Hannah Has Soft Poops

[Bad Habit]

Hannah seems to be producing a great many cecals, or perhaps it's just a great deal of soft poop. This just started in the last 24hrs or so. They weren't there yesterday when I cleaned the cage/litterbox, however today there is a bunch of them on the cage floor.

Food hasn't changed, however I did just start a slow switch to a new bag. I treat every new bag like it's a brand new food.

Tons of hay available, from the same bale. Lots of fresh water, from the tap.

She has pooped in the nestbox frequently, those poops are completely normal, however there was about 8 cecal-type poops on the cage floor which were very soft and squishy.

I cleaned the nestbox about 4 hours ago, as well as the floor of the cage. There are more cecal type poops on the cage floor. I have yet to check the nestbox again.

She does not seem to be acting any differently. I had her out for play time and she was ripping around, going nuts!! Which is exactly normal for her. Does not seem lethargic.

Her litter is going to be 2wks old tomorrow.

At this point, I've pulled her pellets and given her another chunk of hay. Is there anything else I should do other than watch for any change?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

give her old fashion oats 1 tablespoon

 

[MaggieJ]

Has she kindled recently? Sorry, but I can't remember. Sometimes when a rabbit is getting more nutrition than she needs, she will ignore her cecal pellets. Normally you will not see them because the rabbit will eat them straight from the anus. I wouldn't worry too much about this.

 

[Bad Habit]

Her litter will be 2 wks old tomorrow.

They look like cecals, but seem to be softer than normal cecals are... when I go to clean them up, they smear, whereas normally they are relatively firm. Plus there is a LOT of them. Not one or two, but closer to 2 dozen I've cleaned up today.

 

[MaggieJ]

Just keep an eye on her... but I have often seen uneaten cecals when a doe had recently kindled.

 

[Bad Habit]

should I give her back her pellets, or just continue with the ton-o-hay?

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Her litter will be 2 wks old tomorrow.

Then that is different... This is very normal .. Between 2 and 3 weeks old feeding kits. Does sometimes does this. Give back her pellets she needs them make sure she has lots of hay... And give some oats .. that will helps some.. She will continue to get them for a few more days. THen it will go away. Nothing to worry about. Some does will have this problem when there kits are at this age.

 

[JessicaR]

My 2 does have the same soft poops and their kits are 2.5 weeks old

 

[Bad Habit]

Well, I know there was one or two in the cage when I went to sleep last night, I noticed them when I was filling food dishes. However they're gone this morning, and not on the floor, so I guess she ate them. I'm sure a day/night with only tons of hay and oatmeal to eat didn't hurt her, but I'll fill her dish now, and leave it at that. I've never noticed this with Hannah, nor did Maxime do it, and her litter is just a few days older than Hannah's.

----

Hannah now has runny poops. Smeary and runny on the floor. Pulled her kibbles again and gave her oatmeal.

She has started grunting, too, which she's never done before. I reached in to pull her out and she grunted at me, then she was grunting while eating the oatmeal I gave her.

 

[SelfFueled]

Any chance she is prego again?

My one doe grunts and breathes heavy the last few days before giving birth. all the time.

Hey, just asking. Hope you figure it out.
Hay and oats will help with runs
Any other rabbits on the same feed?

Perhaps her stomach is upset (hence the runs) and maybe the grunting is behavior. Eating oats may be what she thought she needed and it will help?

 

[Bad Habit]

not pregnant, and even if she were, she'd be 2 weeks out, lol.

she's never been a grunter before.

All the rabbits are on the same feed.

She's stopped again, since getting the oats. It's very odd.

 

[faiththequeen]

How is Hannah this morning?

 

[Bad Habit]

I cut back on her pellets, she's no longer getting free feed on them... I think she was just eating too much, because since I started giving her half the normal pellets she was getting, she's stopped having the runny poops.

 

[faiththequeen]

YAY! I'm glad Hannah is all good

 

[Bad Habit]

Now comes the fun of trying to figure out how to make sure the babies get enough food without Hannah eating it all and giving herself the runs!

 

[AnnClaire]

Bad Habit, try housing the kits or the doe in a seperate cage during the day so you can free feed the kits and only put the kits in with mom for nursing in the morning and the evening ... they will adjust to the new feeding schedule quickly enough, the kits will have their free feed without mom hogging it all, and mom will have her ration without putting on too much weight :lol:

 

[Bad Habit]

That's what I was thinking. They are almost 3wks old, and very rarely do I see Hannah let them nurse. She was going into the nest 5 or 6 times a day, though, and they've only just come out of the nest.

It's very odd for me to have an animal that doesn't self-regulate, though.