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my rabbit wont eat her poo!

S

sallyrabbit

New Kit
hi, i am really at my wits end and hope i can get some advice, i have 4 rabbits who live in two pairs.They all eat the same food and follow the same routine and the other 3 are just fine, however, the eldest is called sally and she seems perfectly healthy - eating plenty of hay and food and washes her face and ears like normal.
The problem is she never eats her soft poos and they end up all mashed into her back end, this used to happen now and again but now its daily and because I work during the day sometimes its really dried on by the time i get home so bathing her is the only way to get it all off, its not just a little bit either, it covers the whole area and even though i cut as much fur off as possible it gets so stuck.
I took her to the vets who tested her joints to see if she was having trouble bending and its not runny at all just the normal stinky soft ones, it almost seems like she cant be bothered to clean herself and its getting too much now , she smells bad and although she doesn't mind having a bath i am sick of bathing her.
sorry to go on but its a real problem.
does anyone have any advice?
thankyou.
 
Sometimes they don't bother eating their caecals if their diet is higher in protein than they need, or if they are eating too much. (they don't need to eat them then)
You can see if she is getting too much protein because they pass it in their wee in the form of whiteness (so far as I know)
Nigel used to not eat his, but he then started to without me changing anything much. Sorry I can't be of more help. :roll:
 
Is she the right weight? Sometimes if they are overweight they simply can't reach behind them. I really hope you get it sorted. There is a real risk of flystrike if she has a messy behind.
 
If Rosie eats too many pellets she doesn't eat her soft poo. I reduced the pellets and increased the hay by adding different varieties.
 
she lives indoors so should be safe from flystrike - and i clean her up as soon as i can. i will try cutting down on her food to see if that makes a diffrence - i hope so poor old stinky bum!
 
If she is looking healthy in every other respect then she must be eating her caecotrophs, and the soft stuff that's sticking to her is probably just soft poo which is a sign that her diet is too rich, so I'd go with trying to cut down her pellets. Siona, I *think* the whiteness in the urine is likely to be caused by excess calcium.
Being indoors doesn't protect them from flystrike .
 
I had this for months and months with my bunny, Twinkle. She ate her pellets and hay very well and the vet even checked her teeth and said she was fine. As her eating was not restricted I didnt not believe it could be teeth related.

Another vet said she would do a dental anyway as she could see a tiny molar spur and this was done on Monday.

Since then I have seen Twinkle groom herself and she has kept herself clean. Fingers crossed the dental worked.

Please get your bunny's teeth checked as Twinkle has improved 100% in a week.
 
Please don't be fooled into thinking they are safe from flystrike because they are indoors - I'm sure you must get flies inside your house from time to time - I certainly do!

Like fluffiebunnie, I would suspect a dental problem if mobility problems have been ruled out and the diet is ok. It is still possible that she has a slightly different dietary need from the other buns so it is quite possible that a diet fine for the others causes a problem for her. What is their diet and food routine?
 
I feed them all supa rabbit excel and they always have hay and clean water,because of her problems sally only has carrot every couple of days and sometimes celery (chopped up!) and basil, she isnt overweight at all.
anyhow i am going to get her some better quality hay tomorrow and i will speak to the vet about her teeth but she is always washing her ears and face and has no problem eating and never has a dribbly chin or neck, so i would be surprised if its tooth problems.
I honestly dont think there are any physical problems - she is extremely lazy and i am more worried that she just cant be bothered to clean herself.
 
AlisonA said:
Please don't be fooled into thinking they are safe from flystrike because they are indoors - I'm sure you must get flies inside your house from time to time - I certainly do!
Click to expand...

I agree totally. In the later half of last year I found loads of tiny maggots in and around the food bowls in my kitchen. The flies had been attracted by Colin's wet food and kind of hung around! I was amazed they had hatched that fast, it really freaked me out! I went on a massive genecidal cleaning spree and wouldn't stop until I was sure every single one was dead and gone, I even pulled up the flooring!
I did feel bad though, I don't usually kill anything larger than bacteria and the occasional flea.(and I feel bad about them too!) :(
 
Many rescues take in a number of rabbits each year with dirty bottoms, from my own personal experience it may pay to change your rabbits diet over to eitehr Science Selective, Bunny Basics T or Allen and Page pellets which all have a higher fibre content than Excel.

Reducing the amount of pellets to just under 50g per rabbit is the amount which is recommended to feed rabbits. Some rabbit specialist also suggest that 25 g per rabbit is a better figure . From this a 2kg pack of food should last 4 rabbits at least 10 days or 20 days if you feed just 25g per day. If it is not then you will quickly discover that they are being fed too much.

Certainly a general check by a vet if this does not settle down quickly. I am not sure what you know about fly strike but these are good reference to know what to do to help protect your rabbits. http://therabbithouse.com/blog/?p=17 http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-12/fly-strike.html http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/flystrike_sep_05.pdf
 
sallyrabbit said:
I feed them all supa rabbit excel and they always have hay and clean water,because of her problems sally only has carrot every couple of days and sometimes celery (chopped up!) and basil, she isnt overweight at all.
anyhow i am going to get her some better quality hay tomorrow and i will speak to the vet about her teeth but she is always washing her ears and face and has no problem eating and never has a dribbly chin or neck, so i would be surprised if its tooth problems.
I honestly dont think there are any physical problems - she is extremely lazy and i am more worried that she just cant be bothered to clean herself.
Click to expand...

I have been having the same problem. My bunny had been on excel for over a year without any problems, then she started producing too many cecals and not eating any. At first it was only every few days that I was having to clean her up, she would literally be caked in them overnight, then it was happening just about every day. I tried drastically reducing her pellets, but even if she had just a few it would happen so I changed her over to science selective. That was a few weeks ago and I am amazed at the difference! I have only seem cecals on all of two occassions so she must be eating them again, and I haven't had to clean her up either...her pen is always so much cleaner, her normal droppings look so much healthier and she seems happier! I don't feed her much carrot, apple etc and give her mainly greens as sugary foods also have the same effect.
 
sallyrabbit said:
will speak to the vet about her teeth but she is always washing her ears and face and has no problem eating and never has a dribbly chin or neck, so i would be surprised if its tooth problems.
Click to expand...

My bunny washed her ears and face, and never had a dribbly chin or neck either, but a dental has sorted out her mucky bum.
 
I recommend Science selective pellets! :D My Bunny Charlotte never ate her poos when i adpoted her last may. She had been fed a mix by her previous owner. I took advice from vet to move her onto Excel but it made no difference. :?

After recomendations from the forum changed to SS as it is higher in fibre. After a few weeks the poos stopped. :D:D:D
 
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