Help! Odd looking poop!

Hi all!

Am a new rabbit owner, and arrived home from work only to find two or three normal looking poops. What I DID ALSO find was a moist poop, that seems to be comprised of other poops. Have never seen this before, so immediately called my vet, who told me that this other kind of poop is not unusual. (I have a vet appointment for Sisyphus on Friday, and the other vet I spoke to did not feel he needed to be seen now...)

What IS this other kind of rabbit poop, and should I be worried? (Even though the vet consultant said I shouldn't be). I picked him up, turned him over, and his rectum/anus appear fine: I don't see any poop blocking the opening.

Am writing because I have only had him for three and a half weeks, and have never seen this kind of poop before.

Thoughts?

ANY help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance! (He is otherwise acting fine!)

~June

If it looks like the attached photo it's a cecotrope, the type of poop bunnies normally eat. You shouldn't be seeing them but the occasional one might get left around. I would increase his hay intake and make sure you're not feeding too many greens or pellets. Hopefully it's just a one off, and it's good that he's otherwise acting normally. But if you only found two or three normal poops after a day at work that's weird. There should be piles. Again, more hay and water is a good start.

stevesmum said:

If it looks like the attached photo it's a cecotrope, the type of poop bunnies normally eat. You shouldn't be seeing them but the occasional one might get left around. I would increase his hay intake and make sure you're not feeding too many greens or pellets. Hopefully it's just a one off, and it's good that he's otherwise acting normally. But if you only found two or three normal poops after a day at work that's weird. There should be piles. Again, more hay and water is a good start.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much! The photo you posted is pretty close; it initially looked like only ONE poop, but upon closer inspection, appeared to be comprised of a cluster of moist poops. It's now gone, as it's broken up into separate, little poops that are a bit darker than his usual rabbit poops are.

He's been eating a good amount of hay; as I write this he is in his litter box eating down a lot of hay. He also has a box of hay in his pen at all times, but I think he prefers eating the hay in his litter box more.....He only gets a quarter of a cup of pellets in the morning (which the Rabbitry suggested, and gave me the pellets). Other than that he gets a soup bowl size mixture of romaine lettuce, parsley, and kale. All has been fine until I found that larger, weird looking poop in his litter box upon arriving home.

How worried should I be? (He's seeing his vet on Friday, but that's a way's away...) In the meantime, if he passes anymore of these strange poops, what should I do? (Bring him into the vet sooner?) WHAT is cecotrope? Is it dangerous? He's only a year old, but otherwise all seems normal and fine!

It's just that I'm a new owner, and NERVOUS! (As if you couldn't tell, LOL!)

The only difference between your picture and the poop I found is that yours shows more attached poops. The one I found didn''t initially look that way, it was more like one big poop. Upon closer inspection, it did appear to be comprised of a number of poops squooshed into a heap/large poop.

I hope he's okay! He's acting normally, just ate his bowl of veggies an hour ago, and for all intents and purposes, it seems like "business as normal!"

Thank you SO MUCH for your help!

Cecotropes are a special poop that rabbits produce, that are packed with essential nutrients, and they are re ingested by the rabbit. Totally normal. Usually you will never see these, but may notice your rabbit reaching down to it's bottom and coming back up munching on something. This is what it is.

If his fecal poop(the round ones you normally see) is normal in amount, size, and consistency and this was just a one off occurrence, I wouldn't worry about it. Rabbits will on occasion leave a cecal uneaten, which is no big deal as they may have just gotten distracted from eating it. It can especially happen with young bunnies and ones that are in a new home, due to being distracted and forgetting to eat them. However, if this is occurring frequently, he is getting a mucky bum from them, and/or they don't seem to be fully formed and are at all pasty, then that does indicate a problem, usually dietary with too many carbs and/or protein in the diet (usually from the pellets) and not enough fiber. If so, then usually a diet modification will clear it up.

When it would require vet attention is if there are lots of mushy cecotropes and it's very severe(especially if it's soiling the bottom), there is blood or mucous, the fecal poops are the ones that are mushy, if there is watery diarrhea, or there is no poop being produced. If any of these happen, you do need to have your rabbit seen right away.
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-digestive-system.asp
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-droppings.asp

JBun said:

Cecotropes are a special poop that rabbits produce, that are packed with essential nutrients, and they are re ingested by the rabbit. Totally normal. Usually you will never see these, but may notice your rabbit reaching down to it's bottom and coming back up munching on something. This is what it is.

If his fecal poop(the round ones you normally see) is normal in amount, size, and consistency and this was just a one off occurrence, I wouldn't worry about it. Rabbits will on occasion leave a cecal uneaten, which is no big deal as they may have just gotten distracted from eating it. It can especially happen with young bunnies and ones that are in a new home, due to being distracted and forgetting to eat them. However, if this is occurring frequently, he is getting a mucky bum from them, and/or they don't seem to be fully formed and are at all pasty, then that does indicate a problem, usually dietary with too many carbs and/or protein in the diet (usually from the pellets) and not enough fiber. If so, then usually a diet modification will clear it up.

When it would require vet attention is if there are lots of mushy cecotropes and it's very severe(especially if it's soiling the bottom), there is blood or mucous, the fecal poops are the ones that are mushy, if there is watery diarrhea, or there is no poop being produced. If any of these happen, you do need to have your rabbit seen right away.
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-digestive-system.asp
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-droppings.asp

Click to expand...

Thank you SO MUCH!!!

yes, cecotrophs. normal. a bit of lagomorph natural history: bunnies eat above ground, then retire underground to rest and digest. The food goes through once, and comes out the anus as mucus-covered little pellets glommed together. This is not a waste product, but rather a concentrated carrier of vitamins
and nutrients. The bunn re-eats it, sending the cecotrophs through the digestive system again, where it is digested into the fecal pellets we call bunny raisins or bunny pooh. These are a waste product to the bunny although not to human gardners!

Cows and some others chew their cuds. It's a safety issue--the grazer can eat in the open then digest in safer cover. Little kits start out as carnivores, eating only their mother's milk.
As they grow, they eat some of mommy's cecotrophs which have the digestive bacteria the babies need to start eating hervivor greens and digesting them safely. A kit that is removed prematurely from his or her mother will need to have processed food such as pellets, and only start fresh greens in small amounts after several months. Kits raised with their mothers will start greens at mere weeks. Lots of people dont know about this process.

Dogs or cats who eat their poops should go to a vet to find out why. Bunnies have different digestions. Vets give dogs and cat those elizabethan collars to prevent tearing out stitches or licking open a wound. Bunnies, no. Why? Because if a bunny cant get to the anus, that bunny will be missing important nutrients and long term can either not heal well or can die! An obese rabbit can actually be malnourished if he or she cant get to the anus. If a bunn is paralized, the human can wipe up the cecotrophs with a finger and offer them to the bunny, who will probably re-ingest them (not if they are stale, though).

Hope this helped.

JBun et al -- excellent article! I pinned it on pinterest to help bring the website to notice in the States. Thanks. Incidentally, did you all know that the House Rabbit Society in America was inspired by English house rabbit folks? The House Rabbit Handbook, now in its 5th edition, was first put together around a pre-internet kitchen table in Seattle by a small group of bunny moms who wanted to share their experiences and knowledge, and that of their vets, about having bunny as a pet rather than as livestock. Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who replied! You've all been tremendously helpful!!!:sunshine:

Wanted to throw in my two cents:

When I first got my Snickers, I was finding several cecals lying around and was really worried. He was chipper, eating well, but producing cecals and not eating them. I did some digging online and found out that some baby buns don't tolerate unlimited pellets as well as others might. So I cut him down to 1/2 cup of pellets a day and I haven't seen a cecal since! Luckily my little guy LOVES hay (Seriously, he has snubbed PELLETS for it.) so he doesn't miss the unlimited pellets, lol!

Just thought I'd share my experience!

Bonsai said:

Wanted to throw in my two cents:

When I first got my Snickers, I was finding several cecals lying around and was really worried. He was chipper, eating well, but producing cecals and not eating them. I did some digging online and found out that some baby buns don't tolerate unlimited pellets as well as others might. So I cut him down to 1/2 cup of pellets a day and I haven't seen a cecal since! Luckily my little guy LOVES hay (Seriously, he has snubbed PELLETS for it.) so he doesn't miss the unlimited pellets, lol!

Just thought I'd share my experience!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response!

I took the little guy in for a New Pet Visit with my vet yesterday, and he got a clean bill of health. The vet confirmed what you all have said here, so I thank you all again for your help! The vet was very informative about "all things bunny" and said she felt that he has made an excellent adjustment to his new home in 7 week's time, so I am relieved in knowing that everything is going fine! She's a tremendous vet, and I'm glad I have her, and that she is so knowledgeable about rabbits!!!

Your bun is very lucky to have such an attentive mama.

I woulnt worry it is perfectly normal. Kind of hay you use too can make you occasionally see this kind of poop. My guys have super forage sweet meadow hay. Has clover, dandelion leaved and varioud other stuff in it.

I took the little guy for a New Pet visit on Friday, and his vet confirmed all that you all have posted! Thanks to everyone who responded! You guys are great!