Megacolon advice

Our bun thumper who was left in the adoption of pets at home with bloat has cow pile syndrome/megacolon. I've had a bun with it before and he had a blocked cecum by the time it was diagnosed. He had to be pts after over a thousand pounds in vet bills. I took thumper to the vets and told my vet this is what it is. He had antibiotics for a week. He said it was probably malnurishment but gave abx incase. After no change We then sent off 5 days of poo samples which came back showing no bacterial, nutritional or viral cause. His bloat has cleared up after the first week/meds. He eats masses of hay. Drinks well and eats ss pellets.
But no veg or treats. He loves fibreplex and protexin which we are trying to see if this improves his piles of long moist poo. He has english markings which are commonly affected by megacolon as the pigmentation of their skin apparantly appears on the intestine wall, which makes areas of the gut not work as well. Other breeds do suffer from it also but i've read that its the english markings that are more prone. The rabbit we lost to this condition was the samea lop with english rabbit markings. Is there anyone who knows of a better pellet food than ss for this condition. My fear is if he ever went off his food and drink the mass of poo would cause a blockage and we could lose him. The bun we lost had his teeth done and this started off his blockage plus he was long haired. I've read in a few veterinary books that the condition can't be cured but can be managed by getting their diet right. A bit like irritable bowel syndrome I guess. Sorry its a long chunky post i'm on my mobile and cant press enter

Poor bun. Giantbunnymummy's Daisy has been diagnosed with this condition, i'm sure she won't mind you sending her a PM

Snowberry has a bun with this, & went to one of the top vets in the UK, for diagnosis & dietary advice - Francis Harcourt Brown.

My own bun is called Thumper too & has a form of it - mainly affecting the caecum. It wasn't diagnosed until I found a top bunny vet, by which time I'd kept him going for 3 years on traditional wild plants. His caecum hasn't worked properly for the last 10 months. Ultrasound showed that it had collapsed in on itself & wasn't moving.
He's had problems with a sluggish caecum causing unformed smelly caecs (mild dysbiosis) all his life.

He hasn't lost weight :shock:
His thread is long, but you may get some ideas from it, as well as the sort of issues to look out for.
He has moistened SS to help with fluid intake.
I would say that blackberry/raspberry leaves are the best way to keep his bowel moving. It's very hard work though.
If your back is against the wall we've found something which helps a lot. I can't prove that it's bunny safe, but tell you what I know & why I've used it for 3-4 years for my Thumper.

I'm desperately trying to dry enough plants to feed him for the next 7 months at the mo. The leaves are most effective if gathered now - they don't work in Spring. So I can't go into it in much detail at the mo.
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=226422

Wishing you all the luck in the world.