Reasons for Small Poops? Diagnosing in hindsight?

[MiaP]

I am new to bunnies and fostering a bunny for the shelter where I volunteer. Any insight about this will be appreciated, and no information is "too basic" for me.

Silver was at the shelter for just a few days, and in that time she lost weight. She is a small rabbit, she should weigh 3 to 4 pounds, and on the day I brought her home to foster, she weighed only 1.5 lbs. Spine was really visible, sides looked thin and collapsed. Her nose was wet and rusty-colored, although it is supposed to be white.

Inspection by the vet tech at the shelter suggested that "her entire GI tract" felt empty, and she showed no interest in the rabbit chow pellets or very awful hay provided in her cage. I offered her a bit of apple, and she did eat that, which I took as a good sign.

All the poops in her cage looked very tiny, like 1/3 the size of typical poops.

I brought her home to foster.

At home, I gave her small amounts of fresh food and good hay throughout the day. Her nose was dry within 24 hours. She was always very interested in new food when it arrived, but rarely ate it all. Her poops stayed small for several days.

Now, her poops are normal sized. She eats tons and has gained a visible amount of weight. She doesn't look scary any more, but I wouldn't call her plump yet. Her nose has stayed dry and is white now, though it stayed rusty looking for several days, even when it was dry.

I have 2 reasons for wanting a clue about what was bothering her. First, the shelter is getting ready (so they say) to have a spay/neuter day for bunnies, and I am unsure about whether I should take her as she is still recovering from whatever that illness was. The surgery date could be as early as this week or in a week, or two. Second, eventually (after everyone is altered) I would like to introduce her to my other bun and my guinea pig, but I don't want to transmit anything contagious to those guys.

Any advice or recommendations appreciated. Thanks!

 

[PixieStixxxx]

Hey there!

I've had some experience with fostering a poor bun, and getting them spayed/neutered.
I would hold back with the spaying - make sure she is at a healthy weight first. Sometimes after a spay, a bunny could end up with gas and cause discomfort in eating. Sometimes bunnies just don't eat, or hardly do. And sometimes they come out as if nothing happened =P

It seems as though your excellent work is going to get her at that healthy weight!

 

[Pipp]

Any idea how old she is and what breed?

When she started dropping weight, was she picking up food and then dropping after just a bite or two?

It sounds dental to me. She may have had molar spurs and by tempting her with good food they broke off or were ground down on their own.

Or there could be an abscessand the pain has subsided -- I'd check around her jawline, cheeks, etc to make sure you don't feel any lumps. (And please keep in mind that visual exams don't always spot dentalproblems, she'd need a head x-ray).

The wet nose and even some drooling and/or odd mouth movements are other signs of dental issues. Dwarf and short-faced lops are particularly prone to misalignments that cause the spurs. A variety of food -- all textures, shapes, densities, etc -- in particularlots of hay, grassesand veggies,isthe best prevention, and can even fix an existing problem.

The small poops were likely the result of littlefood intake. When you have a bunny that's eatingand THEN the poops go small and she stops eating, that's a signof a blockage.

All kinds of otherpossiblities, but that was my first thought.

ADDITIONALo you know her pre-shelter history? And was she not getting veggies at the shelter? It's also possible that sheer stress and the change in diet was to blame. She simply may nothave been used to the brand of pellets and didn't like the hay. She could have been a veggie-fed bunny. I've have pellet-fed rabbits that didn't recognize or show interest in veggies, and veggie-fed rabbits that wouldn't eat pellets.

A couple of mine won't even try a new brand of pellet, they'd starve first. My molar spurs bunny wasn't brought up with hay and now won't touch the stuff no matter how hungry she gets. Which is the main reason she's a molar spurs bunny. :rollseyes

Once theydon't feel like eating over stress or 'foreign food' issues, it leads to them physically not feeling well, and they feel like eating even less. Once I get my ailing bunnies to start eating something, they start feeling better and that leads to them eating more.

So glad she's feeling better!



sas :bunnydance:

 

[MiaP]

Thank you both

Silver's shelter cage card says that she is between 12 weeks and 6 months old, but because paperwork mixups are rampant at our shelter, that could be wrong. Her breed I don't know. I posted a photo of her in my introductions and hellos thread if that helps--she is a small white bunny with gray eyes and black eyerings, splotches on her ears, and a row of spinal spots. Like the bunny in my avatar. She does look young to me, but I am a total amateur, so....

Her history before the shelter is a big unknown. At the shelter, it is not uncommon for rabbits to be left without food and water, and the only variety to the pellets and very bad hay is when volunteers bring in good hay or produce, which might have been one or 2 days out of her 4 or 5 day stay. So, if she didn't like the pellets, couldn't get any sleep because of the barking dogs, and was suddenly seperated from the other bunnies she came in with, maybe she just was too stressed?

I did not see her start to eat and then drop food at the shelter--she just wouldn't try anything except my fruit. At my house, she would eat for a few minutes and then stop, but would eat again if given new food--it was like the newness was tempting her. Or maybe, she was so exhausted that eating was a big effort. Luckily, we were home a lot so she could have new food 20 times a day. Now she eats everything I put in there, and there is nothing left over, so I am guessing whatever it was that was bothering her is better.

If it was tooth spurs or another dental problem, it isn't contagious, so once she is chubby and Winter, my other bun, is fixed, if nothing else presents itself I will put their cages side by side.

 

[pla725]

Have the vet from Penn check her when they come back. The spurs can be filed down if needed.

 

[MsBinky]

Sounds more emotional to me. I guess a little TLC took her a long way and I am sure that a good change in dietwas tempting to her as well. :hug:Obviously, have everything checked in case there is a physical problem

 

[Pipp]

MsBinky wrote:

Sounds more emotional to me. I guess a little TLC took her a long way and I am sure that a good change in dietwas tempting to her as well. :hug:Obviously, have everything checked in case there is a physical problem

:yeahthat:



sas :bunnydance:

 

[MiaP]

I'm happy to report that Silver has continued to do well and eats great. Poop is normal size. I think she could still gain half a pound and some muscle tone, but she doesn't look scary any more.