Odd poops

[LittlePuffyTail]

So I’ve been changing Olivia’s litter box for a few days now and I notice her poops are very strange. For one, they are very small, much smaller than Stormy and Bindis and sometimes odd shaped. I am assuming eating lots of hay will help this and she is beginning to eat more hay as Ive begun to limit her pellets. Mom said her poops have been like this the whole time she took care of her.

Second, I’m finding quite a bit of what I believe to be cecotropes in the litter box, mixed in little clumps with the regular poops. Any ideas on why this is happening and how to help it?

[Sarita]

Alot of the excess cecotropes is due to her diet of unlimited pellets so once you get her diet under control that should help.

As far as her poops, I have found that no 2 rabbits poops are the same as far as size goes. She may just have smaller size poops. I’m not certain about the odd-shape though.

[Gravehearted]

you are right about increasing her hay consumption, it really will help her digestive system (which you’ll see evident in her the size of her poops). is she not eating enough hay? you might switch up the kinds, since variety can help. also try fun stuff like stuffing it in a small paper bag or toilet paper core, since the play might encourage her to think it’s more exciting.

is what you’re seeing loose poops or actually the small grape-like clusters of cecotropes? Over abundance of cecotropes is generally attributed to too many carbohydrates in the diet – common culprits are junk food pellets, too many treats, people food – but even too much of a healthier pellet can lead to it. Now – loose poops is a different issue, you might take a look at the BB diet section, since BB talks all about Rucy’s sensitive tummy and how they developed a diet plan that works for her and eliminated the poopy butt. Some bunnies don’t tolerate certain veggies (or even any veggies) or pellets well.

you also should check her over to see if she has poopybutt – since she may. let me know if you need cornstarch bath instructions.

[kralspace]

I was reading this thread when I looked over at the condo and saw Lola asleep on her back. Sarita will know, she’s a white rex so the poopy butt showed up vividly. It had to come up in the last day or 2 because I was brushing her Saturday and would have noticed it when my hand was under her to pick her up.

So I may need the bath instructions. It’s like a quarter size area of the cectropes that she sat on and squashed into that thick fur. It’s hard and didn’t respond to a very wet washrag. It’s to the side of her poopy chute, not covering it, but maybe I should take her in to the vet and let her clip it out? Her furs thick, but not very long and while I can trance her for a minute, I’m not all sure about using scissors in such a sensitive area. just the thought makes me go OUCH!

thanks, Kathy

[babybunsmum]

as pinky got used to eating more & more hay when she came to live here her poops got bigger & rounder & dryer.  at first she was over-producing cecals and her litter really stunk with them but this went away in a couple of weeks.  she eats hay like its goin out of style so i’m sure thats why the change was so swift. 

after baby bun’s surgery i noticed teeny tiny poops & found that they were cecals which were at one time clumped together like normal but had broken apart.  when i found them they were dryed out & they sounded more brittle than normal poops when i swept them up.  i know this for a fact because i laid on the floor & watched her when she was under her fav dresser healing from her surgery (i was making sure she was eating & drinking).  i actually saw her pass a clump of cecals & then turn to eat them.  then, another time i saw her pass another clump of cecals, turn to sniff at them but not eat them.  then she began cleaning & sniffing about & the cecals would stick to her & spread all around & apart.  some would smoosh and others would just separate & stick to something.  when i tried to clean it with a paper towel they were so sticky & any still clumped together broke apart when the paper towel touched them (i was trying not to smoosh them onto the floor).  sorry for the graphic description, but i thought it worth mentioning.  i should note that her ‘normal’ poops were odd at that time too because of just having had her surgery and i would not have realized these were separated & dryed up cecals if i hadn’t seen them before they separated from each other.

[Sarita]

Kathy, maybe try baby powder or the baby powder with cornstarch and rub it in the fur and see if that will help.

If it’s in the butt area, I put a towel on the side of the sink, place bunny so that butt faces sink (back toward me) and with a cup of warm water run it over the affected area until the poop softens and I can work it our of the fur – they hate this position (they hate the whole thing) but that’s the only way with my rabbits I can get off dried poop.

[kimberleyanddarren]

hows it going now?/

[Deleted User]

Well if you start to see “Droopy Poopy” then give your bunny hay for at least two days so your bunnies “Droopy Poopy” will go away. Always keep hay in the cage all over and it doesn’t matter if their in the litterbox or not, just leave it freely. My neighbor who is an expert of bunnies told me to do this if I saw “Droopy Poopy” and I’ve found that it works.

[BinkyBunny]

kralspace – I am an expert in bunny butt baths since Bailey’s hind weakness due to e.cuniculi doesn’t allow her to lift up enough, and she can’t clean herself properly. I first wipe up as much as I can with toilet paper or paper towels, Then I flip her on her side or on her back and put her little bootie under a stream of luke warm running water, and I help get the poop off with my hands (ICK!). Most of the time water is enough, but sometimes I have to use a soap that I got from my vet. If the poop is hardened to the point that it won’t even soften with water quickly, then I will cut it out of the fur, but be really careful not to cut the skin. Bailey is so used to all of this that she just hangs in my arms on her side or back with the running water flowing over her butt with no problem at all. but if your bunny isn’t used to this, you may want to have help or burrito wrap him, leaving his back end out.

[kralspace]

How’s Pinky doing now?

Thanks guys, the poops stuck to Lola’s butt are rock hard, guess we’re in for a butt bath. It will interesting to see how she reacts, but I do know I’m wearing a long sleeve denim shirt because she’s a nipper when she disapproves of something.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

When Kokanee needs a bum bath, the sink is too shallow and she’ll use her legs to kick and propel herself onto my face (quite literally )

So, I put her in the tub, get in with her and close the shower curtain, and bath her bum just as BB said (bum in a stream of water, held like BB said to too) and that works as she can’t kick off the bottom of the tub….If you do this, take your socks off and roll up your pants

[LittlePuffyTail]

Still seeing some cecotropes poops. Yes they are the little cluster types. She is really beginning to eat more hay though so hopefully this will go away and I am going to start the pellet change process to Timothy pellets soon.

She’s a strange little bunny. Stormy and Bindi absolutely love the hay fuzzies and gobble them up first when they get their hay but Olivia refuses to eat them. She eats all the hay and leaves the fuzzies. Stormy and Bindi don’t mind though cuz they get her leftover fuzzies!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Awww!! Have you introduced her to either of them yet?

[Deleted User]

My bunny once had clumped ppops but I fixed it by giving him hay for a day or two, have you introduced the two bunnies yet?

[Scarlet_Rose]

Too much protein in the diet can cause this. What kind of food pellets are you feeding and how much protein is in them?

[LittlePuffyTail]

They have had introductions. I put an xpen around Olivia’s cage as it’s on the floor (she is housed in a huge dog crate).I let the boys out to see her. Bindi was all excited to see her, she growled at him a few times but then totally ignored him. Stormy was, as expected, totally p.o.ed there was another rabbit in his room. He paced around the cage like a tiger. I plan on introducing Bindi and Olivia in neutral territory soon, maybe this weekend, after I get all her nails clipped down. I don’t want her to scratch Bindi!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Olivia is eating crappy pet store pet food but i’ve started the switch to timothy pellets. Her pellets are Living World (I think that’s the brand) Extruded. Very fattening and crappy. I tell her she has to stop eating McDonalds every meal now that she’s with me!

[Scarlet_Rose]

LPT you are funny. So glad the other pellets are leaving the diet scene.

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