Soft poop?

[LillyBear]

Sometimes my Lilly’s fecal pellets are soft!  If she steps on them they smoosh, usually they are hard.. but what causes them to become soft?  Last night they were soft so i "forced" her to eat some more hay and I dont know if that fixed it or if whatever was bothering her was out of her system… the past few days all she has been given is:  lettuce, carrots (about 1.5cups of the veggies); unlimited pellets (as she is still young, we will do this until she is 7months), and unlimited hay.  Maybe cause the hay was reaching the bottom of the bag she didn’t like it anymore?  So I bought new hay.. I don’t know.. is that what causes soft poops?

[dmh426]

Soft poops could actually be malformed cecotropes that should have been eaten directly from the anus by the rabbit. You will notice that the soft stools might have a strong odor and contain mucous like normal cecotropes. When the contents of the cecum are retained for longer than normal periods of time the cecotropes are eventually excreted in a more liquid state and it is impossible for the rabbit to eat them, which can cause a mess on the fur and in her cage. It could also be a defect in the diet, in that that diet could be too high in carbohydrates and/or Lilly is not getting enough fiber (hay)

Question: What kind of lettuce? Please don’t say iceberg, please don’t say iceberg. Iceberg lettuce is mostly water, which could be causing the soft stools.

[LillyBear]

nono we are giving Lilly Romaine lettuce. No worries on the iceberg Thanks I will keep making sure she is eating her hay.. so far it seems that might be it, but i will watch carefully!

[osprey]

Carrots are also pretty high in calories, maybe try no carrots for a few days and see if the poops return to normal?

[LillyBear]

you know, I actually THOUGHT about that.. but I was like no how can carrots be bad! haha.. I should have thought about the fact that there tends to be a lot of carbs in veggies (and this starch) and that could be causing an upset tummy!.. oh geeze, im a bad mom.. Thanks, Im going to lay off the carrots for a few days.. : )

[Elena Niznik]

How is lilly now is she still producing sooft poops?

Have you established whether or not they are cecal pellets or fecal pellets?

If she is still having softer poops and it isnt cecal pellets she may be suffering from intermittent soft stools or ISS. which is usually caused by an upset in the flora in your bunnies tummy.

The most common cause for this is too much sugar i.e indigestible fibre ( in your case it might be the carrots as suggested by osprey) and a diet too high in carbohydrate.

Its important that you ensure lilly is hydrated and keep on feeding her hay as you have been doing.

I would refrain from introducing new veggies to her until her poops return to normal.

[LillyBear]

They are normal right now, it is just every once in a while they are soft.. they are fecal pellets that are soft.. althought when those are soft often I find a cecal pellet mixed in with a few of the soft fecal pellets. I have lain off the carrots and she is having lots of hay, I think that it is helping : )

[Elena Niznik]

Glad to hear it, she is a total honey of a bunny.

just keep an eye on her. Its normal to have one or two fecal pellets mixed in with her cecal pellets.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By LillyBear on 01/04/2007 9:56 PM
you know, I actually THOUGHT about that.. but I was like no how can carrots be bad! haha.. I should have thought about the fact that there tends to be a lot of carbs in veggies (and this starch) and that could be causing an upset tummy!.. oh geeze, im a bad mom.. Thanks, Im going to lay off the carrots for a few days.. : )

You’re not a bad mom!!   You’re a great mom.  You’re paying attention to your bunny’s problem, you’re asking around to find out solutions.  

Not all veggies are high in sugar.  Carrots are high, but green leafy veggies – like Dandelion greens, parsley, cilantro, chicory, romaine lettuce. etc, are good!  Here’s a full list – http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

How old is your bunny?   The amount of greens should be limited if 12 weeks, and increase gradually.  
This is a good link from HRS regarding veggies and age – http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#babies

So did this happen only once a day?  Sounded like an overgrowth of ceceotropes, and now that  you’ve backed off the carrots, has this problem gotten better?

[LillyBear]

Binky, yes thanks! The problem has gotten better, and she seems to be doing fine now The vet I went to told me I could give 1.5cups of veggies a day.. he said .5cups per pound of body weight. I was probably just making those cups to “dense” by using lots (about 12 ) of baby carrots along with the lettuce! She is having just the lettuce now and her pellets are perfect now.

you guys are great! Thanks!!

also.. Ive been wanting to find Dandelion since it sounds like such a fun thing for her to eat… but where on earth would I buy that!! Its winter here so they aren’t growing in the grass.. and even if they were I would assume it would be a bad idea anyway since fertilizer might have been used..

[BinkyBunny]

Usually Safeway or Albertson’s sells them here – just our grocery stores.  You can check the isles of your grocery stores – what are the popular ones in your area?   The dandelion greens are usually in the produce section where mustard and collard greens are.

They are rather expensive here – about $2 for one bundle, so I get them at the weekend farmer’s market for about 50 – 75 cents.

I know people who live in more suburban or farm areas must think it’s crazy to have to actually buy dandelion. 

[osprey]

Most of the stores in our area do not sell Dandelions.  There is one of those top end small family grocery stores (Piazza’s for those in the Bay Area) that sells dandelion.  As BinkBunny pointed out, they are on the expensive side, $2.49 for a bunch.  The good thing is that the bunch is large, and lasts my guys almost a week.

Another thing that my guys absolutely love is the green tops of carrots.  We grow them in the yard (carrots are easy to grow from seed) and also buy bunches of carrots with the greens still attached.  We eat the carrots and they get the tops.  Only a few stores carry the carrots with the tops attached.

[Lucy]

LillyBear… I’ve gotten Dandelions at Stanley’s (are you familiar with that place? It’s on North and Elston I believe). The have lots of fruits and veggies for really cheap, and lots of organic stuff for cheaper than what regular stuff sells at jewel. Since you said that you were going out to tinley park for the vet… I’m assuming you have a car (that might be a bad assumption) if you do, I highly reccomend you trying out Stanley’s. If you did find them at Jewel… they would be unbelievably expensive esp. if you go the the jewel off of the roosevelt stop.

Fujoe didn’t like the dandilion leaves… he likes the flowers, and I would pick those out of people’s yards (hehe) where I knew no dogs had peed on.

binky- you would be soo surprised to know how much food costs out in the midwest compared to the coast.. here I’m comparing LA to Chicago. I went to a grocery store with my mom the day before I left to go back to Chicago to buy some fresh veggies. I COULD NOT BELIEVE that parsely was 5 for $1. It’s a $1 here for ONE bunch. Then I saw fresh basil and I almost passed out…It was $2 a bunch.. but you can’t find fresh basil in chicago.. and if you do it’s like $4 for 2 leaves.. no joke. sometimes Treasure Island carries it. And not everything is available here at all times either.. which is something I’m not used to.

I’m glad Fujoe is a dwarf.. I wouldn’t be able to afford to feed anything larger!

[Lucy]

Oh.. if you don’t have a car… it would be red line to noth/clyborn. get off and take the North Bus (#77) west till Elston… You’ll see the homedepot on the north side of the street and Stanley’s on the south side of the street.

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

There are no Dandelions in Greece! I do not even lnow what it is! Anyway, do you walk her out with a leash? I know that now she is fine, but maybe the upset tummy was caused by something she picked out of the grass! I take Aftias out in a grassy area and sometimes he snitches something before i notice him! Thank god nothing bad has happened so far, but just to be on the safe side, does anybody know which herbs and greens are poisonus to rabbits?

[osprey]

Here is a great list of bunny greens, fruits and vegetables.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/feeding_en.pdf

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By KOKKINIKLOSTI on 01/08/2007 8:46 AM
There are no Dandelions in Greece! I do not even lnow what it is! Anyway, do you walk her out with a leash? I know that now she is fine, but maybe the upset tummy was caused by something she picked out of the grass! I take Aftias out in a grassy area and sometimes he snitches something before i notice him! Thank god nothing bad has happened so far, but just to be on the safe side, does anybody know which herbs and greens are poisonus to rabbits?

Funny, I thought dandelions were native to Greece.   Maybe they call them something else there, or maybe I heard wrong.  Dandelion Greens are actually weeds.   They flower yellow, and then the the seeds turn into white puff balls that easily blow off.    http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/kings/taraxacum.html

Here they grow like…well weeds!  But even in suburbia, people have to be sure that they haven’t been treated with pesticides or just treated with with weed killer.  And in cities, I see dandelions struggling to grow even between the cracks in concrete.  

For lush, safe dandelion greens, and for the amount I need to feed three bunnies per week, I buy them at the store.

 

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

Oh, THAT flowers are the dandelions! Thay sure are very very common in Greece! I didn’t know that they can actually be grown! And there are plenty of flowers where i walk Aftias! Maybe next timei will pick some of them and give them as a treat to Aftias! Thank you for the information!

[BinkyBunny]

Yeah, every part of the dandelion is edible, but the green leafy part is usually what is fed.  Just be sure to wash them really well, and make sure they aren’t in place where pesticides were used.

 

[KOKKINIKLOSTI]

That’s great! I am pretty sure that pesticides haven;t touched this area even closed in a bottle! This should be a great treat for the bunnies after walking out time!

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