Rabbit Messy Bums

[ELCC]

Both my rabbits have had problem with having a messy behind for a while now. It seems they are leaving their cecotropes as I am frequently finding these on the floor.

 

I have 2 mini lops, they are 5 years & 10 months old and both female. They have both been neutered.

It seemed to start after they had been to the vets for a skin problem they had. They both had dry flaky skin on their backs and one of them had sore eyes.

The vet put them through a series of injections for 5 weeks (1 injection per week). After the jabs he said to buy Xeno 450 and use that for a bit after their treatment.

They got better quickly but they had messy poops still. It seemed to only be one of them for a while but now it is definitely both of them.

I had been feeding them Selective Science 4+ but after the messy poops started, I switched to Selective Science grain free.

I took them to the vets and he said they don’t have any teeth problems etc and maybe it could be their diet. He said he was not familiar with Selective Science, which I found a bit odd. He said most of the other rabbit owners he sees use Excel and maybe I should try that. I have done some research on this though and a lot of people say they get more poop issues with Excel.

He did say he doubts it’s any kind of parasite because of all the jabs they’d had, it would have killed anything off. He did give me some Pro-C probiotics to try.

I switched to just feeding them hay for a bit, as also suggested by the vet but this has made no difference.

 

I have tried Fibreplex, Verm X and Bene-Bac Plus. They have also been given Panacur previously.

 

Can someone please help, I have no idea what’s wrong with my rabbits. I am worried because I keep having to clean it off of their bums.

[DanaNM]

Hmm, are the cecotropes they are leaving behind otherwise normal looking? I’m wondering if they are just producing extra, but otherwise normal, cecotropes, or if they are having some cecal dybiosis.

How long did you have them on a hay-only diet? Sometimes it can take several weeks to work.  And do they get any other treats, veggies, fruit, etc?

I’m also curious as to whether it’s 100% certain they are both producing the extra cecals, of if maybe they are from one bun but the other steps in them and gets messy as well?

Also just so I have a better idea of timing, how long since they finished their skin treatment? I’m not familiar with Xeno 450. What was the diagnosis of their skin problem?

Sorry for all the questions! This is a perplexing situation!

. . . 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.  

[LBJ10]

It’s possible that it could be something in their diet they are sensitive to. Since they aren’t related though, it seems odd that they would both be having the same issue. As Dana mentioned, are you sure it is both of them?

Xeno 450 is ivermectin. Adverse reactions are not common in rabbits. When they do occur, they are neurological.

[ELCC]

Hi,

 

Bunnies are related, they’re sisters and same age. The diagnosis was they had a parasite but the skin problem cleared up.

They have been on just hay for a long time now, pretty much since this was first posted.

 

Nothing seems to be working and the vet doesn’t seem to think there’s anything he can do. It is worrying me because it’s summer and they’re getting messy bums again. Plus it’s very difficult to clean off and they don’t like it.

 

I am certain now it’s both bunnies.

[LBJ10]

What are they currently on? Are they still getting probiotics?

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, reading this again now it sounds a bit like cecal dysbiosis that could have been triggered by their illnesses and the assorted medications. And it makes more sense that they are both having issues knowing they are sisters.

Usually hay-only diet is the recommendation for this, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be helping! Another thing that some vets will recommend are “poop shakes” from a healthy rabbit. This is a bit touchy because you can accidentally introduce a parasite this way, but the idea is that you collect poop (ideally cecals) from a healthy rabbit and mix with critical care to syringe feed. Alternately you can crush up poops and sprinkle them over the bun’s hay.

There are also some anecdotes that feeding a bit of alfalfa hay can help establish the gut flora again. It seems a bit counter intuitive because alfalfa is more rich, but someone I know from a rescue swears by it.

. . . 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.  

[ELCC]

So I took them to the vet again a few weeks ago. They also seemed to be stuck in malt but the vet didn’t think there was a problem. However he prescribed them more panacur worm treatment. When they were on this the excessive malting stopped, so I think the malting may have been down to a parasite. I feel like maybe they’re not so much of a rabbit friendly vets but I think the closest rabbit approved vet is about 100 miles from me 😞.

The vet also said to give them Selective Science 4+ food. This frustrated me so much because when I first went to the vets about the poop problem, he asked me what food they were eating and said he’d never heard of Selective Science! They used to eat that all the time before the problem. Giving it a go none the less.

 

They are still having the problem with the poop. I tried alfalfa hay and I feel like it may have helped a tiny bit but not so much. I will try the “poop shake” method next I think.

 

Anymore recommendations are welcome!

[LBJ10]

What is their current diet?

[ELCC]

They had been on hay only up until recently, when they’d been back to the vet.

As said above, he suggested they have selective science 4+ (even though they’d had this before but he’d not heard of it at the time).  So I am still feeding them this at the moment but as I thought it had made no difference to their poop.

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