# Bunny ate carpet... :(



## kirbyultra (Jan 11, 2009)

I woke up this morning and went to Kirby's room to feed him... I saw him with something like a noodle hanging out of his mouth. We both gave each other 2 seconds to stare. Then I realized it was carpet fiber!!! I rushed to unlock the fence and was going to wrestle it out of his mouth but he saw me coming and quickly gobbled it up before I could get to him. UGH!!!!!!! :grumpy:

Hubby said he saw bunny do that the day before but he caught the fiber in time before he swallowed. A few days ago I saw what looked like a rather long string of hairy fibers connecting 3 poopie pellets in his litter box. My bunny's a satin so he doesn't have long hair. I found it strange to see hair in his poop as I've never seen him have any before and not that long for sure! Now it all makes sense. He's been eating carpet!

He's had this area rug/carpet for weeks and he's never had a problem with it. Sadly this morning I rolled it back up and put it away... Kirby doesn't like to walk on the hardwood floor so now he has a smaller space to play on (we have some smaller shorter fiber floor mats). I don't understand. He has had the same area rug for a while and just suddenly he started to find so much interest in eating it? He still hasn't pooped out the fiber that I saw him ate at 8:00AM and it's 11:40PM... I think their digestive cycles are much shorter than 12 hours. Why hasn't he pooped it out yet?  Blockage?:shock:

Kirby is moving around very regularly, doesn't seem to be in pain or otherwise abnormal at all. But I am worried... He loves to eat those timothy fuzzy heads and the softer hay. I'm about to go dig through our bin of hay and hand-pick some pieces just so he'll eat some more today...


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## Pipp (Jan 11, 2009)

Keep a very close eye on his output. 

I'd really make a point of getting some canned pumpkin ASAP. 

Does he eat a lot of veggies? If so, soak them in cold water for a bit and give him more than usual, but not too sudden a change.

I know the standard treatment is encouraging a lot of hay eating, but I'm of the opinion wet fibre is a far better bet, and you get those from veggies and pumpkin. Still encourage the hay eating. Just don't give him any pellets. 

Most important thing is to watch his poops. If he doesn't poop or they're small and misshapen, he'll need treatment. (Just don't let the vet give him Reglan or Cisapride).

Hope everything comes out okay!


sas :goodluck


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## Pipp (Jan 11, 2009)

PS: Moving this to the Infirmary


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## kirbyultra (Jan 11, 2009)

Will rip up some lettuce right after this post!!! Thanks! It's late here so pumpkin's probably more for tomorrow. Is canned pumpkin the somewhat mushy stuff or should I be looking for some special kind of canned pumpkin? 

Can you define "misshapen" for me? I will take a few pix of his pellets in a few ... please be the judge.

He's currently chomping away at the hay I picked out for him. He was also moving around quite a bit because I took out his normally-mounted ball of hay and let him roll around on the floor with it. He seemed to be having fun and be in good spirits. I will be checking first thing tomorrow to see if he's worked out the carpet stuff. :?

He loves... loves... LOVES pellets. I hope he works it out soon. He gets so cranky when I am even an hour late with his pellets and starts to demand them!


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## kirbyultra (Jan 11, 2009)

Kirby has had about a half portion of wet romaine. And now is working on some hay again... 

Side view (good view). As you can see, some are big, some are smaller, some of rounder than others... is that "misshapen"? :shock:







Top view (not so good view)








My bun's hay ball


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## Maureen Las (Jan 11, 2009)

those poops are normal and healthy looking...sometimes it takes while for things to work themselves down the digestive tract because it is so long. I wouldn;t be worried; I think that she'll be fine.


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## AngelnSnuffy (Jan 11, 2009)

How is Kirby doing?

(Yeah, the poos look decent, just push hydration. Keep an eye on the poo outakes though.)


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## kirbyultra (Jan 11, 2009)

Kirby is doing fine. He hasbeen happily running around all day! Still no sign of that carpet fiber. I am starting to question whether what I saw was really carpet or not. I am 90% sure it was. I am concerned it's taken so long... but I changed his litter box today to fresh litter and have thoroughly examined his output from the previous day - nothing! And all day today he's pooped once, still nothing. I found canned pumpkin in the baking aisle. Is that the right one? It's a huge can, I don't know what I'll do with all that pumpkin left. I checked the label: it's pure pumpkin puree, no added salt, sugar or anything. Do you think I should still feed him some? How much is ok and how often? 

It's ruining me! I couldn't sleep all last night, checked in on him every few hrs and had a nightmare about poor Kirby :grumpy: In reality however he's binkying and perfectly happy. lol I'm such a basketcase.


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## Elf Mommy (Jan 11, 2009)

Some people use grass mats for their buns to walk on...safe to eat  I have some foam pads (as does Mouse_Chalk, another of our members), but I don't let her run on them unsupervised, as I'm not sure if she'll chew on them or not. I hope the carpet passes easily!


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## Pipp (Jan 11, 2009)

:yeahthat:

Grass mats are the best. I try and find the ones made locally just to avoid any sprays or anything that might be on ones from China, but that's just me being overly cautious.

As long as Kirby's poops are the same volume and a normal size and shape, he's fine. 

Keep in mind that rabbits in their natural habitant munch on trees and all sorts of things, they're not so delicate! 

And yes, that's the right pumpkin. You can use it as a treat (which will help get him used to it if he does need it again), or you can freeze it. Canned pumpkin is a 'must have' in bunny ER kits around here.


sas :bunnydance:


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## kirbyultra (Jan 11, 2009)

Grass mats, gotcha! I saw him scratching at the little mats that have really tight loops (versus the bigger stringy looped area rug that he ate the other day) solooks like his new hobby is floor-eating

I opened a can of pumpkin and scooped out about 1 tablespoon for him on a bowl. Yeah he's not really feeling like eating it. He sniffed it up bigtime but he hasn't gotten to tasting it yet. I am refrigerating the rest... have yet to know what I will do in case Kirby doesn't like eating it I also bought an extra can "in case". 

So what exactly does pumpkin do for a bunny's digestive system? Is it a relaxant or a laxative or something? Or is just simply something that offers moisture and fiber? 

Thanks for your help everyone! I was so troubled and I feel so much more at ease now. 

:dutchwill be making that donation now... this community is so wonderful!


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## Pipp (Jan 12, 2009)

Thanks so much! :thanks:

It usually takes my guys a bit before they warm up to the pumpkin, I just leave it out or stick a treat in it, and they usually eventually decide to try it and grow very fond of it.  

Pipp, of course, prefers her's diva style -- I have to warm it up and dry it a little in a paper towel. :rollseyes

It makes things easier when you have to stick medicine in it or syringe feed it when they're not feeling well. 

Pumpkin is great for wet fibre, which is the best thing when you have a bunny needing something that goes through the system easily and/or when they're not eating enough on their own and need something you can stick in their mouths.

Mine get precautionary blobs when they're molting just to keep those hairballs moving along. They consider it a treat.  

Hope Kirby continues to fill his litterbox! :litterhealthy:


sas :flowerskiss:


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## kirbyultra (Jan 13, 2009)

Litter box is definitely full! He's doing his business quite regularly. Still no signs of carpet strings. Maybe I imagined it. Or maybe he bit it up into smaller pieces and I can't see them... But he's still eating and pooping and happy as ever. 

He sniffed the pumpkin a lot last night but he didn't really touch it. Today? I gave him a tablespoon and he gobbled it up -- he is now licking the bottom of the bowl. It's already quite clean and he's still licking! What a bunny I have! It's actaully really cute watching him lick and bite into something mushy. It's different from his usual crunching :bunny24

I posted a thread in the Behaviors forumabout his recent increased grooming and loose furs. On the upside I did see his water bowl take a noticable dipin water level. He also licked the bottom of his salad plate that usually has a lot of residue water from his lettuce. His increased grooming coupled with the phantom carpet has me worried but seeing him hopping around so happily and constantly eating a healthy dose of hay makes me think maybe it isn't so bad. I'm watching his litter box still!


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## kirbyultra (Jan 13, 2009)

This morning I checked his box and I saw the little carpet fibers! YAY!So I didn't imagine it after all! I'm not sure it was the pumpkin or not but I squeezed some of his pellets and they were softer than before. I found one of his pellets somewhat busted open in half, with a few carpet fibers sticking out. Maybe he stepped on it but maybe it came out that way. If it is the pumpkin making the poos softer, I won't give it to him very often in the future.


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## tonyshuman (Jan 13, 2009)

Wow! My guys have eaten their share of strange things, even carpet, and I've never seen it come out the other end. You also might want to give a bit more hay and put some in/near his litterbox. That will encourage him to eat more of it. They won't eat the pieces they've "done" on.


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## kirbyultra (Jan 13, 2009)

Yah I give him lots and lots of hay - he is never short of the stuff! He is a very good hay eater and really loves tugging the strands out of his hay ball. I put a pile inside his litter box (he has a large enough litter box that he poos on one side and munches on the other) daily. 

I was told Kirby's previous owner fed him only pellets... no greens... little hay, if any... he had a hard tummy when he was was surrendered. But once he got a taste of the things that were good for him he's been a model bunny :biggrin2::biggrin2:


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## Maureen Las (Jan 13, 2009)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Yah I give him lots and lots of hay - he is never short of the stuff! He is a very good hay eater and really loves tugging the strands out of his hay ball. I put a pile inside his litter box (he has a large enough litter box that he poos on one side and munches on the other) daily.
> 
> I was told Kirby's previous owner fed him only pellets... no greens... little hay, if any... he had a hard tummy when he was was surrendered. But once he got a taste of the things that were good for him he's been a model bunny :biggrin2::biggrin2:


"being a really good bunny owner is taking apart poops for days looking for the rug "
I never found someof the stuff that went in my rabbits. I'm sure that it went in butI never found it. 
You are a good poop detective :biggrin2:


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## kirbyultra (Jan 14, 2009)

LOL!

:thumbup


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## tonyshuman (Jan 14, 2009)

Oh good! I wasn't sure if that hay ball thing was all he got.


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