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Twinkle's messy bottom...UPDATE 14 MARCH

fluffiebunnie

fluffiebunnie

Warren Veteran
Remember this thread?

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=114053


Well Twinkle went back to the vets yesterday for her vhd jab and the vet has confirmed that she is NOT overweight. She could feel her spine and her ribs and had a good look over her. She said her weight is just right.

Well she still has mucky bums after changing to Excel Lite and only having five pellets in the morning and five at night and minimal veg and maximum hay.

So today I have ordered the Oxbow T Pellets and have upped her probiotic in the water to the maximum amount allowed. All veg is now stopped (felt guilty not giving her any before when Pickle had some).

So I am hoping that no veg at all and just hay and Oxbow pellets (minimum amount) will sort her out.

My question being can a bunny live without vegetables/fruit at all?

Also does fresh grass count as vegetables or hay? As I was thinking she could have some fresh grass rather than veg?
 
Last edited:
Sooz22 said:
Have you now worked out that it is veggies causing the problem for sure?
Click to expand...


No :cry: The only veg she has had is spring greens (tiny amount) and she was caked yesterday (cleaned off before going to vet). Vet couldnt really advise anything other than probiotic which I was already giving... but have upped the amount at vets advice.

I have no idea whats causing it, which is the problem because I cannot begin to solve this until I know for sure....

I am just going round and round in circles, and on the last thread it was suggested she was overweight (which vet has confirmed she is not) so I reduced pellets thinking that would solve things, but it has made no difference.

Still so confused and worried about her poor tummy :cry:
 
Have you tried her on 48 hours of hay and water only to get her tummy clear of other food stuffs?

I would then try moving her onto bunny basics/t to see if that helps with the problem.
 
Princess C suffered with a mucky bum when I first got her. But she was fatter than she is now. My vet says that she isn't overweight (although I think she looks it)... however I discovered that veggies upset her tum and also that if she does not eat all her caecal feaces she will then just sit in them :roll: Minimal veg is what sorts her out...... but Sooz's suggestion of just hay and water is a good idea to try....?
 
As far as I'm aware, yes they can live without veggies. Mine are only able to tolerate very minimal veg. Grass is nutritious green food, along with weeds etc.
 
Sooz22 said:
Have you tried her on 48 hours of hay and water only to get her tummy clear of other food stuffs?

I would then try moving her onto bunny basics/t to see if that helps with the problem.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks Sooz....

She had three Excel Lite pellets this morning and no veg and lots of hay, but will now leave her with just hay and probiotic water and will inspect her bottom on Wednesday evening..

She is so hard to catch (took me an hour to get two bunnies into the carrier for their jabs yesterday :roll:) so is hard to inspect her bottom every day. The hutch is too large and awkward so there is always somewhere else to run to escape me catching her :lol:

Thank you for trying to help.... will update Wednesday evening...
 
Oxbow Bunny Basict T sorted my rabbit out pretty quick. He refuses hay so this was the next best thing for the fibre. Obviously if yours will eat the real thing then all the better as it helps their teeth too.

I also found the the probiotic actually made it worse so stopped it. It is a lot of trial and error with the different foods. Keep it basic and then start adding small amounts of different food each week to see how it goes.

We never found out what caused our buns problem and even had samples sent off for analysis.
 
The Oxbow BB T sorted one of our rabbits out too. I spent a long time trying to work out what veg was causing the problem but it turned out veg was OK, the Excel Junior and then even SS was the cause.

I certainly think a hay only diet the best way to go and then gradually introduce new foodstuffs.

Good luck, I hope you can get to the 'bottom' of Twinkles excess poops.

Vanessa xx
 
Have her teeth been thoroughly examined? Dental problems, especially of the incisors, can be another reason for not eating caecatrophs so this needs to be ruled out too.
 
I just read your older thread and see that she has had panacur, which is the first thing I would try. So I was wondering if it might be that she has a parasite that panacur doesn't cure?
When I first got LaRue at 2 years old, she always had a messy bum and I didn't have a bunny savvy vet so she wasn't given anything, but then one day she had runnier stools with some diarriah and I went to a better vet (still not great with buns as my superlady vet I have now) but he said they found a large amount of coccidia in her stools, looking under a microscope which is a one celled parasite, so she was put on sulmet which is a sulphur based antibiotic that targets coccidia, and she never had a messy bum again.
I think vets overlook coccidia in adult rabbits because it is supposed to be a disease of baby rabbits, and apparently most adults are usually immune to it. It just sounds like your bunny has had such a good diet from you for a long time, that maybe it is not a dietary issue? Were any samples of her poo sent out for testing? sorry if I missed that, only skimmed the first thread,
Hope she gets better soon, messy bums are so very worrying, I know. x
 
carasblanco said:
I just read your older thread and see that she has had panacur, which is the first thing I would try. So I was wondering if it might be that she has a parasite that panacur doesn't cure?
When I first got LaRue at 2 years old, she always had a messy bum and I didn't have a bunny savvy vet so she wasn't given anything, but then one day she had runnier stools with some diarriah and I went to a better vet (still not great with buns as my superlady vet I have now) but he said they found a large amount of coccidia in her stools, looking under a microscope which is a one celled parasite, so she was put on sulmet which is a sulphur based antibiotic that targets coccidia, and she never had a messy bum again.
I think vets overlook coccidia in adult rabbits because it is supposed to be a disease of baby rabbits, and apparently most adults are usually immune to it. It just sounds like your bunny has had such a good diet from you for a long time, that maybe it is not a dietary issue? Were any samples of her poo sent out for testing? sorry if I missed that, only skimmed the first thread,
Hope she gets better soon, messy bums are so very worrying, I know. x
Click to expand...

Coccidia has not been discussed with my vet. Strangely Pickle had this when he was a baby and my vet spotted it instantly and was on abx and it went away very quickly. He never had a messy bum with it...just watery poo ...

Twinkle's poos are completely fine if you look in the litter tray... but she has something causing them or her c-poops to stick to her bum.

The vet didnt even suggest taking a sample and said some bunnies just have sensitive tummies.
 
AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!! Caught Twinkle stealing some of Pickle's SS :roll::evil::cry:

She is on just hay and probiotic water at the moment, till Wednesday evening....

Now she has messed up my plan of action :roll:
 
Update on Twinkle:

She has been on just hay and probiotic water since the beginning of this thread and a marked improvement in the mess caked to her bottom. This morning she only had the tiniest piece.

So can anyone advise me as to what I should do now?

I have now received the Oxbow 25-29% fibre Timothy Hay pellets. Should I start her on a few of these a day or leave the hay for a few more days? She is eating hay very well so am not concerned she is getting hungry. She has had no veg whatsoever.

Please can someone tell me what to do now as I want to keep her bottom clean and her tummy healthy and dont want to risk doing the wrong thing.

Thanks to all who are advising me...:)
 
Personally I'd see if you can get it down to no mess at all, with a few more days of hay only, then try gradually introducing the new Oxbow pellets and go from there. :)
 
SarahP said:
Personally I'd see if you can get it down to no mess at all, with a few more days of hay only, then try gradually introducing the new Oxbow pellets and go from there. :)
Click to expand...


So do you think keep her on hay until the weekend perhaps?

Should I just start with a few Oxbow pellets? How many?

Just worried that as soon as she starts on pellets again her messy bum will come back :cry:

(Thanks for the reply :D)
 
I would stay with hay only until the weekend and then start on the Oxbow T.

Have faith in the Oxbow! Our messy bottomed monster had no probs.

I calculate 1/8 of a cup as somewhere between 1 and 1.25oz so weigh this out so you know what a full day ration is - assuming you bun comes into the smallest weight category and find something this will fill or half fill eg an egg cup. I use an expresso cup! The pellets are too small too count out! :lol:

Once you know what you are aiming for you can start off with a smaller amount. Maybe 1/4 of the full amount for a week, then 1/2 and then 3/4 assuming there are no problems.

If there are no probs with Twinklewith the Oxbow I would then VERY gradually try veggies. Hopefully you can then determine what suits her or not.

Hoping it all goes OK. Let us know,
Vanessa xx
 
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