Rabbit 101: Rabbit Diarrhea
In today’s video, we are going to talk about Rabbit Diarrhea and how to treat it.
Diarrhea is a common problem that has most likely affected every single one of us. There are plenty of reasons why we get diarrhea, and a lot of those reasons tend to vary depending on the person and on the environment. The same can be said when it comes to diarrhea in animals as our dear beloved domesticated pets also suffer from this common problem. Rabbits, unfortunately, are not safe from this ordeal.
Diarrhea in rabbits is almost just as common as it is in humans and in other domesticated animals. However, because rabbits are different compared to our beloved pet dogs and us, the causes and effects of diarrhea may also be different. Moreover, you also have to consider the possibility or even the fact that you have to treat diarrhea in rabbits differently. As such, we have come up with a guide on how you should treat rabbit diarrhea.
At this point, you probably already know what diarrhea is because there is a good chance that you have experienced it at some point in your life. Basically, diarrhea is a loose and watery stool that is unformed due to certain causes. Food is a common reason why humans experience diarrhea and will most likely cause you to defecate watery stool.
However, rabbit diarrhea is a bit more different compared to human diarrhea. Before you understand what rabbit diarrhea is, you have to know more about the type of feces that these animals have. Unlike a lot of other animals, rabbits have two different types of feces: the normal pellet-shaped feces and the cecotropes. The pellet feces are the normal feces that are similar to what other animals defecate. Meanwhile, cecotropes are different.
While cecotropes are described as feces, they actually are not. Instead, these are doses of nutrients that were left undigested the first time the rabbits ingested them. They are actually nutritious leftovers and special foods that the rabbits need to eat again so that they could actually get into the bunnies’ system. In other words, the rabbits need to digest their food twice by eating cecotropes. That is why you should not be surprised if you see your bunny eating what seems to be poop.
In some cases, if you see what might seem to be rabbit diarrhea, this may, in fact, be unformed cecotropes that look oddly similar to the watery stool we have when we are suffering from the usual type of diarrhea. In that regard, the actual rabbit diarrhea is actually a bit more different and far more extreme than unformed cecotropes. Rabbit diarrhea is, in fact, far more watery and is softer and looser than the unformed cecotropes that may also seem water and loose.
Causes of rabbit’s diarrhea.
The causes of rabbit diarrhea are varied and different depending on the type of rabbit you have and on its environment. You can think of it as how diarrhea in humans can also vary depending on the person and where he is and on what he is used to eating. Nevertheless, there are still common causes of rabbit diarrhea. Here are some of them:
Bacterial or viral infections – these are common culprits that can easily cause diarrhea or loose stools in your rabbits.
Parasitic infections – if your rabbit is suffering from internal parasites, there is a chance that these parasites are messing up and affecting your pet’s bowel movement and will cause runny stool.
Ingestion of toxins and other harmful substances – if your rabbit happens to ingest something that is toxic to its body, its digestive system will react differently and will cause it to have diarrhea.
While food is one of the reasons why some humans and even domesticated animals suffer from diarrhea, it is not always the case for rabbits. Instead, certain types of foods actually cause soft cecotropes in rabbits instead of causing diarrhea. In that sense, if your rabbit happens to be eating a diet that is composed of high levels of certain nutrients such as carbohydrates, there is a good chance for it to form soft cecotropes that may look like rabbit diarrhea.
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