I think my bunny is having cecotropes

[mel.cece]

I just got my bunny last Sunday (1week ago) and she was doing well until now. The breeder recommended giving her young rabbit pellets, alfalfa hay, and Timothy hay. At first I couldn’t find alfalfa hay so I was only giving her Timothy and pellets and she seemed fine. About 3 or 4 days ago I found alfalfa hay and gave it to her. She loved the alfalfa hay, she would hear me open the bag and she would run towards me. Yesterday around 1pm, my bunny started having soft stool. I posted in another group and I was told it could be cecotropes. I looked into it and I believe it is cecotropes. Her stool is very dark and kind of smelly, it’s also stuck together. I don’t know what to do? I’m feeding oxbow Timothy hay, oxbow young rabbit pellets, and oxbow alfalfa hay. I tried getting her off of the alfalfa thinking it was that but she’s still having soft stools and stuck together. She’s drinking and eating normal it’s just her stool that concerns me. Please anyone help, I have a vet visit this Thursday but I might push it to tomorrow. (The white stuff on the picture is paper bedding)

 

[Preitler]

Most times it's too rich food that causes excess cecos. Feeding pellets AND alfalfa might be too much, not even all meat lines can use all this extra protein. Rabbits evolved on a meager diet, in my opinion feeding for maximum growth rate makes only real sense if you want them get to butcher weight asap. I would just go back to the grass hay and use the alfalfa as a treat.

 

[Blue eyes]

Agreed! If she's on those juvenile pellets (alfalfa-based) it's best to just use timothy for the hay. She was doing fine on that, so skip the alfalfa hay. That'll actually make it easier as she grows anyway because some buns resist switching to grass hays once they've gotten used to eating that rich alfalfa hay.

 

[JBun]

Is your rabbit also producing normal round fecal balls? If all of the poop is looking like that and there are no normal round poops, then you have a more serious problem going on than just a diet issue, and you need to contact a knowledgeable rabbit vet right away, as your rabbit may have bacterial enteritis or possibly coccidiosis.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/