Poo size getting small

Hi, my girl rabbit has recently got smaller poo, but she eats, drinks and exercise normally. I've no idea why her poo getting smaller.... is it due to the hot weather? Her daily intake is hay, nugget and kale (her super favorite veggie) and I let her run around the house at least 4 hours a day... any comments?

Nicole Mok said:

Hi, my girl rabbit has recently got smaller poo, but she eats, drinks and exercise normally. I've no idea why her poo getting smaller.... is it due to the hot weather? Her daily intake is hay, nugget and kale (her super favorite veggie) and I let her run around the house at least 4 hours a day... any comments?

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Is she eating the same amount of hay? It's that that bulks out the poos. Having grass instead of hay can make them look smaller and blacker.

Nicole Mok said:

Hi, my girl rabbit has recently got smaller poo, but she eats, drinks and exercise normally. I've no idea why her poo getting smaller.... is it due to the hot weather? Her daily intake is hay, nugget and kale (her super favorite veggie) and I let her run around the house at least 4 hours a day... any comments?

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Smaller poo can indicate a reduced gut motility. So well done for picking up on it. You say that she eats hay, nuggets and kale, but exactly how much hay and how much nuggets ? Rabbits who have a poor hay intake do have a reduced gut motility and there is also the potential for them to develop dental problems. If this happens gut motility is further reduced.

A Rabbit's diet should be made up of 80%-90% hay, do you think this is the case for your Rabbit or does she tend to eat more pellets/veg ?

Is she moulting? Whilst fur is a normal finding in a Rabbit's GI tract if the GI tract is already a bit sluggish the amount of fur ingested during a moult can slow things down even more.

Hi, thank you for your responses! She eats the same amount of hay everyday, not huge amount but normal, however I don't think she eats 80%. She has small appetite than my male rabbit as usual, but at least she eats everything.

For hay, I actually mix up with meadow hay (about 70%) + forage (15%) + readigrass (15%).
For nugget, not much, about 20g daily
For kale, about 5% daily

I don't see the issue of her teeth, as she likes to chew the branch from the meadow hay. Also, I don't think she's molting, just groomed her today. May be when she grooms my male rabbit that she swallows his fur, as he's slightly molting? However I don't see the fur in between the poos...

Nicole Mok said:

Hi, thank you for your responses! She eats the same amount of hay everyday, not huge amount but normal, however I don't think she eats 80%. She has small appetite than my male rabbit as usual, but at least she eats everything.

For hay, I actually mix up with meadow hay (about 70%) + forage (15%) + readigrass (15%).
For nugget, not much, about 20g daily
For kale, about 5% daily

I don't see the issue of her teeth, as she likes to chew the branch from the meadow hay. Also, I don't think she's molting, just groomed her today. May be when she grooms my male rabbit that she swallows his fur, as he's slightly molting? However I don't see the fur in between the poos...

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Fur in the poos wouldn't necessarily make them smaller - as you say, you would see the fur stringing the poos together!

I don't know what you mean about eating 80% hay - but I guess if her poos are getting smaller, then she is perhaps eating a little less hay than usual.

You could maybe reduce the pellets a little and increase the readigrass, which is very palatable and also higher in protein than regular hay.

Nicole Mok said:

Hi, thank you for your responses! She eats the same amount of hay everyday, not huge amount but normal, however I don't think she eats 80%. She has small appetite than my male rabbit as usual, but at least she eats everything.

For hay, I actually mix up with meadow hay (about 70%) + forage (15%) + readigrass (15%).
For nugget, not much, about 20g daily
For kale, about 5% daily

I don't see the issue of her teeth, as she likes to chew the branch from the meadow hay. Also, I don't think she's molting, just groomed her today. May be when she grooms my male rabbit that she swallows his fur, as he's slightly molting? However I don't see the fur in between the poos...

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If she is never eating much hay then that could be part of the problem. You say that she 'eats the same amount each day, not a huge amount but normal'. Normal for her may not be enough to insure good gut motility/dental health. So I would look at trying to increase her hay intake, that may mean cutting down on pellets but you do need to be very vigilant that she is eating more hay as a result. Weighing her every 2 days is useful too to make sure that reducing pellet rations is not causing a rapid weightloss (which would indicate that she isn't eating much hay at all).

Grooming her companion will mean she ingests his fur too, so it'd be a good idea to groom him every day, especially whilst he is moulting.

If the 'small poo' problem continues for several days I would want a Vet to examine the Rabbit. It is always far better to try to identify and address any problems early on and before the Rabbit stops eating. A lot more information about the specific Rabbit can be obtained from a 'hands on' examination.

Is your girl spayed? If not, a growth in her uterus could be putting pressure on her digestive system resulting in stasis.
Is your girl overweight?

Also, water consumption may not be decreased, but that does not mean she is not dehydrating due to warmer weather or kidney problems.
Additional fluids, oral or sub Q may be required to rehydrate the contents of the intestines so she can pass the contents easier.
Fresh poos will be dryer and smaller than usual if they take longer to get though the system due to stasis, and vice versa.

I agree with Jane about taking your bunny to the vet.

Hi all, thank you for the advices! She is already spayed.
Her poo size is quite unstable, sometimes back to normal but most of the time still small.. I've been trying the below:-
- Grooming both of them every each other day
- reduce portion of pallets
- increase readigrass

However it's difficult to check if she is eating more as I'm out for work for 10 hours a day. When I come home I can only try to feed her, so I can at least making sure she eats. As I'm still worried, so I've booked a time to see thevet on Thursday, hopefully I can be given more ideas.

Nicole Mok said:

Hi all, thank you for the advices! She is already spayed.
Her poo size is quite unstable, sometimes back to normal but most of the time still small.. I've been trying the below:-
- Grooming both of them every each other day
- reduce portion of pallets
- increase readigrass

However it's difficult to check if she is eating more as I'm out for work for 10 hours a day. When I come home I can only try to feed her, so I can at least making sure she eats. As I'm still worried, so I've booked a time to see thevet on Thursday, hopefully I can be given more ideas.

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If you're worried, then it's very wise to see the vet sooner rather than later.

I hope there's nothing amiss. I'm sure she will be nomming the readigrass. I haven't met many (any?) rabbits who don't like it! It's a bit more nutritious than hay - a little bit more protein and calcium - but I have free fed it to my buns for 20+ without any issues!

Just been to the vet, but she's not the one I used to see. She said that there's sharp grew on the inner teeth, so she thinks this is the reason that reduces her appetite... she suggests the dental operation (but I concern about anesthesia... as recent post from a member here has the rabbit passed away due to anesthesia...)

This vet gave me an impression that she's not so professional as I expected, because when I told her that the poo size is getting small, she said this is not an issue.... until I requested her to check the teeth..... so I'm thinking if I should wait for the rabbit specialist to come back from holiday and take my rabbit to see her again before making decision on the operation.. what's your advices?

I've already booked the next appointment (next Wed) to do a follow up only. During this 6 days, what should I do to get my rabbit actively eats more hay??

Did the vet give you any pain medication to address the discomfort your girl likely has if she has any points or spurs on her teeth that are rubbing against her cheek or tongue?
You may need to give you bunny syringe feedings to keep her eating and to keep her gut moving. If she does not eat, her system will slow and in my opinion stasis is more of a concern than anesthesia for most healthy bunnies.
Also, you may want to see if the rabbit specialist can see you prior to your booked appointment. If the specialist agrees she needs a dental, it is better to have it done before your bunny degrades or develops stasis.

No, the vet didn't give any pain relieve. She also checked the side of the jaw, but seems no problem, only points on top of the teeth are found. The early appointment with the specialist is the one I booked for Wed. My girl is actually still eating and I just bought her the hay biscuit, seems she likes it, so hopefully she got enough intake. Also bought some woods for her to chew in order to avoid the points keeping growing more..

Hi, I just read that your concerned about the GA. I think you might have been referring to my post, my rabbit Mickey passed away under GA for teeth op.

Please don't let this put you off. If she's experiencing discomfort she needs them doing. GA is always a risk, but the alternative is a very unhappy bun. Lots of rabbits have dental on a regular basis, try and focus on all the buns who take it in their stride, and not the unlucky ones like my boy

Xx

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Hi Vicki, I'm sorry that I remind you of your lost and this must be a terrible experience. I understand how sad you were as I lost my boy last Mar in a sudden way which I still unable to forget and let it go. I saw your other post that your girl is bonding with another bun, hope everything goes well. When I lost my boy, I asked a private rescue to look for a girl bun for my other boy bun, they left the girl bun at my home and I do the bonding with their everyday support. This actually helps me to concerntrate on the bonding instead of thinking about my lost. So if the current bonding does not go well, I would suggest that you may want to find one from a rescue to do the bonding yourself which would help you reduce the sadness.

By the way, thank you for your comment. I've been monitoring her eating habit and seems she is quite normal, still drinking lots of water, eating hay and hay biscuit I bought yesterday. I also reduced the pallet to lead her eating more hay. Since she starts with the hay biscuit, her poo size seems getting back to normal, I can't see any tiny poo. However the pointy teeth which I still concern about, so I can only wait until Wed to see the specialist. I will try to understand and accept the fact the Risk of GA, but I hope she doesn't need to undergo this terrifying operation. The vet also comforts me by saying that she was fine when doing the spay surgery, so that means she's fine with the GA as well, I shouldn't worry too much...

Anyway, I was thinking if she starts chewing more woods that I gave her, would the pointy teeth go away itself??

It depends where the pointy bits are... If they are at the back of the mouth maybe not?

It would be best to let vet burr the teeth to get rid of the Spurs...

Fee x

Just to up update that my girl seems better. After seeing the vet for few times, she has concluded the below:-

Poop size has been small due to...
* right eye has slight infection - was quite wet at the corner of her right eye
* two new rabbits (male and female) came to my house as I temporarily foster them - although they are separated from my own rabbits and they can't see each other, but still their scent bothering my rabbits. I can see my girl has changed of her behavior.

After applying the eye cream and the two rabbits have gone. She has slightly improved - more active and the poop size getting better, also her weight increased from 0.97kg to 1.02kg (average should be 1.07kg). The vet did suggest to get the dental operation before, but because she is still eating regularly, so she doesn't think it's needed unless things change again. In the mean time she suggested to take the blood test to check the E.C.. So I'm waiting for the result.

I cannot say her poop size is 100% back to normal, still have some very small ones, but at least better than before.