Funny coloured funny poo

[misskitty]

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if you can help. I have two male bunnies, brothers aged10 weeks. Over the past few days I have noticed that one ofthem leaves a sticky, caramel coloured puddle at the bottom of the run.They are both eating and drinking happily and seem themselves but I'mnew to bunny keeping and am obviously worried. I have seen both of thempoop normally so am wondering whether it could be them scented as itonly seems to appear in their favourite spots or whether its somethingmore serious.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

They are both due at the vets on monday for their myxi jabs so I canask then vet then but wanted to see if anyone knows what it could be soI'm armed with lots of info.

Thanks

 

[Pipp]

Yikes, so sorry I missed this earlier!

Are there normal poops mixed in with the wet spots?

How long have you had the bunnies? Has their diet changed?

Diarrhea can be very serious in rabbits that age. It may be wise to move up your appointment if that's possible.

Here's a lot more information:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11935&forum_id=10

Let us know how he's doing.



sas

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat

Definately try to figure out if they're both pooping normal round poopsalso. If they are, then it's a cecal (cecotrope)problem. If one is only pooping the sticky puddles, it's afecal problem. I definately agree with getting them in to thevet sooner, but if it's a fecal problem then it's an emergency.

What are the eating and how long have you had them? Did youswitch them over slowly from the food they were eating before you gotthem? Do they have hay? If not, get them some grasshay such as timothy as soon as you can. And are they eating a"rabbit mix?" Those mixes are full of carbs and sugars thatrabbits should not be getting. I know they're still popularin the UK but they're unhealthy and can cause lots of GI problems (aswell as potential vitamin deficiencies).

 

[misskitty]

I actually got my vets appointment wrong…. its this evening and not Monday. Good job I checked!!



They both are pooing normally so I’m really confused as Id have thoughtif it was dihorrhea they’d have it only and not also produce normalpoos. The liquid isn’t mixed in with their normal poos and their backend are clean. Its doesn’t look like dihorrhea as it’s a funny colourwhich is confusing me more?!



We’ve had them since they were babies. Their parents belongedto my housemates so they’ve lived with us since birth but wereseparated from their mum a few weeks ago. They are about 10 weeks oldnow.

They were being fed pellets but I’ve slowly mixed it in with a bit ofrabbit mix. Was this a bad idea? They get fresh veg most daysand have plenty of fresh hay on supply.

I’m really worried now. I was hoping it wasn’t anything serious! L



Here they are as babies:

Marley is the sooty fawn & zephyr the harli

 

[Pipp]

Is itgelatin-like, andgreenish? That seems to pop up in young rabbits often,sometimes serious, sometimes not.

Here's an article that describes a few of the things itMIGHTbe, but the vet's going to have todo atest. (You may be well advised to bring a few poop samples).

http://www.islandgems.net/diarrhea.html

Let us know!



sas et al

 

[cheryl]

Awww they are adorable!!,and also you mentionabout giving the young ones rabbit mix,does it have like coloured stuffand things in it? if it does i wouldn't give it to the bunnies,it'smainly just junk food and it's not really good for bunnies anyway



update uson how they go at the vets



cheryl

 

[naturestee]

I'd definately take away the rabbitmix. If they're also pooping normally, the problem isprobably their cecals. Healthy cecals are moist and look likeclusters of grapes. Rabbits usually eat the straight fromtheir rear. Liquid cecals can mean a bacterial or parasiticinfection or diet problems. Since you've added mix to theirdiets lately, that's most likely the problem (IMO anyway, not anexpert).

Are you feeding hay? If not, you should get somesoon. Rabbits should have hay available 24/7. Grasshay such as timothy or meadow hay is great. Alfalfa is finefor the youngsters but you'll need to wean them off it when they'reolder. It will help with the diarrhea.

Let us know how they're doing!

 

[misskitty]

Thanks for all your replies. The vets appointemtis in a few hours so I'll try and get a sample to take with me..i'm notsure which rabbit is leaving it though as I haven't actually seeneither of them leaving it.

They have a hay rack in their hutch so its available all day. It seemsto be theri favoutrite thing to eat. I also give thjem fresh grassevery few days as they love that!

The mix is just a rabbit mix, but I've mixed a small qty in with theirpellats so they prob get 2/3 pellats and 1/3 mix in their bowl each day.

 

[Pipp]

How did the vet appointment go?



sas et al

 

[misskitty]

The vet said it was due to the mix I'd beenfeeding them plus diyhdration due to me having moved their hutch fromthe grass onto concrete so the haven't been getting their water fromfresh grass..plus the veg I'd been feeding them...lettace/brocolli ittoo high in calcium

 

[Pipp]

Great! Hope it clears up right away.

Sounds like a good vet, especially catching the lack of grass problem.

I'm not a vet (or anything close), but I think there's a mistake somewhere about the calcium, though, or I'm misreading it:

a) Bunnies that young really need a lot of calcium, don't think there'ssuch a thing as 'too much' at that age unless they're having urninarytrack issues (which one would think would be more from the dehydrationthan the calcium). And...

b)Lettuces like Romaineare amongthelowest veggies on the calcium scale, as is broccoli -- althoughbroccolileaves arehigh in calcium, the flowersandstems are not.

Keep in touch!



sas et al