# Soft smelly poop



## lsmacd12 (Dec 8, 2013)

I have a 8.5 week old female rabbit that was only 7 weeks old when I got her. She keeps having a lot of soft very smelly poop. I know some of this is normal but my older rabbit has never had this problem. All I am feeding her is pellets and hay. Any suggestions?


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## JBun (Dec 8, 2013)

There's actually never anything normal about a rabbit having mushy poop. Changes in a rabbits poop always indicates a possible health problem. The most common cause of mushy poop would be cecal dysbiosis, which is an overgrowth of harmful bacteria in the rabbits cecum, most often caused by diet, but there are other causes as well. 

I just have a few questions. Has this been going on since you first got her? Do you know if she also had mushy poop in her last home? Do you feed any veggies or treats at all, or just the hay and pellets? What type of hay and pellets do you feed, and what amounts does she eat of each in a day? Is she getting the same kind of pellets that she had in her last home or were they changed and were they changed suddenly or slowly transitioned? Has she been stressed being in a new home? Have you noticed any other symptoms or any changes in behavior as well? Is the mushy poop watery at all, or are you seeing any blood or mucous in it? Are you also seeing the normal round fecal poop? How bad is it, just an occasional one or a lot? Is her bum being kept clean? Does she seem thin at all or at a healthy weight?

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm


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## Imbrium (Dec 9, 2013)

One of the most probable causes (especially if you haven't changed types of hay or brands of pellets recently) is that she's not eating some (or all) of her cecotropes. This is common in very young rabbits - as my vet says "they've got such a short attention span that they forget to eat them".

Is she producing a lot of normal fecal poops (the hard, dry, round little balls) but periodically leaving some soft, smelly poops that are darker than the normal poops and look like a tiny cluster of grapes? If so, then those are cecotropes (aka "cecals") and you don't need to worry about them. If not, then it's cause for concern.

With adults, you shouldn't ever see cecotropes around. If you do, it's generally an indication that their diet is too rich (too many pellets in most cases) or that they're overweight, arthritic or injured in a way that makes it difficult, painful or impossible for them to bend down and eat the cecotropes as they're excreted. Babies don't always remember or bother to eat them, though (plus they're allowed to have more pellets than adults while they're growing, so they may be producing more than they need).


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## Imbrium (Dec 9, 2013)

Just wandered across this site, which is excellent and should be able to help you narrow down the issue your bunny is having: http://imgur.com/a/5N4lD


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