Bunny isn’t eating her cecals?

[Frankie]

Hi guys, I adopted a mini lop bunny on the 10/04/2014 and she’s 7 months and currently isn’t eating her cecals.

The girl I adopted her from gave me an almost full open bag of Excel Tasty Nuggets for Junior and Dwarf rabbits so I’ve been feeding her on them. I filled her bowl and put it in her cage when I first got her home, along with a good amount of hay (I’ve been told you have to put in an amount of hay that is the same size as your rabbit) along with some Kale, Coriander and Parsley as these are her favourite veggies/herbs. I give her more Kale than I do the herbs as I’ve heard herbs shouldn’t be given loads because they’re a bit more rich in taste? And she also has a big bottle of water attached to her cage which was last filled on the day I got her.

I recently, well a few hours ago in fact, took out her food bowl which still had plenty of food in it and gave her more hay because I heard that when some rabbits don’t eat their cecals, it’s because the cecals are too rich in nutrients or something due to the bunnies eating too much pellets and not enough hay. So to try and stop this, I removed the pellet bowl. Was this right? I’m really worried about her because my other rabbit, Spock, has never had ANY problems with food, cecals or anything. He’s never even had to go to the vets apart from when he was due to have his pre-neuter check up, his actual neuter operation and his post-neuter check up.

Also, Izzy seems to get poop stuck to her bum but I think it’s the cecals because it’s always sticky/mushy and in clumps kind of like grapes. So I’m thinking she goes to eat it, but then doesn’t and leaves it and it gets stuck there? I know she can reach down there cause I’ve seen her clean herself there before. I’ve also never seen her eat her cecals but she might do this at night so that may be why. Spock eats them whenever, wherever. He doesn’t care who sees him haha.

Any advice would be appreciated as I don’t know what to do? Should I keep her pellets from her for the rest of the day and night and see if she’s any better tomorrow?

Thanks

[LBJ10]

You typically see this in younger rabbits because of their rich diet and it gets better as they get older (after they have transitioned to their adult diet). At 7 months, you can probably switch to an adult timothy-based pellet and then start limiting the amount she gets. How much does she weigh now? If you’re giving alfalfa hay, you will also want to transition to a grass hay.

[Frankie]

So should I finish the full bag of pellets I have now while slowly transitioning her to adult pellets or just go straight to adult pellets? I don’t know her weight as I’ve never taken her to a vet myself but I have weighing scales at home, would I be able to weigh her myself? Also she doesn’t have alfalfa hay, only Excel Barn Dried Forage or Herbage and Woodlands Herby Harvest.

[Mr Jingles]

Yes you can weigh her yourself.  Just get on the scale and get your weight, then get on the scale with the bunny.  The difference is the bunny’s weight.  My Mr Jingles is gaining about an ounce a week. He weights 6.8 ounces now.    He is 6 months and I have already transitioned him to Timothy hay.  I still use the young rabbit food but my vet said I can transition him to adult food about 10 months.  He said to just mix the two foods for a while putting less and less of the young rabbit food until hes eating just adult food.  I only feed him 1/3 cup of pellets a day.  I hope this helps.

[Megabunny]

Get back to us if the poops keep sticking to her because you may have to adjust the diet, but hopefully the food change will work. Trust me. That poopy butt is awful

[LBJ10]

I looked up the hay you mentioned. It looks fine to me. Yes, I would slowly start transitioning to an adult pellet. They say rabbits can be fed young rabbit food for up to 1 year of age, but it really isn’t necessary. She is likely done with most of her growing at 7 months. You can try to get a weight on her like Mr Jingles suggested. Once you figure out her weight, then you will know if she is within the normal weight range for a mini lop. I’m taking it that you’re not in the US. Is a mini lop there what we call a Holland lop in the US?

As Megabunny said, you don’t want this to continue at this point since it can start to become a problem if they get stuck to her rear. I would definitely try the diet change though first because a lot of the time it is a diet issue. If things continue to be a problem, you might want to stop the veggies for a bit to see if that helps. You can try reintroducing things one at a time because bunnies can sometimes be sensitive to different veggies. So you would want to make sure you identify any culprits.

[Frankie]

Thanks for all the replies!

Yesterday I messaged Izzy’s former owner asking if she ever had a dirty bum before and how did she feed her pellets. The girl replied saying that she never had one before and that she would put some pellets in her treat ball, which she gave me, and every morning she would give her a small handful of pellets in her food bowl.

So last night I emptied her food bowl completely and put some pellets in her treat ball. I left her like that all night with only a big bunch of hay to munch on and the pellets in the treat ball, which she knows she has to work for to get so she tends to not eat them as much. I checked her bum this morning and there’s no poop or cecals or anything stuck to it. After checking her bum, I gave her the usual veggies, more hay and a small handful of pellets. She’s eaten her veggies and has been munching on both hay and pellets so far. So hopefully this will help stop the dirty bum.

I’m thinking she’s gotten the dirty bum because of me because I thought she needed unlimited pellets still since she’s young but after talking to her former owner, the unlimited pellets is probably the change in her diet that’s been messed up by me and has caused her to produce too many cecals which she won’t eat and then gets stuck to her bum.

If this doesn’t work then I’ll try everyone else’s suggestions.

[Frankie]

Also, yes a Mini Lop is the equivalent to a Holland Lop in the U.S

[Beka27]

That does sound like that might have been the issue then! Keep us posted on how everything goes!

[LBJ10]

I agree, that sounds like that may have been the issue. If she’s a typical Holland lop, then she should be done growing by now so no need for unlimited pellets.

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