Cinnabun not eating cecals!

[Cinnabun]

Every morning her cage is littered with cecals and we thought that it was just her rich diet.

But now we feed her 1/8th of cup of pellets and unlimited timothy hay.  Right now I saw her drop pretty big cecal and she didn’t  even touch it at all

We offered it to her to eat, but she just ignores it.. and steps on them on her way around the cage.  I’ve never seen her eat cecals so we’re worried that she’s not eating them at all.  Any suggestions on what we should do?

[JK]

Something is definitely up.  I would call your vet in the morning because there might be something else going on or it could be diet related. Keep us posted.

[osprey]

Hi babieblu,

How long have you had this bunny?  Any changes in the household recently that coincided with this behavior’s onset?  If bunnies are stressed, they may not eat their cecals.  I also think that a trip to the vet may be called for.  This is definitely not the usual behavior for a bunny.

 

[Cinnabun]

i had her for almost two weeks now. She seems comfortable now in the environment and with us. (although we can’t pick her up at all.. even if we want to clean up her butt a bit!) Can she still be stressed out? Otherwise, I can’t think of a change in household that would have brought this behavior. She seems healthy other than the fact that she’s not eating her cecals.

I think we are going to take her to the vet for a check up.
I was wondering if anybody had a good vet recommendation in the Boston area? I’ve been searching for a vet but not really sure of who is a good reliable rabbit specialist.

[osprey]

Two weeks is not a very long time to adjust to a new home and new foods, your bunny could still be recovering from all of the changes in her life.  When I get new fosters in they often have cecal problems for a few weeks before they get used to the routine of our home.  I still think a vet exam is a good idea for two reasons:

– you will establish a baseline with the vet of bunny’s overall health, including teeth, fur, digestive system, etc.  This will allow you to notice changes as they occur.
– you will start to establish a relationship with the vet before there is an emergency.  The time to find a vet is now, not when somethng terrible is happening and you are stressed out an not thinking clearly.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yup this is definitely a ‘need to go to the vet’ situation Keep us posted!! and Welcome to Binkybunny

[Bunnykins2016]

My honey bunny doesn’t eat ,ost of her’s either. I have occasionally caught her eating them but that is rare most of the time they are left on the floor or she steps in them. She is about 1 1/2 yrs old now and has always been like this

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Cecals are not necessary for survival but they are extremely important for good health, and all healthy rabbits should be eating them.

Not eating them, can be caused by a physical problem (ie. being disabled or obese) or that there is an overproduction of cecals (diet is too rich) or that they are off-balanced (bacteria imbalance in the cecum) and foul smelling. All of these reasons necessitate that the rabbit should be seen by a rabbit vet-it’s really not OK to have a rabbit not eating them.

Please keep us posted babieblu!!

[Cinnabun]

Yup thank you for all the good advice!
I’m definitely taking her to the vet (it just landed at the wrong time because i have to move in tomorrow) as soon as i can; hopefully by this weekend the latest. I wanted to take her for check up anyways so it will be good..
i’ll let you guys know what happens!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’m going to have to politely disagree with you Micheal on the cecotropes issue AND kindly ask that you not refer to what I write as “pure nonsense” I believe anyone would take offense to that.

I DO appreciate your realizing that alot of disinformation exists regarding proper care of rabbits on the web and even in books and from vets.
We are on the same ‘side of the fence’ if you will, perhaps I’m being too sensitive, perhaps you did not want to be offensive?

Cecotropes ARE NECESSARY for good health and that’s not my “opinion” or random things from the internet. Here are some links on the issue, from reliable sources for further reading.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
http://www.rabbitwhisperer.com/2008/01/gross-why-is-my-bunny-eating-its-poop.html
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/digestibility.html

Babieblue, I’m glad your getting her to a vet. Please keep us posted-we’re interested in how she’s doing!!

[osprey]

K&K gets a for a Dana Krempels article reference.

I am sorry this thread has started to degenerate a little.  I contacted Auntie Heather about this, to see what her take is on a bunny not eating cecals.  For those who do not know her, she has been rescuing and caring for house rabbits for over 20 years.  She knows a lot about rabbit health issues and she knows a lot of vets, and she knows a lot about bunnies.  For cecals left around the cage, she thought the likely causes could be:

– cecal overproduction due to too rich of a diet (probably not the case here, as the diet you described seems fine)
– inability to get to the cecals as they come out due to obesity, injury or arthritis
– infection in the cecum and/or intestines that is causing the cecals to be malformed

She said a situation like this often resolves itself as the bunny adapts, but to rule out an infection you should visit the vet.  Not reingesting cecals is definitely not normal behavior.  Since you are already going to visit the vet, I think you are in good shape.

 

[laylalover]

I too ha dthis problem with layla, and my vet said the same things as you have osprey. if they are not eating them then that is problematic and needs to be sorted out. also, there may be teeth problems and your bun’s mouth may be quite sore, so def get a thoroug check-up! let us know

[Cinnabun]

so sorry for the late update but we were busy with school :T
So we took Cinnabun to the vet last Saturday. She did a check-up, saying how she’s never seen such a cute lop before!! that’s my girl!
Nothing was wrong with her, except that she tend to be on the trim side. She heard us out, and thought that it as weird that she wasn’t eating her cecals ’cause she didn’t seem to have anything wrong with her. She recommended us to switch completely over to alfalfa diet (hay & pellets). She did suggest that if the problem persists, that we might have to put some vitamin supplements in her water.

The problem is that her cage stinks now! I feel like since alfafa has started, her cecals are getting worse and it stinks sooo much more! & she has cecal/poop stuck on her butt all the time. Plus we don’t really like the look of her normal poop (so tiny and dark! and no fiber at all!)
So, as it didn’t seem like she was having trouble before, we are actually thinking of putting her back on the timothy hay & pellets.

good news is, the vet told us that she can start eating veggies! more yummy stuff for cinnabun! & now maybe she’ll actually let us hold her instead of darting away!

[Beka27]

i didn’t see this thread before. how old is she, still a baby? and is she spayed?

[Author]

Messages