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Strange shaped bunny poo? U/D new photo. More help please

Jasperello

Jasperello

Warren Scout
Evening all :wave:

After a bit of guidance please!

Background: Zucc recently had his first bout of GI stasis.. Not a complete shutdown luckily but after an out of hours trip + 2 trips to our usual vet he ended up with around a weeks worth of medicines. It was caused by a minor foot injury.
After two weeks I took him back for check up because he had a big variance in the size of his poos, lots of very tiny ones were still being produced alongside normal sized ones so I was a little concerned his gut still wasn't functioning properly. The vet didn't share my concern. But gave me a prescription of pro-fibre for rabbits.

I've been using this for a while now (couple weeks maybe?). I don't give him the pellets he used to get sporadically while he has this. He has a fairly large handful of mint, basil or parsley every day. He has free access to Timothy hay which he enjoys.
But we are still seeing these in his litter tray..

They are like this most days, probably 4 or 5 days out of 7. The majority are of a uniform shape size and colour but a number are like this, tear drop shaped, considerably larger or smaller, and we've had the occasional double one too.
Do you think I should go back to the vet? Or am I just imagining that there's something's not right? I have been known to be a bit of a fusspot worrier :oops: so just looking for some more stable opinions, thank you!
I'll just add that there was one that had a bunch of long hairs in it too making it a abnormal shape too.
Thanks. Laura :)

P.s here's my Zucc if you like to put a name to a face!
 
Last edited:
So adorable! :love:

Sometimes our rabbit makes some smaller than usual poos, and after a bit of googling, I found it can be a sign of dehydration. I set up extra water bowls and a bottle too, and very rarely find small poos now. I thought it worth suggesting in case it could help!

I kind of thought mint and basil were a bit too strong to give in large quantities - can someone else say how much is OK?

If you are concerned through, speak to your vet again. That's what they're there for!
 
I'm really interested to see responses to this thread as I have a similar issue with my Nethie Storm. He has had 3 bouts of stasis in the past two months (was neglected before I rescued him) so I have this problem on an almost daily basis. Sorry for hijacking the thread a little but I'd really like to see the advice people give too.

Regarding the herbs, my understanding was that mint, parsley and dill have quite a high amount of calcium in them so should be fed sparingly, but that basil and coriander are OK to feed in larger quantities (still not a huge amount) as they don't have high calcium levels. I may be wrong but I'm sure I had read that somewhere before.
 
A few thoughts. Coccidiosis can be a cause of odd shaped poop like that. Another possibility may be damage in the digestive tract from the stasis episode.

I had a male rabbit that had a severe bout with stasis. After that he would always have the odd shaped poop, similar in ways to your rabbits poop and to what the poop can look like with the digestive disorder megacolon. After my rabbit started to recover from the stasis, I found he had developed a sensitivity to particular foods. Basically any foods (including pellets)with excess sugars/carbs would cause digestive upset and would make his poop even more irregularly shaped. Once I put him on a hay/forage diet and completely eliminated pellets and any other sugary/starchy foods, the digestive upset stopped and the size and shape of his poop improved dramatically where they almost looked normal again. All I could figure was the original bout with stasis caused some sort of damage or a sensitivity in his digestive tract that lead to these other digestive problems developing.

Anyways, that's been my experience with this occurring. It may just be that your rabbits digestive tract is still healing from the stasis episode and will gradually get better, or if this continues it's possible permanent damage to the digestive tract is causing it and/or it may be related to a sensitivity to a particular food item. But with coccidiosis also being a possibility, I would want my vet to rule it out by testing a fecal sample just to be sure.

Digestive issues can be quite complex to solve. I hope you and your vet are able to sort out what is causing this.

Cute little guy you have there. I love his coloring :love:
 
Does he drink well ? A poor fluid intake can effect gut motility. Rabbits tend to drink more from a bowl than from a sipper bottle.

Does he only have Timothy hay and not any other hay types ? A good variety of hays is important and there a several available these days :)

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/edibles/hay-grasses.html

http://www.hay-for-pets.co.uk/

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/blossoms/229216

Then there are lots of different dried Forages available too

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/blackcurrant-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/birch-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/dandelion-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/nettle-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/plantain-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/raspberry-leaf.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/yarrow-the-hay-experts.html

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301239

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301187

Galens Garden is also an excellent site:

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/
 
Jbun said:
A few thoughts. Coccidiosis can be a cause of odd shaped poop like that. Another possibility may be damage in the digestive tract from the stasis episode.

I had a male rabbit that had a severe bout with stasis. After that he would always have the odd shaped poop, similar in ways to your rabbits poop and to what the poop can look like with the digestive disorder megacolon. After my rabbit started to recover from the stasis, I found he had developed a sensitivity to particular foods. Basically any foods (including pellets)with excess sugars/carbs would cause digestive upset and would make his poop even more irregularly shaped. Once I put him on a hay/forage diet and completely eliminated pellets and any other sugary/starchy foods, the digestive upset stopped and the size and shape of his poop improved dramatically where they almost looked normal again. All I could figure was the original bout with stasis caused some sort of damage or a sensitivity in his digestive tract that lead to these other digestive problems developing.

Anyways, that's been my experience with this occurring. It may just be that your rabbits digestive tract is still healing from the stasis episode and will gradually get better, or if this continues it's possible permanent damage to the digestive tract is causing it and/or it may be related to a sensitivity to a particular food item. But with coccidiosis also being a possibility, I would want my vet to rule it out by testing a fecal sample just to be sure.

Digestive issues can be quite complex to solve. I hope you and your vet are able to sort out what is causing this.

Cute little guy you have there. I love his coloring :love:
Click to expand...

I agree with JBun. It's worth ruling out before thinking about other issues.
 
WillowAndBiscuit said:
I'm really interested to see responses to this thread as I have a similar issue with my Nethie Storm. He has had 3 bouts of stasis in the past two months (was neglected before I rescued him) so I have this problem on an almost daily basis. Sorry for hijacking the thread a little but I'd really like to see the advice people give too.

Regarding the herbs, my understanding was that mint, parsley and dill have quite a high amount of calcium in them so should be fed sparingly, but that basil and coriander are OK to feed in larger quantities (still not a huge amount) as they don't have high calcium levels. I may be wrong but I'm sure I had read that somewhere before.
Click to expand...
No worries, hijack away :)
Thanks for the advice, I hadn't realised
 
Jbun said:
A few thoughts. Coccidiosis can be a cause of odd shaped poop like that. Another possibility may be damage in the digestive tract from the stasis episode.

I had a male rabbit that had a severe bout with stasis. After that he would always have the odd shaped poop, similar in ways to your rabbits poop and to what the poop can look like with the digestive disorder megacolon. After my rabbit started to recover from the stasis, I found he had developed a sensitivity to particular foods. Basically any foods (including pellets)with excess sugars/carbs would cause digestive upset and would make his poop even more irregularly shaped. Once I put him on a hay/forage diet and completely eliminated pellets and any other sugary/starchy foods, the digestive upset stopped and the size and shape of his poop improved dramatically where they almost looked normal again. All I could figure was the original bout with stasis caused some sort of damage or a sensitivity in his digestive tract that lead to these other digestive problems developing.

Anyways, that's been my experience with this occurring. It may just be that your rabbits digestive tract is still healing from the stasis episode and will gradually get better, or if this continues it's possible permanent damage to the digestive tract is causing it and/or it may be related to a sensitivity to a particular food item. But with coccidiosis also being a possibility, I would want my vet to rule it out by testing a fecal sample just to be sure.

Digestive issues can be quite complex to solve. I hope you and your vet are able to sort out what is causing this.

Cute little guy you have there. I love his coloring :love:
Click to expand...

Thank you Jbun, tbh I probably do feed him too many herby things.. The second he hears you rustle a packet he thinks food and dives across the room to get to you and is always there climbing on you when your eating to see what you've got, his nose is definitely tuned in and working well! And these pro fibre pellets are dandelion flavoured apparently and he has climbed up the window sill before to get to them and attempted to chew the lid off! But I'll stop giving him then, and the mint, basil etc and see how we get on :thumb: I'll go back to the vet too and try again.
Bunnies are such sensitive little things aren't they. And he really means the world to me, I just want to make sure he's ok. Thanks again for the advice :)
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Does he drink well ? A poor fluid intake can effect gut motility. Rabbits tend to drink more from a bowl than from a sipper bottle.

Does he only have Timothy hay and not any other hay types ? A good variety of hays is important and there a several available these days :)

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/edibles/hay-grasses.html

http://www.hay-for-pets.co.uk/

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/blossoms/229216

Then there are lots of different dried Forages available too

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/blackcurrant-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/birch-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/dandelion-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/nettle-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/plantain-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/raspberry-leaf.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/yarrow-the-hay-experts.html

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301239

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301187

Galens Garden is also an excellent site:

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/
Click to expand...


He did use to have a sipper bottle when he lived with Jasper one of my other rabbits but I saw on here that bowls are better and I swapped to a bowl. I had said to the vet last time I didn't feel like he was drinking very much anymore, I sometimes come home from work & I'm not convinced he's had more than a sip or two. But then other days I see him drink about 3/4 of the bowl, so seems a bit inconsistent.
Tbh, I only ever bought Timothy hay although I did buy a few different brands, some had added birch or Apple in them. He can be quite fussy with his hay, if he likes it he will eat and eat but if he doesn't he won't touch it! Even if it's obe he normally loves! If it's darker and browny coloured he is not interested, so I often go from shop to shop looking for the lightest coloured hay! Thats why Ive always been more wary of buying it off the internet, I'm worried it won't be very nice looking and then he won't eat it & I've wasted my money! But I just ordered a oat readigrass, hay with peppermint, and a dandelion and a blackberry forage from the hay experts so we'll give them a go! The other 2 buns outside are less fussy so I'm sure they'll enjoy it too!
Thanks for the help & all the links :)
 
Thanks MightyMax, I'm on it, no more pellets or herbs & we'll see how we go. More varieties of hay and grass and forage ordered too :thumb:
 
MightyMax said:
Roll on the big golden ones :lol:
Click to expand...

I wish MightyMax! This is what we have today..

So still small, misshapen, and very dark and hard.
I've read that this can be a sign of dehydration, or a lack of fibre? But he's been having these pro fibre pellets so it can't be that? And he is drinking fine at the minute. I didn't give him any mint or basil. I bought some rosewood naturals dandelion delight dried which he ate and had his usual hay! I know no one on here can diagnose for me and I need to go back to the vet tomorrow but I'm just so confused! And I don't know what best to say to the vet to get him to listen to me not fob me off. So anyone got any more tips for me so that I can advocate in the best way possible for Zucc? Thank you :)
 
Grass (rather than hay) will improve the poos as it has more moisture anyway. Can you pick some locally?

Golden poo comes from hay. Fresh greens will make it darker and provide bulk.
 
Shimmer said:
Grass (rather than hay) will improve the poos as it has more moisture anyway. Can you pick some locally?

Golden poo comes from hay. Fresh greens will make it darker and provide bulk.
Click to expand...

I don't really have anywhere that's safe to pick grass from, but I ordered some readigrass on Friday, will that be just as good?
 
jerseygirl said:
Did the vet check over his spine when he injured his foot?
Click to expand...
I'll look into hydration salts I've no idea about them. No i don't think so but I suppose he didn't have reason to as it was rather straight forward- Id stood on his paw and there was no obv injury other than bruising/slight limping. I remember him feeling his foot for breaks and that was it
 
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