Soft Stools (Daisy)

[Bunman]

3 month old (roughly) Daisy was having some loose stools so i switched her to hay. Now i'm giving her 50/50 alfalfa pellets & tim pellets also. Should a young bun be on 100% alfalfa pellets or can i continue to mix in the tim pellets for the extra fiber?

Daisy was a stray i got from the shelter - she was a bit shy at first but with the usual TLC she's blossomed in about a month to an affectionate & confident bun who loves to lick me. At first she would often go to the back of the cage & "freeze"with fear. She hardly ever does that now.

 

[FreddysMom]

Are you positive the shelter labeled her age correctly? Normal protein issues don;t come up until later months usuallly around 7-8mo for a smaller rabbit and a few later for larger breeds.

Also when did the soft stools start? Are they a sudden thing? Your issue may not be amount of protein but rather the actual sudden change in diet is enough to upset the young delicate GI system. Or if that young it may be a possible case of mucoid enteritis.

Please respond with as many details as possible so we can best assist you in figuring out what the soft stools are from and then what can help.

 

[Bunman]

OK - she was on alfalfa pellets, hay, & fresh greens. She started having some soft stools a few days ago so I put her on hay only. Then the soft stools stopped & right now she is on a limited mix of alfalfa pellets & tim pellets + unlimited hay, & a smaller amount of greens.

Her stools have been normal for a couple of days. I thought maybe a continuing mix of alfalfa pellets & tim pellets would help prevent the soft stools, but my concern there is will she get enough protein?

I have no idea how the shelter arrived at the 3 mo. age - she was a stray. I can say that she definitely is still growing, however!

 

[FreddysMom]

How long have you had her on the greens? and isit just one kind? If she is three months introducing her to too many things at once or even just too much of one thing will cause her to have runny stools.

Also was she eating alfalfa hay or timothy hay? If she is still growing, you want to make sure she is getting the protein she needs during her growth spurts. So you may want to only feed timothy hay and alfalfa pellets. Or if you are already feeding timothy haystick to the formula you are using it seems to have helped.

Just because she is so young and diarrhea can dehydrate her quickly I would remove the greens from her diet for now. You can always re-introduce them to her later when her system has settled down a bit and you have found a diet regimen that suits her.

Just for the next week because she has had runny stools, I would pickup some pedialyte for her to drink.She can still be dehydrated even if she is still drinking.

 

[Bunman]

OK, thanks. She only had a few loose stools for a couple days so i don't imagine she is dehydrated. She is drinking plenty as usual. I will keep her on the tim hay & half pellets then. She has been doing fine with a tiny bit of 2 different kinds of greens once a day but i will pull them if any more trouble.

 

[Bunman]

She had another caecal today so i am stopping all greens. I had her back on unlimited pellets, which seemed to be causing the problem.

I can restrict pellets, but how much should i give her considering she needs them for growth? I'm keeping her on the usual KT TimCubes, which are mostly tim with some alf added.