He goes "oof oof oof"

[coco_puffs]

Good morning all! I am new here and had a very nice and informative welcome over in the introduction forum.

I just adopted Coco, a one-year old Netherland Dwarf and, not knowing his history, or anything about keeping rabbits, took him straight to the vet where he got an excellent physical from an exotics vet. I don't know why but the vets around here don't see rabbits. Anyway .....

I have two questions. 1) He makes this little grunting noise sometimes when I pick him up. "Ooof ooof oooof" is what it sounds like. And right now he's relaxing under a table (for about two hours now) and all of a sudden he started making a grunting/snoring sound. But his eyes were open. Is this grunting/noise making normal?

2) I am fighting the urge to give him treats but he is a maniac for granola. Runs circles around me when I have the bag in my hand. It's very hard not to give him some, but I don't want to cause him digestion problems, as I was told that oats might do that. What are the signs of digestion problems in a rabbit? I assume abnormal droppings are an indicator.

Thank you in advance for any an all advice. I am brand new to keeping rabbits but already love my little Coco so much. I want to make sure he's very well cared for.

 

[JBun]

The sound he's making, when resting, is most likely snoring. I have a little bun that snores too, when she's asleep. And they can sleep with their eyes wide open. The grunting when you pick him up, may just be cause he doesn't like being picked up. Pretty normal with rabbits. Some rabbits are also just very vocal. I have a dwarf breed as well, and they tend to be a lot more vocal than my bigger buns.

I would think that granola might be ok, as long as it's just plain granola, without nuts. Like what I said in your other thread, it would be considered a treat, so if you are giving granola, you would consider it his treat for the day, and also give a little less, as it's coated in sugar, and also because you have a very small breed, you need to give a very small amount for treats. Changes in a rabbits poop, is indeed, usually the first indicator of digestive trouble, but there are also subtle changes in behavior that can tip you off to there being a problem. If you become familiar with what to look for, then you can often catch something before it gets critical and life threatening. So with the poop you look for them becoming really small or very large and possibly irregular shaped, soft and mushy, diarrhea, decreased output, or no pooping at all. Changes in behavior can be sitting hunched up in a corner for long periods of time, laying down with the butt pushed up and the belly pressed to the floor, changing positions frequently trying to find a way to be comfortable(like laying down and getting back up immediately, and doing this repeatedly), squinting the eyes, grinding teeth, decrease appetite or not wanting to eat, or just a change in behavior that seems abnormal for your rabbit. Here is some good info on digestive problems and what a rabbits poop looks like, if you want to read up on it.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Bunny_201.pdf

The sensitivity of a rabbit to digestive problems, varies with each rabbit. Some can go their whole life with out any problems at all, and some have constant digestive problems. I have both. I have one rabbit that seems to have an iron stomach, and I have another rabbit that has constant issues and has to be on a very strict diet. I've also had a rabbit that had a digestive disorder(that I didn't realize at the time), I was giving her treats that ended up getting her sick, and she died. So I'm very careful now, about keeping a close eye on my rabbits and their poop. I check it everyday when I feed them, to make sure everyone is doing ok. Some people don't really have any problems with their rabbits, and so never have to deal with this kind of thing, but because I had the one rabbit die, and have one that got sick, and another that has a genetic digestive disorder, I've pretty much learned to be hypervigilant about this kind of thing.

 

[coco_puffs]

Wow, you are a fountain of information. You must have been caring for rabbits for a long time! Thanks again for all the info and insights and links. I will definitely be reading them. I'm going to chock the noise making up to being a rabbit And fortunately, he loves being held, handled and picked up, though I have to admit it took me a couple of days to learn *how* to pick him up. Those back legs are deadly, lol. Thanks again, I'm certain I'll be back with more questions!!

Also, I am going to stop giving him the teaspoon of rolled oats in his pellet dish every morning. He will get the lowest sugar-content granola as a treat during the boring hours of the day, but not too much!

 

[LakeCondo]

Or you could slowly switch to the oatmeal rather than the granola, but maybe a total of a teaspoon or 2 spread out over a week, with such a small rabbit. I add a pinch at a time to the pellets.

 

[JBun]

I have had rabbits for a while, but it's having several ones with health problems, that kind of propelled me to learn quite a bit, so I would be able to help them. Haha, you're right about those legs. I've been scratched lots, and that is even with being careful.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Back to the sounds--Lilli does that when I'm not fast enough with the veggies or treats.

 

[agnesthelion]

Jenny is definitely our health guru around here. If you have an infirmary question she's your gal!

Is your boy fixed? Grunting can also be hormonal as well. Or sometimes just to show they are mad.

Rabbits usually don't love being picked up. I would say if they seem to like it, it means they tolerate it

As far as treats my two think their greens are treats. They get just as excited for those and for other things. So if you want to incorporate healthy treats try fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, basil etc. Also leafy greens as well. If he hasn't had them before introduce them in small amounts and one at a time to watch for any poop changes.

 

[coco_puffs]

Jenny is definitely our health guru around here. If you have an infirmary question she's your gal!

Is your boy fixed? Grunting can also be hormonal as well. Or sometimes just to show they are mad.

Rabbits usually don't love being picked up. I would say if they seem to like it, it means they tolerate it

As far as treats my two think their greens are treats. They get just as excited for those and for other things. So if you want to incorporate healthy treats try fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, basil etc. Also leafy greens as well. If he hasn't had them before introduce them in small amounts and one at a time to watch for any poop changes.

Thank you! Coco had an enlarged low hanging testicle (vet said his Chinese name was "One Hung Lo" - cracked me up.) So we had him neutered. We paid $30 to adopt him, his cage and his hay. Spent $400 at the vet!

Thanks also for the nutrition advice. That's the most important thing to me.

 

[coco_puffs]

Also, JBun - I was reading through the links you left and I have a question about their feces. I know they have fecal matter and cecal matter, but I couldn't determine if the cecal is really poop. I know it's nutrition for them and they need it, but I can't imagine they eat their own waste. Doesn't seem natural.

 

[JBun]

You know when your bunny tucks it's head down and looks like it's cleaning, and comes up munching on something, that's the cecals. I know, seems a little gross, but it's how rabbits can get the nutrition they need. I guess in a way it is and isn't poop. It does come out of the same place as the fecals, but cecals aren't waste matter. It's like all of the nutrition gathered from everything they eat, concentrated in a tiny cluster. Kind of like a multi vitamin for them. It's a necessary function for a rabbit, and ones that are unable to eat their cecals, can actually start to get sick from not getting the proper nutrition.

 

[coco_puffs]

I read that exact thing (illness from non consumption) in the link you left. I also read that they eliminate this cecal matter and consume it every day. Well, I found one last night in his cage, which means he didn't eat it or he ate only part of it. Is it normal to find one now and then? I'm so sorry for all the questions but I didn't see anything about them skipping one now and then, and I worry most about his health. Thanks again, you've been so great! (I am reading and studying but there is a lot to learn!)

 

[coco_puffs]

I found my post. I'm an idiot I don't know how to delete!

 

[JBun]

A lot of rabbits will leave an uneaten, or half eaten cecal behind(in fact I found one just this morning), but it's usually not a big deal. It's when they start leaving a whole bunch behind, that you have to figure out what is causing it. It can just be that they are a new baby and don't have very good attention spans and forget to eat them, or a rabbit is overweight and can't reach down there to get them. It can also happen if a rabbit is sick, and also if they have too rich of a diet- which is pretty easily fixed by just cutting back on pellets a little.

You're right, there's so much to learn about these little guys. Sometimes I'll get engrossed in some sort of rabbit topic, and find hours have passed by. The library section, here on RO, also has a lot of good info and links too, for rabbit related stuff.