Bernie and strange poop

[BEAUKEZRA]

I want to say first that this is not an emergency situation. I've had my sweet boy Bernie for almost 3 years and ever since I've had him he's always had weird poop. Instead of nice little round poops he always has big oval boulders. On occasion he also gets round dark and very smelly poops but their not his cecals. Bernie can only have limited parsley and treats because he is prone to gas and constipation. I think about taking him to the vet but he's perfect and healthy otherwise. I've had a bunny die an hour after getting medicine from the vet so I'm very nervous about taking him no matter how saavy they are. Has anyone ever heard of other rabbits having weird bowels?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I haven't, but does he eat a good portion of hay or is he not a hay eater? This could cause irregular poos. Therefore, I wouldn't want to feed any fruits/veggies without introducing them very slowly. Watch carefully. The veggie side should be okay, but I would warrant fruits. Maybe try another kind of hay too if it's not his thing and see if he takes to hay any better. You can also sprinkle/spray his hay with some water/apple juice mix to entice him to eat it.

 

[BEAUKEZRA]

He eats hay constantly thank goodness. They always have it available but I'll hand it out like it's a treat every day. I guess they think it tastes better if I get excited and say "come get some hay. Yay!" He eats Kaytee timothy complete pellets and only gets raisins and occasionally blueberries for treats. He actually does ok with oats but gets gas and constipationwith bananas (his favorite). I can't give him any bananas or any vegetable other than parsley. I know I should probably have him checked out but what kind of tests do you think they would do? He's not sick but it does seem to be a chronic problem with his pooper.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

If they will eat it, just make sure there's a small/good amount of hay for them to eat 24/7 in a tray or what not. Too much hay is never heard of either.

 

[JimD]

Hi Heather!

Bernie sounds so very similar to Chippy....age , diet, ...and poops! We've even hadour bunsabout the same amount of time.

Chippy has always had rather large poops for a small bunnie... 4 1/2 lbs.
We took her to the vet when we first got her and they ran a whole battery of tests.
Everything checked out ok. She wasn't straining when she had to go.
Final diagnosis......she just had big poops.

...here's the original thread...

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=3880&forum_id=1


~Jim

 

[BEAUKEZRA]

Thank you Jim. I feel better knowing Bernie's not the only one with strange poops. Bernie's small too. He's an hotot mix and about 4 pounds. He's fine otherwise.

 

[naturestee]

My dwarf hotots have strange poops too. When I first rescued them their poops were has big as their eyes! Now they're usually normal size, sometimes small and sometimes larger and usually uneven in shape, unlike the perfect round balls the other rabbits make. Diet helps a lot of it but they only get so normal, you know? This is more of a problem with hotots and english spots, and I guess would also show up in "charlies"- rabbits that are mostly white with just a few small spots of color.

Thankfully my girls are fine with all veggies. They are very sensitive to alfalfa and the amount of pellets they get though. Are you able to get Oxbow Bunny Basics/T? It has more fiber which might help Bernie.

 

[JimD]

Here's Chippy....also a hotot mix!!

 

[pamnock]

We've raised Dwarf Hotots for about the last 10 years and as Naturestee mentioned, they can be more prone to GI problems. This is a congenital defect related to cell migrationof the nerve endings in the intestines. The same gene that controls the nerve cell migration also controls pigment cell migration (hence the relationship between hotot markings and GI problems).

Diet can help. Additional roughage works well. I've also found oats to be helpful.



Pam

 

[Flashy]

^Wow, that's really interesting.