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Lily's Digestion - Fresh Herbs Question

Beapig

Mama Doe
Hi everyone,

As some of you may know, Lily had a dental a few weeks ago in January, to see if it would help her digestion and make her want to eat hay more. The good news is that she is definitely eating more hay - we recently discovered Hay Box too, and all of my bunnies absolutely love the Timothy 1st Cut. Her poops are now a lot lighter and crumble in your fingers, but a lot of them are still coming out oblong/egg shaped:

20210204_103017

20210204_102948

The cecos have pretty much stopped now too, but on occasion there might be a small amount like these this morning:

20210204_103217 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr

Aside from the hay, she will share a few small leaves of cabbage with Maple in the morning (I have reduced to a very small amount) and an eggcup's worth of extruded pellets in the afternoon.

The only thing I have noticed, which I don't know is worth mentioning, is that after she eats her greens, she sometimes will sit there for 5 - 10 mins afterwards with her eyes closed in a huddle, as if she has a tummy ache? But this will last all of 5 minutes, and then she'll be running around happily again.

Ham, Jelly and Maple will all go to the hay bar straight after their greens, excited for the fresh morning hay, but Lily will hang out a bit outside first as if she's not really bothered before she finally goes to have some.

Anyway, the main question is, what could be causing her poops to sometimes be oblongs, and should I be concerned about it?

These are her poops from BEFORE the dental and her new fave timothy hay - as you can see, they have become a lot lighter and more uniform in shape. So definitely an improvement there:

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She generally seems to be a happy, healthy bunny, lots of energy. She is a nervous girl around humans, compared to her sister who is more calm in nature, but other than that she seems really content. Would you be worried about the shape of the poops, or change her diet in any way?

Finally, a cute picture of Lily (because why not)

20210204_103206
 
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How old is she Beapig? Going off the photo I would guess there is something not quite right somewhere with her but Jane is the best one to judge the poohs etc. I have a 10 yr old Bunny who has always done funny shaped poohs now and then. She was 2 when I got her so don't know what sort of food she had been eating. She is fine in every other way.
 
How old is she Beapig? Going off the photo I would guess there is something not quite right somewhere with her but Jane is the best one to judge the poohs etc. I have a 10 yr old Bunny who has always done funny shaped poohs now and then. She was 2 when I got her so don't know what sort of food she had been eating. She is fine in every other way.

Her previous owners said she was four in the advert, this was when we got them last summer, so four going on five.

I don't think that they had a good diet in their previous home - we were given a tiny bag of hay but it was rubbish quality. We were given a box of treats that were bright coloured and looked like fruit loops - chucked them straight out. When we picked them up, there were two full partly nibbled carrots in their run.

So I do wonder if years of a bad diet has made her digestion very sensitive. Maple is fine though, so maybe it is a genetic issue. Really hard to say.
 
She is beautiful :love: my bridge bunny, Boots, couldn’t tolerate fresh foods very well :cry: I tried him on them a few times but he always tummy pressed and looked really uncomfortable after, so I removed all the fresh stuff from his diet. His poops were always ok though. I think I’d try removing fresh stuff from her diet and see how she goes.
 
She is beautiful :love: my bridge bunny, Boots, couldn’t tolerate fresh foods very well :cry: I tried him on them a few times but he always tummy pressed and looked really uncomfortable after, so I removed all the fresh stuff from his diet. His poops were always ok though. I think I’d try removing fresh stuff from her diet and see how she goes.

This has been my thoughts exactly, Zoobec. I'll feel quite guilty about it because they get really excited for their morning greens. Do you think I could replace fresh greens with dried forage so they still have a bowl of something to eat in the morning? The other two get their bowl of greens outside as well and they would feel very jealous/left out if I didn't give them anything.
 
i've never held back with greens but i think with Lilly I would, based on her behaviour straight after eating them. I think I'd try forage, one thing at a time (brambles, raspberry plantain to start) whilst the others are having their greens. Its good her denttal helped & she likes her haybox hay (its gorgeous isn't it! I was surprised it went out of favour here - but only for a few weeks, they love it again now). Her poops seem work in progress
 
i've never held back with greens but i think with Lilly I would, based on her behaviour straight after eating them. I think I'd try forage, one thing at a time (brambles, raspberry plantain to start) whilst the others are having their greens. Its good her denttal helped & she likes her haybox hay (its gorgeous isn't it! I was surprised it went out of favour here - but only for a few weeks, they love it again now). Her poops seem work in progress

Thanks for the advice Joey & Boo, that is so helpful. Do you think fresh forage would be okay, or just dry for now? Because of the time of year, I would only be able to get fresh brambles at the moment anyway. But it might be expensive to buy a lot of forage long-term. Do you have any advice of food places to buy dried forage from?
 
This has been my thoughts exactly, Zoobec. I'll feel quite guilty about it because they get really excited for their morning greens. Do you think I could replace fresh greens with dried forage so they still have a bowl of something to eat in the morning? The other two get their bowl of greens outside as well and they would feel very jealous/left out if I didn't give them anything.
My bun Atticus absolutely loves food, there's nothing he won't eat, he'll beg and beg for food [emoji51] he only has hay though because he has digestive issues and everything makes them so much worse.. Its not easy tho! [emoji51] Why don't you just try for a week or two without and see if it makes a difference to begin with, could always reintroduce them :)

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Thanks for the advice Joey & Boo, that is so helpful. Do you think fresh forage would be okay, or just dry for now? Because of the time of year, I would only be able to get fresh brambles at the moment anyway. But it might be expensive to buy a lot of forage long-term. Do you have any advice of food places to buy dried forage from?

Not really any personal advice but I did do a forage thread about a week ago & lots of people have sussed out the best places & listed favourite things - I'd not buy mixed so you're able to work out if she tolerates some types or all types. You do hear of buns that aren't good with the brassica family. Just my thoughts though, I'm no expert

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?482384-Dried-Forage
 
I'm going to back up the try no greens thing as well: Aboleth would do this unhappy pose too, but after grooming a winter coat moulting Lopsy, and his fur was too long for her system. She was otherwise fine and, like Lily, back to normal 5mins (and some stringy poos) later. Unlike Lily her poos were normally roundish, almost none THAT oblong, and she could eat hay for bunnykind :)
 
This has been my thoughts exactly, Zoobec. I'll feel quite guilty about it because they get really excited for their morning greens. Do you think I could replace fresh greens with dried forage so they still have a bowl of something to eat in the morning? The other two get their bowl of greens outside as well and they would feel very jealous/left out if I didn't give them anything.

Boots was always fine with dried forage and Readigrass. Fingers crossed you will find out the cause :thumb:
 
Have you tried fresh herbs rather than greens ?

Re the poo

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

We have been giving a bit of coriander, but it's expensive/difficult to get fresh herbs at this time of year, so generally no. I do grow my own herbs so my bunnies generally get a lot more in the summer, but at the moment the plants are all dormant/growing very slowly. Do you think fresh herbs could be worth a try?
 
Not really any personal advice but I did do a forage thread about a week ago & lots of people have sussed out the best places & listed favourite things - I'd not buy mixed so you're able to work out if she tolerates some types or all types. You do hear of buns that aren't good with the brassica family. Just my thoughts though, I'm no expert

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?482384-Dried-Forage

Thank you for the link, I'm definitely going to look into getting some dried forage :)
 
How much fresh herbs would you give, daily? I managed to get some parsley from the farmer's market. Does this look like enough for 7 days for 2 bunnies? There is a little coriander too but it is mainly parsley.

20210205_115846 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr
 
Treacle cannot tolerate fresh veg, but she is fine with herbs, in moderation. I often buy a few bags at a time, and dry in the oven till it goes crispy, it stores well if kept dry and she loves it.
 
Cabagge can be tough on stomach and digestion, can make the gassy. I would dich it. I would rather start with herbs. Small amount. Ant then har leafy things like fresh dandelion, arugula, mache, leaf of beetroot, swiss chard, spinach, green leaves of carrot... Foods with high oxalic accid not be feed a lot, nor daily (parsley is one of them).
 
Hi Beapig, I have done lots of research into this kind of thing before as I have unfortunately experienced stasis buns & belly pressing.

So some good herbs to try (and to grow as I know you are good at it) is lemon balm & dill. Apparently an uncomfortable bun will seek out lemon balm if readily available. You can also buy it dried online if you feel you want to feed a dry diet from lots of different rabbity places.

I also grow ribwort plantain as that is soothing for the gi tract or which can be bought dried. It’s super easy to grow too. Mint is an easy one and will go wild and also dill is always in the shops.

You could also try growing raspberries and feed the leafs to the buns which is also helpful for the gut.

If you would be interested in growing what I grow visit Galens Garden where you can order bunny seeds for around £1 a packet. She also sells dried where you can read the medicinal properties of each herb.

I hope some of these tummy tamming herbs might help you xx
 
How much fresh herbs would you give, daily? I managed to get some parsley from the farmer's market. Does this look like enough for 7 days for 2 bunnies? There is a little coriander too but it is mainly parsley.

20210205_115846 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr

I don’t think there is a straight forward answer as everyone feeds so differently. For example I feed my buns little and often because I’d rather they didn’t have two large portions a day (but that’s just our way of doing it.) something we picked up along the way whilst having trouble with stasis. It kept everything moving and if there was a problem it was spotted early.
 
Hi Beapig, I have done lots of research into this kind of thing before as I have unfortunately experienced stasis buns & belly pressing.

So some good herbs to try (and to grow as I know you are good at it) is lemon balm & dill. Apparently an uncomfortable bun will seek out lemon balm if readily available. You can also buy it dried online if you feel you want to feed a dry diet from lots of different rabbity places.

I also grow ribwort plantain as that is soothing for the gi tract or which can be bought dried. It’s super easy to grow too. Mint is an easy one and will go wild and also dill is always in the shops.

You could also try growing raspberries and feed the leafs to the buns which is also helpful for the gut.

If you would be interested in growing what I grow visit Galens Garden where you can order bunny seeds for around £1 a packet. She also sells dried where you can read the medicinal properties of each herb.

I hope some of these tummy tamming herbs might help you xx

Thank you very much for the in-depth advice, Loobers. It is hard to monitor her 24/7 as she is outside (although we are planning to move in the next 1 - 2 years and have them indoors/outdoors with a catflap hopefully).

Would you say that it is better overall to go for dried herbs instead of fresh? It would definitely be easier to buy and store a large stock of dried forage.

I already have some lemon balm seeds, so I will definitely sow them in March. Plus spearmint, and I will also see if I can get ribwort plantain and dill :)

What do you think of wild blackberry leaves? I have a park right next to my house with loads of blackberry bushes, so those are easy access.

I'm going to try your advice of spreading out the feeding a bit more - great idea.
 
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