Oval poop

[bumpybunny]

About 4 or 5 days ago I got a new bag of hay for my rabbit and she wont eat it. It looks like a different cutting than it usually is. I’ve got her to eat a very small amount of it but nowhere near how much she usually does.

I posted about this here a little while ago (she used to do this a lot) and you all suggested to just wait a little while and she should start eating it. That’s what I’m trying to do this time but tonight I found 2 oval poops in her cage and the rest of her poop is round but smaller than usual. Is this something I should be worried about? The last time she had poop like this was when she was coming out of stasis and I’m worried she could be going into it from the decrease in hay.

[Bam]

If she wont eat enough hay after 4-5 days with the new hay I would try a different hay. Rabbits can eat many different grass hays, not just timothy. Orchard or oat hay, for example. As you are saying, she needs hay for her tummy to work properly.

[bumpybunny]

She’s still not eating it today even after reducing her pellets so I’m going to go get her another kind. One of the only other kinds available in the store near me is the brand Dumor. Im a little nervous to try it because I have tried it in the past 2 times and the first time my guinea pig stopped eating and the 2nd pumpkin got stasis. Could the hay have done this or could it have been a coincidence? When I got it before they both ate it and liked it, it just seems weird that something like that happened each time I fed it to them. It was just regular timothy.

[bumpybunny]

Edit: So sorry! Ignore this reply, she wasnt eating her breakfast salad for some reason but looks like she was just trying to scare me, she’s eating again 🤦‍♀️

[DanaNM]

Agree with Bam,  I would try another hay, or a new bag of the same type. Sometimes a bag is just “off” and the bun doesn’t like it.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

Any grass hay is ok for buns. You just want to avoid legume hay (alfalfa and clover) for adult buns, because its so rich in calcium and protein. If you have access to pesticide-free grass, you could give her a tiny bit (needs to be introduced slowly like any new food, but you can increase the amount gradually and it will be a great “replacement” for hay for picky buns).

 

[bumpybunny]

So I bought her a small bag of hay from the 3 different brands I’m able to get in the store here. She will not eat from any of them. One is orchard just in another brand since she loves oxbows orchard so much and its not available in the stores near me. I’m going to leave her with them for the rest of the day and hope she will eat it. If not I’m not sure what else to do at that point, so I guess I’ll start ordering hay and see if I can get some she will eat.

What I might try since she’ll at least eat a tiny bit of the oxbow is cut down on her pellets (maybe give 1/2 tbsp instead of a full tbsp daily) and see if that changes anything.

[Bam]

I think its wise to try cutting back on the pellets to entice her to eat more hay. You should monitor closely though. Preferably weigh her every day. Any radical weight loss is cause for concern. After three days max, up the foodss she will eat again, so as to prevent a bad outcome. This is important, but if you are cautious, fully preventable.

The potential problem with putting a bun on a hay-only diet is twofold. A) the bun just might refuse the hay B) the bun eats the hay but its gut bacteria are not ample and/or diverse enough to break down the hay into sufficient amounts of calories and nutrition.

Rabbits rely on their gut microbes to break down their food into energy and  absorbable micro-nutrients. This is different from us humans, we rely to a greater extent on digestive enzymes, such as amylase (carbs) proteases (proteins) and lipidase (fats).

If a bun doesnt get food or cant break down the food it eats, their body will start to consume body fat. This process, if not taken really slowly, can overwhelm the liver and result in hepatotoxicity (which literally means liver poisoning).

We’ll be very interested in how you fare, any updates are very valuable.

 

[DanaNM]

At this point I am actually suspecting that she may have an underlying medical issue going on. Since this has been going on several days I would actually try to see your vet. 1 tablespoon of pellets per day is not very much. She could be having a dental issue that is making her not want hay, and you need to make sure she eats enough so she doesn’t go into stasis.

I know it was all timed with a new hay bag, but at this point I would want to rule out a medical issue before continuing to assume it’s just her being picky.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wick & Fable]

I agree with Dana in that going this long with a hay inappetite in the context of multiple attempts at previously liked hays is unusual and would merit a vet visit. At the minimum, regardless of the initial cause, going this long without eating adequate amounts of hay could have caused a secondary teeth irritation issue that won’t help the matter (i.e., she hasn’t been eating a lot of hay, but her teeth are still growing, so any tiny spurs may have gotten bigger over time).

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[bumpybunny]

I’m starting to get worried about this too. Would a non rabbit savvy vet be able to check her teeth? If she had to get them filed or anything I definitely would take her to a better vet I’m just wondering because the only rabbit savvy vet that’s taking emergency visits is 2 hours away and really expensive but if I need to take her I will.

Are there any things I could do at home to see if she had a tooth problem? She’s still eating hard treats like the oxbow digestive tablets but I know they use different teeth for different things. She’s still chewing on her chew toys too.

If I can get her an appointment that’s soon (if not I’ll do an emergency visit), what can I do for her until then? Should I give her any cc or fluids? I also have some leftover metaclopramide from the last time she was sick in case she completely stopped eating.

I’m going to go talk to my mom about it and try to convince her to bring her to the vet. I’m a little worried that she’ll say she doesnt need to go since she’s still eating other food.

[Bam]

You could perhaps book an appointment with the rabbit savvy vet? In my experience, a rabbit savvy vet with a trained eye is a huge lot better when it comes to rabbit teeth. A planned visit would be better than an ER visit too. For an appointment you have a set time and wont have to wait a long time in a waiting room, the vet isn’t stressed but has had time to prep for just your rabbit.

You could try supplementing her with CC on a plate or spoon, she might eat it by herself if you mix it with sth nice, like a small piece of mashed banana. If she stops eating, you’ll obviously need to syringe feed her, but hopefully it wont come to that.

Some buns will eat some steamed hay  because it’s softer. Only steam a small portion at a time, because moist hay doesnt keep well.

 

[bumpybunny]

I’ll do that. I talked to my mom and she agreed to take her if I think she needs to go. She woke up from her nap a little over an hour ago and when I let her out to play she ate some of the oxbow hay and the orchard hay from the new brand. She’s acting a little weird tonight though, she’s being kind of slow and she’s just been sitting around most of the time since I let her out to play. She does act like this some days though. She’s still eating just seems a little hesitant to take it at first. I gave her some simethicone in case it could be gas. I’m going to call and see if I can get an appointment for the vet soon.

[Bam]

I’m glad she ate a little bit! It’s quite fine to give some simethicone if you suspect a little gas, so it’s good that you have that on hand. It wont hurt, but it might help.

[DanaNM]

I’m glad she ate a little!

I would offer her any thing she is currently eating, including extra greens. Sometimes a pile of wet salad can get things moving again, because dehydration can be at play. Important thing is to get food and fluids into her at this stage. A tummy rub and some simethicone are also a good step. Encouraging movement will also help if it’s gas.

As an alternate idea, it’s possible that her initial refusal to eat the other bag lead to a bit of a slowdown and some gas pain. She may snap out of it on her own if you get enough food into her, but if she isn’t better by morning I would call the rabbit savvy vet and make an appointment. If it is a dental issue the non-rabbit vet won’t be able to do anything.  In general, chewing hay is a bit different than hard treats or toys because the long strands of hay require more side-to-side chewing using the molars.

If she’s eating a bit and pooping a bit it’s not an emergency yet, but def keep encouraging her to eat salad and hay (holding out strands of hay can even help) and hopefully she will perk back up by the morning. I often threaten my buns with a vet visit and they snap right out of it! 😆

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[bumpybunny]

Update: She’s acting fine now, I’m not sure if it was a little bit of gas or she just needed to wake up from her nap more lol.

Yesterday evening I got her to eat a good bit of hay and some of the orchard hay too, I spread out some hay in a big storage bin so she could pick through it better and it worked, she ate out of it for a while.

I gave her a teaspoon pellets instead of half a tablespoon with her salad. When I put her back in her pen for the night I gave her a pile of orchard hay and another of the oxbow hay. I left the room for maybe an hour and when I came back almost all of it was gone. I gave her more and she ate some of it but then she didnt eat any more for the rest of the night until this morning when I replaced it with fresh hay she ate a little.

I’m  realizing that shes eating more hay around the times when she gets to come out and move around outside her pen but then when she goes back in and is still for a while (like for the night or to take her nap during the day), shes eating barely any. Also reading what DanaNM said about maybe a slowdown from not eating hay for a little while. Maybe she’s getting gas on and off? She has been acting a little slow at times and laying around more than playing but still eating.

At first when I saw she ate all of what I gave her I felt like maybe it was just pickiness and she finally got over it? But now that she hasnt ate much since then I dont know. I forgot that today was Sunday so I wont be able to make her a vet appointment until tomorrow. I’m starting to feel like maybe I’m paying too much attention to all this and everything is fine lol. Her poop has gone back to normal though. I’m going to keep monitoring her and if she starts to act off like she was last night I’ll give her some simethicone and see if that helps. I’ll make her a vet appointment tomorrow and hopefully she’ll start eating more before then.

She wont take her digestive tablet this morning but she does this once in a while when shes bored of it or mad about something so I’m not too worried about it.

[Bam]

It sounds good that she’s eating more hay again! She could have had some gas from eating less hay than normal.

I have one bun that will eat lots of hay if he can access one of the hay bags. It’s almost like he prefers hay that he’s “found” over hay that he’s been given. So I stuff some hay into a bag and put it on the floor where he can “discover” it.

In his litterboxes I put smaller wads of hay that I replenish often, that too seems to stimulate his appetite for the hay.

[DanaNM]

Sounds like she perked back up! I think it’s probably OK to monitor at this point. It’s very possible she just had some gas due to a period of eating less hay.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages