Rabbit stool help?

Question

I have a female rabbit and I've taken her to the vet for this probelm but it is still happening.

The problem is, is that when she poops sometimes in clumps together and sometimes sticks to her butt area and i have to clean it..sometimes it's clumped together in her cage and i clean that up to so it doesn't stick to her. It's mainly pellets or poop but some of it is mushy. When I took her to the vet the vet told me to give her more Timothy hay and feed her only that and pellets. So thats' what I've been doing for almost a month now and nothing has changed. It's got a little better but not fully cured. The vet also did a stool sample and everything else was fine. What should I do? Do some rabbits have these problems? Thanks

Answer 1

okay, my rabbit had the same problem for a LONG time. does your rabbit hop in his bedding or have a wire floor? i got my bunny a cage with a wire floor and it seems to help the mess a bit. i had to actually have his rear end shaved because when it dries it is like cement. give her plenty of fresh water, food that is made of pellets only. seeds and the colored crunchies are not good for them. it's too high in carbs and they can't digest the seeds. my bunny's vet told me all that "garbage" in the food is to make us feel better because we're feeding them "colorful" food. he said all they need is in the straight pellets and timothy hay and water. let her have a little bit of carrots and cherry tomatoes each night. that's what i feed my guy everyday and he hasn't had a problem in about a month. do a search on "intermittent soft stools" on yahoo. the rabbit site will tell you only to give them timothy hay for a month, but my vet said NO they can't live off that, but the rest of the info is ok from the site that comes up.

Answer 2

All rabbits have this problem from time to time but if it is happening often, then she could be picking up something from the floor or carpet and eating it. Rabbits will try to chew string, wire, anything that they find laying on the floor, and that can cause bowel movement clumping.

I read on ASPCA that a rabbit should not be given Alfalfa because it has too much vitamins and fiber in it. The only things i give my bunny is Timothy Hay, and Rabbit pellets from the Feed store. A domestic rabbit doesn't need all different kinds of hay or foods.

Answer 3

Has the vet checked more than one stool sample? Parasites don't shed eggs in every stool, so he may have missed some. I'd check a couple more stool samples a couple of days apart to be sure. Coccidia is a problem in rabbits, and can cause diarrhea. She could also have an intestinal bacterial infection. Make sure the vet you use has a lot of rabbit experience.

Answer 4

Diet
Feeding pet rabbits is easy because nutritionally complete and balanced commercial pelleted diets are readily available. One of these pelleted diets and fresh water are all a pet rabbit requires. The pellets should be offered at all times unless overeating and obesity have become problems. Clean, fresh water also should be available at all times.
The pellets should be as fresh as possible when purchased and should be purchased in relatively small quantities. The pellets should be stored in the refrigerator to prevent premature spoilage. Pellets that will probably not be used within 2 months of purchase should be frozen immediately after purchase. Refusal to eat rancid pellets is a relatively common cause of inappetence among rabbits.

Fresh water should be offered daily, either in a bottle or in a heavy ceramic dish that cannot be easily overturned. Many hobbyists find the hanging drop-style bottles most satisfactory. The water container, regardless of the type used, should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected at least every 1-2 days.

Good quality hay (grass, alfalfa or clover) and/or grass clippings should be offered daily. Some researchers believe this practice reduces intestinal problems and the tendency to pull out and chew on hair.

Other food items (lettuce, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, carrot tops, beet greens, carrots, apples, etc.) can be offered in small amounts daily. These food items should not be offered in larger amounts because they are water-rich and lack the nutrient density of the pelleted diets. Furthermore, many rabbits develop a preference for these items over pellets if they are offered in large quantity. Rabbits can tolerate table food items offered daily if given in small amounts (no more than 20% by volume of the total diet). This is especially true of rabbits fed in this fashion from an early age.

Vitamin-mineral supplementation is not necessary if a pet rabbit is fed as outlined above. Some rabbit owners provide salt licks for their pets, but experts do not regard this addition as a necessity. Many rabbits love to gnaw and chew on their cage and on items within the cage. A well-boiled roundsteak bone (marrow removed) and/or small dog chew toys are often accepted as challenging gnawing substitutes.

Many veterinarians recommend adding pineapple or pi–a colada yogurt to the daily diet. Most rabbits willingly accept the yogurt, especially if they are introduced to it at a young age. Yogurt not only promotes and maintains the normal bacterial flora within the digestive tract, but the pineapple contains an enzyme (papain) that is thought to help dissolve any hair that has been eaten (see section on Hairballs).


This may be the issue.
*******Eating of Night Feces*******
Rabbits engage in relatively uncommon but normal behavior when they deliberately eat small, soft, moist (often mucus covered), light green fecal pellets directly from the anus. These special night stools are especially rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Rabbits must obtain these nutrients in this fashion. This behavior is most often carried out in the early morning hours and is rarely observed by rabbit wners. Sometimes, however, they choose not to eat the night pellets, and you may notice these slightly different droppings in the morning.

Answer 5

Your veterinarian is giving you good advice. You want to avoid giving your rabbit any vegetables, grass, fruits and stuff like that. Those can give your rabbit diahrrea.

The vet gave you good advice to stick to just the timothy hay and pellets. Timothy hay will help increase the amount of fiber and reduce the amount of energy in its diet, both helping to decrease the chance of your rabbit getting diahrrea.

Also it's good to hear that your veterinarian did a stool sample. That's the best way for them to tell what is truly wrong with your rabbit in order to find out what is causing the diahrrea.

Rabbits typically do have two different kinds of stool. One is soft and the other is halfway hard. It is OK if your rabbit does have some soft stool as long as the stool isn't clumping to the rabbit's behind or making a mess around the rear end. If your rabbit starts getting messy around the rear end, then that is diahrrea and that needs addressed.

Some other suggestions that I can give you is to make sure you don't keep your feed too long. I recommend keeping no more than about a month's supply of feed on hand, especially if you keep it outside during the summer. The rabbit pellets can tend to gather a little mold (it doesn't even have to be enough that you can see it, you will smell it before see it). That mold can also give your rabbit diahrrea. So try keeping your rabbit pellets sealed up and in a cool dry place.

You may also want to look at the feed you are feeding. It may be a little high in energy content. You'll want to compare the amount of fat, corn, and protein your feed has with other feeds. It might be a good idea to go to a show formula ration instead of a family ration since show rations have more fiber and less energy. Be careful about doing this long term. Rabbit's don't need as much energy during the summer as they do in the winter. So in the winter you probably will want to go back to the family ration. Also watch that your rabbit doesn't start feeling bony over the back. Rabbit's need a certain amount of protein (about 16% to grow). So if your rabbit has not reached full adult size yet, you may not want to stick it on a show formula.

Also, it's always a good preventative to make sure you keep your pen clean to avoid diahrrea and other diseases, especially during the summer when the increased heat raises the risk of such things.

It's also a good idea to treat for coccidiosis with liquid amprolium once or twice during the summer, since coccidiosis can cause diahrrea, although I'm sure your vet would have detected that with a stool sample. But it's a very good preventative whether your rabbit has coccidiosis or not.

If your rabbit does get diahrrea. Make sure to give it plenty of water to keep it from getting dehydrated. Often, it is a very good idea to pull the rabbit completely off its feed for 24 hours then return the rabbit to about half feed after about a day. This helps flush the food out of the rabbit's stomach. Diahrrea is normally caused by bacteria. That bacteria feeds and grows off the food in the digestive system. If you get rid of the food in the digestive system temporarily, that helps flush out that bad bacteria along with the food and helps cure the diahrrea.

Also, change and stress can cause diahrrea. Avoid changing feeds in the summer, avoid moving your rabbit around too much in the summer, and try keeping it cool. Heat and changes can give your rabbit stress and cause it to get diahrrea or go off of its feed.

Finally and most importantly, keep your water fresh and clean. Give completely fresh water to your rabbit at least once a day. Keep the water bowl or waterer clean and clean it out whenever it starts to look dirty. One thing you can do to help keep the water clean if you live out in the country and have well water is to add a little bit of bleach to the water. You can add 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of regular bleach per gallon of rabbit drinking water. Look on your bleach bottle and see how much it recommends to add to a load of laundry. If it says add 3/4 cup to a load of laundry add 3/4 tsp per gallon. If it says 1 cup per load add 1 tsp per gallon. A few years ago many of the bleach companies increases the concentration of their bleach so that is why there is the difference. Bleach works just like chlorine in a pool or in your drinking water. At those concentrations it won't hurt your rabbit. What it does is help keep the bacteria levels down in your water in order to help prevent disease. You should notice that your water bowls won't get green algae in them if you do that and give fresh water regularly. Getting green algae in your bowls is a sign of bacteria in the water and on the bowl. If you have city water you probably don't need to do that since chlorine is probably already added to the water. This is something I learned a long time ago from a rabbit veterinarian. If you prefer to use a syringe, then 5cc's or 5mL equals roughly 1 teaspoon.

Listen to your veterinarian. It sounds like you have a good one.

Darmill is incorrect about alfalfa. Alfalfa has more fiber than rabbit pellets do but actually less than timothy hay does. Alfalfa has more energy than timothy hay does and that is why rabbits that eat alfalfa are more prone to diahrrea than ones that eat timothy hay are, because alfalfa has extra energy. Fiber and roughage actually helps prevent diahrrea and that's why timothy is so good to feed as far as helping prevent and stop diahrrea because it is high in fiber and has a lot of roughage. Timothy isn't the only hay you can feed. Orchard grass or straw will do pretty much the same thing. Hays for rabbits are grouped into two types. Wide-leafed hays and thin-leafed hays. Wide leafed hays consist of hays such as alfalfa and clover, because those hays consist mainly of leaves and they have wider leaves. Thin leafed hays consist of hays such as orchard grass and timothy hay. Their leaves are narrow and most of the hay consists of the stem of the plant and not of the leaf. The stem of the hay is where the rabbit gets the fiber. The leaf is where they get the energy. Typically the more woody in texture the portion of the plant is, the more fiber it has. This is due to the lignin in the plant that gives it the woody texture.

I don't recommend giving your rabbit grass, carrots, or tomatos like some people on here have suggested. Those can raise the risk of your rabbit getting diahrrea.

Answer 6

sorry, i don't know what you should do... but to answer your second question...my rabbit has that too.
my dad tried to give him a bath to clean it all off but he didn't like it and hopped right out.