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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A soft poop

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    • Sunny
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        the title is pretty straightforward. my rabbit’s poops are suddenly a bit softer and wetter than usual.

        i’ve looked this up a few times, and i get the basic idea, but i need help pinpointing what’s causing it. Sienna is, of course, still eating and pooping like normal. the only difference is that some of her poop is softer while the rest is a bit tough like it should be. apparently this is called ISC, or Intermittent Soft Cecotropes. so i guess that’s why some of the poop is still normal – only the cecotropes are mushier, but they’re a little too mushy.

        it appears that this is usually caused by something wrong in the diet, so i’ll talk about what i feed Sienna on a regular basis. she has access to timothy hay at all times, and i’ve never tried to introduce any new kinds of hay, but i’d like to. i have to refill her rack about two or three times a day. she’s a Netherland Dwarf, so i only offer her about a cup of greens daily. i’m not 100% sure that it’s enough (or not too much), but it’s what i’ve read. she gets spring mix and i try to offer a few other kinds of greens, but i’ve yet to come up with one or two other extra things for my dad to buy on a regular basis. currently i have a box of romaine lettuce, and i’ve been adding about one huge leaf (broken into a few pieces) on top of her spring mix since we’ve had it. i usually have access to baby carrots and the occasional fruit, which i sometimes offer as treats. this next part sounds like it could definitely be a possible cause – she receives no pellets. i know they don’t necessarily have to be something that a rabbit has to have, but (i think) they add some extra nutrients that a rabbit could use. the reason Sienna currently doesn’t have any is because i used to feed her some really unhealthy rabbit food mix from Walmart, which i quickly found out to be bad and ceased feeding them. the mix was full of seeds and dry fruits, and when i looked at the ingredients the very first one was alfalfa, which i’m assuming means that the hay pellets in there weren’t even good for her. i’m not even sure if these pellets were beneficial in any way – otherwise i’d assume that would be the issue and would hurry to convince my parents to grab me a 5 pound bag of Oxbow off of the internet and get into the introduction process.

        here are what i think could be the possible issues:

        1) not enough hay variety – i don’t think this is it because from what i’ve heard, offering two types of hay is optional but recommended. i could be wrong, of course.

        2) not enough or too many greens – spring mix seems to include a good number of different greens alone, but i remember reading a post somewhere before i joined this forum that confirmed that spring mix was safe for rabbits but should be supplemented with some extra greens for more variety. i’m also, for some strange reason, in some sort of doubt that she’s receiving enough greens despite that fact that i’ve looked it up several times.

        3) she’s not getting any pellets – like i said, this sounds like the most reasonable explanation. she didn’t start getting soft poops until a decent amount of time after i stopped feeding her old pellets, but i don’t think that means much. 

        4) some other underlying health issue – i suppose i should consider this as well even if i’ve read that ISC is usually caused by something wrong in the diet. i’ve never really seen smeared poop on walls or on my bunny’s rugs. i’ve tried looking at her bum, but she’s a dark rabbit and obviously she doesn’t sit with her butt in the air. i tried wiping at her rear end with a warm and damp washcloth just a few minutes ago, but she got grouchy, and because i can’t see the soft poops anywhere but on the ground (and not coating her or the places she sits), i’m assuming it’s not that bad of an issue. then again, i didn’t get a very good look, and she might just be very careful at not getting it anywhere..?


      • Bam
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          Is it warm where you are? When it’s warm, a bun can drink more than usual, and that can make the poop soft. That’s not a real problem, unless she gets sticky poop on her, and then that’s the problem. The wet poop should correct itself.

          Hay is good. Pellets are not absolutely needed if a bun gets a variety of greens + good quality hay. When a bun has ISC, it’s more often due to too much pellets than too little. Alfalfa based pellets are ok if you feed it sparingly, in case you want to.

          Does she eat her hay? She should ideally eat a pile the size of herself every day.


        • Sunny
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            Posted By bam on 7/22/2017 3:05 AM

            Is it warm where you are? When it’s warm, a bun can drink more than usual, and that can make the poop soft. That’s not a real problem, unless she gets sticky poop on her, and then that’s the problem. The wet poop should correct itself.

            Hay is good. Pellets are not absolutely needed if a bun gets a variety of greens + good quality hay. When a bun has ISC, it’s more often due to too much pellets than too little. Alfalfa based pellets are ok if you feed it sparingly, in case you want to.

            Does she eat her hay? She should ideally eat a pile the size of herself every day.

            it is pretty warm where i live, but no one in my family really enjoys dealing with the heat and therefore the AC is on a lot of the time. 

            do you think Sienna has a good variety of greens based on what i said? the only green she won’t touch in the spring mix is spinach. i don’t know if spring mix includes every single green it lists, but there are quite a few there if i remember correctly. i could type it out if necessary. 

            i thought about sifting out the seeds and dried fruit from the pellet mix – i still have some left over – and feeding what remained as an occasional treat. not sure what i’ll do though.

            yes, Sienna definitely eats her hay. as i said, i have to refill it about 2 or 3 times daily, and the hay rack holds a pretty good amount. she is getting her fiber, but i wasn’t sure if she could still use a variety.  


          • Bam
            Moderator
            16838 posts Send Private Message

              Variety is good, you can buy other types of hay (oat, orchard, meadow for example) to give her more variety. It’s really great that she eats lots of hay, that’s the most important food for a bunny. It’s more nutritious than it looks, and a bun’s natural main food source is grass, dried as hay or fresh.

              Spring mix often has a variety of tender leafy greens, I think the composition can vary between brands. It’s all good for buns though. Romaine is quite good. You can also try parsley, dandelion greens, fennel or celery sticks (chopped up in inch-long pieces). Introduce them one at a time and in small amounts.

              You can absolutely sift out the pellets from the mix and feed those and use the rest as treats.

              What’s causing the sticky poop is still a bit of an enigma though. Everything you’ve mentioned is fine for rabbits. Maybe try cutting out carrots for a bit? My Bam can’t have carrots because it gives him sticky poop, but he’s a very sticky-poop-prone bun.


            • Sunny
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                Posted By bam on 7/22/2017 4:30 PM

                Variety is good, you can buy other types of hay (oat, orchard, meadow for example) to give her more variety. It’s really great that she eats lots of hay, that’s the most important food for a bunny. It’s more nutritious than it looks, and a bun’s natural main food source is grass, dried as hay or fresh.

                Spring mix often has a variety of tender leafy greens, I think the composition can vary between brands. It’s all good for buns though. Romaine is quite good. You can also try parsley, dandelion greens, fennel or celery sticks (chopped up in inch-long pieces). Introduce them one at a time and in small amounts.

                You can absolutely sift out the pellets from the mix and feed those and use the rest as treats.

                What’s causing the sticky poop is still a bit of an enigma though. Everything you’ve mentioned is fine for rabbits. Maybe try cutting out carrots for a bit? My Bam can’t have carrots because it gives him sticky poop, but he’s a very sticky-poop-prone bun.

                i’m just as happy as anyone else is that she likes her hay. for a long time after i got her it was offered, but she didn’t eat much, most likely because i offered far too many pellets. i offered less when i found out, and at first she wouldn’t touch her hay or go anywhere near the few greens i offered, but now she goes crazy when i take out the bag of timothy. i’m gonna have to wait for the next time my mom or dad and i take a trip to the pet store to look for meadow grass, oat, or some other different kind, but she’ll still eat and enjoy her timothy until then!

                i recall offering Sienna some parsley once. i also recall it being completely ignored. she doesn’t seem to enjoy the more stalky greens – she doesn’t touch celery either – but i’ll ask my dad to look for some dandelion greens. i’ll also be doing a bit of research on maybe one or two more greens that i can introduce to her.

                not sure if i should be happy or at a loss about that last part! i’m happy that everything seems to be well, but i guess i still need to figure out why some of her poop is soft. i’ll stop feeding carrots to see what that’ll do. 

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            Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A soft poop