Bunny is active and eating but has small, infrequent poops. Please Help!

[benningtonjones]

So i noticed yesterday morning that my bunny's litter box was empty, this is odd as everyone knows bunny are little poop factories. so when i opened the door for him to have some playtime before work and he ran over to his other box and he did have some small poops. at this point i thought he just slept through the night and everything was ok. by the time i got home i checked and his box in is cage did has some more of the small poops but not many of them. as the night went on i watched and he has some more poops but they all seemed a little smaller the normal. i also noticed that he didn't eat as many pellets as usually but he did eat a load of hay.

well i woke up this morning and it was the same story for the most part, no new poops overnight but when he went to his other box after i let him out he did go but again they were smaller then usually. and i did notice that it looked like his hay was almost gone but his pellets looked untouched. when i wife checked on him at lunch time she said he was really active and ready to play and again his hey bowl was almost empty. she added more and he started to eat it right away.

i am concerned because he usually eats a load of pellets and has a lot of large poops. i don't know what i need to do with him, should i see a vet? has this happen with anyone else before? if so what was the solution? i know that he is shading right now so maybe he as a hairball, but if he does what should i do o help him? thanks for you help.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

sounds like a trip to the vet is in order.

 

[Maureen Las]

There are a few things that you can do on your own .....

this could be beginning stasis

increase fluid intake ...
you can try to spike the water bowl with apple juice (top off the bowl like cream in coffee ) and see if he will drink more fluids or you could get some infant electrolyte solutionand syringe it.

You could feed clean wet washed greens like parsley, cilantro , romaine. If he doesn't usually eat greens then you can only start with one green at a time and feed a small amount per day to see if he will tolerate them .
if he has eaten greens before and tolerates them well then make and give him a nice wet salad.
The fact that he is eating hay is excellent ; it will help move the hair through

There are several items that you could pick up in case this problem progresses

infant liquid gas drops ( simethicone ) Ovol in the UK

benebac which is a probiotic (sold in petstores)


a fresh pineapple to squeeze for the juice

if he is sheddding you may see poops strung together with hair;

if you can brush him regularly to remove the hair that will decrease the amount that he ingests. if he is shedding a lot sometimes you can use a damp hand with a roll of paper towels next to you to wipe the fur onto.
feel his tummy to see if it feels hard ; if so you can give 1 cc of the simethicone gas med and a gentle tummy massage ...

the gas med can be repeated hourly X approx 3 doses and won't hurt the bun at all if simethicone is the only ingredient.

 

[benningtonjones]

Thank you for your advice, i went out after work and picked up some pineapple so i could give bennington some juice. we he hated it haha. but anyways as the night went on he started to eat his pellets again and he played around. then right before bed he went to the his litter box and everything was back to normal. also, this morning i checked the box in his cage and it was looking good, nice big round poops. so i am not sure what made him feel better but he is doing great now. i just hope he stays this way.