Pinky’s poop issue

[Moonlightbunny66]

I made the mistake of giving Pinky a blueberry the other day (I felt bad because I gave one to Muffin). It was only a tiny blueberry but it made his poops wet again.

For a while, it wasn’t as bad as it used to be. Some nights he will leave poops all over the pen, other nights it’ll be a little pile or two. They’re still all different sizes, odd shaped, and a lot of moist ones.

He was just eating his cecotropes for about 5 minutes straight and left a pile of poops under him. I don’t know what’s going on… He got his poops tested for parasites and there weren’t any, but the vet didn’t have me follow up with anything. He’s still been getting liquid cecotrope stains on his blankets.

I’ve been feeding him romaine and green lead mostly. Sometimes a bit of spinach, kale, or bok choy. I think I’m going to stick to just green leaf and romaine for a while because it’s getting worse again.

After he eats his veggies and pellets, he goes to the litter box and squints his eyes and I can’t tell if he’s falling asleep or is in pain? He grinds his teeth sometimes too but he also does that when he’s sleeping.

I was hoping maybe someone has some type of idea of what he’s going through? I’ve posted about this a while ago. I thought maybe someone else has a bunny who eats their cecotropes too much and knows what it is, since he started doing this again.

[NoodletheRabbit]

Hi again @Moonlightbunny66, and happy Holidays!

I’m sorry that you have to go through this, especially since its Christmas Eve! 😥 I can relate to you so much with what your describing about your bun. Also, with the squinty eye thing, and teeth grinding. Noodle had the same thing when his poops were all messed up as well! It’s gotten better now though. I could never tell if he was in pain or not when he did that. There is a very high chance that he did that though. I think that it’s very good news though that Pinky has no parasites 🙂 . Have you noticed any energy loss? The cecotrope eating I wouldn’t think is an issue, the only thing I could think of is it might just mean that maybe his body isn’t absorbing as many nutrients than it probably should be, therefore he is eating more cecotropes to get more nutrients. What kind of pellets do you give him? What I give my bunny (he loves them too 😛 ) are the oxbow adult rabbit food. They have lots of nutrients and are timothy hay based. I would definitely take away the spinach and bok choy, and maybe the kale. Romaine and leaf lettuce are always safe. Over the summer when Noodle wasn’t doing that well, I had to cut him out almost everything to balance out his gut again, I couldn’t ever give him treats, I know how bad it can make you feel sometimes. Alfalfa though I’ve heard helps with better poops too, just give in small amounts. My bunny still leaves little cecotrope liquid stains around his hutch sometimes too. Can you think of anything you did differently when he was doing better? Anyways, I know how helpless it can feel when you don’t know what’s going on, because rabbits are so complicated. Oh yes-something the vet gave us over the summer was a probiotic paste that we feed him 1 ml of everyday, he might be on it permanently, because it seems to be helping. That is something you could talk to your vet about if you’re interested. Sorry, this was extremely long!! Anyways, hope all goes well 😀 . Good luck!

[NoodletheRabbit]

Oops… where I said there is a very high chance he did that though-I meant there is a very high chance that he is sleeping when he does that though (the squinty eyes, and teeth grinding)

[LBJ10]

How does he do without any greens at all? I know that sounds terrible, but some bunnies just have very sensitive guts and they can’t handle having greens. I know there have been a few bunnies on the forum that are like that.

[DanaNM]

It’s true that some bunnies just have very sensitive tummies and don’t do well with greens. Some people have better luck feeding dried greens instead.

 

. . . 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

@noodletherabbit Thanks! Happy holidays to you too! I don’t think he’s been having energy loss, they’ve both been more sleepy lately since it’s cold though. But today he was running around, jumping onto a box and chewing it. So I think he’s feeling good today.

I don’t think I was doing anything differently before. He had more variety of veggies but I’ve cut it down to just romaine for now to see if it helps.

I gave him some alfalfa the last two days. I see some more lighter poops that are regular shaped on the pen floor, but I’m not sure if that’s Muffin picking up Pinky’s bad habit of pooping everywhere! I see some weird shaped light ones that are probably his, though. Maybe I’ll give him a bit more alfalfa today and watch him.

The probiotic thing is something to think about. I’m not sure if the vet was too concerned about this because I wasn’t told to bring him back in. But I want him to have normal poops and a good functioning digestive system.

I appreciate the long post, don’t worry! 🙂

@LBJ10 @DanaNM Is there any harm in giving him no veggies for a day? Or would it take longer to see results in him? That makes me nervous because I want to make sure he eats enough! I know that they mostly eat hay though. It is something I could try. Thank you!

[LBJ10]

It won’t kill him to not have any greens for a day or two, or a week even. Just to see how he does. If there is a huge improvement, then you can work out what his no-veggie diet will look like going forward.

[Moonlightbunny66]

Thanks LBJ10! I think I’ll give it a try.

[Moonlightbunny66]

I was just thinking… What if it’s pellets he’s sensitive to? Would I be able to do the same and not give him any for a day if taking away the veggies doesn’t work?

[LBJ10]

Yes, you can do elimination. So if you try the no veggies for awhile and it doesn’t appear to be that, then you can try no pellets for awhile.

[snowballsmomma]

When my foster bun had intermittent soft stools (moist poops), I remember reading a lot about it and the suggested treatment (for an adult bun) was to have an only hay-based diet for as long as it takes the poop gets completely better, and then to slowly introduce pellets and then veggies again (and last treats) to balance out their gut.  Probiotics could also help.  So eliminating even just veggies (and treats) for a while could definitely help you see if it helps the poop situation, and then you can reassess later if Pinky can go back on greens.

[Moonlightbunny66]

Thanks so much guys!! I can do that immediately? I don’t need to slowly decrease the veggies? Thank you!

[DanaNM]

As long as his hay consumption is good, you can go to hay-only. Some buns are just very sensitive, so starting with hay and then trying each other part of the diet can help figure out the problem. Just keep an eye on his pooping to make sure he’s eating enough 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

Thanks DanaNM! 🙂

[Moonlightbunny66]

This is the third day without giving Pinky greens. Pinky left a pile of five large poops today in the pen. So he’s still having issues with the sizing of his poops. They’re lighter in colour, though. When I did the litter box today, I didn’t see many odd poops (some still ranging in sizes and shapes). What should I do from here? Yesterday he left two brown spots on the blanket again (cecotrope liquid I think).

I wonder if his digestive issues contribute to him not able to keep all his poops in the litter box? Like maybe he can’t control it? :/

What should I do from here? Should I start hay-only tomorrow or give him some greens but no pellets?

[DanaNM]

If he’s eating hay well then I would go for hay-only, and give it about a week to see if there’s any improvements.

 

. . . 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

DanaNM Thank you. It makes me nervous to do this. :/ Have you done it before with a rabbit?
And what would be the next step?

[DanaNM]

I have, I had a foster with chronic gi issues. He was quite ill though, so it was a bit more urgent.

I would just go ahead and stop everything except hay, but keep an eye on his eating and poop output to make sure he’s eating enough. If his poops start looking small or hard, then he prob isn’t eating enough hay and you should give him back either the pellets or greens.

If he’s doing eating his hay well, you can do hay-only for a week or two and see if his poops improve. It can take a bit of time for the gut flora to adjust so give it at least a week to see if you see improvement. If things get better, then you can slowly reintroduce pellets and see if things stay good. Then slowly introduce one green at a time and see if any of those is a trigger.

Also Muffin will be fine on hay only too. More hay is always good for buns. 🙂

. . . 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

Thank you DanaNM! I think I’m going to write an email to my vet and see if they think Pinky should go in again (maybe more tests?). Or see if they have any new suggestions. It gives me anxiety to think about all of this! I just want my bunnies to be healthy and happy. 🙁

[DanaNM]

Just remember that as long as he’s eating, pooping, and not showing signs of pain, then no need to panic yet!

The bun that I cared for had horrible cycles of gas and stasis, followed by big splats of unformed poops (cecal dysbiosis). The little guy was in a lot of pain and it was so sad. Pinky seems like he is doing great other than this, so it might just be a quirk of his digestive system.

. . . 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.  

[LBJ10]

I agree. It doesn’t sound like this is anything urgent. Try the hay-only diet and see what happens.

[Moonlightbunny66]

Thanks guys. It’s just tough because I don’t know what he’s going through. ):

[Moonlightbunny66]

The vet emailed me back and told me to feed him half of what I’m feeding him right now. Then after a week of that, feed him only hay for a week. And if it doesn’t help, then I should let them know and I can bring him in to be reassessed. They said he would likely have some blood work to check his organs.

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