Rabbit Diarrhea

Rabbit diarrhea is a serious problem and can result in the death of your rabbit if not spotted quickly.

What is diarrhea? It is when your rabbit excretes a large quantity of dark brown or dark blood infused stools instead of normal stools. If this occurs it is an emergency and so contact your vet immediately

It is generally a symptom of an underlying health issue. The underlying health issue is the cause and the diarrhea is the effect.

As you can imagine there are quite a few underlying health issues that can result in your rabbit having diarrhea. So, in this article, we are going to look at a few of those issues.

Gastrointestinal/digestive system health problems are a main cause of diarrhea. There can be many causes; diet, genetics, disease, virus or bacteria. If you follow the high fiber, low carbohydrate diet detailed then your rabbit's diet should not cause any problems. To find out more about a high fiber, low carbohydrate diet you should consult your vet or a good rabbit care guide.

Two of the most common gastrointestinal problems that cause diarrhea are:

Enteritis

Enteritis is a specific gastrointestinal problem and is an infection or inflammation of the intestines. The cause is a change in the balance of good and bad bacterium within your rabbit's digestive system. The bad bacteria overgrow resulting in disease. Symptoms indicative of enteritis are:

soft stools
diarrhea
bloated stomach
loss of appetite
weight loss
Restlessness

The most common root cause of this bacterial imbalance and disease is a low fiber, high carbohydrate diet.

Enterotoxemia

Another very serious gastrointestinal problem is Enterotoxemia. This is where a bacterial imbalance results in toxins being produced. These toxins are absorbed into the rabbit's blood and poison him. Maintaining a healthy high fiber diet can help prevent this condition.

Symptoms indicative of Enterotoxemia are:

diarrhea
general weakness
loss of appetite

This condition can result in the sudden death of your rabbit and so you should contact your vet immediately

Of course your rabbit may also get diarrhea from eating a food that did not agree with their system. But it is always best to contact your vet for further advice if your rabbit does have diarrhea.

A common theme throughout this article has been that a good, high fiber, low carbohydrate diet can go a long way to prevent some of the diarrhea causing health issues. It is therefore a very good idea to head out and learn how to correctly feed your rabbit.