Mocha's Poop Looks Different

Hi all, i have a read the thread regarding poop..A forum friend here suggest that I should start a thread about this observation...

When I first acquired Mocha, her poop looks smaller than Prince's poop and its dark..when she was accustomed to what i feed to Prince her poop became regular in size (same as Prince's poop) but not golden..it was a bit dark.. but early this night, i saw her poop became smaller (like a rat's poop) dark and a little moist. i fed her with cabbage this morning and evening. and pellets and hay..i noticed she hadnt drink that much ,but this evening, she finished her cabbage.IS there something wrong with her?.Is this something I should be alarmed about? and if there is, what would be the initial remedy? i forced her to drink water by using a dropper. I really dont want to force her coz i am still on the process of winning her trust.. But i just thought she is having small poop because she just dont consume water that much..

Please help.. I cant afford to loose another bunny baby again..

I am sorry I don't know much about this subject but just looked up the problem in one of my books. It advises giving a small amount of pellets and avoiding carbs. bun should also have plenty of exercise. I would try that and monitor it and if the situation doesn't improve visit the vet. HTH

Is she a good hay eater?
It sounds like you need to increase fibre, so lots and lots of hay!!

rachylou said:

Is she a good hay eater?
It sounds like you need to increase fibre, so lots and lots of hay!!

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well, she doesnt eat much hay..as i mentioned in the other thread under "Behavior" she rather poops on it then eat it.. i feed her with fresh grass and she likes it..she likes veges too.. but hay, not that much..should i cut down the supply of pellets and increase hay? will she eat that even if she doesnt like it?
is it normal for rabbits not to drink that much? she drinks water but i dont think she can drink what is recommended for her ( though i have no idea what is really recommended water intake), i just find it rather too little for her..

Btw, do you guys,have any idea what is the range of normal vital signs for rabbits? Heart Rate, respiration, temperature..? thanks

Tiabrac said:

I am sorry I don't know much about this subject but just looked up the problem in one of my books. It advises giving a small amount of pellets and avoiding carbs. bun should also have plenty of exercise. I would try that and monitor it and if the situation doesn't improve visit the vet. HTH

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thanks for the advice..I give them hay and a little of pellet but she seems to eat hay very little.. she loves eating fresh grass and vegetables (cabbage is her favorite). I give veges in small amount. Its been 2 days i hadnt let them out in the garden because of rain. I only let them out in my mom's canteen (below my room/ downstairs)..Mocha loves the garden, she loves to stay in the grass,when i let her out in my mom's canteen.she will just run a little and then just sit and groom herself. If she is out in the garden, she hops so fast, i sometimes lose sight of her..Could this also be because she doesnt drink water that much?
Thank you so much..I really appreciate your help..

I find with my buns that they tend to drink more when they have vitamins added to the water so I always try not to run of them. Also if a lot of veg. has been eaten they don't tend to drink so much but should be OK because of the water in the veg.

Today, i gave Mocha fresh grass. She eagerly ate it. I lessened giving her pellets. Actually, I tried to trick her by placing pellets beneath the bunch of hay on their food bowl, hoping she would eat the hay when she smells the pellets underneath. But, what to expect, the bunny seems to be wiser then me (lol) :lol: She digs on the hay and she found the pellets and she munched on them..I am just expecting that she must have eaten some of the hay though. After eating, she sits on the other hay bowl.. She is pooing on it (sort of litter trained herself though) I checked it when she left the hay bowl. Her poop became bigger in size, moist and dark though there are some poops that are a bit deformed.i saw about 3 moist dark pellets.. Is this Okay? she is eating okay and drinking..Should I still be alarmed??

to Tiabrac: What vitamins do u put in the water? wont the vitamins spoil the water? well, i was advised to give the bunnies vitamins intended for human babies, will that be okay??

Thanks all for the advice, i will keep you posted about Mocha's progress. :rabbit2:

This afternoon, i noticed Mochas poop incresed in size, however, the moisture also increased..It looks like she's gonna have a diarrhea later on..So what i did was discontinue the food (pellet/hay) and just feed her Oral rehydration solution.. I withheld the food for about 6 hours..NOw, her poop seems a bit solid, bigger in size (though its a little soft).. I gave back the feeding but just the rabbit food..and the rehydration continues...

Clarisse said:

This afternoon, i noticed Mochas poop incresed in size, however, the moisture also increased..It looks like she's gonna have a diarrhea later on..So what i did was discontinue the food (pellet/hay) and just feed her Oral rehydration solution.. I withheld the food for about 6 hours..NOw, her poop seems a bit solid, bigger in size (though its a little soft).. I gave back the feeding but just the rabbit food..and the rehydration continues...

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Please dont starve a bunny.

Hay should be available at ALL times, its the best thing for a bunnys gut.

Leave Mocha to eat just hay for now, but dont starve her

GrahamL said:

Please dont starve a bunny.

Hay should be available at ALL times, its the best thing for a bunnys gut.

Leave Mocha to eat just hay for now, but dont starve her

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Its actually against my will, but that is the best thing i guess to let her bowel rest even for a while...its not really that long though..just an estimation... i withheld the rabbit pellets, i gave her hay, but she wouldnt eat them.I intentionally withheld rabbit food thinking that she'll be forced to eat the hay out of hunger, but she wouldnt eat them.So I just continue feed her with rehydration solution to keep her hydrated. but now i gave back the rabbit food. her poop seems to a little okay now.. but she still with oral rehydration solution..

Do not worry, I will not starve the bunny.honest..

Help!!! My Mocha doesnt want to eat hay..

Hello to everyone. I noticed ever since i gave my bunnnies hay, MOcha just dont like them.. Given the fact that hay should be the foundation of the food that they should eat, im so awfully worried that MOcha dont eat hay. I am thinking that it is also the reason why her poop seems strange lately.. She loves eating vegetables like cabbage, carrots and when i let them out of the cage to run around the garden, she munches on every grass and leaves she comes across... Will she still get her regular supply of fiber from this kind of food? I feed them Timothy hay (it is packed and dried imported from USA).. What should I do to make her eat Hay? Somebody please help me.I dont want her to go on GI stasis..

I would really recommend trying all sorts of different hays to see what hay she actually does like. As not every bunny will like the same hay.
I swear by Oxbrow hay as it is so fresh and our two LOVE it! But it is not exactly easy on the purse! :lol: But what the hell, my babies are worth every penny!!

We use a combination of these for the hay box

Oxbrow Timothy
Oxbrow Orchard Grass
Oxbrow Oat Hay
Oxbrow Brome Hay
Oxbrow Botanical

and for the potty we use

Burns Welsh Meadow Hay
http://www.animalmagicpetsupplies.c...th=/Shops/BT3336/Products/Burnswelshmeadowhay

Dust Free American Timothy hay
http://www.animalmagicpetsupplies.c...jectPath=/Shops/BT3336/Products/TImothyHay002

rachylou said:

I would really recommend trying all sorts of different hays to see what hay she actually does like. As not every bunny will like the same hay.
I swear by Oxbrow hay as it is so fresh and our two LOVE it! But it is not exactly easy on the purse! :lol: But what the hell, my babies are worth every penny!!

We use a combination of these for the hay box

Oxbrow Timothy
Oxbrow Orchard Grass
Oxbrow Oat Hay
Oxbrow Brome Hay
Oxbrow Botanical

and for the potty we use

Burns Welsh Meadow Hay
http://www.animalmagicpetsupplies.c...th=/Shops/BT3336/Products/Burnswelshmeadowhay

Dust Free American Timothy hay
http://www.animalmagicpetsupplies.c...jectPath=/Shops/BT3336/Products/TImothyHay002

Click to expand...

thank you so much for the advice...Im gonna hunt every pet shop for those kind of hay.. Coz its kinda hard to find hay here in my location..Thanks..

You may find it very hard to find the Oxbrow hay in any pet stores, best place to buy is online to be honest

rachylou said:

You may find it very hard to find the Oxbrow hay in any pet stores, best place to buy is online to be honest

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is it oxbrow or oxbow?? i saw "oxbow" online..the shop is located here in Manila.. and i can always pick it up from the store or have a courier ship it to me..

Hurray !!! MOcha is now eating hay..:lol: i keep on insisting her to eat hay. I hold it and give to her , but she will just bite it and spit it on the floor. And there was one time when she bit the whole hay bowl and flip it upside down,spilling the hay all over the floor..She's really expressing her dislike for the hay..so i let her be.. And then i caught her this afternoon, munching on a bunch of hay on that same hay bowl and even eating the hay on the floor. Yey!!!!

Sorry I'm late on here. I'm thrilled that Mocha is beginning to eat hay.

All bunnies need to eat lots of fiber = hay/grass (or as a last resort safe shrub leaves eg. bramble/hawthorn), to keep their gut moving. They also need to eat regularly throughout the day on a poops out - food in basis.
Small or deformed poops usually mean that they aren't eating enough fiber & the gut is slowing down. This can sometimes become a serious condition called "stasis". So you've done the right thing. :thumb:

The waste poops should be round, & dry but not brick hard, & consist totally of undigestable fiber. Thecolour depends on their diet. A bun with a staple diet of grass will have round dark poops,& a bun with a staple of hay will have round golden poops.

A wild bun gets all it's fluids from fresh foods & dew. Our buns have to drink water because there's no fluid in hay/pellets. So the amount that they drink depends on how much they're getting from fresh food.

Human veg are rather high in nutrients (starch & protein) & low in fiber for a bunny tummy. They do need a little but only a small amount. Some people give herbs eg basil, dill, corriander, parsley to bulk out the veg. Always introduce a new food gradually in small quantities to a bunny, because a sudden big change in diet can upset the micro organisms in their caecum, & which are needed to digest their food.

ETA Some of us dry a small store of blackberry leaves for over winter (they are a good source of fiber). If our bun's poops go off we offer a few of these too. A bunny with a slow gut will really "go" for them & get himself better.

Clarisse said:

is it oxbrow or oxbow?? i saw "oxbow" online..the shop is located here in Manila.. and i can always pick it up from the store or have a courier ship it to me..

Click to expand...

Sorry yes it is Oxbow

(sigh).. NOw, now.. Mocha is having soft poop again.. and as it appears to me, i may say she is having diarrhea..I didnt introduce new food nor fresh vegetables, just a new hay (oat hay)..Why is her tummy upset again???

I am continuously monitoring her and giving her oral rehydration solution ( which is her favorite) Im glad she drinks it. I couldnt get her to eat more hay..Is there a way for me to force feed her with hay?

I think if you read this article it might help explain a few things:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=3012&S=1&SourceID=43

Restablishing correct caecal balance takes months, any changes you make within a few days are unlikely to have a lasting effect and things will simply revert to square one until caecal flora balance is achieved, whatever the foodtype.

Restricting high carbohydrate and protein foods really is the only way to achieve this. Obviously bun mustn't starve and if there is no hay eating then immediately removing all the food stuffs from the diet they would normally consume is dangerous, but for a bun that will eat alternative fibre sources/hay then completely removing pellets from the diet can work wonders. If bun enjoys grass and other safe weeds/leaves then use these to boost the fibre intake as Thumps has described above.
I would try some alternative grass hays, oat hay is fab but on a highly oversensitive tummy it can cause issues. You need to be aware that a bun with a chronic dysbiosis is going to be far more reactive to changes and new foods than a bun with a good strong caecal flora.
If you are in the UK then I would try a sample of this:
http://www.willowwarren.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=trh2
It's what I feed and i'm yet to find a bun that doesn't like it.

Bear in mind that starchy root veg and the brassica family (cabbages) are renound for causing dysbiosis and some buns can't tolerate them full stop.

All dental issues should be ruled out first for a bun showing a dislike of hay before assuming it is behavioural.