Poopy butt

[Christiner]

Hello everyone.I have my bun sense Christmas.Sense I got her I’ve changed her pellets to oxbow timothy from pet shop one full of seeds and trying to get her to eat oxbow timothy hay which she hates.I I’ve been giving her a bit of romaine lettuce but I’ve noticed she had few hard and tiny poops and wouldn’t drink as much water so I’ve stopped the veg.This morning I checked her litter and she had dark moist poop and after inspection a poopy butt. Her behavior seem fine , she runs around as usual . I called a vet (there are no savvy vets in my town) He said to give her more pellets with seeds and less hay and if nothing changes he’ll give her antibiotics. But that goes against everything I’ve read till now!… What am I doing wrong? Her teeth are fine,she is getting more confident jumping on the sofa now…I’m scared I’m harming her, vet says one thing, my research says another…. Do you guys have any thoughts??
P.S. Called a second vet, he said that the pellets are to blame and to go to pet shop ones as well… is it possible she has a reaction because I switched the feed to abruptly?

[Azerane]

Hello there Your research is accurate that buns need lots of hay, and a few pellets (without seeds) to be healthy. Having changed her pellet and introduced some greens as well the changes just might be too much for her gut all at once. Any dietary changes for rabbits need to happen slowly to avoid gut upset. The best thing for now that is most important is to get her eating hay. Some buns are fussy so try a few different brands or types of grass hay, orchard, meadow, oaten etc. It’s important to find something that she’ll eat lots of.

For the moment, I would hold off on leafy greens until you can get her eating hay well. Once she’s eating hay well, try again with the romaine, or even something else (bok choy or cilantro) and only give a very small piece, the size of your finger, then the next day give a slightly larger piece and so on building up to a larger piece over the course of a week. If she has poopy butt again stop the new green immediately, wait a couple of weeks and try again with a different green. Since you only recently got her I assume that she is young, some young bunnies don’t tolerate greens very well and others are ok. She may be one that may need to be a little older before she’ll be able to digest them properly. Right now though, as I mentioned the priority is to get her eating hay. Keep her on the oxbow pellets and try out some different hays.

[Christiner]

I found a grass hay that she likes and she seem to eat it well.I’m mixing in the oxbow timothy but she just plucks out the one she likes… Should I try to give her less pellets to encourage more hay eating?
By the way the amount of misinformation I have to deal with is astonishing! I live in greece so I don’t know if my town is to blame or if it’s like that everywhere but something needs to be done! That never happened with my dogs! But I guess it’s just a rabbit (!) to most people!

[Sirius&Luna]

Any grass hay is fine, so it doesn’t matter if she’s just picking one type out.

How many pellets are you giving her, and how old is she? Reducing pellets will normally increase hay consumption, but young rabbits should have a reasonable amount of pellets to help them grow.

It’s great you found this website as there is a lot of misinformation out there!

[Christiner]

I’m giving her about 2tbsp of pellets. Its about 30 grams. Last week she was 667grams, I’ll weigh her again when I get home from work. She put on some weight sense I got her, I could feel every single bone in the beginning .As for her age we don’t know , the vet said she is young.. I’m not spaying her if I can’t find specialist vet , can’t trust anyone not to kill her

[Christiner]

She is 720 grams today and a dwarf bunny , so she ganed 50 grams in 7 days.
Thank you all so much! I am so grateful that this forum exists with people that want to help.With dogs whatever happens I’m calm because I know what to do but with her I am in panic most of the time, she is so tiny ?

[Christiner]

She is 720 grams today and a dwarf bunny , so she ganed 50 grams in 7 days.
Thank you all so much! I am so grateful that this forum exists with people that want to help.With dogs whatever happens I’m calm because I know what to do but with her I am in panic most of the time, she is so tiny ?

[Sirius&Luna]

I wouldn’t reduce her pellets from two tbsp a day, as she’s growing she probably needs at least that You could even gradually increase the pellets once her poopy butt settles down.

Keep feeding her lots of hay though, that’s the best thing!

Did you manage to clean her bum? Baths are dangerous for bunnies, but if her bum is really messy then you can put just her back legs and bum in about an inch of warm water to help clean her up, while you support her front legs. Make sure you totally dry her afterwards. If it’s not too bad, then you can try a wet towel or flannel instead

[Azerane]

That’s great that she’s eating one type of grass hay, as S&L said, any grass hay is fine. Rabbits don’t need timothy hay, it’s just the most commonly recommended one because it’s widely available in the USA, UK and I assume Europe.

Misinformation about rabbits is extremely common, on the internet, in pet stores and even on occasion from vets. In terms of vet care rabbits are considered an exotic animal so your average dog and cat vet doesn’t always have a large knowledge base on them.

[Christiner]

I cleaned her yesterday with a wet towel and she HATED IT!!! She even growled at me for the first time lol.Although terrified of breaking her I got her butt poo free. This morning her butt was clean and her poo was perfect! I don’t think I was ever that happy to see a ton of poo ???
I do have a question though. When I got her , her poo was completely dry and extremely light weight. Sense changing her diet her poo is a bit smaller, heavier denser and a bit moist but still very friable. Is that ok?
Thank you all again for your help and support! Thanks to your advice my baby is healthy and happy !

[Christiner]

And also , is it ok that she is alone?I don’t think I am ready for another bunny, at least not until I learn more.Will she be happy by her self?

[Sirius&Luna]

That’s great news! Part of the package of being a bunny owner is being happy about poop! Haha.

I think with time, you’ll get used to knowing what normal poop is for her. They should be kind of golden, dry and you should be able to see little bits of hay in it. Since she just recovered from funny poos though, it might take a few days for her to get fully back to ‘normal’. If she’s eating lots of hay, they should be fine.

Bunnies like companionship, but it doesn’t have to be another bunny, and if you’re not ready for the commitment yet that’s fine! Do you spend a lot of time with her?

[Christiner]

I take her to my bed every morning , she will run around for a bit and then fall asleep on her side ( freaks me out every time , she looks dead!) She has the living room to her self most of the day and then she jumps on the couch for cuddles. I do think she can hold a grudge though,if I pick her up for example to check her butt she then ignores me for a while ?So she decides how much time we spend together. When I’m away at work( 5-6 hours )a day and at night she is in her cage though .

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