gigantic poop from young rabbit

[SnowyShiloh]

Holy Moly :shock: I just was messing around in Tallulah's cage and found the hugest turd I've ever seen from a bunny. She's only 11 weeks old (Holland Lop) and this turd is bigger in diameter than a quarter! It' looks like it's a whole bunch of poops smooshed together, they don't really look like cecals to me though. She's been acting fine and is happily eating pellets at the moment, though (unsurprisingly) her butt is a little poopy after that. Here it is:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/ShilohAS/Rory026.jpg

from another angle:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/ShilohAS/Rory028.jpg

The poop is on the soft side and she seems to be pooping normally other than this monstrosity. How did it even come out? Last night I gave her a little bit of a tummy massage and the night before gave her two tummy massages, but I wouldn't think a poop like that would stay in her for a whole day even if I had inadvertently mushed it together while rubbing her belly.

Does anyone have any idea? Shall I call the vet? I hope she's okay!!

 

[lalena2148]

It almost just looks like clumped cecals with a bunch of regular poops stuck to it like this:
Cecals 1 Normal Cecals

As long as she's pooping normally other than that and they're not all soft, I don't think it's much of a problem.

But, I'm not all too familiar with this as my buns almost always eat their cecals unless they're not feeling well. Hopefully some other people more familiar w/ this situation has a good answer.

 

[JimD]

Initially I would keep a close eye on the "output" of the bun to see if it's just an unusual pooping.

If it continues I would be concerned.

Looks a lot like what my Chippy has dealt with since she was young.
Almost looks like something refered to as "cowpiles"?

If it continues, I would get a culture done....take the bun if needed.
Make sure of what you're dealing with before trying anything.

Chippy developed a GI infection that needed antibiotics.
To date, shehas a chronic GI issues that needs ongoing treatment.
We're thinking it might be a kind of irritable bowel syndrome. I've heard the term "Mega Colon" ?? suggested, too.

 

[Thumpers_Mom]

Oh Tallulah! What is going on? I'm sorry I have no idea what to say as I have never experienced it but you guys are in my thoughts.

She seems to be doing well, so I hope it is nota big deal.

Giver her loads of nose rubs for me. :hug:

 

[Marietta]

Hi!

Having seen the pictures, Lalena2148 is right, they look like many bunches of night fecals clumped together. The size as well as the composition is, certainly, not normal. However, it's good that they are soft, if this bundle was dehydrated and hard, your bun couldn't have passed this size of poop and you could have been facing ileus. Thank God, it wasn't like that! Have you noticed any change in her eating habits? quantities? any behavioural change? anything new in her diet?

How is she doing so far? Has she returned to normal? Has she produced any other peculiar in size or shape poop?

It doesn't seemseriousto the point of rushing to a vet, if this poop was the only one and there are no other alarming symptoms. However, do monitor her closely, keep on giving her a lot of hay and a lot of water.

Marietta

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks for the insight, you guys! Tallulah has free access to timothy hay every day and eats a LOT of it. She gets about 3-4 tablespoons of pellets every day, half in the morning and half in the evening. The brand is Kaytee Timothy Complete. Normally I buy Zupreem Nature's Promise timothy pellets, but my boyfriend bought Rory more food while I was gone on vacation and thought the store was out of the Zupreem pellets so bought Kaytee. I just heard a couple days ago that some people's bunnies don't handle the Kaytee Timothy Complete well, perhaps that is the problem? Also, a day or two before the massive poop I upped her pellet amount to a quarter cup (from about 3 tablespoons, I've gone back to more around 3 T), maybe that has something to do with it? Her breeder fed her a mish mash of several types of alfalfa pellets, free feed and hay only every couple days.

What do you guys think? I've decided to call the vet tomorrow to make an appointment for Tallulah on Monday. While she hasn't had any poops like that one I posted a picture of, she has had a few kind of weird ones. Also, her tummy has been rather gurgly for the past few days (I give her tummy rubs, which she likes but they don't seem to help) and I might be imagining it, but she seems to be a bit skinnier than she was a week ago. She's certainly growing, but she doesn't seem to be as chubby. Perhaps it's because she's almost 12 weeks old now and is growing out of her baby fat? Regardless, I'll feel better if the veterinarian sees her. I really hope there's nothing wrong and it's something that a food switch (to the Zupreem Nature's Promise pellets) will fix! Other than these concerns, she's quite the active little bun and loves to eat and be petted! Does it seem to you guys that a fair portion of your time is spent worrying about your bunnies?

 

[Marietta]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

Does it seem to you guys that a fair portion of your time is spent worrying about your bunnies?

You bet!!! We are the ever-worrying bunch of bunny parents here!

Well, knowing your rabbit's routine, i.e. what is normal and what not for him/her, is very useful, because then one can detect any minor change that could mean trouble. In regard to the pellet brands you mention, I cannot comment on their quality, because none of them is imported in my country. However, switching from one pellet to another, and any changes or addition to diet, in general, must be made very slowly and very progressively in a week's or a week's and a half time. In regard to pellets, when a brand is changed, the old and new one should be mixed for a period of time until gradually completely eliminating the old one from the bun's diet and replacing it with the new. If an abrupt change is made from one day to another, this could easily cause GI problems.

If you hear loud tummy noises, this means the presence of gas in her intestines. Simethicone (a substance contained in baby colic syrup bought over the counter from a drugstore) helps, so do tummy rubs. Try massaging her belly smoothly, don't press too hard, make cyclical movements from her stomach (it's almost between her front legs) to her but and try keeping her rear in an upwards position, as gas moves out of the body going upwards. Also running and moving around is helpful, because it's good for the intestinal movement too. If she has gas, you should take of the veggies and get her to eat mainly hay (it's good she eats a lot of it) and restricted pellets.

In regard to her being skinny, I don't think baby fat applies to rabbits. Does she have an appetite? When you say that she had a few weird poops, what do you mean? Are they smaller? Are they oval-shaped? Are they hard?

Tell us what the vet says tomorrow.

Marietta

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Marietta, she's been on the Kaytee food for nearly three weeks. I had to leave her old pellets behind when I brought her home (we stayed in Washington for a week before we went home and she ate the pellets from her breeder there) and started just giving her a few pellets at a time and slowly worked my way up. She didn't start having the weird poop until a couple days ago when she pooped the huge one.

What I mean by "weird" is that she has had a few somewhat larger than normal/elongated poops that are softer and darker. She only seems to have them at night and I think they're cecals. During the day her poops are the normal round ones.

I've tried doing the tummy massages and they don't seem to help with the gurgles, I also let her run around a lot every day. I was thinking about the simethicone drops, but it seems like that would only be treating the symptom and not whatever's actually wrong, so I want to bring her in to the vet. Thankfully, she is acting great and has quite an appetite so I think she'll be okay until tomorrow. Her tummy isn't constantly gurgling, but I rather hope she'll do it for the vet tomorrow so the vet knows what I'm talking about!

Also, she doesn't get veggies yet because I think she's too young (11 1/2 weeks) and I'm pretty sure they'd throw her tummy off. She seems to have a rather sensitive GI tract. She only gets hay and pellets, she doesn't even get treats! Poor deprived girl...

 

[Marietta]

Oh, okay, I didn't know she was that young, so, of course she doesn't eat veggies yet. Not giving her treats is for her own good, she's not deprived, you are very prudent and educated on rabbit diet and you, actually, do the best for her. Unlimited hay is the best diet for bunnies with sensitive intestines plus limited pellets (plus limited greens when the time comes). Unfortunately, I know too about intestinal problems, my dwarf hotot has a sensitive GI tract (it's genetical for hotots), we've had one serious GI stasis and one diarrhea incident so far, so I always watch very closely his feeding routine and ...the contents of his litter box. Having read a couple of articles on megacolon syndrome, I would tell you that megacolon makes rabbits produce these bigger, darker, elongated, ubnormal poops. I know how they look, because my Vitto had the same poops before having adjusted his diet, so I've seen what you describe with my own eyes. Having discussed my problem with an extremely good vet-member to another bunny forum, he told me that megacolon is actually rare and that this term is overused by bunny parents. He said that "irritable bowel" would be more accurate and that a diet based mainly on hay with a restricted pellet amount and a few veggies would help control this problem. I got the same feeding suggestion from a very experienced breeder member here about 3 months ago, so I followed it and -thank God- had no problems since that time.

I'd be interested to know what your vet's opinion is. I believe that diet is the important factor in dealing with this issue.

Marietta

 

[mouse_chalk]

Good luck at the vet today Shiloh, let us know how it goes!

I know how you mean with wanting to be on the safe side, even if you don't think there's something seriously wrong. I often like to go and see the vet, even if I think Chalk's going to be ok and just has somethingminor(she's the only one who ever seems to need to go!), as it just reassures me that they're doing ok and I'm doing a good enough job looking after them! Having said that though, obviously I don't go running off to the vet for every little thing, that would be both expensive and time wasting!

 

[Leaf]

I hope all goes well also! Let us know...

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Well, it looks like Tallulah won't be going to the vet today! She probably will be tomorrow though. When I called yesterday they had no appointments for today and told me to call back and see if they had any cancellations. No cancellations today The receptionist told me they'll probably have a cancellation tomorrow so I should call in the morning. So Tallulah will most likely be going tomorrow then! I think she'll be okay until tomorrow, she's still acting fine and didn't have any weird poop last night.

Thanks for all your input! If she does have something like irritable bowel, I will take very good care for her and make it as easy for her as possible.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Well, Tallulah didn't go to the vet today, either! She hasn't had a weird poop since Saturday night and her tummy hasn't been gurgling today or yesterday. I get the feeling that if I brought her in today or tomorrow, the vet wouldn't be able to find what was causing the problems since she isn't showing any symptoms if it right now. In any case, I'm glad she seems to be better! I will be keeping a close eye on her and bring her in if/when she starts getting the gurglies and weird poops again. Does this sound like a good plan to you all? And she is still the normal, spunky, cuddly, trying to jump up on things, eating machine she's always been.

Do you think I should switch her brand of pellets? Like I mentioned before, she's on Kaytee Timothy Complete pellets, which are what my boyfriend accidentally bought. I wouldn't normally feed them Kaytee and plan to go back to our regular Zupreem Nature's Promise timothy pellets when the bag starts running low (still have quite a bit left). I'm thinking maybe I should just go buy a bag of the Zupreem pellets and start slowly switching her over now rather than later, maybe she won't have this happen again. She seems to have a rather sensitive tummy and I've heard that some other people's bunnies have troubles with the Kaytee pellets.