Info. about Pre- vs. Probiotics

[Wick & Fable]

I came upon an article written by Dr. Cayla Iske, PhD from Oxbow (not an advertisement; just the source) about the use of prebiotics vs. probiotics in rabbits and wanted to share it.

When I first got Wick, he had a very persistent URI (upper respiratory infection; lots of sneezing/discharge) and had to be on antibiotics for a long time. Paired with the antibiotics was a probiotic powder the vet advised to sprinkle on romaine and give him. I asked Oxbow’s main veterinarian, Dr. Micah Kohles, why probiotics were not given routinely across all rabbit treatments/vets and his answer surprised me. Essentially, he summarized that many probiotic supplements and powders advertised for rabbits, while not explicitly harmful, may not do anything because they contain bacteria that don’t actually exist/survive in a rabbit’s gut; thus, it doesn’t actually do what probiotics intend.

I found this article helpful in understanding Dr. Kohles stance and makes me interested in probiotic choices moving forward: https://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/blog/prebiotics-and-probiotics-its-all-about-the-bugs/

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.

[DanaNM]

Interesting! My vets have said something similar about pro-biotics for rabbits. They have essentially said hay is the best probiotic/prebiotic, and that good hay consumption will facilitate the correct assemblage of microbes in the gut. I’m guessing the combo of the hay itself, and whatever trace amounts of dust etc are on it. She did say sprinkling hay with some crushed up poops from a healthy rabbit that lives in the same household can also help, but isn’t necessary (and the bacteria all get killed in the stomach anyway).

. . . 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

@DanaNM Feeding the rabbit another rabbits poop? Lol never heard of that… interesting

[DanaNM]

LOL it was only recommended when I was fostering a bun that was having some pretty severe issues with his gut flora balance. And only because that bun already lived in the same household. The vet assumed that the bun would already have been exposed to any potential parasites, so there wasn’t a risk of making the bun sicker by doing it. He ended up prescribing “poop shakes” where I would mix up some poop from the healthy bun into the sick bun’s critical care. Oddly the sick bun seemed to like the CC more with the poop in it! Good thing too, because otherwise I would have felt pretty bad about force feeding a bunny poop! ha!

 

. . . 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.  

[jerseygirl]

This topic is good timing for me! I currently have TimTim on depocillin shots and have been worrying about his gut health. I’ve been adding some ACV to his water as a prebiotic and sprinkling some probiotic powder in veggies, but basically with the attitude of “it might not help but it can’t hurt”….

(ETA: after reading the article, it seems a focus on the pre-biotics  is better)

@DanaNM, I’ve been giving T any intact cecals I find from my pair. 😄 Which is hardly anything! A good sign for them I guess.

I do think it’s an advantage for rabbits on antibiotics that live in pairs or groups. They must pick up some stuff to balance gut microbiome from other rabbits fecal or cecal poops. I remember Potamus eating her mum’s regular fecal poops when she was a little bun!

 

 

[jerseygirl]

Something I’ve seriously pondered before… do you think we might see things like fecal implants happening more in veterinary medicine?🤔 Perhaps even cecal implant for rabbits.

[Moonlightbunny66]

@DanaNM I would’ve felt bad too lol. That is very odd… Did it work?

[DanaNM]

It didn’t really seem to work in his case. 🙁

@jerseygirl I read somewhere (maybe on a megacolon site?) that a vet had tried a fecal transplant through an enema…. but I mentioned this to my vet when I was dealing with Pippen (that foster I had with cecal dysbiosis), and he said that would be very dangerous because of how thin the wall of the cecum and intestines are, apparently puncture would be really likely.

Rabbit medicine has come very far but still has so far to go!

. . . 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.  

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