Soft Stool... advice?

[Darthsleader]

Hi Rabbit Folk,

I'm new to this forum and reasonably new to rabbits too. My daughter has a frisky (and often feisty!) 1.5 year old Mini Rex. She's pretty healthy in general and seems to be acting as normal.

The issue is that over the past months she's been having softer stools- teardrop shaped and sometimes they clump together. They are not sticking to her fur and it isn't diarrhea.

We had been feeding her Timothy hay and alfalfa-based pellets (she preferred the pellets!) and about every-other day, a few small chunks of carrot or some other veggie. Since the soft poo began, we tapered the amount of pellets to be less daily, unlimited hay, and zero treats. These past few days we've skipped the pellets and she's had ONLY Tim hay. Stools are still soft and teardrop shaped.

Is there anything else I should do? I assume getting her GI back in balance may take time... what should I expect, and what should I be on the lookout for (worse symptoms)?

Thanks for your time!

Jer

 

[Maureen Las]

Placing her on an "only hay" diet is the way to go. At her age she might do better on a plain timothy based pellet rather than alfalfa based. An adult rabbit doesn't need the protein in alfalfa unless she is ill, nursing or a breeder.

Switching over can be difficult as rabbits prefer alfalfa pellets to timothy but I have learned that if a rabbit is hungry enough that a timothy pellet can be tasty. You need to convert to timothy by mixing the pellets together and gradually lessen the alfalfa

A 5 lb rabbit doesn't need more than 1-2 tlsp of pellets per day so it is actually a very small amount. Various types of hay should be the primary diet . (oat, orchard grass, timothy etc ) , I have found that if the hay is high quality , long stemmed, green and fresh that rabbits love it. If you are going to limit pellets you must replace with high quality hay.
Some of the poops that you are describing sound like cecal pellets which she is not eating. When a rabbit produces too many cecals there is often too much protein in the diet.
If you continue the "hay only" diet and her poop still seems too soft you may want to have her checked for parasites, however, I doubt very much that this is an issue here.

When you do restart veggies I would eliminate carrots which basically is a high sugar treat for a rabbit. Focus on something green like romaine , parsley, cilantro etc starting in very small amounts. I actually would not feed veggies at all until her poops are normal.

 

[JBun]

If you are seeing soft poop even after feeding only hay, it's possible your rabbit may have a parasite/bacteria problem and not just a simple bacterial flora upset, especially if you are seeing soft teardrop shaped fecal poop and not just soft mushy cecotropes, I would definitely think parasites/bacteria are most likely causing it. Do you have a vet you could take a collected fecal sample to, to be tested? It would probably be good to get it done as soon as you can, in case it is something serious. It would probably be best to continue on the hay only diet, with no treats or veggies. And if you can get a pet probiotic, like benebac or probios, that may also help with the soft poop. Some petstores carry them, feed stores, or you may be able to get some from your vet, though it will probably be more expensive. Here are some rabbit vet listings if you don't already have a vet.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/finding-vet-13366/
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

Also, here is what normal rabbit poop should look like.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

 

[Darthsleader]

Thanks for those great replies!

JBun, how long might it take on only hay to get back to normal? We're on day 3.

Also, this may be a stupid question: as far as the rabbit eating cecotropes, is it a problem that we have the typical wire-mesh-bottom cage? The feces pass through into a tray. Is she losing the chance to ingest the cecotropes?

Thanks!

Jer

 

[JBun]

They typically eat cecotropes directly from their bottom, as they come out. Unless they are overproducing them, are too fat or have an illness and can't reach them, or they have a bacterial imbalance in the cecum and the cecotropes come out mushy or not smelling right. The wire floor shouldn't be an issue.

If it was only soft cecotropes that your rabbit is having, then I would think that you should already be seeing some sort of improvement. Are you seeing normal fecal poop? Also, do you think that teardrop shaped poop was a fecal poop? Usually when a rabbit has a bacterial imbalance in the cecum, you may see mushy unformed or semiformed cecotropes, but then you will also see normal fecal poop. When you are seeing abnormal fecal poop, such as soft and teardrop shaped, that would indicate a possible parasite problem. So it's pretty important to decide which one is the problem, because a parasite problem would require meds, and can actually be really serious. A member last year noticed teardrop shaped fecal poop, but it was realized too late that the rabbit had parasites. So you'll want to figure out which one it is you are seeing. If in doubt, get a fecal test done. It's cheap and will let you know what exactly you're dealing with.

If you decide that it is mushy cecotropes that you are seeing, then that is usually caused by the gut flora imbalance. Usually a hay only diet for a few days will start to clear it up. If you aren't seeing improvement by a week, or see any change in behavior or decrease in health from your bun, then I would get her to the vet right away. You can take a look at this link. It explains cecal dysbiosis pretty well.

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

 

[Darthsleader]

It's definitely all, or nearly all, the droppings that are teardrop shaped and soft. They're also smaller than normal and very dark. Advice please?!

Jer

 

[JBun]

If it were my rabbit I would be taking it to the vet asap. Having all the droppings soft and irregular, isn't caused by a simple diet problem. One possibility is coccidiosis, but a fecal test will be able to determine if it is this or something else. Both accounts from members on this forum, of teardrop shaped fecal poop, turned out to be parasites. One was an undetermined parasite, the other was the beginning stages of coccidiosis. So I think seeing the vet is the way to go now

 

[Darthsleader]

JBun,

Update and questions:

I took your advice and the rabbit went to the vet today. The vet said she looks healthy in every visible way, and she's acting normal as well. As for parasites, I took some droppings with me but apparently they're too dry to examine. So, I'm supposed to get some fresh "bombs" and bring them in today.

Unfortunately... I haven't gotten any! Is this odd? She had a lot of droppings last night, and a normal amount overnight as well. She ate a healthy amount of Tim hay overnight. But, no fresh poo since 8am- 6 hours. (She has urinated 4 times in that span.) Is this ok?

Jer

 

[JBun]

Sometimes rabbits don't poop as much during the daytime while they are resting. Could have to do with the stress of a vet visit too. Maybe if you let her hop around for a while, or give a fresh handful of hay, it will encourage her to poop a little. Do keep an eye on her though? Sometimes GI stasis or a blockage can occur with something like this. If she stops eating when she would normally eat, or starts acting oddly like sitting hunched up in one position for long periods of time, grinding teeth(not contented tooth purring), call up your vet.

 

[Zeroshero]

Do you have a bathroom or area she can run around loose? Movement creates "movement" it might be enough to stimulate her to go potty? When my bun was going through his major GI issues/ stasis before he was finally put on motility drugs lots of turn out time was the only way he would defecate normally.

 

[Darthsleader]

More updates:

About a minute after I posted that, there was a "bombing." About 20 poo pellets, and looking very round and normal! Just to be safe, I took them to the vet- fecal float came back clean. Yay! I think we're on the right track. She's eating hay, poo looks normal, no worms.

Jer

 

[Maureen Las]

Good to hear this ! :sunshine:

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Thanks for those great replies!

JBun, how long might it take on only hay to get back to normal? We're on day 3.

Also, this may be a stupid question: as far as the rabbit eating cecotropes, is it a problem that we have the typical wire-mesh-bottom cage? The feces pass through into a tray. Is she losing the chance to ingest the cecotropes?

Thanks!

Jer

-the floor could be cardboard or thin wood (not cedar,pine-scented wood)--the cecotropes are generally eaten upon deliver-not much chance of their losing them,,--here is is a link to a poop specialist for more info http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html you will be a poopoligist in no time,,--sincerely james waller :inlove::bunny22:

 

[JBun]

That's really good news! I'm glad she's doing better. I'm curious if the vet gave her any meds, or has it just been the hay only diet that seems to be helping?