Thump's acting a bit funny..

[ashley]

Thumper has had a slight case of diarrhea for the past few days. I took away all his treats and veggies and have just been feeding him hay and water since Sunday. But he still seems to be having squishy stools. Also, he's been shaking his head more than normal (sometimes he does that as he's running) and I've seen him sleeping more than normal. I haven't noticed anything different in his personality or attitude tho. He seems happy and has been playing like normal. Should I be worried? Should I take him to a vet?

 

[ashley]

I just read up about the stool part and it may not be diarrhea because he is still having solid poops and it's not liquidy...but very squishy. I'm still worries tho cause it's been several days and no change.

 

[naturestee]

Do the squishy poops look kind of like grape clusters? Maybe they're cecotropes aka cecals or night poops. If he's leaving a lot it can be because he's getting too much protein, too many treats, sometimes veggies are a problem, or overweight and/or arthritic rabbits have trouble eating them because rabbits normally eat cecotropes as they come out. This site shows pictures of healthy cecals:
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/diet/cecals.html

My rabbits often shake their ears as they run or binky. But if he's shaking his ears more than normal while he's not playing, there may be something bugging him. Ear mites and ear infections can cause a rabbit to shake and scratch their ears. If you do think that he's shaking his head more but not in play, then he should be seen by a vet.

 

[ashley]

Thank you so much for your help! He's two and a half years old and I"ve never seen this before! I saw a couple websites about the cecals but hadn't come accross a picture to make sure that was exactly it. I'll keep track of his ears for a bit and see what happens. He just came up to me and bounced away all happy...I'll take that as a good sign!
:happybunny:

 

[maherwoman]

Ashley, here's a site that has a good picture of them:
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/diet/cecals.html

Hope that helps!

Oops...just realized it was the same site Naturestee gave you! Hehe...sorry 'bout that!!

What do the poops look like, exactly?