IS THIS NORMAL

[bunnymama24]

hi! I have a 2 month old female outdoor rabbit named Oreo. I got her when she was about 7-8 weeks old. Lately I have been noticing mushier poo, although some poo is still normal, and today I noticed some light yellow around her nostrils. Her energy is perfectly normal, she’s grooming herself and me, she’s eating and drinking, she loves to run around outside of her hutch, does at least a binky a day. Her hutch is cleaned once a week and supplied with new hay. Please tell me if this is normal!

 

[JBun]

How long has the mushy poop been happening? Any diet changes or new foods recently introduced into her diet? What brand, type, and amount of pellets does she eat each day? What type of hay and is she eating at least a pile the size of her body each day? Does she get a pile of fresh hay each day, along with what you put in her hutch for the week? Are you feeding any veggies, treats, or supplements? What's her approximate size/weight? Is she still producing normal round fecal balls, along with the mushy poop you're seeing?

Have you seen any sticky white discharge from her nose, excessive sneezing, or matted crusty fur on the insides of her front paws(from her wiping her nose off)?

 

[bunnymama24]

How long has the mushy poop been happening? Any diet changes or new foods recently introduced into her diet? What brand, type, and amount of pellets does she eat each day? What type of hay and is she eating at least a pile the size of her body each day? Does she get a pile of fresh hay each day, along with what you put in her hutch for the week? Are you feeding any veggies, treats, or supplements? What's her approximate size/weight? Is she still producing normal round fecal balls, along with the mushy poop you're seeing?

Have you seen any sticky white discharge from her nose, excessive sneezing, or matted crusty fur on the insides of her front paws(from her wiping her nose off)?

There is no discharge or sneezing or crusty. she eats Timothy hay every day. She gets fresh water every day too. I took her off her pellets and her greens that I was giving her (spinach and arugula), temporarily just to see if her poo is returned to normal. It’s been about a week or two since the poo, only today i noticed the nose. She’s still producing regular poo balls too. She’s about 1 or 2 pounds. Let me know!

 

[JBun]

If the fecal balls are normal and there are mushy cecotropes, most commonly it's due to too many carbs from treats and/or pellets in a rabbits diet. Though sometimes it can be due to a sensitivity to a veggie/green or from a new food introduced into the diet too quickly. Occassionally there can be other causes like liver disease, so if you have any concerns, it's always best to consult with a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

This article in the link below, explains the most common cause of mushy cecotropes in rabbits, and how it is usually treated and corrected.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/

 

[W1ghtn1ght]

What breed is your bunny? Are you sure of her age? You stated she was 7 or 8 weeks when you got her but is 2 months old now (8 weeks). The transition from being with mom to on their own can sometimes take a few weeks. If she is a large breed, we often recommend they stay with mom longer, because their ability to maintain good gut flora needed to survive without mom takes longer to develop reliably. If she has normal fecal pellets, she may not be cleaning her cecotropes. Some rabbits do that occasionally. With just hay and fresh water, once she's cleaning them up add her pellets back. They need the vitamins and minerals the pellets contain. Avoid any of the other stuff for a few weeks to be sure she's maintaining that gut flora. You might offer her a probiotic along with her hay, to help the process. Hopefully it corrects shortly. Good luck.

 

[bunnymama24]

Thank you both so much!!