Mushy Poops

Max went in for his dental op just over a week ago (9th July), he had a couple of teeth out and the rest filed down. Since he has been eating lots! He was on Supreme Recovery for a couple of days then I introduced pellets (Burgess Excel Adult), he's eating them up fine. Prior to the op he had lost interest in food (too painful to eat), the vet gave me some Protexin to mix in with some water and he was fed some fruit puree. His was previously fed muesili style food. He doesn't have any sort on interest in fresh stuff (tried him with lots - just hasn't taken anything).

Problem is he has started doing really mushy poos (not diarrahea as it still has a thicker consistency) as well as normal pellet poos. He's still grinding his teeth a bit and has a few gurgly moments in his tummy, but his dental problems wouldn't come back that quick, would they?

He's off to the vet on Thursday morning to have a check up and make sure nothing else has gone wrong But are there any suggestions of how I can help him before that?

He's gone through so much the past few weeks and seemed to be on the road to recovery, he had put 100g back on over the weekend after his op, eyes looked brighter, grooming himself properly and interested in everything. Very worried that something still might be wrong His pre op blood tests indicated dehydration and low red blood cell count. The dehydration is sorted as he is drinking lots now.

Just a bit confused as his mushy poops are intermittent with normal poos!

This should help explain the process that is occuring and what you are seeing:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=3012&S=1&SourceID=43

Your bun's case is complicated by the fact that he is a dental bunny and is post-op, therefore as you say he has been through a lot physically and emotionally and this takes its toll on the immune system as much as it does on the GI tract - a very sensitive organ in a rabbit. I suspect ongoing low-grade pain, caecal upset as a result or combined with the recovery feed and burgess pellets (renound for causing a mild dysbiosis) along with the stress he has been through will all be contributing to this problem. His teeth probably feel strange so he may grind them as they feel different - but this can also be a sign of pain. The gurgling tummy will indicate gas - again another sign his bacterial flora are out of balance and producing too much gas.
I think your bun would benefit from some non-steroidal pain relief (you will need to discuss this with your vet), a diet as high in fibre as possible - using wild plants/blackberry leaves etc if eating hay is tricky for him post dental/op and some probiotics with added fibre should help too, something like fibreplex or biolapis - all available from your vet or online. Keeping hydration up is important to keep the tummy going. If he is dehydrated then some fluids might be beneficial (from the vet) otherwise offering leafy weeds/dandelions still soaking wet from being washed should help. Steer away from the brassicas and cabbages and fruit/carrot for now if you do feed these as any gas producing veggies or sugary/starchy veg will only exacerbate the upset. I would also concentrate on getting him to eat lots of hay and consider slowly swapping his pellets over to a different brand that is less likely to cause upset. Hope he feels better soon x

Sarah.J said:

Max went in for his dental op just over a week ago (9th July), he had a couple of teeth out and the rest filed down. Since he has been eating lots! He was on Supreme Recovery for a couple of days then I introduced pellets (Burgess Excel Adult), he's eating them up fine. Prior to the op he had lost interest in food (too painful to eat), the vet gave me some Protexin to mix in with some water and he was fed some fruit puree. His was previously fed muesili style food. He doesn't have any sort on interest in fresh stuff (tried him with lots - just hasn't taken anything).

Problem is he has started doing really mushy poos (not diarrahea as it still has a thicker consistency) as well as normal pellet poos. He's still grinding his teeth a bit and has a few gurgly moments in his tummy, but his dental problems wouldn't come back that quick, would they?

He's off to the vet on Thursday morning to have a check up and make sure nothing else has gone wrong But are there any suggestions of how I can help him before that?

He's gone through so much the past few weeks and seemed to be on the road to recovery, he had put 100g back on over the weekend after his op, eyes looked brighter, grooming himself properly and interested in everything. Very worried that something still might be wrong His pre op blood tests indicated dehydration and low red blood cell count. The dehydration is sorted as he is drinking lots now.

Just a bit confused as his mushy poops are intermittent with normal poos!

Click to expand...

Have you tried the leaves of the following trees/shrubs - apple, hazel, blackberry/bramble/raspberry (remove thorns first), dandelions, plantain, hand-picked grass etc - all very high in fibre and less likely to cause upset.
Protexin also do a pro-fibre pellet which you could mix into his normal pellets to increase his fibre and probiotic intake - I use these and they are very good:
http://www.vetscriptions.co.uk/mm5/...e=1&Product_Code=PROTEXINPFRAB&Category_Code=

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/digestive-su...97/fibreplex-for-rabbits-small-rodents-p-1180

(I've not used the first shop before personally - VetUK below normally stock the profibre pellets)

What pellet would you recommend switching too?

Thank you so much for the information, the article was really helpful

Sarah.J said:

What pellet would you recommend switching too?

Thank you so much for the information, the article was really helpful

Click to expand...

I don't feed pellets at all so not the best person to ask. But I have heard on here good things about Oxbow bunny basics and Allen and Page and Science Selective.

I agree with everything advised by pretty lupin, as well as pain relief after extraction. The whole key to this is to increase fiber intake to get the gut moving.

My own bun has severe problems in this area, as well as molar spurs. I give him a wild based diet & cultivate weeds for him in my garden.
Allotment holders have been pleased to let me have the weeds I want as well as raspberry etc. leaves - in return I'll do a bit of general weeding for them.

I use science selective pellets, & saturate them with water to increase fluid intake.

Little update:

Went to the vet on Thursday. He had some more subq fluids and metacam. Changing his diet from Excel to Oxbow Bunny Basics T as well as supplementing with Fibreplex for the next couple of days. He is also eating some curly kale to hopefully help too. His mushy poos have cleared up greatly (only had 2 over the past day compared to about 6).

Will try mixing some water into his pellets, thanks for the suggestion! At the moment I've been mixing in apple puree into his water to see if it encourages him to drink more.

That's really good progress.:thumb:

I'm a bit apprehensive about adding fruit to his water so soon after his tummy problems, there's a potential for the sugars in it to put his gut micro organisms out of balance again.[This is why he got mushy poops] You'll be surprised by how much water pellets soak up. They need to be just firm enough for him to pick up.

How is he eating now?

thumps_ said:

That's really good progress.:thumb:

I'm a bit apprehensive about adding fruit to his water so soon after his tummy problems, there's a potential for the sugars in it to put his gut micro organisms out of balance again.[This is why he got mushy poops] You'll be surprised by how much water pellets soak up. They need to be just firm enough for him to pick up.

How is he eating now?

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I agree. Try mixing in some biolapis or avipro or avipro plus into his water instead. Some buns like the flavour and it's a good daily probiotic so won't upset the caecum as fruit will. Hope he's feeling much better now.

I know adding the puree to the water isn't an ideal solution but when you have a bunny that won't drink and adding puree is the only way he will drink enough then you kind of have to do it. He has been getting protexin professional mixed into his water along with 3 1ml doses of Fibreplex daily.

He's eating a lot better and enjoying the Oxbow pellets. Poos are all back to normal, no mushy ones since Saturday.

Is Avipro plus ok? Just had a look on VetUk and it says for reptiles :?
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/digestive-supplements-prebiotic-probiotic-products-c-5_172/avipro-plus-p-1225

Yes, Sarah J Avipro plus was recommended to me by the forum guru - Jack's-Jane. It's not being used as a probiotic, just as a flavouring without the sugar. I only put less than 1/8teaspoon in Thumper's water. He's got a rare gut issue & doesn't drink either. It's been a 5 year struggle to keep his caecal micro organisms under control to stop mushy caecs. & stasis.

I really understand what it's like to be tearing your hair out, when we guys recommend things & your bunny just won't do them!

My bun will take very moist food but has to be able to pick it up, hence the advice re pellets. He'll sometimes eat cucumber. Herbs like dill, basil, corriander are juicy. Parsley is a diuretic as is dandelion, so I avoid those when hydration is an issue. Spraying hay his with water from a new plant sprayer is another trick.
The key is to get his gut moving naturally with fiber, sometimes we use fresh bunny safe tree leaves, for moisture, low nutrient & a lot of fiber.
ETA the other key for contol of caecal micro organisms has been to stop all starch/sugars completely.

Thank you so much for all the advice

My Bio-Lapis came yesterday and he's drinking it all up!!! No more fruit puree!!!

Still having some poop problems but not as much as before (the majority are normal fecal pellets with maybe only 1 mushy one) so hopefully that will be a lot better soon. Went back to the vet yesterday and he's still putting on weight and was a lot feistier than before! So all good news!

That's fantastic news. Given a few more days & I'm sure all will be back to normal.