small black feces

Hi everybody,

i just wanted to know whether any of you had this experience. My little fluffy that is a lionhead (he's still young i think cause he's still small in size) is making two sorts of feces; Ones which are round and solid and others that can be little but black. Sometimes he does some feces which are all stuck together but if you try to pick them they separate. Any idea what this might be? Even the number of them has decreased in my opinion. I've had him for a week. I had already spokent to the Vet but she told me to wait so that the bun might adjust to its new environment but no change till now. I'm going to the Vet tomorrow for a check up cause i already lost a bun with a tummy prob and i don't want this to happen again. By the way, he went off some pellets and now we're giving him a different type of food which should be better - it's a complete diet and he's eating the new food not the old pellets. The pellets that i was using are produced locally so i cannot really talk about kinds or brands of food since there it seems there's more to choose from. He is still lively and loves to run about as usual so he doesn't seem to be sick. Pls post... i'll be checking in soon. Thanks!!

Hiya - you are quite right, rabbits do produce two kinds of faeces! The normal poos are exactly that - bunny poops. The other dark, sticky ones are called caecatrophs, and these are part of the bunny's complex digestion.

Basically, these are full of goodness and bacteria and your bunny usually eats them straight from his bottom (ewww) They then go through bunny's system again, and are very nutritious. In a bun whose system is all properly 'in balance', you should never or rarely see these - they are usually eaten straight from the bum. If your bun is leaving them, this is often because their gut is not quite balanced - and this can be due to things like diet (too much protein/carbohydrate or a change in diet too quickly for it to cope with) or stress. It can also be caused by a bun with dental problems not being able to eat them, or a bun with spinal problems not being able to reach round.

In your case it sounds like your bun just needs to let his system settle down a little. Make sure he is eating lots of fibre - offer lots of hay and try different types if he isn't eating a lot of it, and make any changes in his diet very gradually - over a period of a couple of weeks. Hopefully it should settle down then.

If you see any diarrhoea - properly watery, then this does need veterinary attention, but the squishy dark poos are a normal part of bunny bottom behaviour!

Thanks alison. At least i feel better now. I am still going to the vets tomorrow just in case but you surely know how to explain things clearly...! I am quite a worrier so that's why i'll go to the vet so that he gets checked up and i'd be tranquillised. I've adopted this bun a day after my bobby died so you can understand that every little thing gets me anxious that i'll lose this one too so i'm over-protecting him! Thanks again.