soft bunny poops

[Spyinak]

I just obtained another rescue rabbit. It is a small male lop.
He has not been in a very hygenic situation, with food and water given on an infrequent basis. He has had no room to exersize at all. They put a nest box in a 1x2 foot cage so he could only hop into in box and out - that's it.
I was very glad to get him out of that situation.
This bunny has very soft poop - came with it. I gave him a board to sit on in his cage and in the morning it is covered with mashed soft bunny poo. His butt has poop stuck in the hair though it is not matted.
He seems to be eating and drinking fine. He is appropriately curious and rubbed his mouth against my coat much like a cat would as he checked me out tonight.
I am not certain if there is anything I should do to treat this bunny or if I should just let him be for a bit to see if a regular diet will help his tummy settle out.
This bunny really has not had greenery on a regular basis so I am just going to give him pellets, local hay and water for now.
My bunny book only mentions diarrhea but offers no advice on soft poops.
What can I do to get this bunny back on a healthy track??

 

[Tamsin]

Aww, poor chap. The soft poop is probably the type bunnies are meant to eat - if they can't or produce excess pellets then it gets stuck to them and left squiged around the cage.

What is his weight like? An overweight rabbit will have trouble grooming itself/reaching to eat them.

Have you checked his teeth? If he didn't get enough hay his teeth may have overgrown - again causing him trouble eating them/grooming.

Diet is a big factor too - unless he's underweight then only feed a very small amount of pellets and plenty of hay. The high fibre hay should sort him out.

A change of diet can also cause it so you're right to keep him away from the greens as he's not had them before.

As he's not had any excersise before don't let him over do it. He could easily injure himself as his muscles/bones maybe weak. So although it's tempting to let him have lots of room to race around as he's not had it before you need to build it up gradually.

Goodluck with him
Tam

 

[Spyinak]

The bunny appears to be a bit underweight if anything. He certainly hasn't been getting food regularly enough to be fat.

I looked at his teeth tonight and to my untrained eye they looked fine. He sure grunted and chucked at me while I was doing it though!!

Will he really clean the poop off his own butt?? How can I clean off what is already stuck on there? He is an outdoor bunny so washing him doesnt seem to be that great an idea.

He doesn't seem to be eating as much as my other bunnies pellet wise. I don't know what to think. He is quite a bit smaller though so????

I just haven't had him long enough to know what is normal for him. Not sure my local vet will be much help with a bunny either.

Should I have a fecal done on him? What would it reveal if anything?

I have him in the same cage he was in he is just minus the bunny box now. I will order him a cage that is twice the size of the one he has now but it will be a couple weeks yet before I have the money for that.

Any ideas how long it might take for his bowels to settle out. I don't know how long to go before I seek medical advice on him. Or if I even need to as long as he seems to be feeling fine.

Sorry to ramble on. No one else I know even has bunnies.

 

[elve]

you can use cooking cornstarch to clean off dried poop - just massage it into the dirty fur and it should mostly slip off - He'll probably be able to clean a tiny bit off himself but not if it's really clogged - Don't use water if he's an outside bunny - although a wrung out facecloth/washcloth/flannel (not sure what they're called in Alaska ) would help.

If he's underweight it's possible that the pellets are richer than what he's used to - these extra eating poops are usually a result of too much protein, and a diet that's mainly hay is recommended - rabbits only need a handful of pellets a day - any veg must be very tiny amounts if he's not used to eating it - given over a fortnight to let his gut get accustomed to new food.

However some rabbits just don't seem to eat their poops from their bottom - they will leave them on the floor and eat them from the floor - If he's in a new environment with lots of distractions, it's possible he's being startled too often to eat them before he's sat in them at the moment, especially if his cage is tiny.

Hope you get him better soon - is there any good hay supplier where you live? It mustn't be alfalfa hay as that's too rich again.

 

[bunnyloopy]

It may be that he just hasnt had the space to clean himself. I got a bunny once who didnt know how to clean himself or even jump or stand up because he was kept in a cage that was too small. Hopefully when you get the bigger cage he will learn. I really hope his tummy settles down - the move might have upset it abit too.