Large amounts of soft stools

lavingroony · Nov 13, 2013

Hi there, I have a sterilized female bunny by the name of Bunny. About a week ago, she started dropping increasingly excessive amounts of soft stools in her playpen. At first it was just one or two very small blobs, but by this morning it's got to the point that there's 2 or 3 large bunches lying around and she's tracking them everywhere

She's normally 100% litter trained and has very few accidents outside, so it was quite alarming for both of us when she started leaving stools outside

In the meantime, she's still leaving her normal dry stools in the litter box.

They're very smelly and mushy, but not exactly wet. Some of them are in a bunch shape and resemble cecotropes, but she's dropping WAY too much for it to be normal?

I originally thought it was due to stress from being next to my new bunny, but it just got worse instead of diminishing over a week, and I'm quite worried. Her main diet of oxbow pellets and timothy hay has not changed at all.

Some changes in the past week:

- Reduced oats in her diet. (But this shouldn't be a problem since oats tend to CAUSE soft stools, right?)

- Moved my adopted male bunny next to her area. I know this causes stress, but after a week the situation has worsened drastically instead of improving.. She also seems pretty okay with him, and isn't aggressive or scared when I let them out together. (I'm planning to house them both together after the male is sterilized.)

- Gave her a papaya tablet every day. But the problem started before this. I have since yesterday stopped giving her the tablets, though.

- Fed her biscuit treats which were slightly soft from being left in the air unsealed.. But my other bunny has been eating the same treats without problems. She's also had the same slightly off treats before and was fine (the particular brand doesn't come in a resealable package and I tend to forget about sealing it while playing with them..)

I'm completely unsure if I should be more worried or bring her to the vet. (The waiting time for vet appointments in my country is quite drastic, and the problem might even resolve itself before the actual day.) Could someone please advise on this?

Bville · Nov 13, 2013

I think you should make the vet appointment since it will be a wait anyway and in the meantime try giving her hay and water only to see if that helps.

JBun · Nov 13, 2013

It sounds like your rabbit has developed cecal dysbiosis, which is a disruption in a rabbits gut flora and overgrowth of bad bacteria. Causes are stress, medication, a food introduced too quickly, sensitivity to a particular food, not eating enough hay, parasites/bacteria, toxins, cancer, other health problems, but most often the contributing factor is too many carbs and sugars in the diet and not enough fiber from hay. It's possible the stress of a new rabbit set it in motion. Stress releases chemicals that then cause a rabbits gut bacteria to change and allows for growth of bad bacteria. So once this is set in motion by the original stressor things in a rabbits diet can then contribute to the problem even though the original stessor may no longer be an issue.

I would suggest cutting out the oats and biscuits from her diet, as well as any other sugar starchy treats, including fruit and carrots, and depending on how bad the mushy poop is you may also need to cut pellets out as well. You could try just cutting the treats for a few days to see if there is any improvement, and if not cut pellets out as well. Then just feed unlimited hay. You'll want to make sure your rabbit is eating the hay well. If not there could be an underlying dental issue, though it's also possible there could just be a problem with the hay if your rabbit is normally a good hay eater. You may also be able to continue to feed her normal veggies, but if you aren't seeing improvement in the mushy poop after a week, you may also need to eliminate veggies. Often you will start to see improvement after a few days to a week, but if the mushy poop is really bad, it can sometimes take several weeks or more. After the mushy poop has cleared up, you can start reintroducing pellets again slowly, starting with small amounts. You may or may not be able to feed the same amount of pellets as before, just depending on if your rabbit has developed a permanent sensitivity. Same goes with treats. You may not be able to feed sugary starchy treats anymore. Once you've finished reintroducing pellets, you can then reintroduce veggies if you had to cut them out too. Best to do it slowly as well, and one veggie at a time.

Something you also need to consider is that parasites and severe overgrowth of specific bacteria, can also be a cause for mushy poop(though usually it's much worse), and in these cases immediate vet treatment is needed. Often if this is the cause, you will see more severe symptoms and also other symptoms such as sudden weight loss and lethargy, but not always. So if your rabbits condition doesn't improve and/or worsens, you need to take your rabbit to the vet asap.

http://www.sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/chronic_intermittent_diarrhea_in_rabbits.pdf

lavingroony · Nov 14, 2013

Thanks for your replies! I've made a vet appointment and stopped giving her anything other than water/pellets/hay, the mushy stools seem to have diminished slightly, but it's a little hard to tell. Will continue to monitor her.

lavingroony · Nov 23, 2013

Just to update, I cut all treats and reduced oats by a lot (I'd pre-mixed it with her pellets, so I topped up the pellet box and fed her from the top which had less oats) - the mushy poo has completely stopped.

I've been reintroducing biscuits and oats gradually (no signs of mushy poo yet). I suspect it was this papaya supplement that caused the tummy upset: http://www.lopp.com.sg/shop/Small-A...ko/Wild-Sanko-Papaya-Supplements/prod_17.html but I can't confirm as I haven't fed any to her yet. My other bunny is fine with the same tablets.

Massive thanks for the advice!