Diamond needs help! Poopy butt :(

[treasuresandstuff]

It certainly could.

Quick update. At night I generally use the half bath in the rodent room, where the rabbits are being kept. When I went in the room it smelled terrible, my first thought was that something had happened to Diamond. So I threw the light on and rushed to her cage. She looked at me with such indignation I almost laughed. In the corner was a pile of nasty goopy sludge. I swear my heart almost stopped. I gently lifted her up and checked her bottom. There was a small amount of the sludge on one leg, and it was full of hairs! Then she poo'd on me! Normal poops! Could the grass have helped that fast???

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Well, she is having almost totally normal poos alternating with sometimes a gelatinous gook with hair in it, and sometimes those really soft cecums she has been dealing with. She isn't eating as much hay as I would like but she is eating it and still drinking. Someone mentioned, on a yahoo list, that I should give her water in a dish. Why is in a dish different from in a bottle?

 

[JadeIcing]

Jelly stuff sounds like something is off in her gut. I am not the most knowledgeable person with this. I am going to go searching for some threads..

 

[JadeIcing]

Ok from this....

Diarrhea

I found this...

Unformed Cecotropes: Mushy or Runny Stool: The cecum is a delicately balanced ecosystem. If the intestine is moving too slowly, or if the rabbit is getting a diet too rich in digestible carbohydrates and too low in crude fiber, the complex population of bacteria in the cecum can become "unbalanced." This condition, known as CECAL DYSBIOSIS. Simply put, cecal dysbiosis means that the beneficial bacteria (e.g., Bacteroides spp. and a variety of others) are outcompeted and outnumbered by less desirable inhabitants such as yeast (a fungus, usually Saccharomycopsis sp.) or even very harmful bacteria such as Clostridium spp., related to the ones that cause tetanus and botulism.
A rabbit suffering from cecal dysbiosis will produce cecotropes that are mushy, pasty or even liquid. They are usually quite foul-smelling, and often stick to the bunny's back end in great, nasty clumps. These unformed cecotropes are not a primary disease, however. They are a symptom of a disorder somewhere in the bunny's system. In order to cure the runny stool problem, the underlying cause must be addressed.
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[fuzz16]

you know how dogs and cats eat grass to help with digestion...(they do it to help through up and poop better) but rabbits NEED hay for the fiber in it that is not provided in the amounts they need in food. they need it for digesting food right, and also itll help keep tthem from getting clugged up from grooming. they dont have the ability to hack up a hairball like a cat.

i dont see how barley straw could be healthy after reading a bit about it...brome hay is sweet and easy to come by. timothy would be best. a bale is 50-70# so you should only need one and it should only cost you under 10$.
then you HAVE to keep the bale in a dry place, if it gets wet and the rabbit eats it your rabbit will colic and possibly die. will need surgery to save her

if anything, ask he feed store if you can scoop up some scrap hay that falls out of the bale . i doubt they use it and will prob throw it out.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Fuzz I know you mean well. I KNOW rabbits need hay. I have had them off and on for 10 years. The issue was that I ran out. The only hay I could find was one bag of kaytee timothy. The feed shops say there will be no hay and no straw until mid-july to early august. EVERYONE is sold out of both.

As to wether or not straw is "healthy" its used for the fiber. It helps the gut keep moving same as hay. If your rabbit is on a good enough pellet and have issues with weight gain when hay is added in and the weight is undesireble, you need to find how to fix the issue. When giving fewer pellets result in weight loss in the same rabbit, the only thing I can think of is that the hay is the issue. I had rabbits with this issues. Switching to straw instead of hay fixed the issue. So where is the problem with straw?

I would ask for the hay from the floor, if there was any hay.

I do appreciate the answers. I really do but I hate to repeat myself so maybe be sure to read all the posts before replying next time?

 

[tonyshuman]

Mucus is a sign of intestinal distress, and can be either related to bacterial imbalance, or from difficulties passing feces, due to stasis or diarrhea. Often, if there's stasis, the poo that finally comes out is covered in mucus, and that's ok--it should go away quickly.

I'm not sure what's going on here. The problem is that if the mucus is coming from her cecum, it's cecal dysbiosis like Ali said, and that often needs extra care, including the correct antibiotics. If the mucus is coming from her GI tract, it's probably just a sign that she's passing the poo that was not moving through correctly. Since you say she's producing normal poos alternated with gooey stuff, I would guess that the gooey-mucusy stuff is from the cecum. If it were from the GI it should be covering the normal poops. BUT, there's hair in it. There shouldn't be much hair in the cecum. :?

 

[tonyshuman]

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

Cecal dysbiosis can smell very bad too. Do you have any Flagyl (metronidazole) or Panacur on hand? Flagyl would be preferred. If you do, she could really use a dose. Also, if you have any probiotics that are NOT milk-based, that would help a lot too--like if you take probiotic capsules yourself for health.

Is she active?

Some bunnies prefer to drink from dishes. Some prefer bottles. It's possible that she prefers whatever you're not using, and putting the other in front of her may make her start drinking a lot.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Great info! I do appologize if I get snippy, it is very odd. I called my vet and he said if the goop is still coming out tomorrow (because she is eating and producing some normalish droppings) he should see her.

I am not sure what these: Flagyl (metronidazole) or Panacur are? I will goggle them.

I don't have any probiotics on hand, she just got the last of my benebac too.

I get the point about a water dish and I will go give her one now to see if she likes that better. I did notice her water bottle level has not gone down since I went to bed at midnight last night but she is still nibbling hay almost every time I go in there. I clean out and (ick) examine each bunch of droppings I find and this last batch looked more like normal cecotropes. Her feet are much cleaner too. I have been brushing off her feet as needed to help her keep them clean. There is still a slight odor but only if I put my nose near her rump.

She had 2 hours of play time this morning and was doing the bunny happy dance. Is that a good sign or bunny denial?

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Just occurred to me I should put together a bunny first aid kit specially designed for long haired rabbits. Is there such a thing? Anyone know where I can find a list of things to keep on hand that I do not have to see a vet to get?

 

[Pipp]

Here's a thread on emergency prepardnes that also includes first aid kit info.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28862&forum_id=17


sas :bunnydance:

 

[tonyshuman]

Metronidazole is an antibiotic/antiparasitic that I think you have to get with a prescription, unless it can be bought at farm supply stores. Panacur is an antiparasitic that can be bought at farm supply stores. I don't keep either on hand because I know of a good emergency vet and I only have a few bunnies--I wasn't sure how many you had. Some people with lots of bunnies keep these things around, or if they've had a bunny prescribed them in the past that didn't finish the med, they keep it. Most meds are good for 6mo-1yr.

I will cautiously say that it sounds like she's improving, but I don't want to jinx you.

 

[TinysMom]

Since our TSC carries hay - I looked up the closest Tractor Supply store to you and called them to see about hay (even though it looks like they're an hour away from you).

She said they don't carry it but suggested checking Craigslist. I did that for your state and found hay - but wasn't sure how close places were to you - one had a "come cut it and its free - about 8 bales available" ad.

I also went to the hay exchange website - maybe you can find someone on here that has a bale that would be reasonably priced?

http://www.hayexchange.com/mo.php

 

[treasuresandstuff]

I have no way to get outside of my own town until Monday. Can you tell me how to find that tractor supply place? I keep hearing they have good prices but can not find out where one is. I was told at our feed store that no one inside town will have any until next month.

That one med sounds like a good idea to have on hand I will see if my shop carries it. I only have 2 for now, but honestly want to get into raising both these breeds in the future, not immediate future but in the future.

Thanks for the first aid link!

Only normal looking droppings the last check, but still a very slight nasty odor. Will call the vet in the morning to see what he thinks we should do.

I gave her a water bowl and she tossed it. Had to clear out a section of her bedding lol. The rolled oats someone told me to try were totally eaten. Will update tomorrow.

 

[Maureen Las]

Do you have Farm /Fleet stores in your area? ; they sell it also.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Never heard of Farm/Fleet. I will look them up online. This morning her droppings look almost completely normal and most have next to no odor! I also saw her cleaning herself around that area which I had not seen the day before. I will be finishing her cage tonight she she is out of the bedding, especially since the hay keeps mixing in with the bedding and I am worried she will eat some of the bedding and have all new issues. I had to give the cage wire I planned to use for hay racks for Burnie's floor, so will have to wait on the racks.

 

[tonyshuman]

I am glad to hear that she's doing better. Cleaning herself is also a good sign that she's feeling more like herself. I'll be hoping she's out of the woods soon!

 

[treasuresandstuff]

I saw some probiotics at walmart but I think they are the milk based ones? The name of them starts with a?

 

[tonyshuman]

Acidophilus is ok unless it is in yogurt or a milk-based drink. You can get acidophilus in capsule or tablet form in some places, by the vitamins, and that would be ok. Many big box pet stores sell BeneBac which is a good probioic, and farm supply stores sell ProBios, which is also good.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

Thanks, we get paid on Monday and I will look for one or maybe all of those. Again this morning her droppings look normal and she dug into her morning hay ration. The vet said to bring her in the moment we notice a relapse, if she has one. I would say this issue is definitely resolved. Thanks everyone!