Intermittent Soft Cecotropes

[Lord Bonton]

First time poster, long time reader. i’m the owner of an almost 7 year old mini-lop named Gimly, who has been having some cecotrope issues that i’m not entirely sure the cause of. The only health issue that he has is that he needs his molars burred every 8 weeks or so.(we discovered this 2  years ago). This current issue started around the end of march or so with him discarding partial bits of fully formed cecals. I called the vet(she is on the HRS Website) and she informed me so long as he’s eating, drinking, eating hay,pooping normally, peeing normally, remaining active, not losing weight or acting lethargic, he just may not feel the need for it. He was doing all of that. a couple weeks after i noticed some softer cecals in his cage, and they started getting stuck to his butt and fur. i eventually took him back to the vet at the end of may, which was right before his last teeth burr on may 22nd. The vet shaved the poop fur off, he had no infection or irritation, temp was normal, heart rate was normal(his last last labs from the end of 16/beginning of 17 were normal too). He was however slightly overweight at 4.7 lbs. Normal weight for him should be 4.4 or 4.5 lbs. We have since adjusted his diet buy cutting down his pellets and veggies somewhat. He is fed oxbow timothy hay pellets, and a mixture of greens such as green leaf lettuce, romaine, kale, Cilantro, parsley, fennel, mint, basil(obviously not all of it at once), and unlimited timothy hay. So, he’s been on the new diet since about may 22nd, and hes due to go back in to the vet July 17th. His issue of messy poops has gotten better, where he will go days or a even a week before having them again for a few days. I’ve also gotten better at checking him every morning and cleaning him up if he has one. He’s still producing normal poops, eating lots of hay, normal dinner habits and running around. Is there even anything i can do about this or suggest to the vet? He’s a completely healthy bun other than this new bout of messy poop sometimes. Id really like if i didnt have to pick him up anymore. hes not a big fan of it and it mildly stresses him out for a bit until he lounges and gets comfortable.

Thank You,

Gimlys Dad

[jerseygirl]

Hi there

I often think of their teeth when rabbits have cecotroph issues. One of our members says she knows it time for her rabbit to have a dental when he starts producing messy poop. Could your rabbit maybe need more frequent dental work?

The other thing that is commonly linked is a rabbit becoming less mobile and able to reach cecotrophes. Weight can be contributing factor here but with him being 7, perhaps some arthritis too?

[Lord Bonton]

thanks for the input. my first thought was his teeth, but it started a few days after he had a procedure done, and the next time he went in the vet told us his teeth still looked pretty good. as in they weren’t to the point of poking him in the cheek or tongue. Usually if its teeth time he wont touch hay, and this whole time hes just crushing it. Im going to attribute it to him gaining a little weight and a change in diet. His companion suddenly passed away in february, and we might have gone a little overboard with treats. thanks again.

[Bam]

Maybe there’s something in his diet that nolonger agrees with him? The gut microbiota in humans changes as we age, it ‘s likely the same way with buns. The very young and the elderly have a much less diverse gut microbiota than healthy adults, and that makes their tummies more sensitive. Hay is good for restoring a healthy gut, but sometimes it helps to add a probiotic. I have a probiotic for my sticky-poop-prone bun (he’s also about 7 years). I have to be rather careful with what greens I give him. Last winter I cut out cabbage, then kale, vegs he’s always tolerated but suddenly didn’t. Fennel turned out to be a much better option for him. The greens you give your bun sound very good though.

[Author]

Messages