Help! TWO suddenly have poopy butt!

[JackRabbit]

Got up today and found Marlee and Moshi both have poopy butt (Kieko is fine)!  Five or six piles of cecotrophs and mushy blobs around their area.  Litterboxes are full of normal poops, but Moshi had a blob+cecotrophs still coming out when we picked him up to check his butt.  We assumed it was just Moshi at first, but Marlee had poopy butt (way less than Mosh).  Got both cleaned up, and emptied all litterboxes in the M&Ms area, cleaned up all mushy poops and stray normal poops.  Rabbit vet is closed for the weekend.  We do have a 24 hour emergency vet — they do see rabbits but have no exotic specialist. Need advice please!

A little info/history:

Marlee and Moshi live together, Kieko lives in a separate room.

All three have unlimited hay (mix of 2nd timothy and orchard grass) and water.  Marlee and Moshi always eat significantly more hay than Kieko, and Moshi eats tons!

Marlee and Moshi each get 1/16 cup of pellets in the AM and PM, Kieko gets a little over 1/16th cup in the evening.

Marlee and Moshi each get a salad in the evening (Moshi’s is smaller), and Kieko gets a salad (larger than the M&M’s salad) in the AM and PM (vet’s orders) since her bout with GI stasis.  Salads consist of romaine (only a little for Mosh), green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, a bite of Kale, and a leaf of fresh basil each. 

Moshi is known to have a sensitive tummy (too much romaine and he’ll leave a few cecotrophs the next day but no poopy butt).  Nothing seems to upset Marlee or Kieko’s tummies.

The M&Ms have been drinking tons of water over the past two or three weeks (it has gotten warmer here but thermostat is always at 68 degrees).  They’ve always been bigger water drinkers than Kieko, but have been emptying a 24 ounce bottle and at least 1/2 of another 24 ounce bottle daily (we think Marlee is drinking more than Moshi).  Before we moved them in together (a month ago?), they each drank about half a 24 ounce bottle each day.

Last week, 2 times, we found a single blob of mushy poop in M&M’s area.  No poopy butts.  Assumed Moshi had too much romaine (having trouble finding enough decent green leaf since Easter weekend).  No blobs since then until this morning (Saturday).

Every Saturday I make up three boxes of “go to” hay for the week.  The hay they’ve had this week was from a new shipment of hay (from the same place I always get hay from).  The orchard grass hay was somewhat dusty (mainly top and sides in box), but seemed to smell OK so I blew it off and mixed it in (posted about this).  All three have been eating from this hay since last Saturday.  No runny noses/eyes or sneezing.

All three have had a few small pieces of dehydrated carrot over the past two days, and they all had some oat hay last Sunday. The carrots arrived along with the oat hay, separate from the 2nd timothy and orchard grass order, all from the same place I order all hay from.

[RabbitPam]

It’s been a few hours since you posted – have they stopped having poopy butt and mushy cecals?
It’s not as threatening as not pooping. You know they are both going and some cecals can get pretty mushy. You want them to be able to eat their cecals too, so if that’s all they are, not diarrhea, then I think they will be OK until you can get to your regular vet on Monday. If it gets worse for either of them, you can call that emergency vet and describe it, and ask if they think you have an emergency or are OK to see the vet on Mon.

Hay is good, water is good, and perhaps separating them a bit if possible? Can they use separate litter pans? I’m just thinking that if one had mushy cecels the other walked or sat on, it could appear that both are effected. Pellets, hay, water and gentle greens like green leaf is all they need to not tax their tummies at the moment. If you suspect any of your hay products is bad, set it aside and get some fresh until next week.

[JackRabbit]

I think the time is off — just posted within the hour. It’s definitely both of them, but Moshi worse than Marlee. Moshi had quite a bit of poop on him and it was coming out a bit at a time as my husband carried him to the bathroom (it stopped coming out as we cleaned him). Marlee’s was a little lighter colored, but still seemed to have come out of her.

I could separate them, but am afraid that might stress them. Separating them would mean locking them each in their dog crates within their area. I can do that if you feel it’s necessary. It’s just odd that all three eat exactly the same thing but Kieko is fine. Makes me think it might be something contagious? I wonder about the orchard grass hay, but Kieko has been eating the same mix all week too. We haven’t seen poopy butt since we first got the M&Ms and they had coccidia and Kieko has never had runny poop.

I think I’ve figured out how to tell their normal poops apart — Marlee’s are a little bit smaller than Moshi’s.

Going to check on them again now . . .

[JackRabbit]

Just checked on them. Both were laying down when I went in their room. I layed down in their xpen area with them. Marlee gave me the butt (she may be angry for a while since I cleaned her up earlier). Moshi got up and threw a yucca toy in my direction and dragged a digging box around a little. There are normal Marlee-sized poops in one litterbox, but no Moshi-sized ones. Somebunny dumped a basket of oat hay I put in there after cleaning them up earlier, and both are eating that now. These are pretty normal behaviors for them.

I know this is going to sound weird (my buddy AndHenry would have a blast with this), but I didn’t want to stress either of them by picking them up so I lifted Moshi’s tail up and stuck my nose down very close to that area and didn’t smell anything stinky (the cecotrophs and blobs earlier reeked). Marlee is white underneath (Moshi is grey and brown) so I could see that she didn’t have poopy now when she hopped.

At this point, should I just change out the hay to only the 2nd timothy (since the orchard grass hay was the dusty one), cut back to green leaf for them (regular salad for Kieko), and just keep an eye on them? I’m usually the run-to-the-vet type but I hesitate to introduce a “we do see rabbits” vet (as opposed to exoctics vet) as well as a car ride unless necessary.

Thanks for your help.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Sniffing bunny butts :p

The fact they are both doing it makes me think maybe something in their salad was a bit..ripe or something. Hard to say. I say just keep an eye out right now. IMO a vet visit isn’t necessary just yet me specially if they seem to he acting normal besides the cecals.

[Sarita]

Are the cecals normally formed?

[JackRabbit]

I’d say about 1/3 of the cecals are normally formed and the rest are softer blobs. No distinct mucous, just blobs. If it was only normally formed cecals I would guess something in their diet was too rich(?), but the blobs plus the normal cecals and being in two rabbits is what has really worried me.

NBO — I hear you on the salad (“ripe”)(good point), but if you saw what I go through with their salad . . . if there’s any possibility that there’s even a spot, bruise, tear, etc. (inspected before and after washing it) then I don’t give it to them. I’ve gotten a bit over-obsessive with the salads lately since I’ve found some less than desirable green leaf in the past month, otherwise I would assume that was the answer. Also, Kieko has been eating the same salad plus her salads are bigger than the others so why would it not affect her? I’m so confused!

Yes, sniffing bunny butts! I thought I was done sniffing butts — any of you who’ve had babies/toddlers will know exactly what I’m talking about (even if you won’t admit you’ve done it!)

[Sarita]

What kind of treats do they get? Usually a gut imbalance is not due to veggies but to treats.

[Sarita]

Also have you tried eliminating the pellets all together?

[JackRabbit]

We’re not big on treats. Normally the only treats they get is (occasionally) 3 or 4 pieces of dehydrated carrot a few times per week. Last week they all had a few small bites of banana one night and a few small bites of strawberry another night — a very unusual week! This week they’ve had the carrots two times (the carrots pieces are about 1/4 to 1/2 the size of a dime) and none got more than 3 or 4 pieces either night. Pellets have been cut back to an eighth of a cup total per day. For us, oat hay is like a treat, especially the oat tops, and even then they only have it occasionally.

Our vet suggested eliminating pellets with Kieko when she went through GI stasis but said that her 1/16th of a cup would be OK. Back in January Moshi was having varying size poops and the exotics vet told us to increase his pellets (????) — it worked for that problem. Because I have a hard time varying the salads (always green leaf, red leaf, romaine, basil plus occasionally mint and thyme) I’ve been hesitant to eliminate pellets. With Whole Foods, Fresh Market, etc. around here you would think I would be able to find wonderful produce, but it all seems to be shipped cross country from California or from Mexico and all the local stores seem to get their produce from the same suppliers.

[JackRabbit]

Is there any way that shedding can cause this?

[JackRabbit]

Still confused! As of now, both are eating, drinking, and pooping normally. Moshi is tiring a little easier but still binkying. Marlee is still a little miffed at being picked up to have her butt cleaned.

I got a hand-held mirror out to try to do a sneaky poopy butt check from underneath. That was pointless. Turned out to be the greatest toy ever. Marlee was determined to check out the new bunny, and Moshi was determined to sit on the mirror (but not so I could see anything.

Both did let me lift up their tails to get a little peek under there (no poopy butt). The looks were priceless — “Excuse me, but don’t you think that’s a bit rude?” Gotta love ’em!

[Deleted User]

WEIRD? That’s not weird!!! ha ha ha ha…… I thought it was natural instinct – you smell something poopy and you automatically sniff the bottom of who/whatever (not grown ups – just babies and pet’s) is closest? How many times did I smell one of my babies (human) but still put their butt up to my nose only to say “YEP”! And when your in bed with 3 dog’s – I can’t help but get that bit closer to determine which one I need to kick off the bed (I feel so bad if/when I kick the wrong dog off the bed, lol!). Luckily I have resisted the urge to sniff/blame Henry since I read someone else’s thread and was told that bunnies can’t/don’t fart (thanks LEL!), WHEW! But…. I have to admit – if I thought Henry had poopy butt, I don’t (and as wrong as I know it is) think I could fight my natural instincts to smell his butt to confirm my suspicions??? I’m sure I only became like this since being a mum (LPT – are you reading this??? LOL!).
PS – I can pat Henry’s butt – BUT his tail is still off limits to me, the sniff it has to be, DOH!
PPS – SORRY everyone! I don’t mean to be gross…… LOL!

[Roberta]

Rabbits can and will fart… They can’t vomit…

[Deleted User]

Oh Roberta, don’t tell me that! Now I have to sniff ‘4’ bottoms in bed if I have to include Henry. Bugga!

LOL!

[Author]

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