Cecatrope donor issues

[Boymom4]

Hi, I am looking for some advice. We recently took our five month old Holland Lop, Olive, to the vet because she has had periodic loose stools and seemed to be growing lethargic. It was discovered that she has a yeast infection due to zero gut flora. How she got to this point we don’t know. The vet said it is possible that she never got the flora needed from her mother, though her siblings that we know the whereabouts of seem to be doing alright. The vet said she is critical and in a dwindling pattern that she could not survive much longer in, but was hopeful for a full recovery within a few weeks with the right intervention.
Vet put her on
Benebac (microorganisms) 3 Times a day
Oxbow Critical Care Suplements
Nystatin (for yeast)
And the big one is for collecting and feeding her the cecum dropping from her healthy mate, Nabbit.
The issue is that Nabbit is a bit of a pig and I have been unable to get any from him. Has anyone else had to do this and could you lend me some advice on the best way to go about it? I’ve seen a cone mentioned elsewhere but I don’t have access to one and both rabbits share a cage which makes finding anything laying around that looks normal unclear as to who it belongs to. Any and all suggestions are welcomed because we want to get this sweet girl better ASAP!

[Wick & Fable]

No experience unfortunately. To my knowledge, the only time a rabbit will leave it’s cecotrope alone (outside of health complications) is over-nutrition, thus the rabbit does not need to eat it. A solution could be to over feed Nabbit to produce more than needed, but that doesn’t seem like the right route either…. Maybe, instead of over feeding Nabbit, you get him some more nutrient-dense diet items (not more calcium because that can cause issues) and see if he begins ignoring his produced cecotropes?

Again, no experience and this is just a simple thought. Other opinions and input are welcome.

I’ve been told the live bacteria in the mother of apple cider vinegar help regulate the rabbit gut biome, which is why Wick gets a splash of it in his water. Has your vet mentioned anything like this?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Boymom4]

Thanks for the thoughts! I can see the value of the idea behind it and I am only looking for a short term “extra production” phase from him anyway so I doubt the diet change would be too problematic for him if done carefully. Seeing as he is very greedy, I doubt he minds it either LOL
I am wondering though, has anyone ever taken note of how long between a diet change or increase of feeding before a change might occur in the cecatrope production? Since they share the same cage and she is constantly abandoning hers, I will need to put him in our travel carrier to ensure I get the right one. I really don’t want to leave him in it long term though because he gets upset.

[Bam]

I think a cone would be the best thing. Maybe sth cone-like that you can make yourself and take off as soon as he’s produced a cecal? He won’t like it though.

Over feeding does often result in excess cecals but in response to mild dysbiosis of the cecum. And you want to give the sick bunny really good, normal cecals.

The method isn’t uncontroversial, some also say the rabbit needs to eat the cecals whole (not crushed up and mixed with something). But I think I’d try it if I had a bun in your situation, the worst “side-effect” seems to be that it might not work.

Benebac is good though. There are other great bunny probiotics, but I personally only have experience with those that are available in Europe.

[Boymom4]

Good to know!
I actually just successfully got one from the healthy rabbit by watching his behavior and overturning him at the last second before he went for it. Yay! That being said, neither he or the sick bunny were the least bit pleased with the process and I had a mess on my hands…quite litterally LOL
Now I am going to have to think this through better and have some kind of system to the exchange. I really don’t see any way to keep it intact, rather than getting crushed up in the process but hopefully that won’t be a big deal.

[Bam]

Yay for managing to get a cecal
Richard Saunders, British rabbit vet, said nobunny likes to be fed poop, so I can imagine that Olive isn’t super-pleased about it. But if it can help her, it just has to be done.

[jerseygirl]

Would she eat it whole if you pop it in front of her?
Or wrap on a leafy green and feed to her?
Nabbit’s cecs would be ideal seeing as they’ve already co-hbited, but do you know anyone else with healthy rabbits that you could get some from also?

[Author]

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