Irregular Poop

[Lovedrop]

Hi everyone,

I am a new bunny owner, and have only had my 6 month old dwarf lionhead named Boh for about a month. I posted here earlier with some questions about housing for him and you were all incredibly helpful. I hope someone can help me with this today.

Today I let Boh out of his cage and he started hopping on the hardwood, something that he has never done before (normally he stays on the blanket I put out for him). He was hopping around way more than normal, which I thought was a good thing, lots of exercise. I also put out about a cup of veggies (lettuce - dark green/red, some parsley and some baby carrots), and his regular 1/4 cup of pellets. He ate all of the veggies and some pellets, and was drinking normally.

Then I noticed that his poops were very small and mushy, and some were clumped together. Just yesterday someone was telling me about their bun getting G1 Stasis and so as you can imagine, I'm super worried. This is the first time since I've gotten Boh that anything has been abnormal, so I'm freaking out.

I am thinking it might be because he hasn't been eating as much hay lately. I fed him a treat (as I was told bunnies with G1 Stasis do not eat) and he took it happily, and was still being playful and hopping around. I just put him in his cage, but left his food bowl out, and put a ton of hay in, and he's been going to town on it.

I know I am probably worrying for no reason, but I can't help it. I am going to keep an eye on him and check his poops and update you.

Thank you to anyone who reads through this whole post, I'm sorry for it being so long!

 

[jujub793]

if it looks like grape clusters this is normal and you probably haven't noticed them before because your bunny eats them.

 

[Maureen Las]

It doesn't sound like he is going into GI stasis but it is always good to watch a change in poops; if it looks like grape clusters and has a pungent odor it is probably cecals ( which are full of vitamins; bunnies usually eat them from their own anus as they are coming out.)
it is possible that you are feeding too many carrots which are really a sugary treat for rabbits and should be fed only in small amounts.
Giving a lot of hay ( preferably timothy) for a digestive upset is great.
you can also pick up a probiotic like benebac or Probios and give a dose ; probiotics help establish good microorgansims in the GI tract.

 

[Lovedrop]

Thanks guys. I think they were cecels, but I was freaking out because I guess I'd never notice him have those before. Also, I had no idea that carrots aren't good for rabbits to have regularly, so thank you for letting me know that!

Right now he is munching away on hay and his poops are back to normal. Thanks for dealing with my freak out, haha

 

[missyscove]

Yes, it definitely sounds like cecals to me. Rabbits practice a form of coprophagy where they eat only certain fecal pellets. These are called cecals or "night feces" and are produces specially in their cecum and are full of protein that they can redigest. This allows them to combine their selective feeding strategy with a high rate of passage to get the most out of their diet.

Typically rabbits eat the cecals straight from their anus, so we owners never see them. Rabbits on a wire bottom cage may have them fall through or occasionally they may not eat them. One every once in a while isn't a big concern, but if you're seeing a lot of cecals that could be a sign that there is a problem with the diet, like too much protein.