Poop Smudges Everywhere

[mocha200]

For the past few weeks I have been finding these poop smudges all over the bunny room and cage.

Since I have two bunnies I have no idea who is leaving these. I am assuming it is Mocha just because he has been having bits of poop stuck to his fur down by his butt. Are these smudges a concern? Both my bunnies are acting normal and seem as healthy as ever besides these. Since this has happened I have tried giving a tablespoon of pellets per week for the bunnies just so they don’t get any deficiencies as they used to be on a pellet free diet (please feel free to ask me why I have decided to do this if you wish to know). Should I take the bunnies in for a check up?

[Zombie-Sue]

imho, regardless of what we tell you, you probably won’t feel better until you take him to the vet.

Maybe try to feed him less watery vegetables in the future. We’ve had like 3 rabbits that we kept only temporarily, and all of them would get the runs (which kind of makes sense because they were just getting used to new foods) but this last time, we started with green pepper instead of… celery I think is what we usually start with. Anyway, he did better, and the water content in green pepers is a little lower. I don’t know if it actually makes a difference or not.

But of course, monitor their water intake imho. Don’t want dehydrated buns either.

[mocha200]

No changes have been made to their diet in about a year so I doubt it would be that. I plan to take both of my bunnies to the vet, but I am leaving on a trip on Friday so if it was something serious, I would try to get him in now.

[Sarita]

Makes me wonder if perhaps one of your buns is arthritic or it could be dental…other than that, I really wouldn’t worry about those smudges of poop.

[Zombie-Sue]

Posted By mocha200 on 10/08/2013 02:15 PM

No changes have been made to their diet in about a year so I doubt it would be that. I plan to take both of my bunnies to the vet, but I am leaving on a trip on Friday so if it was something serious, I would try to get him in now.

I think you’re right, but whatever the problem IS, changing his diet might help. or it might make it worse I guess o.o if only they could just talk to us………..

[mocha200]

I am thinking maybe a few pellets a week may help. RIght now they eat: Leafy Greens, LOTS of grass hay, and water. I don’t normally feed fruit of harder veggies as rabbits shouldn’t have many of those anyways. I think I’ll make an appointment after I come back and have them both checked out.

[jerseygirl]

I was thinking like Sarita. That it might be left from one when getting the cecals.

With diet, even if you feed the same thing, there’s no guarantee there isn’t variation. Seasonally hay & grasses change. Purchased veggies have inconsistencies. Even water is subject to change. If a bun is really sensitive then you might see this affect them somehow. I don’t think it’s too much to worry about but worth keeping an eye on. Maybe give some probiotics a go?

I feed my rabbits grasses and bunny safe weeds from my yard. Now and then I give a worming treatment as a precaution. You could as your vet if that’s something they think worthwhile if you also feed local forage.

ETA: Zombie-Sue mentioned celery. I know one of my buns gets messy when had too much celery. Others have said cilantro will do that to their rabbits. There’s possibility that a bun (likely Mocha) has grown sensitive to one of their regular veggies.

[MimzMum]

This kind of stuff happens often with my three. I believe like Jerz that they just become ‘allergic’, for lack of a better word, to the things we normally feed them. Sometimes even the buns that are on strictly hay will still leave smudges if they get a different type of hay.
The only way to know for sure is to take them in of course, but are there any other symptoms? Is anyone having trouble getting out of the litter tray? Is this affecting any of their other output (wee, fecals, etc.) or is there a difference in their appetites? Any untoward behaviour that you notice? When was everybun’s last dental?

I hope it turns out to be something easily sussed. Vibes for the bunbuns. xx

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bindi often gets mushy, smudge poops when he needs his molars trimmed. Have they had their teeth checked recently?

[Elrohwen]

Otto leaves these around sometimes and I haven’t figured out why or any pattern. I know he’s fairly sensitive to new foods, but he’s also picky so he doesn’t really eat new foods on a regular basis. I do know that he’s arthritic in his back (figured it out during an x-ray when he was going into stasis) so that could be why.

[mocha200]

I buy my hay all at once from a farm so they’ve been eating the same hay all year. It could be veggies I guess.

To be honest, I don’t think Moch has ever had a “real” checkup. He supposedly had one before his neutered but that vet didn’t know anything. He’s been to the vet and has been weighed and checked over but the apt kent was always for lulu so he never got his ears and teeth or anything checked. Neither of my bunnies have ever had dentals as they have never had any problems.

When I get back I will make a checkup appointment for both bunnies and see if we can find anything.

I don’t think he’s arthritic as he jumps up on things all the time, gets in and out of the litterbox easily, and does agility jumps very well.

Mocha hasn’t ever been sick a day in his life and he’s 4! Doesn’t mean he couldn’t be though. He is a lop so dental problems are common but his eating habits have not changed. The only difference I have seen in him is that he’s flopping a lot! I think that’s a good sign though! :p He sleeps so soundly and dreams too! It’s so cute watching him dream! I have a video of it! I should post it here.

Another thing that may be completely unrelated us that Lulu (I think) has been leaving pee dribbles on the floor… It’s been happening for awhile with no other symptoms. I suspected that lulu had a uri a year or so ago but she never got tested as her bladder was always empty. She had a GI thing and went on antibiotics so if it was a URI that should have fixed it… But now I’m finding some dribbles again.

[Elrohwen]

Haha, I feel like we have the same bunnies. Hannah leaves pee dribbles sometimes. It will happen for a week or two, then disappear. She goes to the vet yearly and hasn’t had issues except stasis once or twice.

Otto has never been a crazy jumper, but he also never did anything that would indicate he had arthritis. He jumps on the couch, jumps in and out of his maze, etc. We only found out because of the xray, but now that I know it might explain the poo smears sometimes.

[mocha200]

I forgot to mention that mocha seems like it’s really hard to eat his cecotropes. He has to re adjust like twice befor he can reach his head down there. I don’t know if it is because he is a bit over weight or not… Any thoughts?

[LittlePuffyTail]

It could be that he’s a bit too overweight to reach them properly or that he’s sore, possibly arthritis, and it causes discomfort to get into the position. I would mention this to his vet when you bring him.

[mocha200]

LPT: Will do!

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