Bunny Having weird poop and dropping cecotropes! Urgent help please!

[Pranay]

I have a baby bunny, indian rabbit, it is slightly on the thinner side however i have taken her to vet and she told that she is fine.

Two or three days back a strange incident happened. In the afternoon she genrally releases cecotropes and eats them, however before releasing she is dropping spongy wet poops(without any mucous) and dropping wet poops too. She sometime will drop some of the cecotropes as well. She is currently on Gutwell(medicine) and a timothy hay based diet. She drinks plenty of water as well. However can you please help me with the soft poops. Should i be worried? This happens only in the afternoon, she again goes back to mormal after having hay. However this is continuing for 2-3 days and i am dead worried.

 

[JBun]

Gutwell is a digestive powder for cats and dogs, correct? How long have you been giving this? Is there a reason you are giving this? Is timothy hay the only food you feed your rabbit? No rabbit food pellets, veggies, greens, or treats of any kind? Any new foods in the last few days before this weird poop occurred?

 

[Pranay]

Vet suggested to give gutwell for 5days twice daily,mixing a pinch of it with a little bit of water.
No she generally gets mustard greens, cilantro, fenugreek. However due to these weird poops i have cut off all greens and feeding only timothy hay. No new food last few days. She used to get carrot and raspberries for treat but in minimal amount. i do not however feed any pellets. Sometimes I am getting egg shaped soft poops too. but very few, 3-4 in the entire night.

 

[JBun]

Did this weird poop start after you started giving the Gutwell or before you started giving it? Does the hay look like good quality hay and green, and no signs wetness in it, or of black or white spots, white dust, or a sour or musty smell?

 

[Pranay]

The hay qualityy is good. Its zupreem timothy hay.
actually since u tell it i think it staryed after gutwell. Is it bad for rabbits? I have told vet as well but she asked to continue

 

[JBun]

It's not specifically meant for rabbits and must have something in it that is upsetting your rabbits digestion. I would stop giving it, then stick with free fed unlimited hay(never runs out) and offer a plain salt lick as well. Hopefully you should see improvement in the first week. Then after the last of the bad poop, I would continue on hay only for another 2 weeks before trying to reintroduce any veg/greens, then those should be introduced one at a time starting with a small amount.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html

 

[Pranay]

She is currently on hay for the last 4-5 days. Sorry to misinform cecotropes issue was there back before gutwell. It has improved a bit with hay only diet. However, i am facing the issue of spongy/moist poop(a bit of foul odour to it) only in afternoon and night just before producing cecotropes. once the cecotropes are found i see that one or two bunch of cecotropes are uneaten, rest are eaten...and finally i observe a normal poop coming out with a few cecotropes which is again uneaten, then her poop rwturns to normal for rest of the day. I know i am explainig it pretty badly...but i am dead worried.Apologies.

 

[Pranay]

Hello all, I have 2 bunny(one male and one female) . Very small maybe 3 months of age.
Medication history:
Mites and mushy poop:
Digeton
Livofloxacin
Ivermectin injection

Skin abcess and intermittent mushy poop(currently):
Neosporin ointment(only female), PP wash(only female), Gutwell

However there is a problem i want your suggestion on. I live in India which is not a rabbit savvy place. Hence reaching out to you guys.

The female bunny has normal poop in general and she produces cecotropes in afternoon. Just 5-10 min before producing cecotropes she gives out really spongy/moist poop(has a little foul odour) and then she starts giving cecotropes. She eats most of them but a couple of bunches remain uneaten and stuck to the floor. Then after ~15min she gives out a cecotrope bunch with one normal poop attached to it,which again remains uneaten. Then again her poop goes back to normal for the rest of the day. She is mainly on timothy hay. i have cut all veggies for last 4-5days... only hay and water. and they do eat a lot and not lethargic.

Now coming to the male bunny, his poops are generally on the darker side and a bit spongy(not egg shaped) however when i roll on my fingers it breaks and there are hay fibers present. is it normal?
Further, he givves out spongy poops in the night...~5-10 out of 100s. Please help. I am a new bunny dad and my wife and I are very worried.

 

[JBun]

It's probably still a cecotrope issue since it is intermittent and not consistently happening throughout the day, even though you are seeing some normal looking cecals.

An unlimited grass hay only diet is usually the recommendation to correct mushy cecotrope issues when it's caused by dietary problems. Which it sounds like this may be your rabbits problem if your rabbit wasn't on hay previously when the mushy poop started. It's only been a few days on this diet and you've already seen improvement, so I would suggest sticking with this. It can take several weeks, sometimes months, for the hay only diet to help stabilize a rabbits microflora in their cecum. The worse the mushy cecals, the longer it can take to correct.

While on a hay only diet, it's a good idea to monitor your rabbits weight and body condition, to make sure your rabbit doesn't lose too much weight. Also if your rabbits condition deteriorates at all, contact your vet immediately.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
Monitoring your rabbits weight

I would still stop the Gutwell, but that's your choice whether to or not.

Another possibility could be intestinal parasites. So you could ask your vet to do a fecal float test to look for parasites in your rabbits poop(check both the mushy and normal poop). The usual treatment would be with the antiparasitic fenbendazole.

 

[JBun]

Here is a photo guide to good and bad rabbit poop.

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/

 

[Pranay]

Thanks Jbun for your valuable inputs, i had seen the guide before. I went to vet yesterday and he is sticking with gutwell. I dont know what to do. I am sticking to hay only diet. but still getting the same result. The vet said gutwell is for better gut mkvement and i do not have enough knowledge to contradict.

 

[Pranay]

Both are undergoing deworming...will it solve the issue? do u suggest any medication?

 

[Pranay]

I showed an exotic pet and this is the prescription i got...any advice?

 

[JBun]

I can't say if those are safe or not, as some are not known safe medications for rabbits. And the others may have added ingredients like sugars, that could worsen the poop issues.

Your rabbit doesn't need more medicine in my opinion. Usually the best fix for minor to moderate poop issues in rabbits, is good quality(not moldy, never been wet) green grass hay like timothy. This will fix or improve most poop issues, except for major diarrhea. Giving your rabbit unnecessary medicatons, especially ones with unknown safety in rabbits, can lead to continued digestive problems and may actually make things worse.

If switching to hay was helping fix things, sticking with hay seems to be the best solution to me.