Normal and abnormal fecal and cecal feces of rabbits

Esther van Praag, Ph.D.

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Healthy rabbits typically produce two types of feces:

· Hard, round feces of intestinal origin contain small pieces of hay and other debris. They have been observed in the vicinity of or in the litter box.

· Smelly soft grape-like cecotropes (also called soft cecal pellets) are produced in the cecum. These cecotropes are coated with a thin layer of mucus. They are rich in minerals, vitamins, proteins, water, and bacteria. To avoid the loss of these precious nutrients, the rabbit will re-ingest them as soon as they pass the anus, without chewing, to avoid breaking the outer coats of the grains. This allows for the fermentation process to continue and for bacteria to survive within the grains as they pass through the stomach, which is a hostile acid environment.

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Zippy, an alert 4 month’s old neutered rabbit, bending down to take a cecotrope directly from the anus. The cecotrope is lightly chewed and swallowed. Zippy bends down a second time to take another cecotrope, after which another rabbit jumped over the back of the person taking the video…

Healthy hard feces and cecotropes

Viktoria S. Normal round hard fecal feces. Their color can vary from light brown to almost black.

MediRabbit Normal cecotrope, with a grape-like shape

Gastro-intestinal trouble

Disturbances in the intestinal environment have the potential to result in alterations to the appearance and shape of feces:

· small and dry when the rabbit is dehydrated or sick, or when there is lack of lack of fiber in the diet;

· big and elongated.

MediRabbit The presence of small, dry droppings can be indicative of dehydration, decreased appetite, the onset of stasis, the presence of a hairball, an inadequate fiber diet, disease, or the effects of medication.

Viktoria S. Hard feces (middle) from a healthy rabbit. Their color can vary from light brown to almost dark.

MediRabbit Irregular, elongated fecal droppings (right) may be indicative of dehydration, a diet lacking in fiber, ingestion of hair, irregular intestinal peristaltic movement, disease, or medication.

Ingestion of fur or carpet

MediRabbit Rabbit cannot vomit. As a result, ingested fur or carpet material (arrows) will pass through the intestine and will coated by fecal material. As a result, hard feces become linked to each other.
"Peas on a string"

After stasis

After suffering (ileus), the fecal production of the rabbit will be irregular and hard feces are usually coated with mucus.

MediRabbit After a period of stasis, the first feces are either small, dry, with unusual shapes, and coated with large amounts of mucus (arrows)...
Sandy Minshull or huge... Plug made of fecal material and mucus that was expelled by a 0.9 kg (2lb) rabbit after a bout of stasis (left). Its size, as compared to a ball pen.

Sediment deposit

The urine of rabbits is naturally rich in calcium and crystal sediments (struvite, calcium carbonate, more rarely oxalate). When a rabbit urinates on top of its hard feces, a white deposit can be observed.

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Feces covered with a white layer: sediments contained in the urine

Parasites

An infestation by parasites such as worms (nematodes, tapeworms or trematodes) in the gastrointestinal tract is characterized by the presence of mucus threads among the feces, rarely diarrhea. The presence of live pinworms or tapeworms can be observed in freshly excreted hard feces, when infestation is severe. Potential complications include stasis, cecal impaction, severe pain, and unsuccessful attempts to treat the disorder. It is important to note that GI stasis frequently does not respond to treatment.

Depending on the stage of the parasitic worm (whether it is growing or experiencing population overgrowth), fecal flotation tests may not accurately detect the presence of gastrointestinal parasites.

MediRabbit Threads of mucus (arrows) excreted among fecal material can be indicative for the presence of intestinal parasites like coccidia or intestinal worms

Viktoria S. The presence of tiny pinworms 8arrows) is rarely observed feces. The worms dry out rapidly, and cannot be seen after a few minutes.

Effect of medication

The administration of drugs has the potential to affect fecal production. Certain antibiotics, when administered orally, can lead to bacterial dysbiosis and severe diarrhea.

See: Antibiotics endangering the life of rabbits

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Soft fecal

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Adar and Flora tending to their ailing companion, Stampi, who is afflicted with watery diarrhea (see arrows)

The shape of feces can also change. For example, the administration of oral enrofloxacin can lead to the production of "excellent quality" large, hard feces, while long-term injected penicillin can cause the formation of small, dry droppings.

However, cecal feces are often overlooked during the treatment of sick rabbits and when administering medications. Their quality and odor have changed, prompting the rabbit to avoid ingesting them.

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Abandoned cecotrope. The rabbit took it apart and re-ingested only part of the grains. The white threads are hairs.

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Cecotropes that are not consumed will rapidly desiccate. The grains decrease in size, and the cecotrope will disintegrate when touched. Once thoroughly dried, the grains will take on a flat, hard disk shape.

I would like to express my gratitude to Viktoria S. from Finland and Sandy Minshull from Canada for their assistance with the illustrations.

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