Upset Tummy

[Stucilme]

My mini lop keeps getting messy. I clean him up but then in a couple days he's messy again from diarrhea. He is having normal poops too though. Should I be worried? I have got him on 1/2 as many pellets as normal hoping to push him to eat more hay. Is that bad?HELP!!!

 

[Cazarty]

Sorry i cant be much help but i know its not good for a bunny to keep getting diarrea. You should give you bunny unlimited amounts of hey each day and only a little handful of pellets. When i got my Sammy i was feeding her way to many pellets, now i just give her a handful a day. If he is not eating much hay then dont give him any pellets and just leave him with the hay, when he gets hungry he will eat more of the hay.

How old is He? Has he started eating fruit/veg, if so that may be the cause of the diarrea - if so just leave it out for a day or so and see if theres any improvment. If no improvement i would go see the vets.

 

[Pipp]

There's a ton of info in this link:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11935&forum_id=10

It's probably 'poopy butt' caused by diet, but let us know which scenario fits your bunny.

sas

 

[Stucilme]

He usually gets a baby carrot a day, but I took it away until he gets better. He is 3 years old and has done this off and on most of his life, but this seems to be the worst bout. He was getting about 1/3 cup of pellets daily. Now I give half that amount. He has never really been much of a hay eater.

 

[Pipp]

What kind of pellets?

Sometimes youjust have to experiment.Some bunnies will haveit clear up by changing brands, some by cuttingthe pellets out altogetherand just feeding a lot of veggies (and it takes a lot), others do better with highfiberpellets and noveggies at all, and all points between. Sometimes a few rolled oats help. (Sometimes they cause it). Have you tried a little canned pumpkin?

There arethreads from memberson that page I linked to, you should read through them and get an idea ofwhat worked for different people. It really is all over the map.

sas

 

[Stucilme]

I don't think it's the brand of pellet. My other bunny is fine and has had no trouble. But she eats lots of hay. She eats as much hay as I'll give her. He has just never seemed to like it. I feed them Timothy Hay. The Pellets are the ones I get from the breeder. I'm not sure what kind. I'll just have to get him eating more hay. If he gets hungry enough he'll eat it, I hope he's kind of stubborn. Thanks So Much!

 

[naturestee]

Rabbits are individuals, so it's possible that the pellets are a problem with one and not with the other. For example, two of mine get runny cecals and mushy fecal poops from small amounts of alfalfa. The other two are fine with alfalfa. There's nothing wrong with the alfalfa hay itself, it's just that those two can't tolerate that much protein.

It's not too unusual for rabbits with runny/mushy cecals (which it sounds like yours has) to improve when they eat less protein. That means either reducing the pellets or switching to a low-protein pellet. Timothy pellets are good for that. Breeders feed alfalfa pellets because that's what baby rabbits and their moms need.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I had a friend with a mini-lop who had cronic diarhea. Eventually, I suggested she try dry oatmeal (the old fashioned cook type) and give her a tsp. per day or a bit more at first and she was fine. Those can pack on some weight if you feed too many, but when Bo was a baby he had the runs and I gave them to him and he was fine after.

I guess it's worth a try? onder: