Rabbit hay for sensitive digestion

Loose stools after switching hay brands is a real red flag — it tells you your rabbit's gut is reacting to something in that product, whether it's dust, mould spores, additives, or simply a lower-quality cut. Before we find you something better, I want to be clear on the basics: hay should make up around 80% of a rabbit's diet, full stop. It's not a side item — it's what keeps the gut moving and the teeth worn down properly. Pellets are a small supplement, not the centrepiece. Now, how long was your Tan on the previous hay, and are the loose stools ongoing or did they clear up once you stopped using it?

That timeline makes sense — three weeks is enough exposure for gut flora to get disrupted, and five days isn't quite long enough for full recovery. Good sign that things are already improving though. Is she eating any pellets or fresh veg alongside the hay, and is she drinking normally? I want to make sure we're not missing anything else in the picture before pointing you at a replacement hay.

That's reassuring — active, eating, and drinking normally means this is very likely a straightforward reaction to that specific hay rather than anything deeper. The fact that she's still eating the remaining hay is worth noting: once this batch is gone, don't reintroduce it. For a sensitive rabbit who's had a digestive wobble, I'd point you straight to Oxbow Western Timothy Hay. It's dust-extracted, consistently clean, and third-party tested — that matters a lot when you've had a product cause gut issues. Timothy is also the gold-standard fibre type for adult rabbits, it's low in calcium compared to some alternatives, and the Oxbow version in particular has a reliable softness that suits rabbits who are a bit fussy or recovering from digestive upset. Transition her onto it gradually over five to seven days, mixing it with whatever she has left, to let her gut adjust without another shock.

Most likely a one-off reaction to that product — you identified it quickly and removed it, which is exactly the right move. Once she's been on Oxbow Timothy for a couple of weeks and stools are consistently firm and well-formed, you can consider it resolved. That said, if loose stools return on the new hay, or if you notice mucus, very soft caecotropes she isn't eating, or any sign she's not herself, that's worth a vet check — gut issues in rabbits can escalate faster than people expect. But based on what you've described, I'd be surprised if this doesn't fully resolve within another week or two on a cleaner hay.

Good call. Stick with the gradual transition, keep the pellet portion small — a tablespoon or so per kilogram of body weight per day is plenty for a two-year-old — and let the hay do the heavy lifting. She should be back to normal quickly.