Difficulty passing abnormal stools 5 year old Rabbit

Question
My 5 year old female rabbit has begun displaying the following stool related problems over the past few days:
1) Droppings have become egg shaped, much lighter in colour than usual and are FULL of light green/grey flecks which appear very similar to undigested bits of her feed.  These droppings are very hard, dry and rough.
2)  Occasional "splashes" of pungent liquid feces which dry quickly into a solid blackish mass.
3)  She assumes the defecation/urination position (with her bottom kinda tucked up underneath her belly) and holds this position for quite a few minutes, but frequently nothing happens.
She is still consuming lots of liquid (possibly excessive) and has a strong appetite, but I am worried about her difficulty in passing droppings and have never witnessed this behaviour before in the 5 years I have owned her.  Do I need to take her to a vet right away or is there something else I could be doing?  Her feed consists of PetValue brand rabbit food [crude protein 17% min, cr. fat 2% min cr. fibre 14% min,  17% max, sodium 0.2% actual] and 3 - 4 baby carrots daily.

Thank you so much for your help,
Sincerely,
Jessica Evans  

Answer
Dear Jessica,

I'll take one symptom at a time and see what we can figure.

<<[1) Droppings have become egg shaped, much lighter in colour than usual and are FULL of light green/grey flecks which appear very similar to undigested bits of her feed. These droppings are very hard, dry and rough.>>

Droppings changing color can indicate a change in feed, but in some cases it can indicate trouble with an intestinal parasite.  Coccidia, for example, tend to turn the feces lighter in color and makes them somewhat softer than normal.

The fact that she has what looks like undigested feed in the fecal pellets may mean that she's eating more fiber than usual and also not getting enough oral hydration.  I would make sure she always has a heavy ceramic *crock* of clean water available, and not just a sipper bottle.  Bunnies tend not to drink enough from a sipper bottle, but they'll really tank up from a bowl.  Proper hydration is essential for good intestinal health.  You do say she's drinking a lot, though, and possibly excessively.  Excessive drinking coupled with excessive urination of dilute urine can signal serious renal problems that must be diagnosed by a good rabbit vet (via blood test).

Another possibility is that you're seeing the bits of an intestinal impaction coming through, and that there's a bigger problem up the pipes.  Is the pellet feed you give her all green pellets, or are there also bits of corn, peas, dried nuts, fruit, etc.?  If the latter, then stop giving her that brand immediately.  Corn and peas, in particular, can cause intestinal impactions, as their hulls are composed of substances that are completely indigestible, even to rabbits.  Please see:

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

for information on GI tract slowdown problems.  But if this is truly a mechanical obstruction, your vet may wish to use medical treatments such as laxative-grade mineral oil and subQ and oral hydration to get things to pass through completely.  The article above lists many possible protocols to help.  You may wish to print the following for your vet:

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

The last thing that *could* be happening here--if her feces *really* look undigested--is that she is having liver problems, and her digestive enzymes are not doing their proper work.  This last option would be quite unusual, but it might bear checking.  Your good rabbit vet can determine her hepatic health with a blood test to check whether her liver enzymes are elevated.  At the same time, it would be a good idea to do a complete CBC to assess the state of her kidneys, and a blood count to see whether there is any evidence of infection (e.g., unusually high or unusually low white blood count) or other problem (anemia).

<<2) Occasional "splashes" of pungent liquid feces which dry quickly into a solid blackish mass.>>

Your bunny is suffering from cecal dysbiosis.  This is probably a result of the health problem she's suffering, and is not the main problem in and of itself.  But when a bunny is ill, in pain, or under stress, the most common physiological response is for the GI tract's normal movements to slow down.  When this happens, the normal, healthy ecosystem inside the cecum (bacteria and yeast) proliferate at unusual rates, and may become "unbalanced" as compared to their normal numbers.  This causes what *looks* like diarrhea, but is actually runny cecotropes.  You can read more about this and its causes (and treatments) here:

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

<<3) She assumes the defecation/urination position (with her bottom kinda tucked up underneath her belly) and holds this position for quite a few minutes, but frequently nothing happens.>>

If her bottom is "tucking up" do you mean she's assuming the position for eating cecotropes, but nothing comes out?

In normal posture for urination, a bunny will lean his rear end out and hike up his tail, then squirt urine far from the body.  If your bunny is assuming this position but no urine is coming out, then I would say this is a *very* strong indication that the source of the intestinal problems is the pain of a urinary tract problem.  These can include:

1.  bladder infection or even kidney infection
2.  bladder stones (urolith)
3.  bladder sludge

among other things.  You can read more here:

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

But bottom line is that your bunny needs the attention of a good vet who is very familiar with rabbits.

If your bunny is not spayed, then another potential reason for her problem is uterine cancer.  If she has a tumor partially blocking any part of her urinary tract, this can cause serious problems and pain.  Fortunately, uterine cancer--though very common in unspayed, unbred female rabbits--can usually be completely cured by having the bunny spayed.  Caught early, this type of cancer does not tend to readily spread.

If you don't already have a good bunny vet, you can find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I'm not familiar with the pellet brand she's getting, but it's pretty low in fiber.  For good intestinal health, a bunny needs unlimited fresh grass hay (e.g., timothy) and a variety of leafy greens each day.  Please see:

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

for a listing of healthy rabbit diet, since her diet may well be contributing to this problem.

I hope this gets you started on the road to her recovery.  Please write back if you have any other questions, but please also get her to a good rabbit vet ASAP.  

Dana