rabbit stopped eating her pellets and has watery poop, could it be part of false pregnacny

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abbigail10398

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hi I have a one year old rabbit and yesterday I found watery poops in her cage, she has had watery poops before but she seemed fine so I did not think anything of it, but this time there was more then usual and they stuck. today I went to check on her and she had a mouth full of hay but was not eating it just holding it in her mouth, she is not spayed but she is a only rabbit so I think she might be going in to false pregnancy. but also today I noticed that she has not been eating her pellets like usual. she has toys to chew on so her teeth wont get long, I also noticed that her regular poops have turned a different color, kind a lighter brown then usual. I don't know if this is just part of false pregnancy in rabbits but im getting a little worried and was thinking of taking her to the vet. does anyone know what it could be. thanks
 
Are you feeding her any new veggies? A false pregnancy should not cause watery poop.
no she has not had any new veggies im not sure what to do. I free feed her and i usually have to fill up her bowl every couple days, but I have not had to fill it in close to a week. the bowl is still full. I don't know if I should take her to the vet or not cuz I don't want to stress her out if its just nothing. but its really not like her to stop eating her pellets
 
If she has stopped eating completely you need to take her to the vet right now. A rabbit that goes more than 24 hours without eating can die. She may be in GI stasis. Has she eaten any veggies recently?
 
If she has stopped eating completely you need to take her to the vet right now. A rabbit that goes more than 24 hours without eating can die. She may be in GI stasis. Has she eaten any veggies recently?
No she has not eaten any veggies because I have been out I'm actually about to go get some to see if she will eat them and if she does not I. Going to the her to the vet. What could make her not want to eat her pellets
 
It's not a false pregnancy, your rabbit is critical and this is an emergency. If you are not already at the vet, get your rabbit to the vet immediately. Your rabbit is exhibiting dangerous signs of a critical illness. Your rabbit could have coccidiosis or pathogenic bacterial enteritis, and/or another serious underlying illness.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Protozoal_diseases/Cocc_en.htm (contains medical photos)

A rabbit not eating or eating significantly reduced amounts, for more than 12-24 hours, is considered an emergency, and needs to be taken to the vet immediately.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
 
Definitely not false pregnancy, since she's spayed. Even if it was, that wouldn't cause the symptoms you've described. As JBun said, this is a medical emergency. A vet trip is an absolute must.

Not eating and/or pooping for 8-12 hours is a medical emergency for rabbits (commonly referred to as GI stasis). There are at-home remedies that can be tried in the early stages, but at this point it's absolutely vital to take your rabbit to the vet, as GI stasis can easily become fatal within around 24-48 hours. Rabbits have a very unique digestive system that NEEDS to be constantly moving along. If there's a blockage/hairball or the rabbit stops eating for another reason (usually pain - tooth issues, gas, illness, injury, etc. can all cause GI stasis).

As for the watery poops... are they truly watery (like diarrhea)? If so, then that's also a very serious emergency as it's nearly certain that your rabbit has some sort of illness/pathogen. By the time rabbits actually show signs of being sick (as prey animals it's instinct to try to hide when they don't feel well), they're usually in critical condition.

However, if by "watery" you mean "slightly moist and very mushy" and they look stuck together... and if they *really* stink if you mush them... then it sounds like you're talking about cecotropes (click the link for pictures), which are an entirely different (and much less serious) issue. Cecals are normal, healthy and necessary... but are also supposed to be ingested directly from the anus in order to pass through the digestive tract a second time. If you're finding them in the cage, that means your rabbit isn't eating them (or at least not all of them). Common causes for this are:
1) age - young bunnies can ADD and forget to eat them
2) inability to ingest them properly - typically caused by obesity and/or arthritis, sometimes also injury
3) diet - too rich a diet (almost always, this means too many pellets) can cause a rabbit to produce more cecals than they actually need, so they abandon some or all of their cecotropes.

Your rabbit is far too old to be offered unlimited pellets. An adult rabbit's diet should be about 80% grass hay (timothy, orchard, coastal, bluegrass, etc... if you feed a cereal type hay like wheat, oat, rye, etc. then you need to remove most or all of the seed heads (ie oats or w/e) before offering it)). No legume hays like alfalfa. They should also get a very limited amount of pellets. The House Rabbit Society website has a great selection of articles about diet. This article in particular lays out what an ideal diet should look like.

Mind you, if she's being free-fed pellets and isn't eating hay, you shouldn't just abruptly switch her to a tiny amount of pellets and a hay rack. Gradually reduce the amount of pellets she's getting while offering unlimited access to grass hay so that she can get used to the idea of eating lots of hay. In the end, a rabbit should eat a pile of hay that's about the same volume as their body each day (semi-loosely piled, not super compressed the way it is when it first comes off the bale).

I hope your bunny is doing well and you've been able to get her to the vet! My bunns and I will keep her in our thoughts.
 

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