healthy food and diarrhea

Question
My son has a floppy eared rabbit, he is almost 5. While at college my son did not feed him very many veg's. He ate alot of oatmeal, pellets, sometimes veg's.  He live's with me know and I feed him timothy hay, timothy pellets, romaine lettuce, radish greens, celery(when he'll eat it). Now if my son gives him oatmeal or cereal (without my knowledge) he develops diarrhea. Is that because he is older or because he is not used to it anymore. I don't feed it to him because I know it is hard on their digestive systems.  My son said he would only see him once a day sometimes and I am with him all the time. He seems more delicate know, is that my fault or is it because he is older.  I want to help him live as long as possible.

Answer
Dear Beth,

Lop rabbits have a tendency to have molar spurs and other dental problems, so I would definitely have that checked by a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The runny stool could be caused by the oats and starchy treats, but if your bunny is "on the edge" of GI tract problems because of stress/pain from molar spurs, then a little bit of a treat will do more harm than it usually would. Also, some rabbits become a bit more sensitive to starches and other "junk food" as they age (though this, too, may be related to dental problems which become more common with age).  Your bunny is far from old at the age of only 5.  But if he has a sensitive intestine, you need to keep that in consideration.

Please read:

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

and make your son read it, too.  It will help explain why those starchy treats are not good for bun.  Better substitutes are things like fresh, wet herbs and other green leafy vegetables.

I hope this helps.

Dana