Goopy Poops

[Maukin]

While cleaning cages, I found that Dugan has runny stool. His butt was all yucky too. I cleaned his butt and called the vet and she told me to give him yoghurt. I can do that. They said to call back if he "gets worse". What's worse? Shock? Lethergy? He's eating like a pig, drinking like a camel andrunning around like a fool baby bunny. He DID get into the rooster's cracked corn and oats, since the little booger eats just about ANYTHING. Could that be the reason why? Too much calf manna? To high a protein in the pellets? (17%) Love some opinions.

 

[tundrakatiebean]

Yogurt won't do anything good - it'sa rabbit myth that it will help bunnies. It would be better to go to the pet store and get some benebac. I think the oats and corn are probably the problem and if you just push some hay and lots of water it should all work itself out.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Do not give yogurt....that is an old and inaccurate treatment that makes sense on paper but doesn't do so well in real life. I am also not a fan of that high protein calf manna either. But I suspect the root cause of your bun's problem is the rooster food. I am quite sure his is experiencing quite a surge in energy....but the cause of that energy is not so good for his gut. He needs to drink....but the primary thing he needs is lots of hay....fiber. It will slow down that gut and get the transit time back to normal. Even a little canned pumpkin (which is high in fiber) wouldn't hurt. But I would suggest no yogurt at any time, too much protein in the calf manna so I would avoid thatand certainly no more rooster food....rabbits can be so sneaky at times. But lots of fiber would be a very good thing.

The idea behind the yogurt is to "replace" the bacteria that is lost from the gut in situations like this (it's very complicated). The problem with yogurt is that most rabbits can't digest certain comonents contained in most yogurts so the dairy products and sugar will make a bad gut worse. The thinking is to put in the "acidophilus" bacteria. But it's not the bacteria that actually helps....the acidophilus works by acidifying the gut (the pH) and stabilizing it at a point that is beneficial to good bacterial growth. The good bacteria will control the digestion and the transit time thru the GI tract...and will stop the poopy butt. A much better product to do this with is a "probiotic". The best I have found is called "Bene-Bac". Most vet clinics and pet stores carry it. It comes in a paste or a powder. This product contains a strain of bacteria known as L Casei that just does wonders for the gut of any mammal. About a gram of paste per day...or a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of powder mixed with water per day should help tremendously.

Randy

 

[Maukin]

Thanks guys.

Rooster food is put away and cages have plenty of hay in them. I actually caught my four year old "helping Mommy" by putting rooster food into the rabbit bowls. Ahh, the culprit! Calf manna has been backed down. Offering yoghurt caused Dugan to thump and run without touching it. "Yuck, Mom! Milk is for baby cows!" It does make sense about the resoning behind yoghurt, I was even thinking earlier about dairy products not being good for the belly of a young rabbit.

I'll look for benebac tomorrow.

Thanks again.

 

[TinysMom]

Bumping to see how Dugan is doing...

Peg

 

[goodnight_ansela]

When I first got Harley, they told me that bananas wouldn't help the goopy poo because they have so much sugar in them. (Which is the problem with yogurts/drops) Lots of hay, and if he's having some problems with his poo, I'll give him a little piece of banana. I have frozen bananas in my freezer just for these times, that way I never have a moments where I don't have banana for the little guy. It usually will resolve the problem. I'll cut about an inch of banana and he gobbles it up so fast! I don't think the corn is the problem...I give my guy the corn they sell at the pet stores and he loves it and I've never seen that as the cause of the problem. Less sugary things...sugar is one of the problems with goopy poo. Harley isn't allowed to eat those yogurt drops anymore. They just make it messy and then he gets it all over himself and well...it's just nasty!



Good luck! :dude:

 

[aurora369]

Corn is definitly a no-no, rabbits cannot digest it properly and it causes havoc in their gut. A rabbit should not have any regular occurances of runny poo, if there it is a reoccuring thing, something in the diet is off.

The corn, calf manna and oats would definitly be a suspect for me. I really do think that those could have triggered a mushy poo attack. Lots of hay and no more of the high carb or protien food.

All of my buns get a small amount of low protien pellets, lots of hay and veggies as their regular diet. I have yet to have a bun with mushy poop.

I'm not sure about the banana. It does have a high amount of suger in it. I would be more inclined to push hay than give banana. But I don't have much experience with it.

--Dawn

 

[Maukin]

I've put in a nine hour day at the shelter, but since so many are so sweetly concerned with my little puffball, I'll update now instead of tomorrow.

First of all, thankyou for all of your comments and suggestions of things to try.

Dugan's stool went back to normal without doing much more than upping the hay, decresing the calf manna, and telling my four year old that rooster food was for roosters, not bunnies. I also found that Hubby gave him and Arwyn fresh spinachthe day before. Dugan has never had fresh greens and so I think the amount might have set off a gut upset. So I told Husband that as well meaning as he may be, no feeding bunnies, especially Dugan with being so young, without asking me if what he was giving them is ok.

Arwyn meanwhile has a gut of iron. She eats biscuits, pop tarts, pretzels, animal crakers. I have never before seen a rabbit BEG for food. She near about ambushes my kids "What does they have in their nasty little pocketsies??" She vacuums the floor like a dog. Yeesh. Trying to get THAT in hand.

So everything all in all, is fine. Thank you all, my sweet friends. So nice to have you around. You make my day brighter.

Hollie/Maukin

 

[luvthempigs]

I have seen bene-bac for birds and reptiles. Is that the same thing to use on rabbits or do they sell it specifically for rabbits?

 

[naturestee]

I'm so glad Dugan is feeling better!

Luvthempigs, Benebac is usually the same product but packaged different for different animals. The big tubes my vet prescribes aren't meant for any specific animal. Next time I'm in a farm store I'll be looking for the horse version since it's a big tube, since mine ran out and the pet store tubes are super tiny. I like to keep Benebac around for my two sensitive-stomach babies- Fey the dwarf hotot and Lily the cat. It really seems to help!