Soft cecotropes

[Vicky]

Hello my fellow buns.

I’m in need of help. Last few days my rabbit produced soft stools along with normal droppings.

Today, not normal droppings only soft cecotrope stools. She ate her salad and pellets in the morning but since then no food. Just a little bit of hay.

Should I be concerned and go to a vet or I can treat this at home by feeding her only hay until stools return back to normal?

Her activity levels are normal, she is overall a lazy bunny haha. But she is alert, hopping, laying and flops on the side. I’m still worried about this 🙁

[Bam]

Is she refusing food? If a bun stops eating  you shouldn’t let more than 6- 12 hours pass before you see a vet.

If she is a good hay eater, you can put her on a hay only diet. If she isnt a good hay eater you should just taper down the amount of daily pellets, ot she might starve.

If you have simethicone baby gas drops  you can give her 0.5-1 ml once per hour of 3 hours and see if it helps. She could have gas, which is very åainful for rabbits and can cause them to lose their appetite.

[Vicky]

I took her to the vet, she got some injection with medication. They sent me home with critical care, drops for gas..

She didn’t eat all night not even drank. But it’s weird because she lays down normally, hops around a little. She is not in hunched posture.

She pooped only this morning, nothing all night.

I don’t understand what’s wrong with her I’m really worried.

[DanaNM]

Have you been syringe feeding her? Often times syringe feeding is the most important thing to get them back on track.

Hot weather and molting can trigger some tummy issues in buns, so providing supportive care is important.

. . . 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.  

[Vicky]

We have been to the vet again today. He gave us things to syringe feed her, and some medication. We have to feed her every three hours which is exhausting because she won’t let us pick her up.

She won’t eat anything on her own and still has just a little poop.

She is not in big pain but not so active.

I’m so scared. I hope she will be okay.

Do you have any experience with this? Will the bunny be okay after few days? 🙁

 

[DanaNM]

Recovery from stasis and other digestive issues can be very slow with rabbits, so just keep up the supportive care, even though it is hard! If a little poop is coming out that’s great, just keep getting food into her. Did they give you pain meds? Metacam/meloxicam is commonly used and often helps them feel a lot better.

. . . 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.  

[Vicky]

Yes She has medications too. And she feels better. There are some small poops so I’m very happy.

But she is still not eating on her own. Will it also take more time? I read somewhere you shouldn’t syringe feed more than 5-7 days. Is it true?

[DanaNM]

Glad she’s feeling a bit better! You should syringe feed as long as she isn’t eating normally. It can take several weeks for a bun to recover from stasis, it’s been called “like jump starting a train”, so don’t worry if it takes several days. Pooping is great!

. . . 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.  

[Vicky]

Thank you very much!

[Vicky]

She isn’t eating by herself after 5 days. Is it normal?

[Susanne]

I would ask vet about the heat, I believe you posted before it was 85 F inside which I wonder is causing health issues if it’s still been that hot. I’m speculating because Ive read in multiple websites this is dangerous for buns, though not sure frozen water bottles or something is enough? A fan doesn’t lower temperature and with the fur I don’t think that would cool them. I think Amazon sells portable AC or window units and I highly recommend you trying to cool it down if at all possible to see if it helps.

[Vicky]

Yes you remember! But it finally cooled down a lot. She is enjoying the cold breeze that is outside now.

Could she have a higher body temperature from GI stasis? The day before she had quite hot ears and it wasn’t hot outside

[Susanne]

That is good to hear! I was worried but sounds like she is getting better so glad to know that too. The others can speak more to the GI Stasis – I am not sure if that would make her ears hot.

[Vicky]

Thank you, it got better today actually. She started to eat a little bit of hay by herself.

[Bam]

GI stasis typically cause a bun to have a lower than normal temp -which is dangerous. Rabbits that are stressed-f ex by a vet visit, which is always somewhat stressful for a rabbit – can cause somewhat elevated temperature. How hot or cold the ears feel is not a reliable way of determining the bun’s core temperature. I would think your vet took her temp on your visits  they normally do because it helps determine which treatment to give.

Syringe feeding can sometimes be of need for quite a lot longer than a week. I think the 5-7 days means you shouldnt syringe feed for more than 5-7 days without consulting with a vet.

 

[Vicky]

Aaaah okay I understand the syringe feeding now. Thank you very much! Hope I just gets better.

[Vicky]

Hi, is it possible that after 5 days she is still not eating on her own? :/

[Bam]

It is possible, but its not good. She should be eating at least some things by herself now. Favorite greens, fragrant herbs or some hay.

It’s not unheard of to have to syringe feed this long, but it indicates that there is an underlying problem that hasnt been adressed. Did the vet check her teeth? Rabbits are prone to molar sours, which can put them off their food. You cant see the molars yourself due to the anatomy of the rabbit skull, so a vet needs to look at them with an otoscope.

 

[Vicky]

She eats now a little hay, and I offered her some greens so she ate them. Not all at once but gradually through day.

She is not touching pellets at all tho! They were her favorite.

It is really exhausting now for me already to always try and catch her and syringe feed her. Next week I’m going away and only my mum stays at home. I hope she will eat by herself.

Doctor checked her teeth yes and everything is perfect.

I have been syringe feeding her since Monday now.

[Bam]

It’s great that she’s eating something on her own! Pellets are often the last thing a poorly bun goes back to. Fiber is the most important part pf the diet right now, since she gets the protein she needs from the Critical Care.

Are you giving her any meds at home?

[Vicky]

Yes I’m still giving her meds. Doctor said I can give them to bunny for two weeks long.

Do you have please any advice what can I feed her now? Or how often/much should I give her pellets? I’m very confused about the pellet thing or how much greens I can give her per day.

I’m really worried now about feeding her as I don’t want the same thing with GI stasis happen.

[Bam]

You can of course serve her pellets, and see if she eats them. The best thing is to measure them up so you lnow how much (if anything) she has eaten of them.

You can try a teaspoon of rolled oats and see if she eats that – oats are easy on the tummy and often very popular with rabbits.

Herbs and leafy greens are good- serve them a little bit at a time, because they lose their appeal when they wilt.

Practically anything she wants to eat is good now, because she needs to get into the habit of eating. (Obviously avoid really sugary stuff since it can become food for the wrong gut bacteria).

Some buns will take critical care from a plate if you mix it with a little bit of baby fruit puree. Try just a tiny bit for starters in case she wont touch it, so you dont waste good CC. You can also soak pellets in water and make a mash with baby puree or berries.

The road back from stasis can be long and slow. I had to syringe feed my bun Vilde for more than a month back in 2019.

[Vicky]

I gave her like 12 grams of pellets today and she ate them all!

I also gave her parsley, lettuce and dill. Which she didn’t eat all but most of it.

I still gave her critical care tho.

Do you know how much pellets and greens should I give to her? If she should weight around 1800 grams?

For a month? That’s really long time 🥺 I have to teach my mum how to give it to her because I have to leave for a few days I hope it will be okay.

[Bam]

A normal amount of pellets for an adult bun between 2 and 4 pounds is 2 table spoons (1/8 cup). This is for conpressed pellets (like Oxbow essentials). If you use extruded pellets you should give 4 table spoons/days, because extruded pellets (cuniconplete, science selective etc) weigh about half of what compressed pellets weigh.

Greens and herbs dont contribute much to the daily caloric need, so it’s not important how much you give her. Small portions several times per day  are of course best and safest, and rabbits do tend to like their greens crispy fresh.

My bun Vilde had setmrious dental ussues, which is why it took him so long to come back after stasis. Hopefully your bun will bounce back a lot quicker!

[Vicky]

Thank you about the information of pellets! I have to look if they are extruded or compressed, i didn’t know about that difference. I have “Supreme Science Selective Rabbit” pellets. Do you know about them?

 

 

[Bam]

Supreme science selective pellets are extruded. (I prefer extruded pellets for my buns, they are bigger and the risk och choking on them is less than with compressed pellets). So roughly 4 tablesppons would be a good amount for your bun.

[Vicky]

Oh really? I thought it was too much to give her! Hopefully she will start eating more on her own soon.

How long can the recovery be? It’s been a week now and I still have to syringe feed her because she is not eating enough.

[Bam]

4 tablespoons of extruded pellets weigh approximately the same as 2 tablespoons of compressed pellets, and nutritional values are always calculated on weight, not on volume. (I control-weighed pellets when I had a bun that needed to be switched from compressed to extruded pellets when he was on a strict diet due to being chubby).

How long you need to syringe feed for varies a lot. The important thing is to see if she gradually eats more and more by herself. Dana Krempel says its not uncommon for the bun to need 2 weeks until the GI system gets back into working order. She has written a really great article about stasis in buns, it’s very long, but it has lots of good info:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Here is a screenshot of a part of the article that stresses the need for patience:

[Vicky]

Yes my veterinarian told me that my bunny is a little chubby so I have to reduce her weight like 300 grams. But I think it won’t be problem now as she is eating so little now.

Thank you for the article!

It seems that it will be two weeks for my bun too or even more. Today she had like cecotrope droppings I hope it’s fine.

Well I will try and syringe feed her for another week if it won’t get better. it’s such a slow process.

[Bam]

Surplus cecotrope droppings and other poop irregularities like oddly shaped fecal poop is very common when a bun’s tummy is struggling to get back to normal.

[Vicky]

Thank you very much! You have been very helpful for me with these information and support! I really appreciate it and I’m glad that I can always ask anything on here and I get help ♥️

[Cinnamon Bun]

I didn’t know this about extruded pellets, either. My bun, Binkie, was going through cecal dybiosis (soft and runny cecotropes), and Science Selective pellets cleared up her cecal dysbiosis gloriously… she’s back to normal now. It was stressful but we got through it. I hope everything turns out okay with your adorable bun! ♥

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