks everyone! I have had some success actually. I limited the pellets I gave him to a small shot glass of them a day before bed. I insist he eat a lot of timothy hay after I feed him fresh veggies in the morning. Basically, I have made fresh timothy hay one of his main meals instead of pellets and or more wet veggies. Yay! Bunnys bum is better!

[Sarita]

That’s good news! I think getting back to the basics is the answer.

[Author]

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