Our bunny's messy droppings

[bunny_in_canada]

We've had Sadie for a couple years. Our Holland Lop was about a year old when we got her and she was already litter trained. We have since got her a new litter tray which has a grate on it. We feed her an unlimited supply of water, pellets and Timothy hay. We also feed her either some carrots or lettuce each day. On average of once a day, her droppings are a BIG mess. It seems she saves it up and when she goes it's big and moist and it also gets stuck in her fur and smeared all over the cage. We then have to bath her and clean the cage or rug. Has anyone ever heard/seen this before? Can we get her to stop doing this? ray:

We're going away for 2 1/2 weeks and can't think of anyone who we could get, that would want to watch her.

Please help us.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

bunny_in_canada wrote:

We've had Sadie for a couple years. Our Holland Lop was about a year old when we got her and she was already litter trained. We have since got her a new litter tray which has a grate on it. We feed her an unlimited supply of water, pellets and Timothy hay. We also feed her either some carrots or lettuce each day. On average of once a day, her droppings are a BIG mess. It seems she saves it up and when she goes it's big and moist and it also gets stuck in her fur and smeared all over the cage. We then have to bath her and clean the cage or rug. Has anyone ever heard/seen this before? Can we get her to stop doing this? ray:

We're going away for 2 1/2 weeks and can't think of anyone who we could get, that would want to watch her.

Please help us.

some breeds of rabbits are sensitive to the abundance of greens available--correct the diet with more timothy/orchard grasses--this should clear up--unless there is an underlying problem..--sincerely james waller

 

[Runestonez]

Hi there!

What type of pellets are you feeding her?
Usually the main culpret when you have a bunn with messy butt...is leftover cecotropes.
Bunns produce cecals as a source of nutrients and vitamins!
BUT if they are producing more than they need they won't eat them and you end up with that mess!
If Sadie is eating a pellet that is too high in protein...this can lead to messy bum!

So lets take a quick look atSadies diet!
Once a bunn is over 6 months old they should have a limited amount of pellets.
A good rule of thumb is 1/4 cup per 3-5 pounds of body weight, and even then it may need to be adjusted down further depending on the bunn and their individual needs!

So when you feedSadie today...take a look at the amount of pellets they get daily.
Also at her age those pellets should be Timothy based rather than alfalfa.
Being in Ontario you should have access to Martins Adult Timothy Pellets...a decently priced pellet...with only about 12.5% protein.

A good quality hay should make up the bulk of her diet.
Timothy hay in unlimited quantites is excellent!

Carrots have quite a bit of sugar so should be fed sparingly as a treat...and the best type of lettuce is romaine. But in large quantities this can be a diuretic...so its best to look at adding some other types of nice leafy greens as part of her diet too!
Some good ones to start with are Parsley, dill, cilantro, carrot greens will be up soon!
Take a look at the Nutrition Section of RO!
Lots of suggestions for yummygreens!

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=54630&forum_id=17

But for the moment:
-make sureSadieis getting Timothy pellets
-no more than 1/4 cup per day since Hollands are supposed to range between 3-5 pounds anyway.
-lots of yummy hay!

 

[golfdiva]

Hershey had that kind of pellets when he ate store carrots. Wild carrots are ok for him.

edit: Where you are there are tons of wild weeds you can feed you rabbit also. I prefer the wild veggies. I think they are more like a rabbit's natural food. Are you familar with Queen Anne's Lace? That is wild carrot, the ancestor of our store bought carrot! You can also feed dandelions, clover, and chickory!

 

[bunny_in_canada]

Thanks for the replies. It's good to know that her condition isn't totally unheard of.

We were feeding her Walmart pellets (with 17% protein). Does that make us bad parents?

Tonight we went out and bought more Timothy hay, parsley and Kaytee brand Timothy pellets (13% protein). It's all they really had at Petsmart ($11 for 5lbs). We probably overpaid but we wanted to start this ASAP. Do you have any suggestions where to shop and what is a good price? We live in the Hamilton area.

We'll let you know how it goes.......and Sadie thanks you.

 

[Pipp]

Ah yes, the pellets would be the problem. They're high protein and not great quality, my rabbits have trouble with them as well. The Kaytee should be better.

I'd mix a few of the old pellets in at first just so the change isn't too drastic.

I also like the Martins Timothy Adult, for the record. They're an extruded pellet, good for dental.

And welcome to RO!

PS: James is right about the unlimited grass hay, really push the stuff, and that certain veggies may also cause problems for rabbits with sensitivities.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

You can also mix a small amount of plain oats in the pellets. Not the sugary oatmeal mind you but the plain Quaker oats or steele oats if you can find them. This helps bind up bunny's droppings. From the photo it really looks like a over active cecum. That one big dropping is for sure a badly formed cecal. You can always tell cause cecals healthy or not always have a foul smell to them. As for a bunny sitter I would post an ad on craigslist looking for a good sitter. This is how we found our sitter and she is great. We got a lot of excellent responses too. Good luck.

 

[Runestonez]

We tend to shop all over the place!
We are in Guelph...so we never find all we want at one store.

PetSmart is a good place to start...most of what we buy (except food) usually comes from an online store like MontrealCritters...or Flowertown Chinchillas. Then again we have 11 bunns so when we go shopping we pretty much denude whatever store we go to! :big wink:

Danielle

 

[Kizza]

Wow that is one big poop! Rocky had some poop problems which turned out to be a mixture of not very good pellets from a store, too much lucerne hay which is high in protein and calcium, and worms.

Not saying your little one has worms, I would agree with it being the pellets and possibly the carrots and lettuce. Rocky's poops were mushy and small and stuck to everything. His stomach doesnt handle carrots too well.

I would double check to make sure shes getting plenty of water also

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We have two of ours with the same problem. We cut back on the pellets and vegetables and it has pretty much gone away.

 

[bunny_in_canada]

thanks everyone. she is one stubborn bunny. we blended the timothy pellets (about 70%) with the walmart ones. she eats a lot less now and sometimes she tips her pellet dish. she's pretty funny. we've gotten away from the carrots and have been giving her parsley and as much timothy hay and water as she wants.

she's about 90% better and still seems happy but just doesn't eat and poop as much. maybe she'll eventually give in and eat more of the timothy pellets.