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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Excessive amount of cecals

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    • Cheddar33
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        My girl, Poopy, always has excessive amounts of cecal. She cecals in the cage, on the carpet, in cardboard houses, everywhere. She just cecals and doesn’t eat it. I’m worried that she has so much cecal since my other two buns never cecal outside and always eat their cecals. What could be Poopy’s issue? Diet, health? Any input?


      • Sarita
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          Maybe diet, maybe dental. Hollands are notorious for dental problems.


        • Kokaneeandkahlua
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            When was her last checkup? Were her teeth checked?


          • Cheddar33
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              She hasn’t had a checkup in a while. What would her teeth have to do with eating cecals? She eats veggies, hay, and pellets fine.


            • Tate
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                Rabbits producing too many cecals often times are taking in inadequate amounts of fiber, meaning not enough hay. Her teeth are the first and most important concern for this. Sometimes it’s obvious when a rabbit isn’t eating enough, but a lot of the time, it isn’t. It doesn’t necessarily matter how many pellets she can eat each day or the amount of veggies, her diet should be around 90%+ hay. She should go into a doctor this week or early next week. By producing too many cecals, she’s losing many of the nutrients vital to rabbit life.


              • Cheddar33
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                  She eats the most hay out of all of my buns. However, she does eat slower than the other two in general. Is that also a sign of dental issues?


                • Elrohwen
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                    Eating slowly could be a sign of dental issues – that was Hannah’s only sign.

                    The cecals could also be diet related. Otto gets poopy butt sometimes with new veggies and definitely with different pellets. Maybe try reducing her variety and starting with one new thing each week.


                  • Sarita
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                      There is no one sign of dental issues and there may not be any really obvious signs at all. I don’t normally think of eating slower as being an indication, but dental problems like I said, just aren’t always obvious and they are really overlooked by rabbit owners and vets.

                      Sometimes even with the best diet and best hay eater, molar spurs may develop.


                    • RabbitPam
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                        I would have her teeth checked by the vet.

                        I am just wondering if it’s actually cecals, ie. the edible kind, rather than a large amount of poos that you’re seeing. When you go to the vet, you might want to take several samples along with you, from today or soon, in case they need to be examined. Occasionally a rabbit has larger than normal poos as compared to other rabbits, but they are still round and hard and not cecals. I am assuming that you are seeing the softer, smellier, edible kind, but it helps to be sure.


                      • Cheddar33
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                          Pam, they are cecals for sure. Long strings of grape clusters and they stink. Thanks for the tip of bringing one to the vet.


                        • RabbitPam
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                            If you spot any actual strings in there, like the “string of pearls” description, it’s got some ingested hair mixed in, and would definitely indicate the beginning of a blockage going on as well. Glad you’re seeing the vet.


                          • Cheddar33
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                              I made an appt for this Sat. Let’s see how it goes.


                            • Dee
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                                The vet appt is definitely the most important step- that’s the only way you can tell if Poopy has problems with her teeth or anything going on with her GI tract like parasites (the fecal test will tell this, like Rabbitpam suggested).
                                If nothing turns up at the vet, I would try just giving Poopy hay for a couple days and seeing if that helps. My maledwarf mix, BunBun, has had endless issues with poopy butt and excess cecals. It turns out he just has a very sensitive tummy and can have unlimited hay, but other than that only TINY amounts of parsley and green Swiss Chard and a couple pieces of banana/apple, and 1 tsp of pellets a day. Any other greens, or larger amounts of parsley/Swiss Chard or pellets and he gets poopy butt. I’ve found that excess cecals is usually BunBun’s “in between” stage when he’s about to get poopy butt.
                                Poopy will be very angry at having all her treats taken away, but it’s a good way to tell if it’s diet related when everything else comes back clear. Good luck


                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                  Good luck at the vet!


                                • Cheddar33
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                                    Poopy went to the vet last Saturday. She checked out just fine. She was super fussy though of course. Her teeth are in good shape. She may just be overproducing cecals. I’m going to take some veggies away and hopefully have her eat more hay to see if that does anything.


                                  • osprey
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                                      Glad to hear that everything checked out OK at the vet.  More hay a fewer calories is definitely the way to go to see if that helps.  Some bunnies are sensitive to pellets, some to greens.  Hopefully a little experimentation will help you figure out what is best for your bun.


                                    • Cheddar33
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                                        The vet said to put her on an all hay and veggies diet. No pellets because there is too much fiber. I’m feeding all three of my buns less pellets now. It’s hard to put one bun on a diet when three live in the same cage. The vet also said that she could be one that over-produces cecals (great!).


                                      • Tate
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                                          One of my rabbits does not do well on pellets. He’s not totally pellet less, but even just cutting down has made a massive difference. Hope it helps your bun!

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                                      Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Excessive amount of cecals