Not pooping very much

[PiperBun]

Hi! I’m new to posting the forums, but I’ve been reading them for quite a while! I have a spayed female Holland Lop named Piper that’s a little over a year old. Excuse the long post as I give you all some history!

About 13 days ago I noticed Piper had not been pooping quite as much as usual but there were still lots of poops and she was eating and acting normally so I didn’t worry too much. Then 3 days later (so 10 days ago) she completely stopped eating. She wouldn’t eat any treats, greens or anything and was acting very uncomfortable (we guess this was GI stasis). My WONDERFUL husband massaged her belly for like an hour until we got one tiny poop and then she began to eat completely normally and was hopping around like normal about 3 hours after we noticed she wasn’t feeling well. Her poops were small and sporadic for a day or 2 but seemed to be coming ok and her appetite was back to normal. She had probably 1 day where I saw a regular amount of poop, but since then, there has not been a lot of poop in her litter box and even though she’s been eating fine and acting fine, I’m nervous that something’s still not right!

Up to this point, Piper’s daily diet has been unlimited timothy hay and Manna Pro pellets (which are alfalfa based?) and greens on occasion. I’ve done some more reading and realized we should be feeding her a lot more leafy greens so we give her a handful of some sort of green every night (sometimes cilantro, a little parsley, trying some kale this week). I’ve also cut back on the pellets I give her and bought some fresh timothy hay to help her eat more hay.

My vet is fairly unattentive but is the only exotic animal vet in town so I’m kinda stuck with him. He said not to worry about bringing her in unless she stops eating or pooping again. Should I be concerned? Should I take her in anyway? Is there something I can do to get her GI tract moving more?

[kurottabun]

It sounds like tummy gas that managed to pass. Gas is painful so a bunny that has it may not feel like eating and will often appear hunched up, or wanting to lay down but getting back up again, seemingly unable to find a comfortable position. Bunnies graze all day in the wild so not having food in the tummy would then lead to GI stasis, which as you probably already know, can be serious and even fatal.

It’s not scientifically proven, but many people have given baby gas drops (simethicone) and tummy massages that appeared to have helped their bunny get through a bout of gas.

Since she’s over a year old, she should be eating timothy based pellets instead of alfalfa as the latter will be too rich for her. Oxbow’s adult rabbit pellets and Sherwood are good brands. How much pellets are you giving her now? Even for timothy based pellets, I only give Kurotta two tablespoons a day, one in the morning and one at night

Parsley and kale are both vegetables that have been known to cause issues in some buns (not all) so you might want to stop giving that for now as well. Try cilantro, romaine lettuce or herbs like basil, thyme etc.

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