Abnormal Poops.

[xwastinxawayx]

Hi this is my first post,I have a5 year old bunny Carlos, idk what he is exactly but I tried lookin him up and the only thingI could find was an english cross? Anyway Ive had him for 4 months now and hes been having weird poops. They are somewhat big and mushy and smell horrible. And other times his poos are normal sized or kinda tiny and not completely round shaped. Idk what it is or what is the reason why but does anyone think I should take him to the vet? Or does anyone know ofany OTC medicine or types of veggies to feed him?

 

[tonyshuman]

Big, mushy, bad smelling poops aren't normal.

What is his diet? Do you have any probiotic on hand? We don't want to change things up too much, and simply giving him a gram of probiotic a day may clear up the issue. The second thing I would do, if that doesn't work, is to give only water and hay until his poos get normal.

Good probiotics are BeneBac (found at pet stores) and ProBios (found at farm supply stores).

 

[xwastinxawayx]

i give him fresh water daily, the pellets and hayi get are from walmart. the brand is called small world rabbit pellets. and kaytee timothy hay. i dont give either of the buns treats but i did buy some kale. i read online somewhere that kale is suppose to stimulate their stomach and help with poos but i dont think its workin. Do you think that Teskes would have thoes probiotics? idk if teskes is just an iowa store or not.

 

[tonyshuman]

That pellet isn't great. Do you free-feed pellets, or only give a certain amount every day (like 1/2c etc)? Veggies are fine, unless you added a lot to their diet really quickly, which can cause gut issues.. Are you saying you got the kale because they weren't pooping?

I don't know Teskes.

 

[xwastinxawayx]

my black and white bunnys poos are fine its just the brown buns poos are all gross. today i went to clean him and he had poo stuck all over his bum. i got the kale cuz i read online its suppose to regulate the poos. im going to take him to the vet tomorrow and see what he thinks i should do.

 

[Maureen Las]

Kale should be fed only occasionally because it contains calcium oxalates which can build up in a rabbits system and then become toxic ; it also can be gasey. I would stop the kale for now.

Small world is not a good brand but for now just feed a small amount and increase the amount of hay.

You can also get a probiotic like probios in a tube (for horses from tractor supply or farm/ fleet) and use it on a rabbit.

If your bun is An English spot type bun or English spot X ( dark stripe down back with dark rings around eyes_ what you described could also be a condition called mega-colon which seems to occur in that particular breed.

http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/resources/gallery/rabbits/english-spot.htm

 

[dixonsrabbitry1]

Small world isn't a great pellet. I suggest finding a feed store that sells good quality pellets by the bulk.

The mushy stools could be cecetropes, or it could be diet related.

Taking to the vet is a good idea. Better to be safe then sorry. they can rule out any bacteria that could be causing the problems.

 

[xwastinxawayx]

so the vet trip went ok. he smeared poo all over the table. the vet lady prescribed him some pink liquid medicine and said to give him half a syringe full of plain yogurt. i bought the yogurt but i remember reading that rabbits cannot have dairy products. so i thought id ask on here before i went and gave it to him. should i do what the vet said or does anyone think shes doesnt specialize in rabbits??

 

[Pipp]

Definitely not a cutting edge rabbit vet, that's for sure.

I personally wouldn't give him the yogurt, that's an old school form of a probiotic, although a lot of breeders seem to swear by it. But there are a lot of natural sugars even in plain yogurt, so a better bet is a regular probiotic like Bene-bac (short for 'beneficial bacteria') or acidophilus or another kind.

Is the pink stuff peptobismol or something? That could have a lot of sugar as well, and I don't know its effect on cecals. (This is a cecal issue, not a regular poop issue).

I think if you give him just timothy hay and water for 24 hours, that will be a good indication if its diet related. Either way you need to get him eating a better pellet and timothy hay, if the Wal-mart hay is alphalfa.

If the soft poops aren't too bad, you can try a little parsley soaked in water, too.

Just make sure he's eating something.

How is he now?


sas :clover:

 

[dixonsrabbitry1]

i agree about the yogurt. It won't hurt him, but inmy experience it doesn't do them much good. You are better off trying to get a hold of some good pro bios. Best on the market right now is fast tracks, which you can buy at tsc(I don't know how to mix that one though) and my favorite acid pak 4 way. The later has natural bacteria and all kinds of good stuff in it. rabbits love it. It smells nice and sweet too.

Its odd that a vet would tell you to feed yogurt. Did they find anything in the fecal exam?

 

[Pipp]

I missed the Kaytee Timothy and kale references, sorry.

The problem could have been that he wasn't used to the kale, or he had too much or he has a sensitivity to it.

Same advice goes, though -- just timothy hay and water for a bit, a better pellet and a pro-biotic.

Good post from Dixons... did the vet do a fecal exam?


sas :clover:

 

[tonyshuman]

Also, since the vet isn't very rabbit-savvy, please double check that the pink liquid isn't amoxicillin or penicillin or any other drug ending in -cillin. Those are toxic to rabbits if given orally. I remember getting those as a pink liquid when I was a kid.

 

[xwastinxawayx]

carlos has been havin the poo problems before i gave him the kale but i already threw the kale out since it didnt help. i didnt catch what the vet said the pink stuff was but i remember her sayin its cherry flavored and its for cats? ill call them tomorrow and ask what its called. she didnt do any kind of exam she just put him on the table and he was smearin poo allover and she filled the prescription and that was it. i was only there for like 20 min. i have him in a cage at my dads house now so ill go there first thing in the morning and take the pellets out and just feed him hay and water. i checked his poos before i left and they looked normal, but ill check his bum tomorrow to see if theres poo allover. i also found a different place to get the pellets from so friday im gonna get a 20 lb bag for 10 bucks and freeze what i dont need at the moment. i think im gonna go and look for some benebac tomorrow and ill give that a try instead of the yogurt and ill post on here about the poo progress.
thank you guys for answering all my questions! :biggrin:

 

[xwastinxawayx]

ok the pink liquidis called smz? so its not ammoxacillin or penacillin. :]

 

[tonyshuman]

Well, at least it's not toxic to rabbits if given orally. SMZ is a sulfa antibiotic. They're not very helpful for most bacteria because most bacteria are resistant to them. In addition, the GI issues you're talking about definitely would not be helped by the SMZ. Sulfa drugs are really harsh on the good GI bacteria and can cause diarrhea, and don't help fix it.

With a bunny that's having mushy poos, I'd give lots of water, probiotic, and only hay for several days.

 

[xwastinxawayx]

ok i bought thebene-bac and theres 4 tubes. do i use a whole tube every three days?

 

[dixonsrabbitry1]

Never heard of that used a rabbit before. says it can be used on intestinal infections, now the question is what did the vet find? because this drug may/or may not work depending on what is causing it.

 

[tonyshuman]

I give about a gram a day. The tubes I think are 1.5 grams, so you will have to estimate giving about 2/3 of a tube. You can give the whole thing at once too if you want. More will not be bad in this situation.