Grass/diarrhoea

Hi,

Both my buns have access to the garden lawn all year round and are given greens every day.

But every March the same thing happens , its diarrhoea month !

They do begin to go out more in March as the weather is better but not as much as in the summer...

Binky always suffers worse with diarrhoea... so I have been trying to control the level of grass eating today but it hasnt worked and tonight its diarrhoea again

My mother has said she heard a radio show that explained that during Spring there is something in the freshly grown grass that causes diarrhoea in animals... Has anyone heard about this or is anyone having the same problem ?

Also we are about to have the garden landscaped and returfed , what is the best lawn to buy for bunnies?

Dawn

I havent heard this but it does sound plausable.

Are they okay otherwise? Eating and drinking ok??

Hi Katie,

They are drinking and eating fine.. no greens for tonight !

They are both well and have enjoyed the sunshine... it would just be good to not go through this every Spring..

Dawn

Out of my 6, i have just the one who seems to be affected in the same way by grass, vegetables, fruit etc, but all year round. Am careful about how much he has, however he's now 4 and it doesnt seem to have ever had a detrimental effect on him in any way.....its more like a "sensitive tummy".

Am wondering if it is maybe the type of grass?

That's so strange. Maybe it's because they've not been out on the grass so much during the winter so their tummies need to get used to it again? It could
be that combined with what you said about something in the new grass, ive never heard of it but that's really interesting and could be a possibility.

Corrina wrote:Out of my 6, i have just the one who seems to be affected in the same way by grass, vegetables, fruit etc, but all year round. Am careful about how much he has, however he's now 4 and it doesnt seem to have ever had a detrimental effect on him in any way.....its more like a "sensitive tummy".

Am wondering if it is maybe the type of grass?

Binky has a sensitive tummy , I have to balance his greens etc all year round.. but Pumpkin can eat much more... but they both end up in a mess at this time of year ...

At my last house where we lived with the buns for 5 years the same thing happened with spring diarrehoea. I was interested if it would happen in the new house with a different lawn and it has

Im not a grass expert but there seems to be 3 types of grass in this lawn.... compared to the last lawn that had two types..... I will ask the landscaper about which lawn is best.. not sure he will know which is best for bunnies Im sure he will try and get me to buy weed free grass but I want my boys to have their dandelion leaves....

Dawn

I had no idea there were different types of grass!

Yeah this isn't uncommon, when the spring grass is new it's quite rich, and it can upset delicate buns. Dandelion leaves should be ok, but I would encourage them to eat Blackberry leaves and plantain leaves, as they have healthy digestive enzymes in them - and plenty of hay. I'd also look at giving some pro biotics for a couple of weeks. Vets sell 'Bio-lapis' or you can get 'ProC' from the pet supermarket. Hope they feel better soon.

Hi Jay,

Thanks for that ... my boys wont eat blackberry or Plantain.... fussy babies!

Good idea about the pro biotics ....

Binky is doing much better, kept him in his run, he wont he the grass in his run. He ate plenty of rose leaves today and I only let him out for a full garden rampage for a little while, so his poops r back to normal, so far so good...

thanks

Dawn

I shall try that with Hartley, thanks Jay!

As Jay said, the new grass is very, very rich and can be a bit of a shock to the system. I'd always recommend starting on probiotic in the water around this time if you have rabbits prone to this....or switching to a pelleted feed that has them already included (mine eat one which does and I have never had this issue).