# tiny poop



## patches2593 (Mar 11, 2013)

my rabbit is pooping as muchas he reguraly does and its normal, but ive been finding a couple of tiny poops around his cage. it might even be pieces of poop but i dont want to assume its just pieces.

what could this be? he eats a lot of hay

thank you


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## JBun (Mar 11, 2013)

Usually small poops indicate that a rabbit may be going into GI stasis. I would think that a couple of them wouldn't mean there's a problem, unless you are noticing other signs of GI problems. It's also possible it's a dried out uneaten piece of a cecal, especially if it's a darker color than the normal fecal pellets.


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## patches2593 (Mar 11, 2013)

what are GI problems? ive heard of them but have never gotten a clear definition


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## LakeCondo (Mar 11, 2013)

Basically gas that rabbits can't get rid of. I would get a bottle of simethicone drops made for human babies, to have on hand as needed. One sign would be if the rabbit' skin got unusually tight because of gas buildup. Or there could be another kind of blockage & then no poop at all. But a few stray, small poops could just mean a final poop before going & doing something else.


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## JBun (Mar 11, 2013)

GI stasis is a gut slowdown, which can then result in a blockage. There can be several things that cause it. Most common is too many carbs and sugars in the diet. Others are stress, sudden change of diet, certain veggies causing gas buildup, molting, insufficient fiber in the diet, and pain from other health problems. GI stasis is just an end result of another problem. Here's a good article on it. Helps explain what it is and what causes it.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Not all rabbits are as prone to it, as others. I had one rabbit die from it, and I have a rabbit now, that has has it several times, and only stopped getting it when I took him completely off pellets and treats. He only gets hay and leafy veggies. Then I have other rabbits that have no digestive problems at all. All rabbits have the potential to have it, but some get it more easily, and with others it will take a lot more for them to develop problems.


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## Thumperina (Mar 11, 2013)

JBun said:


> Usually small poops indicate that a rabbit may be going into GI stasis. I would think that a couple of them wouldn't mean there's a problem, unless you are noticing other signs of GI problems. It's also possible it's a dried out uneaten piece of a cecal, especially if it's a darker color than the normal fecal pellets.


I also sometimes find small pieces and I really think this are exactly uneaten pieces of a cecal (in our case), as rabbits' behavior is far from suspecting them to be sick


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## patches2593 (Mar 13, 2013)

when i looked in his litterbox there were a couple strung together and a couple odd shaped poops (oval). hes still eating and acting regular but when i rubbed the sides of his stomach i could hear noises.

is there anything i can do for now at home? i dont want to bring him to the vet unless im a little bit more sure if it could be the gi stasis thing since money is tight and also because maybe he could just be going through a small face or hes just not feeling good.
but if it is one or something else then i have no problem bringing him to the vet. 


please let me know what you guys think

thank you so much


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## Nancy McClelland (Mar 13, 2013)

You could try simthecone (infant gas med), probiotics, and belly massage. I'd keep an eye out for the abnormal, but hopefully it's just an off day. Any time ours change their habits a little, I go into panic mode.


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## patches2593 (Mar 13, 2013)

i do too. apparently my friend when she was over said he was eating his fleece blankets. i always thought he was just shredding them because id find pieces of fleece in his cage. :/

how can i get him to stop chewing his blankets? its the flooring of his cage and underneath is linolium that he'd chew so icant really remove the blnakets unless i got something else he couldnt chew


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## JBun (Mar 13, 2013)

If he's molting right now, that could be the cause of the gut slowdown and the small fecals. As long as he's still eating and pooping, you may be ok for now, but you will want to make some diet changes to see if there is some improvement. I would cut way back on pellets, don't feed any treats, sugars, carbs, grains, or starches. Green leafy veggies are ok, but avoid cruciferous veggies, including the ones that are leafy. And feed tons of grass hay. With you cutting back on the pellets he should eat lots more hay, which is what you want, and it should help the digestion move better and hopefully clear up this problem.

You may not need simethicone yet, if he isn't showing any signs of discomfort or pain, doesn't have a bloated belly at all, and he is still eating normally. You may want to be caustious with the probiotics as well. I use them with my rabbits at times, but once when first using it with one of my rabbits, it actually upset his stomach and caused a gut slowdown and small poops, which he hadn't had before. So now when I first start to give it to a rabbit, I start with a very small amount, smaller than the size of a pea, and gradually increase the amount, as long as it doesn't seem to cause or worsen the digestive problems. I use the Probios gel, but there are several other brands that you could use as well.

Not sure what you could use to replace the fleece with. Flooring is hard for rabbits cause the need something non slip, but then with chewers, you also need something chew resistant. Maybe try and provide lots of other things for him, that are safer to chew on.


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## indianavex (Mar 13, 2013)

Cas appears to be predisposed to this sort of stuff, so I've dealt with it many a time. The one time I didn't respond fast enough she went into stasis and I blew an astronomical amount at the emergency vet to keep her alive.

Gut massages work (don't mind any poots on your wrist), some bunnies like something warm to lie on (dry rice in a sock, nuke it in the microwave a minute or so it's warm but not hot), infant gas relief. The way I've kept Cassie up through it all (she gets smaller poops and pearl necklaces any time she sheds) is by feeding her ~1/2c wet greens daily and either pencil-eraser sized fresh pineapple or unsweetened dried papaya. I'd experiment a bit to see what works for your bun, but if you're seeing strung together and smaller poops, something's up in the bowels and it could go somewhere nasty. Keep an eye out!


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## patches2593 (Mar 14, 2013)

should i still give him papaya and possibly dried pineapple?
i put hay all over his cage and on each floor and put in a timothy cube and when i came home today there weren't any signs of him chewing or eating the blanket. (unless i didnt see it because it was one quick glance).

im not sure what else i could use to replace the fleece like Jbun said. :/


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## patches2593 (Mar 14, 2013)

or since he is chewing/eating his blanket which could be causing a blockage, is there anything i can make like a shredding box that he could possibly eat/shred/chew and it would be safe and not worsen his blockage? (if he has one)


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## indianavex (Mar 15, 2013)

The problem with a solid blockage is that once you have one, they can be really hard to get rid of and, at worst, fatal. Don't give anything sugary to a rabbit with a blockage because it can only make the problem worse--ie. the fruit, carrots, pellets, etc. Make sure they mostly get roughage (hay and leafy greens, if you feed them) and plenty of water. If you feed greens, a good trick is to wet them before feeding to sneak in a bit extra water when you can. You need something to move the gut along and plenty of water to keep things moist down there. If you don't feed greens, now's not the time to start. Suddenly introducing new food into a diet can make gut problems worse.

For an easy shredding box, take a plastic tub or cardboard box and fill it with ripped newspaper and hay. I'm always wary of newspaper because of the ink and paper-making process, but plenty of people use it without problem and it sounds like he needs something to tear into. I might also make sure he has cardboard boxes on hand because those are always fun to chew/toss/destroy. Toilet paper rolls stuff full of hay, paper towel tubes, all great and very wreckable toys.

And for the blanket, I'm not sure. If you have something for him to destroy that isn't the blanket, he might stop eating it but that's no guarantee. I personally don't have any sort of soft-bottomed place in my rabbit's cage other than her litter box, but if you're set on having something soft maybe see if you can't find an inexpensive, very short and tight pile rug to use instead? He still might tear into that, though.


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## patches2593 (Mar 15, 2013)

i actually took the blankets out and layed cardboard down and covered it in hay. i think it will work out perfectly so i am very happy 

he is eating lots of hay and drinking water and i cut his usual amount of pellets in half and i give him a papaya in the monring and at night. is there anything else i can do to try to pass the blockage?

thank you everyone . i appreciate everyone's feedback


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## DrSki (Mar 16, 2013)

Sydney has been a multi GI bunny and we too have spent time in the emergency and regular vet and many sleepless nights. The biggest thing is to keep him eating and hydrated. Sydney also gets fresh pineapple each night. When things are bad, we do fresh pineapple juice in a syringe instead.


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## JBun (Mar 16, 2013)

Luckily you caught it early and you aren't dealing with a blockage yet, but just a gut slowdown. Decreasing pellets so that he eats more hay, is going to be what helps get that gut moving again. And making sure he's drinking good. Leafy greens may help as well, just avoid anything sugary and starchy, and any cruciferous veggies. If after a day or two, he's still having abnormal poops, you may want to decrease the pellet amount again.


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## indianavex (Mar 16, 2013)

As JBun says, you're lucky you caught it early (poo patrol is a very important bunny owner job!). Just keep it up with the hay and water and less pellets and if he doesn't improve/gets worse, be prepared to take him to a vet. Diligence is really the key here, and it sounds like you're paying very close attention. 

(as an aside, JBun keeps mentioning cruciferous veggies and I just wanted to give a link to a list so you know, just in case you didn't!)


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## patches2593 (Mar 16, 2013)

thank you everybody. ill continue what im doing (basically what everyone listed to do) and if i dont notice a change after some time or its worse i will most definitely take him to the vet. 

i appreciate all of your responses


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