Cecals

[earthisours]

Hi there,

Some of you may remember me, one of my bunnies has no front teeth.

Well, lately, he’s really really been going overboard with cecals. He’s always had a bit of a problem, as he doesn’t really like to eat ANY sort of hay (What he eats is generally what he mistakingly eats in his pellets, I mix it in to trick him. Doesn’t touch his hay bowl, usually) and he’s fairly picky with veggies too. So what he mostly eats ends up being pellets, so he’s pretty much got chronic overproduction.

But lately, it’s getting really bad. What can I do to help him? Is there anything I can do to make him eat more hay? Some sort of veggie I can go out and buy that might really help? Anything?? Would buying those hay cubes and crushing it into his pellets make him eat more of it, instead of just cutting it up???

D=

EDIT: ANd just realized I should’ve put this into Diet & Care. Sorry! This is section is always just my first stop >.>

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi earthisours!  You can sure post this here – not a problem, but if you really would like me to move it to Diet & Care I will.

Overproduction of cecals as you’ve already identified in this case is most likely due to the lack of fiber (not eating hay) cause your poor guy has no front teeth.  Have you considered mixing up a special mush to meet these special dietary needs to fill the gap?  I think that it would really help in this situation since it sounds like the core of his diet and nutrition are pellets.

Here are some recipes to use to supplement his diet and I want to ask, are you chopping his veggies up for him?

This is a recipe my local HRS is fond of called “Angel’s Mush”

http://www.coloradohrs.com/articles/medical_Angels-mush.asp

Here are some more from the National HRS web Site:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/recipes.html

You can also create your own concoction according to what your rabbit prefers too.  I really hope this helps!

[BunnyMuffin]

What type of hay hay do you feed him? I recently bought some orchard grass, and it’s a lot softer and well, more grass like, than the timothy hay is. So that might be easier for him to chew up than the rougher timothy hay, if that’s what he’s on.

That’s my only idea at the moment. I’m sure others will be along soon to help!

[jerseygirl]

You could try buying chaff from the feed store, maybe give it a spray of apple juice to entice him to eat it.  I read about 100% hay pellets a while ago and thought it’d be an option for rabbits with no incisors.  i.e. mix them in with regular pellets.  If he manages pellets he may be able to manage those.  Not sure about availability up your way though….

This company makes a tim hay pellet, orchard grass pellet and a combo of those two.  Though you probably would get the benefit of long strand fibre you get from just hay, these are high in fibre and may fill the belly enough so as the rabbit is not looking to fill up on regular feed pellets. 

http://www.midvalleymillinghaypellets.com/timothy-pellets

Sorry to go off topic – just curious to know how the housing situation work out?

[earthisours]

Those recipes seem like they might work. I think I’ll try those for sure. Would those be instead of pellets, or would it be supplementing? (Of course, I would reduce pellets at this point, if so)

And yep, chop up or tear his veggies into small pieces. Also chop up his hay too. He CAN eat the hay bits, he just doesn’t want to.

I have orchard, and that’s the one I usually try with. I also tried the soft (second cut?) timothy hay. (I tried meadow too, to see if he’d like the taste better, no luck)

100% hay pellets would probably really work well. He really doesn’t mind his normal pellets, and mixing them in would work. I’ll take a look at the site. I’ll also see if I can find some in stores around here.

Oh, it worked out well! My dad in the end let us keep them in the house, and that’s where they are. =) Mostly, they tend to stay in mine and my sister’s rooms, but that’s been solved. =)

[jerseygirl]

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