Hair in poop

[qtipthebun]

Hey guys,
In the past day or two, I've noticed a few of alfies poops have hair in them. He is eating fine, pooping fine, and very active so I'm not terribly worried but is there anything I can give him? He gets two or three oxbow papaya tablets a day.

 

[mjpeter]

This happens with Bella once in a while too. We were told to remove as much hair as you can with grooming, and to make sure the bun is eating enough hay to help the rest through the digestive tract.

 

[qtipthebun]

Yup, he eats a ridiculous amount of hay, and I zoom groom him whenever I can catch him!!

 

[PaGal]

Just rom, push the hay and water.

 

[qtipthebun]

Yea he is eating and drinking tons, as always. Just didn't know if there was anything I could give him.

 

[golfdiva]

Feeding my two rabbits timothy only pellets eliminated this.

 

[Imbrium]

There really isn't anything that you're not already doing that's going to do any good. The ONLY two things that will reduce the amount of hair in a rabbit's poop are if they ingest less hair (ie groom the crap out of them... I swear by the Furminator for the vast majority of fur types) or if the hair they ingest is getting stuck/creating a blockage (which obviously leads to less fur coming out, less pooping in general and GI stasis, heh).

In other words, hair in poop is actually arguably a GOOD thing. The fact that it's coming out means that hairball preventing measures like eating lots of hay and drinking lots of water are doing their job - keeping the hair from tangling up into a blockage within the GI tract and making sure it gets pushed all the way through the digestive system . It's when you know they've been ingesting a fair amount of hair (since even copious amounts of grooming can only do so much during a molt) yet you're *not* seeing much hair in their poops that you should start worrying.

 

[mjpeter]

There really isn't anything that you're not already doing that's going to do any good. The ONLY two things that will reduce the amount of hair in a rabbit's poop are if they ingest less hair (ie groom the crap out of them... I swear by the Furminator for the vast majority of fur types) or if the hair they ingest is getting stuck/creating a blockage (which obviously leads to less fur coming out, less pooping in general and GI stasis, heh).

In other words, hair in poop is actually arguably a GOOD thing. The fact that it's coming out means that hairball preventing measures like eating lots of hay and drinking lots of water are doing their job - keeping the hair from tangling up into a blockage within the GI tract and making sure it gets pushed all the way through the digestive system . It's when you know they've been ingesting a fair amount of hair (since even copious amounts of grooming can only do so much during a molt) yet you're *not* seeing much hair in their poops that you should start worrying.

Interesting way of looking at that!! I'll think of that instead of fretting next time I pull some hair connected poop balls off her grate, lol.

 

[JBun]

When a rabbit is molting, you will always find some poop strung together. It's when you are finding thick strands and small misshapen poop, that it can lead to blockage problems, as too much fur ingested and not enough fiber to help push it through, can contribute to gut contents slowing down, leading to the smaller misshapen poop, and eventually could lead to a blockage. Brushing and removing as much fur as possible, and ensuring your rabbit eats a good amount of hay and has good GI motility and good poop size, and is also drinking plenty, is about all you can do. Less sugary/starchy treats and feeding some hay that is more mature with stalky bits, can help increase motility(as long as your bun eats the stalky pieces). Sugars and starches slow down motility, indigestible fiber increases motility and helps keep contents moving through, which in turn helps prevent too much of a slow down, which can lead to a blockage. Providing a water dish instead of a bottle to drink from, can also help, as rabbits tend to drink more from a dish.

 

[ChocoClover]

Hair in poop is normal. I would be worried if he stopps pooping at all, because then he might have a hairball.