My Rabbit is eating his feces!

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wishbone332

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[align=left]My rabbit, Mr.Cuddles, was sick tohis stomach yesterday. I took him to the vet, and he said Mr.Cuddleswas in need of surgery. I agreed, and today, the vet gave him back tome and said he was sick because some feces were digested byhim!!![/align]
[align=left]Thevet gave him a pill, but he's still eating them today!!! What should Ido?![/align]
 
"Coprophagy", the eating of feces, is an importantpart of your rabbit's health and is the manner in which rabbits"manufacture" and redigest complex B vitamins. These specialfeces that the rabbit eats are called "cecotropes".

Pamela Nock ~ ARBA Rabbit Registrar

http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/
 

No need for a vet visit. It's normal rabbit behavior and very importantthat they do this in order to get the vitamins they need.
 
What do you mean he was 'sick to his stomach' ?? Ibeleive (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that rabbits are incapableof vomiting. What symptoms was he exhibiting?
What kind of surgery did he have? Did he have an intestinal obstruction?
And finally, if your vet doesn't know that rabbits are SUPPOSE to eattheir feces, I suggest you start looking for a rabbit-savy vet as soonas possible.
I do pray that Mr Cuddles is feeling better.
 

I'm with sfritzp on this one. If your vet didn't know that rabbits eattheir own feces, I'd dump him/her immediately and get someone thatknows something about rabbits. Certainly, I would advise strongly toget a second opinion.
 
I'm back!!! :cool:

AndI'mwith you, Carolyn and spfitz (did I spell it right?)!Maybe I should get a new vet! And spfitz, I'm in the middle of a usefulrabbit encyclopedia I got from the library and it says that rabbits,just like dogs, cats, and humans, are capable of vomiting. So there. Ijust answered one of your questions! But I'm really busy and have togo, but I'll be back soon to read more of your questions, read more ofyour advice, and answer more of your confusing but yet quite wittyquestions sooner or later. In other words, seeya!

Have fun,

Wishbone (332) :cool:

 
This has happened to my nursery pet rabbit, he kepteating quite alot of his feaces when i phone my vet they suggestedgradually weening onto another food as it may be too rich for him whichalso it means to the rabbit it smells like food. Hope this is any help



Ceri XX
 
Thanks for the info, pamnock (and ceri)! Itwas real useful! Oh! And by the way, pamnock, I checked out that webpage and it was really a very informational and useful site! Thankslots, you two!

Thanks for all your help,

Wishbone (332)
 
What?!I was pretty sure that rabbits do NOT vomit. Even thereceptionist believed that to be true... Well, hopefully afew more people can shed some light on this. And it is normalfor rabbits to eat their cecotropes, but they look quite different fromnormal feces am I right? I mean, if Wishbone's rabbit waseating its regular feces, might that pose a problem? Ithink I'm a bit confused...

--Melissa and Umbra
 
I've seen my rabbit eat her normal feces. She usedto poop in my room, but then she'd basically clean up after herself andeat it....it's icky! lol.
 
Stickybird,you mean thatrabbits have morethanone type of faece...I thought faeces are just faeces, nodifference..Ohh gosh , I am totally confused!:?
 
I think this information is helpful,I have a dwaftrabbit that is a year old and I got him when he was 3 months old andthis is the first rabbit I ever had.When,I started to see him eat hisfeces,I'm thinking how sick,but when I read this information it helpedme to know it is normal for them to do that.I'm glad I came across thisrabbit forum.
 

Hi Pepper,

I'm glad you came to this forum too. We welcome your ideas and experiences.

-Carolyn
 

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