Any help please ?

Hi,i have posted with this problem before but i still cant get it sorted so wondered if anybody can suggest anything else .
I have a british giant snowy ,she is about two years old and healthy apart from the fact she always has a messy bum ,the vet suggested putting her on a hay oly diet which she was on for about 6 months with no improvement !

The next thing the vet suggested was panacur and fibreplex which did seem to do the trick but it only lasted for a few weeks ,i also tried the protexin pellets whish didnt help ,i am now at the end of nmy tether ,i have been diagnosed with a condition that makes it really hard for me to physically bath her and also as she is an outdoor rabbit it is now too cold anyway

She has a small amount of wagg optimum in the morning ,unlimited hay and veg in the evening ,i have 7 bunnies but only her with this problem .

Any help would be appreciated as its getting to the stage where i am thinking rehoming to someone who can let her lives indoors where baths would not be a problem would be better for her but i really dont want to do this ,she has a male british giant pepper who lives with her but he is fine :roll:

Have you tried a more wild based diet? Bramble leaves and hawthorn (I believe) can be very helpful.

With the profibre protexin, what did you do, and for how long?

I think fluffiebunnies on here found that randomly, a muesli mix helped her Twinkle (?).

I'm presuming that it's definitely not a mobility issue and is a gut related issue? Has it been ruled out whether or not she is in pain? I've had some very messy bums from a bunny who suffers with paina nd the more pain he is in the worse it gets so we actually control his by pain relief, ironically.

You could try putting a pro-biotic in her water?

ProC Probiotic 100gm by Vetark
£5.49 (Pets at Home)

Limit her veg too. Although still give it her everyday.What veg does she have? I find too much of anything green does this to my Snow, he has the same problem and has to have limited pellets, fruit and veg but I always make sure there is plenty of hay.

Has spinal arthritis been ruled out. This is a common problem in Giant Breeds and it would make it difficult for her to keep herself clean as she would find it uncomfortable/painful to bend her spine.

Thanks all ,she does not seem to have a problem cleaning herself as i see her doing it and dont think she has mobility probs as she can jump up and down on the garden chairs and table no probs ,she has spring greens or brocolli and a small amount of carrot every now and then ,i tried the protextin over about a month ,she was previously on rabbit royale and we tried the pellet only food to see if that helped .
Where would i get the wild forage from i wouldnt have a clue what it looks like ,its hard to feed her a seperate diet as she lives with pepper :roll:

She seems to do big unformed wet poos more than the ceco looking ones :shock:

tracey madigan said:

Thanks all ,she does not seem to have a problem cleaning herself as i see her doing it and dont think she has mobility probs as she can jump up and down on the garden chairs and table no probs ,she has spring greens or brocolli and a small amount of carrot every now and then ,i tried the protextin over about a month ,she was previously on rabbit royale and we tried the pellet only food to see if that helped .
Where would i get the wild forage from i wouldnt have a clue what it looks like ,its hard to feed her a seperate diet as she lives with pepper :roll:

She seems to do big unformed wet poos more than the ceco looking ones :shock:

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http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Differential/mega_differential.htm

Jack's-Jane said:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Differential/mega_differential.htm

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Thanks jane ,i will show that to the vet ,i have taken her to two different vets so far and they are both at a loss and said tests usually wont confirm anything :roll:

I hope you manage to solve this problem. It sounds like something your vet needs to investigate for you given the length of time she's had it and different feeding patterns you have tried.

Is she in a run in the garden, or free range?

She might be eating something in the garden maybe.

Mine are in a shed and huge run, but with no grass, and if I see anything growing in there I dig it up straight away. Its a little OCD but I know exactly what they are eating and when.

Sky-O said:

Have you tried a more wild based diet? Bramble leaves and hawthorn (I believe) can be very helpful.

With the profibre protexin, what did you do, and for how long?

I think fluffiebunnies on here found that randomly, a muesli mix helped her Twinkle (?).

I'm presuming that it's definitely not a mobility issue and is a gut related issue? Has it been ruled out whether or not she is in pain? I've had some very messy bums from a bunny who suffers with paina nd the more pain he is in the worse it gets so we actually control his by pain relief, ironically.

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The muesli thing was a coincidence, it was the metacam that actually helping.

She has a dog kennel with a large attached run and does freerange also but its all patio with only an apple and pear tree so nothng poisonous

I have a mini lop called Teddy with the same problem. Everything but hay gave him wet poos. I put him on a hay only diet for at least 6 months then started him on a couple of Bunny Basics T pellets & increased the amount I gave him over several months until he could manage the same amount of pellets as his partner (a very small bowlful) He also has an inch of parsnip in the evening & a feungreek crunchie per day. So far I havent found anything else that he can eat without the wet poos coming back.
It was a long slow process & sometimes I do feel sorry for him because while all the other buns are eating their greens & carrots etc he only has a tiny bit of parsnip but hes happy health & wet poo free.
I do find bramble leaves a massive help, apparently theyre really good for tummy/digestion problems & Teddy loves them

Has she had an x-ray? Pebbles had very bad runny and very small poos but vet found a very large tumor in his abdomen. After the removal of the tumor, his poos returned to normal, though he is limited to small amounts of weeds now to be on the safe side. If he has too much fresh green weeds like milk thistle, he gets the occasional runny poo, but nothing like pre-op days.

Can I ask. When you did a hay only diet for 6 months was it honestly and truly HAY ONLY and nothing else? No veg, herbs, pellets/treats - even the odd one or two? :wave:

Extreme caecal dysbiosis can take many months to rectify on hay only. This means literally hay only and it needs to be a good tough hay for some cases, not the green meadow stuff. Which or what type of hay exactly did you use during this period? I have some personal experience of this condition so I'm hoping I can help here... hence the detailed questions.

Eating something poisonous would not cause this condition in the long-term.

ALL other common health issues contributing to this condition need to be ruled out first by a vet before narrowing it down to dietary causes. Stress and other factors alone can exacerbate a caecal dysbiosis - pain being a major trigger.

Hi,yes it was hay only even though i felt so sorry for her ,i get baled hay from a local farm and it is very stalky ,they all love it x

tracey madigan said:

Hi,yes it was hay only even though i felt so sorry for her ,i get baled hay from a local farm and it is very stalky ,they all love it x

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Was there no improvement at all after 6 months of this stalky hay? :wave:

Has your vet considered megacolon? - rare but does exist and there are a few members on here with rabbits with megacolon disease. :?

I'm wondering if your vet would consider a trial period of daily NSAID's to rule out any pain precipitator?

try leaving green veggies out of her diet for a month, see what happens. Our dwarf lop, Harry (RIP), used to have this problem, we cut out green veggies (on vet's recommendation) and had improvements in about a week. what do other forum members think of this though?