Tiny Rabbit poops

Question
Hello Dana

Please could you help me, my rabbit has started doing a complete range of rabbit droppings. Some are normal size and then some are smaller then some even smaller. I took him to the vets and she felt his tummy for any bloackages or inflamation and couldnt find anything and said it is normal for his poops to vary, but i have never noticed small droppings before (his are normally quite large). Please could you advise if this does sound normal.

Also he hasnt drank for about 3 weeks now, but the vets says he is not dehydrated at all...could this be the cause of his tiny poops or is he going into GI. His eating habbits havent changed at all and he still eats a lot...pellets, hay, carrots, herbs, brocolli, sprouts and roamine lettuce - could he be getting his water needs from his food, so doesnt feel the need to drink from his bottle or dish at the moment????

between christmas and new year he ate quite a large bit of my scarf...could this also have an impact to why his poops are varying??

sorry for so many questions but I feel like i am going out of my mind with worry at the moment. I know I should trust my vet but dont want to leave it until there is a full on stop in poops before I do something more about it.

your help would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks Dana.

Vicki

Answer
Dear Vicki,

First, it is very difficult to assess a rabbit's state of hydration by feel, until the rabbit is *very* dehydrated. So take the note that the rabbit is "not at all" dehydrated with a grain of sodium chloride.  Small, desiccated poops are sometimes the first sign that the system is not sufficiently hydrated.

What was the scarf made from?  This could be a concern, depending on whether it's a digestible material (e.g., cotton) or not.  

Another possibility is molar spurs.  But I think you will need to find a vet who is very experienced with rabbits to do more aggressive diagnostics to see what's going on.  You may be able to find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Please also see:

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

and

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

Hope this helps.

Dana