Sensitive tummy - next steps to take?

[AnnieElms]

Wasn't sure whether to put this in here or in health.

I am struggling with Poppy at the moment, and I am wondering what to try next. Both Bunny and Poppy have always had small, dark poos, and have been prone to stasis.

I have sort of reached what I would call a best case with their diet, but it really is such a balancing act, and I do still get it wrong sometimes. They have an eggcup of SS a day each, a handful of country garden herbs, and a scoop of profibre each. They used to have fresh veg, but cutting this out completely a few months ago, and introducing the pro-fibre has done wonders for the stasis risk, and we haven't had a single episode of stasis/gas since (touches wood!). I really kicked myself for not doing this sooner However, Poppy's output is still very 'unstable', and she has these bouts of sticky bottom

I have tried cutting down pellets a few times, but they both lose weight. Because they don't eat much hay, and don't seem to increase their hay intake enough if I cut out other things, I am so scared to reduce the pellets as it seems to be the only thing keeping the weight on. They have baled hay from a good farm, which does seem to rate above bagged hays for them.

What sorts of things can me and the vet try to get to the bottom of this? Would a poo sample/test be worth it, in case their is some nasty bug causing the upset? It is only Poppy that gets a mucky bottom, but they both have poor poops. Are there other diagnostics I can ask about? Should we do a head x-ray to see if there are teeth problems inside? Their teeth are checked regularly externally, but we've not had an x-ray to see what is going on inside the skull. What order should we try things in? Are there any other diet-related things I can try?

Thanks for any advice. I am keen to go to the vet with as much info/questions as possible

 

[Elena]

Where do you get your hay from? I find mine eat a massive amount more when it's hay they really like. The bale we have now is the sort of thing they love, stalky thick strands like straw and a golden colour. The softer thing strands that are greener in colour they tend to not eat so much of. Also the colour of what goes in tends to reflect in the colour of what come out! So darker hay = darker poos, fresh greens/grass = darker poos, golden hay = lighter poos.

 

[AnnieElms]

Where do you get your hay from? I find mine eat a massive amount more when it's hay they really like. The bale we have now is the sort of thing they love, stalky thick strands like straw and a golden colour. The softer thing strands that are greener in colour they tend to not eat so much of. Also the colour of what goes in tends to reflect in the colour of what come out! So darker hay = darker poos, fresh greens/grass = darker poos, golden hay = lighter poos.

It is baled hay from a farm. The Duchess on here sometimes gets her hay from the same place, it's good quality hay, and of all the hays we have tried (bagged hays, H4P, Excel forage, alfafa king timothy - even 'treat' hay like Burns green oat just gets left ) it does seem to go down the best. Perhaps I could try another again, so they have more variety.

From my observations, they do go for the slightly thicker strands, but they really don't like very stalky hay. They don't like they hay that is cut into short strands. They won't eat readigrass, but they do like fresh grass (they are moving outside over the summer, so will have access to some grass - maybe this could help, but I hope the fresh stuff doesn't make it worse). They are little fusspots :lol:.

 

[Elena]

It is baled hay from a farm. The Duchess on here sometimes gets her hay from the same place, it's good quality hay, and of all the hays we have tried (bagged hays, H4P, Excel forage, alfafa king timothy - even 'treat' hay like Burns green oat just gets left ) it does seem to go down the best. Perhaps I could try another again, so they have more variety.

From my observations, they do go for the slightly thicker strands, but they really don't like very stalky hay. They don't like they hay that is cut into short strands. They won't eat readigrass, but they do like fresh grass (they are moving outside over the summer, so will have access to some grass - maybe this could help, but I hope the fresh stuff doesn't make it worse). They are little fusspots :lol:.

Grass will make it a bit darker but as long as they are a good size and crumbly rather than hard and small then the colour is not an issue. How often do you refresh it? That's another thing I've noticed affects how much they eat.

 

[AnnieElms]

Grass will make it a bit darker but as long as they are a good size and crumbly rather than hard and small then the colour is not an issue. How often do you refresh it? That's another thing I've noticed affects how much they eat.

Thanks, yes currently they are very small compared with my other bunnies' poos. They are dark on the outside, but when you crush them they are much more golden and crumbly on the inside, which is a bit odd. They really are about half, maybe even a third of the size of my 'poo queen' Jo's poos.

They get fresh hay in the morning and again in the evening every day. If I'm working at home, which is most of the time at the moment, they get more during the day too. They do go for the fresh stuff, so you are absolutely right. I will try and top it up more frequently.

I also scatter feed their pro-fibre and country garden herbs into their hay pile as I read on here that it sometimes encourages them to eat more. I'm not sure if it does or not with mine, but it's still better as it gives them a bit more entertainment too!