My bunnies poops are never right!

[mabdallah]

Hi everyone,

I am a first time bunny owner, and even though I did a bunch of research before I got bambam, I still don’t know what I’m doing 🙁

For some reason she has diarrhea every so often. I’ve changed around her diet and even took her to the vet who didn’t find an infection or bacteria! So we know it is a diet issue.

I switched her diet so many times that in the end i cut out everything and fed her just hay and water for a bit. Her poops became more normal and i was feeling a lot better about it, but then she had some really large dark poops: definitely not cecotropes.

And I’m wondering, what am I doing wrong!? I just want my baby to have normal healthy poops, i can imagine its painful and not fun to have weird poop all the time! I’m nervous to take her to the vet again because they’ll just tell me the same thing and there is only one vet in town that can see rabbits.

 

Right now she is eating timothy hay. She was eating orchard before and had pellets but I read online that may be too much protein and not enough fiber so I cut down on pellets and switched to timothy. there was some change but the problem persisted so i cut out pellets completely.

Any tips or ideas?

[Asriel and Bombur]

It’s really important to know what her diet was really like. How many pellets were you feeding her? What’s in her pellet mix (brand, does it contain seeds/nuts/dried fruit)? What were you feeding her for vegetables and how much? Were you feeding treats or fruit and how often? Bunnies have pretty sensitive tummies so it’s important to feed them the right foods and quantities.

What did her diarrhea look like? True diarrhea in a bunny is an emergency and it is mostly liquid. Are you sure it’s not a standard cecal? Some cecals are just big mush mounds. My boy Bombur needs to be on a strict diet or he will produce excess cecals. Bunnies can have an issue known as cecal dysbiosis, which gives the type of poop you seem to be describing. https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/cecal-dysbiosis-in-house-rabbits-what-the-hay/ https://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

Also, how old is your bunny? If she’s young (under 3-6 months) their guts are particularly sensitive at this age. New foods should be given slowly and one at a time to test her tolerance for it. Fruits and sugary veg like carrots should be introduced around 6 months. It’s just to help keep their gut in working order.

 

[Bam]

I agree with Asriel and Bombur, what your bun has is likely cecal dysbiosis. It is a frustrating problem. Some buns are just prone. I had a bun like that. What did most good was diet low in pellets and fresh greens, high in hay/fresh grass. I also gave him a probiotic powder when he had bouts of what is commonly called sticky poop.

The origin of the problem can be in the innervation of the gut. The problem can be congenital or acquired. Some buns are sensitive to certain types of food, even foods that are considered good and healthy for buns. To find out what type of diet is the most appropriate for your bun, you will have to experiment, just like you are doing. It can be very trying.

Is your bun an adult? Adult rabbits do very well on a diet that consists mostly of hay and water. If your bun eats a good amount of hay (any grass hay), she is unlikely to suffer any nutritional deficiencies. Hay has quite a lot of nutrients and a nutritional profile that suits a rabbit perfectly. Keep an eye on her weight, it’s good to do a weekly weighing and keep a weight diary. It also good to make notes of what food you try, so you may be able to detect some sort of pattern.

If your bun is young, this could be a case of immature gut microbiota (the bacteria and yeasts that normally populate the bunny gut and play a vital role for digestion and nutritional uptake). The best thing for creating a diverse and sturdy gut microbiome is hay.

 

 

 

[mabdallah]

I got her at 2 months, which is probably too young but I was new and wasn’t sure what age was appropriate to get a bun. I wont be going back to that lady!

When I first got her I had her on unlimited alfalfa hay and pellets, the oxbow brand. I did give her little treats of veg and fruit and then she had some poop that i was concerned about and thats when the changing around started. She is 5 months old right now.

Her poop has never been straight liquid just mushy brown clumps that look more akin to dog poo

I looked at the links and this seems to match what she has actually, right down to the smell! Thank you so much for both of your help! I’ll follow the advice given and hopefully she’ll get better!

[Asriel and Bombur]

2 months is the appropriate age to get a bunny, and oxbow is a reputable brand. So you actually had a really good breeder. Those are rare to find!

it seems like maybe it truly was her diet and that it was rich for her age and that her tummy just wasn’t ready to handle it. I will also say that at 5 months, she’s going to smell a bit ripe due to hormones.

Before jumping to cecal dysbiosis, I would just start from scratch with her diet. Timothy and orchard hay, and keep the pellets to around 2tbsp a day. I’d keep her like this for a good 2-3 weeks and monitor her. After that I would say start introducing small amounts of leafy greens. Just a piece or two of romaine every day for a week, and then try a new on like chard or parsley or cilantro or mint. Just a little at a time to get her stomach acclimated to it. monitor her poops during this time to see what she’s like. Eventually (depending on breed/weight) buns can have 2-3 cups of leafy greens a day. I would not introduce anything like fruits or carrots for a good while after she’s been on leafy greens and responding well. Just so her stomach isn’t feeling overwhelmed.

[mabdallah]

AH! ok thank goodness I was worried that I got her too young!

Lol! that makes sense.

Thank you so much for your help. I’ve been going mad with worry over her!

[Bam]

Again, I agree with A&B. 8 weeks is the appropriate age for a bun to get a new home. With cats, the recommended age is 12 weeks, with dogs 8 weeks. As a rule the bun is separated from the mother at 6 weeks (when the babies are fully weaned and mum’s patience is starting to run low), but remains with the siblings for 2 more weeks.

Seeing that she is still young and not fully grown, it could still be about tweaking her gut flora. Unless she takes a turn for the worse, do what A&B says: grassy hay, plenty of it, 2 tablespoons of Oxbow pellets/day and slow introduction of small amounts of leafy greens. If you notice that the poop gets worse with one certain type of green, write that down and stop that particular green for the time being. Hopefully this diet will make her tummy a lot more tolerant.

 

[Asriel and Bombur]

Bunnies are definitely a learning curve! I researched for months before getting my guys, and it still didn’t feel like enough. You’re always learning new things about them. Don’t be too hard on yourself 🙂 you’re doing great!

[Author]

Messages