uneaten cecals...still can't figure it out

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This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 7 months ago by Beka27.

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- 07/26/2010 at 4:41 AM
  Ali925
  Participant
  544 posts
  So I have posted on this topic before but unfortunately it’s still a problem and I’m getting frustrated. Sorry this is super long…
  
  Most days I find an uneaten cecal (occasionally more)… or what remains after Blu sits on it or runs over it accidentally..(a smooshed mess) in Blu’s pen. I have observed him eating them, so I know he does eat them. I’ve also seen him eat one and then miss a piece or two and have to go back to eat it. It seems like he struggles sometimes to get it when he’s not backed into a corner or on something with friction..he slides on the wood floor as he’s trying to eat and I think it makes it harder sometimes. So I’m not sure if that’s part of the problem.  He doesn’t seem overweight to me, so I don’t think he’s struggling because of that.
  
  Other times when I have seen him leave one behind I’ll direct him to it and he’ll eat it…? but sometimes will ignore it.
  
  So right now I’m at the point where I’ve tried less veggies, less pellets, etc. and I feel like just when I think it’s improving he’ll leave a mess behind again. He seems healthy to me. It’s not poopy butt, not sticking to his bottom or anything, and his litterbox is full of healthy poop. Last time he was at the vet he was 2.5 lbs, and he isn’t much bigger at this point, maybe 3lbs?  But likely not that much, he’s tiny. He is 6 months old at this point and has never really had “unlimited” pellets and really only had alfalfa for the first 2 months of his life because I switched him over early to timothy pellets due to lots of extra cecals.
  
  I keep adjusting the diet and I’m not seeing any finite conclusion, unless he can’t have pellets at all? I’m afraid to keep changing his intake … I don’t want to get him all messed up or trigger any stasis …
  
  Here’s the current diet:
  
  1 cup greens in the morning (mostly romaine and a few sprigs of parsley since I was trying to keep things simple with his sensitivities) and 1.5 tablespoons of timothy pellets, unlimited timothy hay
  
  The same thing for the evening, but he’s down to 1 tablespoon of pellets for the evening meal. I am giving more greens than the recommended amount to make up for the less amount of pellets…I didn’t want to reduce the greens because then I would have to increase pellets, which I don’t believe would help. (I know it’s minimum 2 cups/ 6 lbs bunny)
  
  I have heard some people have had issues with feeding pellets and greens together?  I have sometimes seen less of a problem when I can space out the pellets way after the greens, but in the AM feeding I can’t do that bc of work, etc.
  
  Also were there issues with the greens being too wet?  I read someone had that problem too.
  
  I’m just worried he’s not getting enough to eat, but if he’s producing extra cecals he’s getting too much to eat? Or is he “forgetting” to eat them and he’s not getting the nutrients he needs?  I don’t really give him treats either, he’s on a very healthy diet as far as I can see. I just hope I haven’t impacted his growth or anything…but my vet has always advocated lots of greens and minimal pellets so I’ve tried to keep that in mind, that he doesn’t really need pellets anyway.
  
  Thanks in advance and sorry for the extremely long post..
- 07/26/2010 at 6:10 AM
  foxtailskies
  Participant
  64 posts
  Have you checked with your vet about this? Bunny GI tracts can be pretty complicated and there are a lot of reasons he could be doing this, not all of which are related to diet (things like back pain or arthritis in older rabbits can also stop them from eating cecals too). How much of the hay is he eating? I’ve heard of some “sensitive” rabbits who do OK on a hay-only diet, so if you cut veggies/pellets even more he could theoretically make up the difference with more hay, not necessarily pellets. I’m not sure how his age comes into play here though, if he’s still growing and maturing somewhat at this point- that’s where your vet would come in. Feeding guidelines for any animal are always based on the average, healthy individual, but if you’re having issues there are options outside traditional guidelines that the vet should be able to help you with.
- 07/26/2010 at 6:50 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  I space veggies and pellets out at least 8-10 hours. Fresh vegetation digests at a different rate than processed pellets, so I feel it helps for there to be a large gap in between the two. My pair get all of their veggies once in the morning, all of their pellets once at bedtime. Hay is, of course, available 24/7. I was having some gassy episode issues with Meadow and when I switched to this method, she reacted so favorably. I’m not sure how that would affect excess cecal production (rabbit digestion is so involved) but it would be something to try with Blu. I have read about the benefits of spacing out veggies and pellets, but I lost the link, and for the life of me, I’ve never been able to find it again.
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