Tiny Poop/Diarrhea

[Jes]

So Freddy has been pooping extra tiny lately. He won’t eat much hay, but then again he’s never really been a big hay eater. He just is REALLY not into hay now, he’ll eat like a few bites and he’s done. Anyways, he eats a bowl full of kale and cilantro every day with carrots, and his pellets (which are a tropical blend, so he only eats the fruits out and leaves the pellets) are refilled about every other day. He doesn’t like pellets and never has, with many different kinds. So I’ve never really been sure how much he should be eating, but his poop has always been a good size. However lately his poop has been very tiny and I even found a mass of I guess dried diarrhea in his litter box. It’s not as messy as diarrhea though, more like a big blob of dried clay or something. It’s hardened and stuck together (but not cecotropes). I’ve heard a lot about GI stasis and here are my thoughts. A. He’s been acting perfectly fine, very happy and bouncy and loving. B. I’ve also heard the change in season could change his poop. C. The fireworks have been going off for four nights now.  They are just a few loud pops spaced pretty far in between, but it makes him thump. D. I’ve been taking him outside for the first time in his life for the past few days, he loves it. These could be causes, but I’m also worried. I see how much other people’s bunnies eat and Freddy has just never been an eater, but I still always feel like he should eat way more. Either way, this poop thing is within the past few days, so he was fine before. I’m putting him in his cage at night tonight to encourage him to eat his hay instead of roaming around. He looks so skinny to me, but it could honestly be the fact that he’s losing his weight in body hair every day lately and he’s pretty mottley looking. Please help, but don’t panic me. I don’t have a great rabbit vet anywhere near me, so I always feel like the one I take him to isn’t really paying enough attention to him. I don’t want to call her again for her to say it’s nothing again unless you guys really think it’s serious. I don’t want my poor little guy to be having problems so young, he’s not even a year yet. Any advice helps, thank you!

[Bam]

In order to establish if he’s losing real weight, the best think is to weigh him once a week and write down the weight.

The tiny poop plus messy poop is due some type of disturbance in the GI microbiota, and it might have a lot to do with him not eating his hay. Roughage is a very important part of a bunny’s diet. many bunnies are picky with hay though, and you often have to try a variety of hays before you find one that the bun will eat a decent amount of. Sometimes a bunny that wont eat hay has a dental problem, but a vet would need to examine his teeth with an otoscope (the inner teeth can’t be seen without this instrument) in order to tell.

Molting also influences the workings of the tummy, many buns get an upset tummy when they are molting. Fireworks are stressful, stress is another factor.

Here are two good articles that deals with messy poop and poop irregularities in rabbits. You can skip or just briefly skim over the parts about true diarrhea/runny poop, because that doesn’t apply to your bun.

http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

[Jes]

What other hays are there? I only know about orchard, timothy, and alfalfa and I thought that timothy was the one they were supposed to eat

[Wick & Fable]

In terms of pellets, I don’t know what brand you’re using, but generally you want your rabbit to eat pellets because they are dense in nutritional value, which is essential for healthy growth. If possible, maybe try a brand that’s just pellets. Although Freddy may not like it as much, if he’s hungry and that’s all there is around, he should it. It’s the same philosophy with hay types which aren’t a rabbit’s favorite, but they’ll eat it if it’s all that’s left. I don’t know if your rabbit is actually underweight, but if Freddy is not eating dense pellets and does not eat much hay, and only really eats veggies (which won’t help in weight gain since it’s just water essentially), losing weight is a possibility. My vet actually informed me that Wick was getting underweight, so he was given critical care for a week to get back to normal weight.

The symptoms you list actually sound like what Wick went through when his teeth were getting slightly too long. Essentially, he started to chew his hay slightly differently which changed the frequency he ate and the quantity. Perhaps asking your vet to take a look at your rabbit’s teeth isn’t a bad idea.

Any type of hay is actually fine. The exception is alfalfa, which is recommended for young rabbits, but then you switch to timothy hay once they’re older. Due to his weirdo body, Wick never had alfalfa hay since I’ve had him, and he never had unlimited alfalfa pellets either; he always gets a finite amount of Oxbow Adult blend, even though he was only a few months old. In terms of hay, Wick gets a mix of timothy, orchard, and oat. I know there’s a botanical type, but I haven’t purchased it to test it out yet. Eating any hay is good; whatever can be done to get your rabbit to eat more! The following is the break down for Wick’s preferences:

Timothy: Ok with it, but will dig through and toss the hay around until he’s left with nothing but timothy to eat
Orchard: The go-to because it’s leafy and soft. When hay consumption is low for the first half of the day, I mix more orchard hay in to encourage eating.
Oat: The -seeds- in oat hay are Wick’s absolute, #1 favorite thing on the planet. The oat hay stems are good as well, but when Wick goes to a hay supply, he rifles through to eat all the seeds first, then eats everything else based on his other preferences.

— Each rabbit has a different hay preference, so take some time to figure out Freddy’s so you can see what will encourage him to eat more hay! Give each type some time too; initially, Wick didn’t really jump-at oat hay (I actually gave him a stem with seeds when I first bought the bag and he didn’t care), but now it’s a completely different story.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

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