• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Bunny not able to eat caecotrophs

Hugo's There

Wise Old Thumper
Is there any sort of suppliment I should be giving to a bunny that is unable to eat any of his caecotrophs?

I am concerned that Gideon is not getting all the nutrients he needs now :?

I know you can give suppliments to male piggys when they are impacted and unable to eat them but am not sure about bunnies

Thanks
 
Are you sure he's not eating any and not just discarding excess ones? Or is he impacted? In the short-term he shouldn't become too deficient (days - week) but any longer than a week or so it could be an issue nutritionally....they say you can do 'donated ones' from another rabbit but how that works re. worms, parasites etc i'm not convinced!
I expect a probiotic would be helpful. There are vitamin supplements available - I would ask the vet. :)
I hope bunny feels better soon.
 
He is now so disabled he can't eat them, I watched him today try to get some and he just fell on his head :( Alot of my other disabled buns pick them from the floor and eat them but he is constantly squashing them on the soles of his feet because of the hyperelasticitly in his tendons make his legs slide along the floor rather than lifting them.

We are having to be very vigilant because of fly strike too

I assume now this is going to be a problem for the rest of his life. I have cut out nearly all his pellets to make sure they were not just excess but that made no difference and after watching him today know that it is because he is unable to reach them.

I don't want to be cutting out too many pellets if he isn't eating his caecotrophes.:?
 
I don't want to be cutting out too many pellets if he isn't eating his caecotrophes.:?

No, of course I can understand that completely. Poor little poppet :( I think that he may need a probiotic and vitamin supplement from the vet in that case if this is a long-term issue. I'm pretty sure they do them as I have had this discussion with the vet in the past re uneaten caecotrophs - but obviously not in a disabled bun. I think that the probiotics added to water would probably be more appropriate than the pastes for long term use.
I hope your vet has a suitable vitamin substitute.
 
I've never had this problem, but I assume the risk would be lack of vitamin B12, this can be a problem in goats if the gut flora is compromised, and is called Pine's disease. the goat basically pines away, loses weight and becames lethargic, and I assume suffers from pernicious anaemia.
I think I'm right in saying this is mainly why they eat the ceacotrophes, to absorb the b12 produced by the gut bacteria, the same reason that ruminants chew cud. I suppose a regular vit b12 injection would be the way to avoid that, but I'm not sure what the long term affect would be.
 
Thanks :wave:

Just been searching on Google and it seems it could be quite serious. As well as them being a source of essential proteins, which I knew, it also seems they are necessary for the body to metabolise certain vitamins etc. I just read on one site that if a rabbit is prevented from eating its caecotrophs it dies :shock:
 
Last edited:
Back
Top