The ongoing poop saga!!

Hi some of you who have replied to me before might know I have an ongoing issue with excess ceacs in one of my buns. After a trip to the vet and advice on here he has been on limited pellets, hay and no greens now for about 3 weeks.

All was going well so I started to introduce tiny amounts of veg again one at a time... but it has started again! :? He only had a tiny amount of a dandelion leaf before and he has now produced and not eaten 5 slightly squashy ceacs in about 20 mins! I am really worried about him. He hasn't done anymore for an hour now and is eating hay, hopping about and drinking as normal. I will take him to the vets again, but any ideas what is causing this and what treatment he may need? Thanks for any replies.

Hi, sorry to hear about your poop dilema, i am not an expert but maybe having him eat limited amounts of pellets and unlimited hay is the right diet for your bun? Maybe he finds it hard to digest veg? Have you tried him on herbs like parsley and basil? These are very popular with buns. Or maybe it is that you have to try and teach him to eat the caecles?

In my experience excess caecotrophs didn't clear up until I removed pellets from the diet. I realise this is a drastic action and it would depend on your bunny's age and dental state and general health, but it is certainly something I would consider. It works very well for my two - as a last resort I think you might find it helpful. In the meantime I would try a higher fibre pellet first...

What pellets is he on? Was he ok just on pellets/hay?

He is on P@H junior/dwarf pellets. He is now 22 weeks (5 1/2 months) so was wondering when I can change him to an adult pellet, which are higher in fibre aren't they? Can anyone recommend the best high fibre pellet please?

He was ok on smaller amount of pellets and hay with no herbs or veg yes with only a very rare ceac in sight. So he does know to eat them it is just the odd one is slightly too sloppy for him to eat I think, seemingly when he has herbs, greens or veg. :?

He can switch to an adult pellet now. I would personally switch brand too. Pets at Home pellets are very low in fibre. I would try Allen and Page or Science Selective.
He's also old enough now to only have an eggcup full of pellets.
Bunnies should be able to tolerate veg, herbs and wild plants - it's part of their natural diet. However, you need to build them up to it slowly and I would definitely start with just leafy greens rather than watery human-type veg. Carrot tops, celery tops, radish tops, herbs, dandelions, apple tree leavesl etc.
It is excess carbohydrates that causes an unbalanced caecum. If the caecum is already unbalanced, then veg/herbs they are not used to can tip the balance further, but this does not meant that the veg are the primary cause, more that the caecum is not in balance from all the carbohdyrates from the pellets and therefore bunny will react to anything.
I realise this article is about malformed caecotrophs and not simply excess ones - but the theory is the same and it will give you and idea of caecal balance:http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=670 I'm not suggesting you do this but if you read it from an 'educational' point of view you'll notice that the treatment is to remove the pellets not the greens. So I would concentrate on reducing the pellets for your bun and slowly switching brand to a higher fibre pellet (more fibre) and consequently bun will eat more hay. Once the caecum is in balance you can slowly introduce the veg. Excess caecs being produced does not mean the tummy is perfectly balanced. Good luck

I had this issue with both my rescue buns when I took them on - but worse. Their tums were a terrible mess, piles of excess caecs and Poppy had cow-pat caecs (malformed). I tried several pellet brands but eventually just removed pellets completely. It still took several months to clear up completely (Both buns around 5-6 months old at the time).
They eat tons of veg, herbs and other plants now (built up slowly once tummy settled on just hay for a week or two) with no caecal upset at all. Not an excess caecotroph in sight! It is possible

That is brilliant thankyou for your help. I will slowly swap him over to a high fibre adult pellet and see how we go. Thanks again.