not eating soft poos

Hi all

Have posted on this before but am still woriied about my wee doe and after having spoken to vets still am.

For the last two weeks she has not been eating her caetorphs (sorry wrong spelling im sure!!) in the morning but she has been producing very nice golden poos as well and eats loads of hay, she gets a very small bowl of mixed veg at tea time and a small bowl of pellets in the morning and unlimited hay. Even in the afternoon i can check on her and she seems to produce more soft ones along with normal ones so im a bit concerned.

I spoke to the vet last week and he thought maybe she was a bit stressed as she is beside my lone buck in a run with him but they each have a hutch and seperate run but she seems fine with him and they dont really bother with one another much. He thought if i kept her in a total routine i.e not bringing her in most night for a cuddle which she loves and not directly beside the other bun she would settle down and would be fine but that she must eat them as was very important so ive done all that but still she doesnt seem to eating them i will be phoning the vets again tomorrow to see what they say but just wondered if anyone on here would have any advice in the meantime as am worried about her.

thanks
gill:wave:

Hi,
are you sure she isn't eating her poo's? If she is out grazing on the grass she may be producing some softer poo (that you are mistaking for caecotrophs) because the grass has another burst of growth at this time of year (i have horses and believe me, it def sprouts through!). It may be that the grass is causing her to produce some softer poo which you may be mistaking for the caecotrophs. They normally produce and eat them overnight so you don't usually see them being eaten very much. If she is eating lots of hay, some veg and a small amount of dried food (a couple of tablespoons for a 2kg rabbit is enough per day), then she should be producing caecotrophs. If your sure its caecotophs your seeing in her hutch then Is she overweight? This would possibly cause her to be unable to reach her back end to eat the caecotrophs, so something else to consider. The caecotrophs are very dark brown and shiny, usually quite smelly. If she is a healthy rabbit and recieving a healthy diet, I can not see that she would not produce caecotophs. Sometimes if their diet is too rich in nutirents (usually caused by too much dried food), they won't always eat their caecotrophs as the nutrients from them are not needed, however, they will still produce them. I would imagine that if this were the case, you would see caecotrophs in her hutch and you say your not seeing them. Not seeing them is good! I hope i haven't offended you with anything ive said, i'm just not sure what knowledge you have! Hope that helps

Hiya kat-g

the problem is that she is producing them but not eating them and i know it is caecotrophes as ive read a few more threads on here in the last hour or so and the pic a few have put up is def what is being produced so i think it must be her diet being to full of protein but she def only gets a smasll bowl of pellets enuf to just cover the bowl and she is def not over weight she is just over 1.2 kg which the vet said was perfect for her age which is nearly 4 and half months. she is on concrete in her run and has never been on grass yet so it cant be too much grass.

Having read through a few posts on simiular things i think im giving her too many pellets even still and veg wise maybe too much as well although she only gets a leaf of spring green, one leaf of coriander, one leaf of basil and one leaf of mint is there anything in that lot i shouldnt be giving and i introduced them slowly should i cut back on that too and just give her hay for a couple of days. she really does eat loads of hay and is always in her letter tray eating it and as i said she produces nice golden poos too as well as the excess caecotrophes so that is a bit confusing.

If anyone else can help id appreciate it but will try and cut down more than i have just scared i cut down too much as she eats so very little of everything but hay.

thanks again kat-g for your advice.

gill:wave:

Hiya hun i had this problem with my 2 little bunnys, can i ask which pellets you are using , i was feedin mine Oxbows 15/23 and apparently it was them that were too high in protein and also the alfalfa, so i gradually changed mine over a 2 week period to A/P pellets and they have been great since, mine also have a small dish full now at tea time of spring green, corander, basil, and they are fine, hope this helps a little hun

mine just have a small handful of pellets in the morning and unlimited types of hay, and of a evening they get a tiny amount of pellets now they are having a small bowl of veggies n herbs and unlimited hay eating hay wont hurt ya bunny even if he/she dont eat pellets their diet should consist of about 80/90% hay .

Im having the same trouble with Tyler! Tyler was on russell rabbit then had a bad bout of really soft poo and off to the vet we went. Came home with bio-lapis and told to give him more fibre. Now he has science selective and oxbow t pellets. Poo has improved but he still wont eat his 'good' poo!!

These rabbits are so fussy!!

I asked the same questions on here back in july when my bunnys were like that i changed em to A/P and didnt give them a dishfull like i was doin i cut down their pellets to a small handfull and they started eating loads more hay and even their good for them poos

hiya wendle thanks for replying i have started to cvut back on pellets even though she was only having a tiny bit to just cover bottom of dish so now only an egg cup ful but i feel that is still too little as she is still only 4 half months but will try that and will stick to the tiny amounts of veg im giving her have done that for the last couple of days and this morning there was still a couple of soft ones will continue for a wee while longer and then if still there will take back to vet i think but thanks for reply appreciated.

shazzy81 the strange thing is she still has nice big golden poos as her normal but still produces excess caecotorphs too that she wont eat so i will try and cut back pellets and veg a bit not sure whether to change to excel lite does that have less protein if she is having too much?

thanks for replying any more help would be appreciated especially whether to change pellets or not to excell lite as science selective quite hard to get here unless anyone in refrewshire scotland knows of anywhere local that b great

gill:wave:

Ive heard that excel isnt always that great for rabbits tummys, i tried Ty on it and it didnt suit him. Have you tried Oxbow T or science selective? They are higher in fibre. My vet said Ty needed more fibre!!

hiya jill hun why dont ya try A/P breeder/grower pellets hun they are specialy for baby bunnys mine are nearly 5 month old and are still on these, try cutting the veg down cos baby bunnys should have a bit more than 1 egg cup a pellets a day i think i gave my 2 a handfull on a morning and now they are on a dish of veg n herbs at night i give a small handfull it could be your pellets, do you change them over gradually say like 10-14 days hun cos when my 2 were like that my vet said it was too much protein

hiya wendle
she has only ever been on excel and when i got her i changed her over gradually over 10 days so that was okay. up until last week i was giving her two handfulsa of pellets unlimited hay and about 10 pieces of veg i.e one being a leaf of say basil or one of coriander so it was only small as you say i feel only giving her an egg cup of pellets for a baby isnt enuf but am not sure what to increase and what to decrease now as i have decreased the veg and the pellets and kept unlimited hay the same which she eats plenty of.

I wondered if excell lite instead of excell junior would be better as ive hear it is higher in fibre can anyone tell me if this would be a good idea or is scine selective better, i dont know where to get a and p or science selective as they are not in any of the pet shops in scotland but if anyone knows where and if it would be better than excell lite that b great.

thanks for repliying shazzy 81 appreciated and taken notice of.

gill:wave:

Hi again...

If you go onto bunny bazaar, you can buy allan and page, science selective and the oxbow pellets. Shes a lovely lady and very helpful. She has a great website full of foods, hays, toys etc etc. I tried allan and page and Ty completely refused to eat it but my friends bunnys loved it!!

thanks shazzy 81 noted i will have a look at it tomorrow.
gill:wave: