Partial Potty Training

[3bunnies1erin]

I would really appreciate some advice, I’m a relatively new proud bunny owner. I have three rabbits, Tumbleweed, Gunpowder, and Abominable (Bumbles). I have had Tumbleweed and Gunpowder for nearly a year, and Bumbles for about 4 months.  Tumbleweed has taken to potty training just fine, as has Bumbles.

What really bothers me is that Gunpowder still won’t potty train.  He is partially potty trained. He passes his solid pellets in the litter box along with his urine, which I’m glad about.  However, he produces a large number of cecotropes and he will not eat them, nor will he pass them in the box. Instead, he sits in them or he sits in another area in his home and I clean out his home daily due to this. I’ve been trying to potty train him since I got him, but to no avail. I have asked my vet several times about this, and he has been very helpful, but Gunpowder is just very stubborn I suppose.

Would someone please give me some ideas about how to get my obstinate bunny to finish his potty training?

Thanks!

Erin

[jerseygirl]

GREAT names! It really does sound as if you have the 3 litter trained but Gunpowder is over producing cecals. He may eat some that you don’t see but that he has so much more is a health issue. In a way, it’s good he’s leaving them about to be seen as it alerts you to a problem. You may need to adjust his diet. Often if the diet is protein rich you can get this prob but some bunnies are just super sensitive also. What do you currently feed your trio?

Oh and Welcome Erin!

[Beka27]

I’ll second Jerseygirl. Some tweaking of his diet might be necessary and that would likely solve the cecal overproduction.

[3bunnies1erin]

Thank you for responding.

I feed them a small amount of pellets daily (barely a half bowl) and they always have fresh Timothy Hay available to them.  Additionally I’ve placed one of those edible chew logs in each of their homes so they keep their teeth healthy.  Everyday they get a treat of some sort after I have cleaned their homes, generally a piece of apple, carrot, or lettuce. Sometimes fresh pineapple.

I didn’t think to mention it yesterday, but Gunpowder is on medication for the dreaded pasteurella, could that possibly be a contributing factor?

Thanks!

Erin

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[KatnipCrzy]

When you say “half a bowl” of pellets- how much is that really?  1/4 cup, 1 tablespoon, etc.  What kind of pellets are you giving?  Timothy based pellets?

Daily sugary treats like apple, carrot may not be tolerated well by some bunnies- and the excess sugar in the GI tract can throw things a little off balance.  I know there are some bunnies on here that pellets are even too “rich” for them and causes mushy stool. 

If your bunny is on antibiotics for Pasteurella- antibiotics can throw off the balance of good bacteria in the gut.  What med is your bunny on?

It sounds like you have a good rabbit vet- I would make sure to mention this to your vet too since the bun is taking meds.

It is possible a change in pellets- either amount or type- or a change in treats- or the addition of giving a pro-biotic (to encourage proper gut bacteria) could make a difference. But I would recommend changing ONE thing at a time- if you switch pellets, stop sugary treats AND add a supplement all at the same time you will not know what worked- one of those things or all 3 things together.  I might be inclined to see if pellets or treats make a difference first- as supplements are OK if you have to give them, but it would be easier to manage the problem thru diet modification.

Do you give veggies daily?

I am wondering about the chew log also- most rabbit treats and chews have added sugar in some form- or are just a waste of money (colored/dyed) wood blocks. If it is a “manufactured” product- basically artificially molded into a product to chew- I would stay away from it- there are natural chews that you can’t get from a “commercial” pet store that are natural and much healthier and actually attract the rabbit.  Willow balls, willow branches, sticks from an apple tree, sea-grass mats- natural products that have not been treated with chemicals.

 

[jerseygirl]

More questions…. What age age your bunnies? 

In the Bunny Info/ Diet Section of this site, there is a run down of the trial and error test that Binky Bunny did to problem solve her bunnies diet problem – I’d take a look at that as it may be useful to you.

[3bunnies1erin]

KatnipCrzy:

Half a bowl of pellets would be like a 1/2 measuring cup of food in my estimation. The pellets I give them are sold to me by a local feed supply store. I have asked my vet if the pellets I purchased would be unhealthy for them, but he said they should only maintain their diet/weight.  I don’t know a lot about the pellets, but I do know that they are not  as high in fat as some pet stores sell. Given that their weight when they visit the vet hasn’t changed, I decided that these pellets would be best for them.

I don’t give them sugary treats everyday, they eat a lot of veggies but every other day at least have something sweeter like apple. Gunpowder is currently on Baytril for his Pasteurella. I will try modifying his diet first, thank you for the recommendation. I do give veggies daily–they love broccoli. I will check out the chew log packaging, I had mainly gotten the logs to help them maintain their teeth.  The vet had told me that their teeth could get too long otherwise. 

Thank you.

Jerseygirl:

Tumbleweed my lionhead/rex mix will be a little over a year old at the end of March. Gunpowder my mini lop will also be a little over a year old in April. And Abominable my lionhead mix (I don’t know what else he is) will be possibly a year and 1/2 in November.

I will definitely look over the Bunny Info/Diet Section part of the site, thank you

How old are your rabbits?

[jerseygirl]

Ok CBL Keep us posted how things go. From memory Baytril can suppress the appetite somewhat. How long will he be on this? Katnip will know more regarding this I’m sure.

I only have the one rabbit – Jersey, she is a 1 year old lovable mutt. Friendly tip: Be sure to post some photos of your crew in the Lounge section. The members here will LOVE you for it!

[3bunnies1erin]

Will do. It has been undetermined as to how long he’ll be on it yet. My vet wants to see how it goes. Hopefully not too long.

[KatnipCrzy]

I asked about the amount of pellets fed because I work at a vet clinic and you would nto believe the misunderstandings between a measured cup of food and a cup/scoop of food!  Most people use some type of cup or scoop to measure dog food- and even if the cup is larger than 1 measured cup they have the perception that it is only one measured cup.

In fact my husband and I had the same misunderstading when feeding our dogs- I have a 1 1/2 cup measured (with lines) scoop- and I told hubby to reduce to 1 cup of food- and he was still feeding a full scoop because that was “one cup” to him. 

[Beka27]

^that’s very true Katnip. My buns have a 1/4 cup scoop in their food. I used to ask my husband to feed them two scoops (one for each bun approx.) if I was not home. I noticed he would feed two heaping scoops (probably closer to 3/4 cup rather than 1/2 cup.) Once he understood that one scoop meant one even scoop, it was much better. A benefit of measuring the food, is that if your bun gets sick, and you’re not sure how much they have eaten that day, you could pour the remaining pellets back into the original measure and make a “guestimate” of how much is gone.

[jerseygirl]

Erin, I’m wondering how you’re getting on with the three? Any updates with Gunpowder?

[3bunnies1erin]

Hey jerseygirl,

Gunpowder has improved slightly since I changed his diet and his medication. The cecotrope production has lessened but is still heavy. The best thing I can do is just keep modifying his diet and try to keep on top of cleaning up after him I suppose.

Thanks for asking

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