Hmmm. Not the reaction I would have expected if a food didn't agree with her.

[Space Monkey]

But I don't really know what I should have expected. Maybe diarrhea or outright rejecting the food.

So Miss Freya has successfully eaten and enjoyed romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, dandelion greens, cilantro, mint, rosemary, and maybe something else I'm not thinking of at the moment. Dandelion and cilantro are her favorites by far it seems.

Oh! Quick pause! She's now 6 months and 1 week old. We've had her for over 2 months. She's doing fantastic and seems more dog than rabbit. She's almost completely transitioned to adult pellets from her youth alfalfa pellets in a little over two weeks time.

Back to my post...

So anyways we tried Arugula and she ate it and seemed to really enjoy it over the course of 4 or 5 days, but her poops got small, then a little smaller, and stayed really small while she was trying it. At first I didn't know what to think and then it registered for me that the only new thing was Arugula. I stopped it and her poops went back to normal.

Is this what happens when a rabbit doesn't agree with a green? One of many things that can happen? Pure coincidence? She liked it a lot but I don't want to give it to her again if it was the culprit here. She's perfectly fine now and didn't seem out of the ordinary while on it, other than small poops.

 

[Blue eyes]

Yup. That can be a sign that that particular green doesn't agree with her. Those changes in poos are a telltale sign that something is amiss. You did right by stopping it -- the poos returning to normal seems to confirm that.

Rabbits can be peculiar little things. They may happily munch on a poisonous plant or candy bar or a bag of potato chips--- all to their detriment and never the wiser.

Good thing Miss Freya has an attentive parent!

 

[JBun]

Did you notice a reduction in eating of any of her food, especially hay? Or showing any signs of discomfort(belly pressing, frequently shifting position from laying down to sitting up, uncharacteristically hanging out in the litter box or by the water bowl, sitting hunched in a corner, eye squinting)?

Signs of pain in rabbits

 

[Space Monkey]

Did you notice a reduction in eating of any of her food, especially hay? Or showing any signs of discomfort(belly pressing, frequently shifting position from laying down to sitting up, uncharacteristically hanging out in the litter box or by the water bowl, sitting hunched in a corner, eye squinting)?

Signs of pain in rabbits

No to all of the above. She remained her usual hyper, happy, food obsessed self. As she's gotten older she's eating more hay than ever. Being that she's a small 3 lb rabbit I always worry that she's not eating enough of it, but it can be hard to tell. What I did to make it easier to tell what she eats is I rearranged her area and gave her just one litter box with just one hay manger to make it easier to see how much she eats and to monitor poops. I have to refill the manger daily. She will never reject her pellets, treats, or greens. Arugula was the other new thing and it brought no unusual behavior, but her poops started to look half the size and eventually became little pebbles. It was odd. I stopped the Arugula when I put it together in my head that this could be an issue and she quickly went back to full sized poops.

 

[JBun]

That is weird. Usually poop will only get smaller because their appetite is affected and they're eating less so less is going through. Maybe inflammation caused by a sensitivity to the arugula? Can't imagine what else it would be.

What can I say, you have a little oddball there