Stomach issues, stools, etc.

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I have a Holland Lop rabbit, female, about 7-8 months old. I saw her in a pet store (I know) and fell in love with her. She's started out in a little starter cage, then I got her a large dog crate (put a level in there and all), then decided I HAD to get her a bigger cage, so I got her a plastic hutch (pricy, but worth it) & fenced in the bottom of it, added some levels, removed the floor tray & put a hole so she can get up & down. We have dogs on the main floor & my room in the attic don't have heat or ac. So I keep her int he basement (which has heat). We're always up & down there so she gets plenty of attention.

Okay, so my problem started a week ago. I went down to let her out & she was sleeping. Didn't seem like she wanted to come out, so I left her be. Later, she was still sleepy. She came out but went back in and was just laying on the tile of the floor (off the blankie & rugs), flat, stretched, etc. She hadn't pooped, wasn't eating & wouldn't drink. I moved her food/water to the bottom, kept checking on her all night (it was Friday night). By Saturday morning, she was back to normal.

I know I give her too many treats. She was getting at least 3-6 little apple & banana Puffs (the cereal-type things for babies). I cut back on those before she got sick, now stopped them all together. She loves those Edible Logz & I thought they would be great for her teeth. Takes her about a month to eat one. I recently read that it's made of honey, alfalfa & pine wood chips (which I wouldn't have even thought). I've only been letting her chew that while out of her cage, not keeping it in there at all times. She gets little apple stick chews & chewed through one in a day I guess because she has no log.

She gets unlimited Timothy Hay. WAS getting a handful of pellets (from the pet store cos she wouldn't ever eat other brands I tried) with carrot crunchies in it. I only give her a TINY bit now. I'm afraid I gave her something that made her sick & now I'm paranoid. She was getting these little puff things with green/yellow/orange nuggets. Hard things for her teeth, & supposedly healthy. Plus I'd give her about an inch-long carrot crunch. That's really all she gets. Plus fresh carrot tops every day.

Called a vet & mentioned hair in the stool so they said fresh pineapple juice. But then I keep reading conflicting things about that. Bad for the stomach, good for the hair. Rub belly to push the gas out, don't cos that could be bad. I don't know what to believe.

She never chews her blankies, but she did have a cardboard box in her hutch that she would chew. I realized she wasn't spitting it out & was eating it, but didn't think it would hurt her. Now some people say it can, some say it can't. When I took the box out, I saw it had a seam where glue had been, so maybe she ingested some of that & got sick? Or she ate a wandering cricket? I thought she had something blocking her or a serious issue, but then she got better fast & left me confused. Upset stomach? Too much log or cardboard? She gets vitamins in her water every day & it's bottled spring or drinking water.

Her poop looks okay now, plenty of it, no sign of cecals (once in a while), she takes a bite of fecals once in a while. I brush her every day. She's been shaking her head a bit, but I don't see anything weird in her ears. Nails keep trimmed. Eating/drinking fine now. Exercise. Some of the poop does still get hair linking it, but I don't wanna give her pineapple every day & mess something up (her belly gurgles when she eats/drinks it, which I guess is normal, but still I'm paranoid). A FEW of her poops are smaller than usual, but don't know if that's a big thing.

Any ideas?

ANSWER: Dear Lisa,

I'm not really clear about what the problem is, exactly.  Lethargy?  Chronic runny stool?  If it was just hair in the fecal pellets, that's not uncommon.  As long as she's eating plenty of fresh hay and drinking plenty of water, it should pass through.  It's when a bunny ingests hair and does NOT poop it out that you have trouble.

I think these articles will help you figure out whether you have a problem:

How to tell if your bunny is sick:

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

The meaning of abnormal poops:

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

And if your bunny stops eating and/or producing poops, this can be a life-saver:

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

If you are not sure you know a good rabbit vet, you can find one here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps get you informed about the problems you might be facing here.  Also note that Holland Lops are very prone to chronic dental problems, and *this* can contribute to runny stool, as odd as this may sound.  Please see:

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

I hope this helps.


Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi. I guess by trying to provide a lot of details, it became overwhelming.

The problem was she wasn't eating for a good 12 hours, wasn't pooping or drinking, wasn't playing. She was just laying on the bottom of her cage (on the cool tile part, not the carpet) where she never lays, all stretched out (so her stomach was flat on the tile). She looked really sleepy, like she wanted to take a nap at any moment, which is why I thought at first I had just woken her up while cleaning out her cage. But it lasted 12 hours. I thought she may have had a blockage or something, but by morning, she was back to her normal self.

I read a lot of links during (and prior) to the incident and usually they all ended up in some sort of gut problem that had to be helped by the vet. I hadn't really seen anything about rabbits just getting over it, so I was just wondering if they often get tummy problems that fix themselves or what. I also wasn't sure what to do if I knew she DID have gas or a blockage since everyone is conflicted ("Massage her belly!" "Don't massage her belly cos it makes it worse!") and was hoping to get some insight into the correct way to handle it if a vet wasn't available at the hour.

Was also hoping to get some advice on the food/treats as I've stopped giving her all but timothy hay, carrot tops (tiny bit of carrot once a day), a corn/hay/carrot nugget here and there and a tiny amount of pellets every other day (since she loves those). I only let her chew on her Edible Logz (pine wood shavings, honey, etc ingredients) when she's out of her cage for a bit at a time. Not sure if any of this contributed to her tummy problems so I don't know what to even give her any more (I stopped the baby Puff cereals as a treat, stopped the hay twist rope things, stopped the little seed block treats she loved).

Do you know of a site that accepts questions about this where I could ask to know for sure?

Thanks.

Answer
Dear Lisa,

> Do you know of a site that accepts questions about this where I could ask to know for sure?

Without seeing your bunny and examining here, it's impossible for *anyone* to know for sure what happened, if anything.  If someone tells you s/he is sure what caused this episode in your bunny, then--not to be too crass about it--but they are talking out their a**.

A bunny who is stretched out is NOT likely to be suffering from abdominal pain.  A bunny with intestinal troubles will almost invariably hunch up into a tight ball, rather than stretch out.

A stretched out bunny is usually just very relaxed.  If she showed no other signs of trouble, then I doubt she was even ill.  If she was eating and drinking normally, then she was not ill.

If she was refusing food, then there may have been a problem.  But without more information, I'd just be guessing, and so would anyone else.

I'm glad she's better now, though.

Dana