Messy poopy butt, melted cecotropes

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My bunny has been having messy poopy butt every now and then and it looks kinda severe to a point it stains her blanket all over.. What causes it? Her diet only consist of timothy hay, some timothy pellets and she only eat Basil as her greens.

I’ve attached a picture of the mess she has made in just a few hours.

[Bam]

It looks more like some kind of leakage than poop. Does she produce normal round droppings as well?

How long has this been going on for? For how long has she been on hay/timothy pellets/ basil?

My first action would be cutting out the basil. Not because basil is bad per se, but she may have an intolerance. It is after all an aromatic herb and has some strong aromatic oils in it.

There are actually rabbits that are allergic to timothy hay, so switching to another type of hay (orchard, oat etc) might be an idea.

[Coney Kuneho]

Coney has the same problem esp. when he eats a lot of timothy hay. I will switch his hay and hopefully he will eat it, cause I tried switching pellet brands and he won’t even try it. He is stick to one brand rabbit. Thanks Bam!

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Hi bam, yes she produces normal poop as well.

She had this poopy butt leakage or something twice last week and again two days ago, on other days she’s fine, no leakage or whatsoever so it is not consistent at all. She also had urine leakage for 2 days last week and it has not happened ever since.

For how long has she been on hay/timothy pellets/ basil?
she’s only 8 months old and she has been having timothy hay, pellets and basil for the past 2 months when i stopped giving her alfalfa when she reaches 6 months of age. And i have been giving her basil almost daily around 6-8 leaves per day and everything was fine till now. same brand of hay and pellets as well.

since i posted this thread, she had this leakage two days ago till yesterday morning and nothing till now. so inconsistent and i don’t know where to start.

[Eepster]

Taking a poop sample to the vet to go to the lab would be a good idea.

Is there a reason she only gets basil and not other greens?

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No idea whether the vets here test the poop but i’ll try. I found stains again on the blanket today and i guess a visit to the vet is necessary. I do hope to get this problem solved as I do not wish to have anything happening to her.

I’ve tried feeding my bunny alfalfa sprouts, mint, parsley, cucumber, apple, grape, banana, coriander, dill, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme and carrots but she doesn’t want any of it. hand fed and leaving on her bowl but she’s just not interested.

She’s only interested in basil that’s why i only feed her basil as i do not know what else she wants.

[Eepster]

Maybe try blander vegetables. Dandelion greens, romaine lettuce.

That is very picky eating. I wonder if she has a dental issue that might be part of it. Your list of things she’s turned her nose up at include things that are usually favorites for bunnies.

[redbunbun]

Have you tried cutting out her pellets and basil and just putting her on a hay-water diet? That could help solidify her poops, and if it’s just a case of some digestive flora upset it could even cure her problem. I would suggest a check-up at the vet, since there’s plenty of things that this could be!

Not to cause panic or anything, but the symptoms you’re describing sound a lot like the ones my French lop girl Sukka (4mo) is going through. She’s still not completely healed, but the hay-water diet solidified her poops noticeably. She’s been poked and prodded a few times by a rabbit-savvy vet, and currently we’re waiting for intestinal parasite test results from a veterinary research project before going back to the doctor. She’s currently under suspicion of having megacolon. What color is your bunny? “Charlies” are more prone to megacolon.

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@Eepster
Ikr, that’s very picky eating bunny i have. I guess she just something aromatic as her greens. There’s once I brought in a durian cake and she went nuts begging to have a bite at it. The smell is extremely strong so is basil so i guess she likes those. Weirdest thing is that a bunny doesn’t like carrots.

I’ve tried cutting down on pellets and basil and it still happened. I guess I’ll put her completely on a hay-water diet and monitor her for a couple of days before i take her to the vet next week. Will eating card boxes cause it as well? she doesn’t shred the boxes, she bites and consumes it.

she also farts at times while drinking water..

[Jadeo09]

hi
I’ve been having these problems for years. my rabbit has a sensitive tummy.

when rabbits have diarrhea they say to feed only hay for few days.

we switched to grain free pellets because then they rarely irritate sensitive tummy. some rabbits are allergic to the grains.

also we had to stop veg altogether.
and that together stopped the diarrhea.

if you take your rabbit to the vet it would be a good idea to check for dental problems and dental spurs because this causes diarrhea

my specialist vet advises hay and dried weeds ( for rabbits) only. especially when they have dental problems.

any food changes should be done gradually or this upsets their tummy too.

those stains could be from where they drop their cecotrophs on the floor to eat them. if their bum isn’t mucky then it’s a possibility

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Hi Jadeo09, did you experience this problem right after you introduced pellets and veg to your bunny?

Mine was fine for around 2 months before this problem came up.

[Jadeo09]

Boo had bad a bum straight away  that day 

If you take your rabbit back to hay only then introduce each at a time then it would rule it out.

But if your rabbit has a clean bum (there’s always a tiny bit of on their bums) then i would say that’s normal. 

Because my rabbit does make marks on her bedding even when on hay only and she has a clean bum

You would know if your rabbit has a mucky bum because it gets caked in it if its diarrhoea

Introduce pellets at a different time to the veg though so you can tell which causes it.

 If it again is months later it can’t be the pellets or the veg because it causes diarrhoea that day (with my rabbit)

But rabbits don’t need pellets or veg my rabbit specialist tells me.but for treats I feed my rabbit excel country garden herb they come in a5 pack for roughly £10 its great value and is more natural for sensitive time than veg or pellets and she loves it.

But pets at home do similar stuff like apple and blackcurrant leaves

And dandelion feast all are loved by my rabbit.

Even if your rabbit is a house rabbit you don’t need vitamin d from pellets because they don’t need it to use calcium like we do and they get it in dried leaves and hay. Calcium is found in hay too. They do get all their nutrients from hay and dried weeds.

I hope you get it sorted I know how frustrating and stressful it is 

[Jadeo09]

Rabbits cant trump that’s why they get GI stasis because they can’t burp or fart.
My rabbit makes funny noises while drinking too it’s the way they swallow
Most average vets dont test the poo but can send it off . some rabbit specialist do it ‘in house’
I can’t imagine it’s teething problems if your rabbit eats hay and pellets that’s what my rabbit stops eating first. Some rabbit are picky boo is too and suspicious.
My rabbit woudlnt eat banana when she was one but begs for it now

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