GI slowdown / treatment?

I have two adult, bonded, spayed/neutered buns. Abe is an English angora and I noticed yesterday that he was having small poops (I am 99% sure the small poops are his.)

This coincided with his shedding, so my first thought is I waited too long to start plucking - his fur grows at an uneven pace and he doesn't tolerate plucking when the next coat hasn't started to grow out much, so plucking is a multi-day process. I am about 60% done now and have combed him all over to pull out the loosest hair even if I can't pluck him all over yet, and I do find he is a bit skinny underneath all that fur, but he's always been slim while Penny has always been a bit overweight (makes it hard to "fix" either of them!) I do normally give him about 25% alfalfa pellets because of all the fur he has to grow, but the last few months I had been giving only timothy, as I know Penny eats everything and she's too tubby as it is (she's not obese, but she is "solid" - ribs are detectable but I have to push in a bit to feel them).

I have not noticed any difference in activity or eating. I always subconsciously monitor whether they come excitedly for their pellets/greens and they have been. Looking back, they may have been eating less hay but since I free feed hay and sometimes they make a mess of it rather than eating it, it's really hard to tell.

I can feel no dental burrs but I don't really know what I'm looking for. I plied Abe with random treats last night to see if he was eating, and he did drop some bits of a piece of dried papaya (and then ate them), but everything else he seems to be eating normally (hay, dandelion etc - chew chew chew until it's all gone down the hatch).

I went out today and got a load of their favourite greens as well as some alfalfa hay and pellets which they ate as enthusiastically as usual. Well - Penny avoided after a few minutes, but I think I got too "in her face" to see if she was eating (although I never suspected the small poops were hers) and she doesn't like me much to begin with, so I think that's all it is.

I made a vet appointment for next Wednesday. Ostensibly just a checkup.

Sorry for the novel. Does this seem a reasonable course of action? If the poops get worse (or not better) I would readily make an "emergency" appointment but since they are eating and pooping (and obviously now I am making a concerted effort to ply them with food, and relieve Abe of fur as fast as I can, which I suspect is the culprit vs a dental issue) I am hoping that I can correct it at home.

I read an article about GI stasis where the person believed dehydration played a big role in creating blockages. It said that when they did a necropsies on rabbits with wool block they found that the masses where very dry, pellets and hair, and the intestines around the mass where also really dehydrated. A rabbit can't move the blockage if its intestine is dehydrated so they believed in fluid therapy- syringing fluids, and also lots of fresh greens because they have more water than hay and pellets of course.

Since your rabbit is still eating I would try to get him to drink as much as possible by pureeing some fruit into his water and feeding greens with water on them so that his intestines are as hydrated as possible.

Maybe after feeding them both timothy pellets you could lift Abe up onto a table with a small dish of alfalfa pellets so he can tuck in without Penny getting any.

Smaller poops during shedding is fairly normal for most buns, I wouldn't consider it an emergency. A check-up next Wednesday is perfectly reasonable.

This might be helpful to read - about gut slowdowns. http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-7/gi.html

Thanks for the input! I have been feeding damp greens in larger, wetter quantities the past couple days. I have also been feeding them treats - banana, apple - to make sure they are still eating (they are), and they have a bowl of water vs a bottle, so I am hoping they are well-hydrated. Abe would probably tolerate syringe-water so I may try that.

Will a skin tent test work for rabbits?

I saw two "strands" (you know, linked together with fur) in the litter box last night between 630-645 (they were damp), one was a strand of tiny poops and one was larger poops (equally fresh). Later, another strand of larger poops. They were not giant strands, but more than I'd like to see so I am hoping things are still moving well. This morning I saw more small poops, but they seem less small, so I think it's okay.

NOW of course I am paranoid about Penny (the lionhead) because I haven't seen her eat much yesterday/this morning. She will take treats and will run towards food, then walk away, but I think I've been in her face too much lately (she doesn't like me) and that she's been waiting till I leave to eat. Someone is laying copious amounts of normal poops which I do think is her. Either that or just Abe is pooping, sometimes normal, sometimes shedding-poops.

At this point as long as both are eating (Abe has been eating normally when I'm there, and Penny will take treats), and are acting their bright normal selves, and I'm seeing poo/pee in the litter box, I'm comfortable with continuing to wait to Wednesday for their vet checkup.

First thing to do if you are seeing smaller than usual fecal poop, is to check your rabbits water source to make sure your rabbits are drinking well and at normal amounts, and to ensure your rabbits are eating their hay well and at their usual amounts. If hay eating amounts are normal, then dental problems as a cause are unlikely. For my rabbits, I do feed them as much hay as they want to eat in a day, but I also measure out the amount so that I know how much they are eating and will be able to tell if they aren't eating as much as usual. I've found this is the best way to keep an eye on their daily consumption.

Then the key to increasing gut motility( and thus increasing poop size) is for a rabbit to consume more indigestible fiber. This isn't just eating more hay, but more of the stalky bits of hay. The hard stems of hay have more indigestible fiber than the leafy bits. Indigestible fiber is what 'drives' a rabbits digestion. Rabbit safe tree/shrub branches and leaves are also a good source of indigestible fiber. But a balance with nutrient rich foods also needs to be maintained, so the rabbit gets the needed nutrients and doesn't lose weight. With your boy bun already on the skinny side, it will be especially important to monitor his weight.

It's also important to restrict sugary starchy foods, as these will encourage less hay consumption and slower gut motility.

I wouldn't try syringing if they are both drinking normally. Syringing is fine when it is really needed, but you also have to keep in mind that any time force feeding food or water is needed, it also carries a risk of a rabbit accidentally aspirating.

JBun said:

If hay eating amounts are normal, then dental problems as a cause are unlikely.

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Do you say that because hay eating tends to keep dental issues under control, or because the first thing they do with dental issues is stop eating hay? I ask because they do typically eat a lot of hay, but there might have been a slow down over the past few days. Hard to say as I haven't been actively measuring how much they eat. I like your idea.

I filled their water yesterday night so I will check it this afternoon after work. Abe's beard was damp yesterday so that's a good sign I hope.

JBun said:

It's also important to restrict sugary starchy foods, as these will encourage less hay consumption and slower gut motility.

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Yes - I definitely needed to be told this! I got a little obsessive with testing to make sure they ate something, and they aren't always excited about hay but they will go for treats even if they are full.

Usually one of the best indicators of a dental problem is selective eating and/or a decrease in amounts eaten. The rabbit may eat less of all their foods, or may just eat less (or none) of a particular food if that food causes the most pain to chew. So if a rabbit is still eating normal amounts or close to normal, then dental problems aren't as likely, though they can't entirely be ruled out unless the rabbit returns to eating normally or a vet rules it out. If you aren't certain how much hay your rabbits are eating or if they are eating less, then yes, a dental problem is a possibility.

If one of my rabbits is having smaller poop but is still eating normal or close to normal amounts, I will first try diet adjustments to see if it helps, which should only take a day or two to know. Usually an increased consumption of coarse hay does the trick. I also will monitor their weight to make sure no weight loss occurs.

I tend to avoid using sugary treats because of the problems they can cause. If I need to check a rabbit's appetite, I will use leafy greens(parsley, cilantro, dark leafy lettuce, apple and willow leaves, etc). And ones that they are used to as not to cause any digestive upset. It's a healthier treat for them, but also let's me know they are still willing to eat.

I think things are starting to improve now. I opted for a more hands off (yet still observant) approach because I think I was really annoying them. Until yesterday poops were still on the small side, but moist. This morning they are normal size.

I did recall that I got a new kind of hay recently, so supposing that might have been the cause of a drop in consumption, I got the regular kind. But also the wrong kind. They were eating them, but not with as much as gusto as I was hoping for. I did get the proper right kind today so we will see. They have four kinds of hay now, lots of veg, pellets (limited quantity) and I've weaned myself off giving them treats (maybe once a day they get a bite of fruit because they somehow know when I'm eating a banana or an apple!).

I also trimmed all of Abe's fur rather than pluck. Easier, quicker, less stressful for me and him. Gave the poor guy a bit of a bald spot in my panic last week.

Still have the appointment for next week in case there are some dental or whatever issues. His breathing seems poppier as well - not unusual with the pasteurella, but some abx might help a bit. But I think I've averted total GI statis.

Well it's been a crazy couple of days!

He was fine and his poops appeared to be getting larger. I did my goodnight pet check on Sunday night around midnight and saw him lying on his side. NOT normal behaviour for him. I lifted him up and set him back down and he wasn't fully using his legs. Weak, splay-legged hopping. I offered him something to eat - he bit down, but then didn't chew or swallow.

SO off to emergency vet. All emerg vets in my city admitted to not being very familiar with rabbits, but I went anyway. She gave him and exam and sub-q fluids and a pain med injection which I insisted upon because I figured he wasn't moving due to sore belly, not a neuro issue.

By the time we got home around 3am, he had perked up and did nose some hay. The next morning I let him out of his cage and he was his old self! Seeing it, I realized that he had been a bit down/listless over the past week. He was running up the stairs, doing little head flips, and grooming (his bum was pretty dirty the night before - not filthy but he's a white angora and it shows when he hasn't groomed for a few hours), looking for bits of dropped bird seed, and eating - I gave him so much wet dandelion and wild plantain, and he ate hay as well. His poops that afternoon were small - but not tiny - and moist. I figured he was just hopped up on pain meds but still, better than nothing!

I got my regular vet appt for Wednesday bumped up to that same day, late afternoon. My vet told me that the pain meds he had only lasted 6 hours, so the fluids must have done him a world of good! He did well in the exam and my vet could find nothing wrong aside from a bit of doughiness in the belly, so he does think he *had* a QI slowdown. Teeth were fine. He could not account for the lack of mobility in the hind legs, but I think we all agreed it was probably a sore tummy causing reluctance to move.

Oddest thing is that my vet thought he was more a 7-8 year old rabbit than a 4-5 year old. Interesting... and possible. Oh well! I'm still guarded and keeping an eye on him and recovering from freaking out on Sunday night, but I'm cautiously optimistic and it's great to see him running around.