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Tiny hard dark poos

Henry_Dixie

Young Bun
My 10 1/2 year old nethie's poos have been slowly getting smaller and harder over the past year or more and I have noticed they are very dark in colour. His diet is good and hasn't changed in a long while and I don't feel it needs to.

He has a few pellets in the morning with hay during the day some redigrass occasionally and then some veg in the evening. He has a brilliant appetite.

Is this normal and due to old age? Is this something I can improve? He's absolutely fine in himself.
 
Small dark hard poos are generally a sign of a digestive system that is slowing down. I personally don't think that the darkness is too much of a problem and is probably due to his diet e.g. readigrass will produce darker poo than hay. It's the small and hard that is more of a problem. As you say his diet sounds good, but I would try to include more fibre (bramble leaves would be good) and also make sure that he is drinking a good amount.
 
My 10 1/2 year old nethie's poos have been slowly getting smaller and harder over the past year or more and I have noticed they are very dark in colour. His diet is good and hasn't changed in a long while and I don't feel it needs to.

He has a few pellets in the morning with hay during the day some redigrass occasionally and then some veg in the evening. He has a brilliant appetite.

Is this normal and due to old age? Is this something I can improve? He's absolutely fine in himself.


Hi Henry

Are you sure he's eating just as much hay as he always used to? Sometimes as rabbits get older we don't notice that their fibre consumption has perhaps gone down.

It could be that his teeth are not enabling him to eat as much long strand fibre as previously, and if it were my rabbit I would get him checked out. Vets can't see into the mouth to check the back teeth very well (unless you have a special vet who can do this whilst a rabbit is awake). But nevertheless I think it would be wise to make sure there's no impediment to him chewing on hay.

Eating hay requires a side to side grinding action of the teeth, and when 'molar spurs' occur then this becomes more difficult for them.

There's a photo in this article

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html
 
He seems to be eating his hay. He is always pulling it from the feeder when I fill it up every morning. It took us a while to find one he likes but he's very keen on the ings hay from hay-and-straw.co.uk

His teeth are fine as he under went a GA in the summer for a sinus flush and they checked him out then.

Where would I find bramble leaves?!
 
Small dark hard poos are generally a sign of a digestive system that is slowing down. I personally don't think that the darkness is too much of a problem and is probably due to his diet e.g. readigrass will produce darker poo than hay. It's the small and hard that is more of a problem. As you say his diet sounds good, but I would try to include more fibre (bramble leaves would be good) and also make sure that he is drinking a good amount.

I agree with Omi. It may be that his teeth are not in such good shape now and this could effect the amount of hay he is eating. This, in turn, would effect his GI tract motility/size of poo.

There are other possible causes of reduced gut motility/small poo, but a thorough examination by a Rabbit Savvy Vet would be needed to ascertain exactly what may be going on.

Sometimes reduced gut motility can occur if an elderly Rabbit has some ongoing arthritic pain and is less mobile as a result, but as I have said all this is pure conjecture. I'd suggest a routine check up with a Rabbit Savvy Vet and see what comes from that. Good luck :)
 
He appears to be eating his hay well. He's been inside this winter so I've kept an eye on him. Could his teeth have deteriorated from august? He's had nasal discharge problems for years now which we have never managed to get to the bottom of so he's been to the vets regularly and seen quite a few different vets. He doesn't move around a great deal now and sits and sleeps a lot of the time but his mobility is good when he wants to move!
 
It is possible for the teeth to deteriorate quickly.
My girls had a dental check in Sept (one has known spurs so they're checked every couple months to monitor). Oct the girl without spurs had it noted at her vaccine that she has spurs. Now in December she's booked in for a dental as the spurs have caused an ulcer which stopped her from eating.

I think Jack's-Jane suggestion of a check with a rabbit savvy vet is very sensible as in a rabbit of his age, there could be something underlying.

You say he sits around a lot, doesn't like to move etc. This is one of the first signs of arthritic pain, which can easily be managed with NSAID'S such as metacam. A vet will be able to help diagnose arthritis but you'll probably find if he does have arthritis, once the pain is managed he'll be more active, and as a result his gut mobility will improve.
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I agree with a visit to your vet, just to check things out. There are lots of reasons your bun's guts could be slowing down.

By the way, I think you can get bramble leaves from Galen Garden online, if you can't pick.
 
Where would I find bramble leaves?!

There are still bramble leaves growing outside, particularly in woods and other shady areas. They are the leaves of the wild Blackberry plant. You can also buy them dried, as weedug advised, from places like Galen's Garden, but mine prefer them fresh. The leaves are a bit prickly, but most rabbits can cope with them very well. They are very good for rabbits' digestive systems.
 
He seems to be eating his hay. He is always pulling it from the feeder when I fill it up every morning. It took us a while to find one he likes but he's very keen on the ings hay from hay-and-straw.co.uk

His teeth are fine as he under went a GA in the summer for a sinus flush and they checked him out then.

Where would I find bramble leaves?!


I'm glad to hear he's eating hay - really good for an elderly to keep that up!

Bramble leaves you can find in many places, even in hedgerows in towns and they are still in plenty of leaf. You can easily identify them as they are very prickly, if you've not come across them before :)
 
He appears to be eating his hay well. He's been inside this winter so I've kept an eye on him. Could his teeth have deteriorated from august? He's had nasal discharge problems for years now which we have never managed to get to the bottom of so he's been to the vets regularly and seen quite a few different vets. He doesn't move around a great deal now and sits and sleeps a lot of the time but his mobility is good when he wants to move!

Regarding whether his teeth could've deteriorated since August, it depends on how often - if at all - he's had issues with dentals in the past? In an older rabbit, dental issues can be slower to develop, especially in one that's eating hay regularly.
 
He's never had any dental issues. The only issues he's had was the white nasal and eye discharge which hasn't been diagnosed in the past 3 years which he's had it. He's had numerous ab's, steroids and cultures no of which have touched it but it doesn't seem to have effected his health in anyway.

I have noticed his front legs are bowing slightly. Could this be arthritis? My vet prescribed cat metacam last time but am I right in thinking that they need a high doseage due to their metabolism?
 
He's never had any dental issues. The only issues he's had was the white nasal and eye discharge which hasn't been diagnosed in the past 3 years which he's had it. He's had numerous ab's, steroids and cultures no of which have touched it but it doesn't seem to have effected his health in anyway.

I have noticed his front legs are bowing slightly. Could this be arthritis? My vet prescribed cat metacam last time but am I right in thinking that they need a high doseage due to their metabolism?

It could be but it's impossible to say for certain without an examination.

Rabbits do metabolise Meloxicam (the active ingredient in Metacam), faster than other species

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16521861
 
Rabbit teeth grow very quickly. They can be fine at an examination and need attention 2 weeks later if the rabbit isn't eating properly. A few months is certainly enough time for them to become a problem - even if it not the primary issue.

I agree with the others who have suggested a vet check as soon as possible. Small dark poos certainly indicate that there isn't much fibre going through the GI tract, for whatever reason. In the meantime, I would try to increase his food input eg. more pellets than usual - or anything else he normally eats - and make sure he has good access to water (ie in a bowl). Introducing something new may cause other problems, but bramble leaves, grass, dandelion leaves and plantain leaves should be OK in small amounts, and are still available to pick if you know where to look. They are good for fibre and also contain more moisture than the dry versions available commercially, so will give more natural bulk to the diet.
 
I'll get him in next week for a check. He seems to be eating fine. He's munching on hay constantly through the day and his pellets and veg always get eaten so I'm confident that his food intake is fine.
 
I'll get him in next week for a check. He seems to be eating fine. He's munching on hay constantly through the day and his pellets and veg always get eaten so I'm confident that his food intake is fine.
Just another thought... what is his water intake like?

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
He's never had any dental issues. The only issues he's had was the white nasal and eye discharge which hasn't been diagnosed in the past 3 years which he's had it. He's had numerous ab's, steroids and cultures no of which have touched it but it doesn't seem to have effected his health in anyway.

I have noticed his front legs are bowing slightly. Could this be arthritis? My vet prescribed cat metacam last time but am I right in thinking that they need a high doseage due to their metabolism?


Based on what you've said I would think it unlikely that he would need another dental now but I suppose it can't be ruled out.

A vet will prescribe the appropriate dose of Metacam if he seems to be in pain, from whatever reason.

10 and a half is a good age but by no means ancient :)
 
I'll get him in next week for a check. He seems to be eating fine. He's munching on hay constantly through the day and his pellets and veg always get eaten so I'm confident that his food intake is fine.


You can keep a check on a rabbit by noting their weight. It's probably not productive to weigh too frequently, but once a week or every two weeks should give a good indication of whether he's struggling.
 
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