Reduced size of poos?

susie bun · Feb 24, 2019

Bertie has always been a good hay water but in the last couple of days I have noticed his poos are much smaller. I cut down his greens a bit, but there has been no improvement. He seems fine in himself. I will book him in for a vet check next week if no improvement. I have pro-fibre pellets so have given him a few of them. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

tonibun · Feb 24, 2019

Is he moulting at all as this sometimes slows the gut down, or has there been any change in his environment? Keep on with the hay and you could wet his veg before you give it to him. Hope he will be ok.

Jack's-Jane · Feb 24, 2019

susie bun said:
Bertie has always been a good hay water but in the last couple of days I have noticed his poos are much smaller. I cut down his greens a bit, but there has been no improvement. He seems fine in himself. I will book him in for a vet check next week if no improvement. I have pro-fibre pellets so have given him a few of them. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Is he drinking ?

MightyMax · Feb 24, 2019

tonibun said:
Is he moulting at all as this sometimes slows the gut down, or has there been any change in his environment? Keep on with the hay and you could wet his veg before you give it to him. Hope he will be ok.

tonibun has given you good advice. I have found that buns are moulting this time of year and it can take it's toll on them.

You could add in some fibafirst sticks, which contain good fibre.
I hope the vet can pinpoint the problem, which on the face of it sounds like it might be his teeth.

susie bun · Feb 24, 2019

Thanks for replies. He isn't moulting significantly as yet this year. I think he may be drinking slightly less. He is still eating pellets, hay and greens quite happily.

Jack's-Jane · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
Thanks for replies. He isn't moulting significantly as yet this year. I think he may be drinking slightly less. He is still eating pellets, hay and greens quite happily.

Reduced fluid intake (from drinking water and from a reduction of fresh veg/herbs/grass) can affect poo size/gut motility.

Is his urine output normal ? No signs of sludge or very concentrated and/or smelly wee ? If his output is still no normal today I would get the Vet to check him over

susie bun · Feb 25, 2019

Jack's-Jane said:
Reduced fluid intake (from drinking water and from a reduction of fresh veg/herbs/grass) can affect poo size/gut motility.

Is his urine output normal ? No signs of sludge or very concentrated and/or smelly wee ? If his output is still no normal today I would get the Vet to check him over

He drank well yesterday, and I him wet kale, which was much enjoyed! I will send investigate his wee when I change his tray shortly. As Bertie is a bedroom bunny I would probably have noticed unusually smelly wee.

How long should it take poo to return to normal if reduced fluid has been the cause of the problem?

Jack's-Jane · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
He drank well yesterday, and I him wet kale, which was much enjoyed! I will send investigate his wee when I change his tray shortly. As Bertie is a bedroom bunny I would probably have noticed unusually smelly wee.

How long should it take poo to return to normal if reduced fluid has been the cause of the problem?

Personally I would want to get him checked over by a Vet later today or tomorrow morning if his poo is still abnormal. This may sound to be an odd question, but he's not scratching his ears and/or shaking his head a lot is he ?

susie bun · Feb 25, 2019

Jack's-Jane said:
Personally I would want to get him checked over by a Vet later today or tomorrow morning if his poo is still abnormal. This may sound to be an odd question, but he's not scratching his ears and/or shaking his head a lot is he ?

Not more than usual. His behaviour is pretty normal other than the reduced output. I will contact the vet today and see when I can get an appointment. He is currently rampaging round the room and showing no signs other than the reduced poo of being unwell.

tonibun · Feb 25, 2019

Have you been stressed lately and he has picked up on it. These buns can be very sensitive.

Zoobec · Feb 25, 2019

Has he been eating cardboard or anything similar, wallpaper, or something like these hides with grass stuck to them? Frosty eats cardboard and I can’t let him have it anymore as it causes his gut to slow down too. I would get him checked out at the vet. Sending lots of vibes for him x

MightyMax · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
Thanks for replies. He isn't moulting significantly as yet this year. I think he may be drinking slightly less. He is still eating pellets, hay and greens quite happily.

It's a difficult one as if he's still eating and producing poos, albeit smaller than normal, then the gut is still working. You might want to ask your vet to have a look at him as sometimes they can spot things we've missed. Gut motility meds can make a difference if you get them in fast.

I don't know whether you use Infacol, but many of us have found that to be really helpful in the first stages of gut slowdown. That said I would still want a vet to cast an eye to find out why this is happening.

susie bun · Feb 25, 2019

Bertie has been to the vet. She could find nothing seriously wrong but agreed 4 days was too long for slow gut so we have cisapride, fibreplex and a rather cross rabbit! His teeth have slight spurring that is already being monitored but no sign of discomfort.

Jack's-Jane · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
Bertie has been to the vet. She could find nothing seriously wrong but agreed 4 days was too long for slow gut so we have cisapride, fibreplex and a rather cross rabbit! His teeth have slight spurring that is already being monitored but no sign of discomfort.

I hope that his tum returns to normal in response to his treatment. Could it be that he is eating less hay due to the spurs on his teeth ? xx

susie bun · Feb 25, 2019

Jack's-Jane said:
I hope that his tum returns to normal in response to his treatment. Could it be that he is eating less hay due to the spurs on his teeth ? xx

He is still eating hay. I will keep an eye on this though. I'm to phone the vet on Wednesday even if Bertie is fine as they want an update on his progress. His ears were fine, I made a point of asking the vet to check them. x

Jack's-Jane · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
He is still eating hay. I will keep an eye on this though. I'm to phone the vet on Wednesday even if Bertie is fine as they want an update on his progress. His ears were fine, I made a point of asking the vet to check them. x

What I have found is that for some Bunnies just having the tiniest spurs will mean they eat less hay. The jaw action required to eat hay is rotational, where-as eating pellets etc is more of an 'up and down' chewing. So hay eating may mean the spurs can touch the cheeks/tongue and this feels uncomfortable. So Bunny eats hay more slowly/in less quantity. This has the knock on effect of reducing gut motility and eventually allowing the spurs to increase in size.

I am pretty sure I could have expressed the above more eloquently, but 'eloquence' is not one of my talents !!

susie bun · Feb 25, 2019

Jack's-Jane said:
What I have found is that for some Bunnies just having the tiniest spurs will mean they eat less hay. The jaw action required to eat hay is rotational, where-as eating pellets etc is more of an 'up and down' chewing. So hay eating may mean the spurs can touch the cheeks/tongue and this feels uncomfortable. So Bunny eats hay more slowly/in less quantity. This has the knock on effect of reducing gut motility and eventually allowing the spurs to increase in size.

I am pretty sure I could have expressed the above more eloquently, but 'eloquence' is not one of my talents !!

Thanks, I follow what you are saying. We didn't see Bertie's usual vet today so comparison with his previous visit was difficult (even with notes). At least I know from today that there is apparently no sign of soreness on tongue and cheek. Bertie is more co-operative with the otoscope than my late bunny, Spenser Milton!

MightyMax · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
Bertie has been to the vet. She could find nothing seriously wrong but agreed 4 days was too long for slow gut so we have cisapride, fibreplex and a rather cross rabbit! His teeth have slight spurring that is already being monitored but no sign of discomfort.

I hope the meds take effect quickly

Zoobec · Feb 25, 2019

Jack's-Jane said:
What I have found is that for some Bunnies just having the tiniest spurs will mean they eat less hay. The jaw action required to eat hay is rotational, where-as eating pellets etc is more of an 'up and down' chewing. So hay eating may mean the spurs can touch the cheeks/tongue and this feels uncomfortable. So Bunny eats hay more slowly/in less quantity. This has the knock on effect of reducing gut motility and eventually allowing the spurs to increase in size.

I am pretty sure I could have expressed the above more eloquently, but 'eloquence' is not one of my talents !!

This is exactly what happens with Frosty. Last time he had a dental he had 2 huge ulcers on his tongue from tiny spurs, the ulcers weren’t visible until he was under anaesthetic.

Jack's-Jane · Feb 25, 2019

susie bun said:
Thanks, I follow what you are saying. We didn't see Bertie's usual vet today so comparison with his previous visit was difficult (even with notes). At least I know from today that there is apparently no sign of soreness on tongue and cheek. Bertie is more co-operative with the otoscope than my late bunny, Spenser Milton!

Spenser just liked to give the Vet a challenge !! I am sure he was always trying to improve the Vet's Bunny tooth viewing skills, so he was being 'helpful' really

Reduced size of poos?

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