baby bunny with excess cecals

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I wasn't sure if I should post it here or in the health forum, moderators please move it for me if I chose wrong.

On Saturday I adopted an 11 week old mixed breed (don't know what she is) baby bunny from the animal shelter. She's been doing great with normal poop, pee, eating, and drinking, but when I woke up (an hour ago, I live in the US) there were some cecals smeared on the floor of her cage and when I picked he up there was a little clump on her bum which fell off and didn't leave anything on her fur. They aren't super messy but the ones on the bottom of the cage she stepped on so of course they got a little icky. There were also some other cecal clumps in the litter box. As of 12 hours ago she was pooping normal poops, BUT I can't say for sure that she is right now since I've only seen her make cecals. I let her run around to see if she would poop and she pooped a long clump of cecals, about an inch and a half long. She kind of made an attempt to eat it and then just hopped away. As of 12 hours ago (last night) she was pooping normal poops, BUT I can't say for sure that she is right now since I've only seen her make cecals. In a little bit I will let her out of her cage again and hopefully she will poop some normal poops just I will know if they look okay. I am worried about her because I know they are supposed to eat the cecals. I suspect she may be having tummy troubles because we just got her a few days ago and she has had so many diet changes in the past week. First whatever food her original owners gave her, then the food at the shelter (which they could not give me any to take home and try to transition her), now her current food, which is Kaytee Forti Diet for Juvenile Rabbits, an alfalfa based pellet: http://www.petco.com/product/108410/Kaytee-Forti-Diet-Pro-Health-Food-for-Juvenile-Rabbits.aspx The food does have a few (not a whole lot compared to some brands) crunchy orange treat like things in it that she likes, but I'm going to pick them out in case they are causing her troubles. She also gets timothy hay but nothing else other than water. She was eating lots of food before but she did not eat a whole lot in the past 12 hours. At the shelter they said they fed her some dandelion greens which upset her tummy and gave her some loose poop, but that was several days ago and she was all better by the time I adopted her.

Anyone have any advice? I do think it is probably from the diet changes but I'm worried! She is acting very lively and playful which is good, and drinking and peeing like normal. Thanks for any help!

Hi and welcome.

It probably is the diet change in my opinion.

I would keep to hay and water for a few days keeping a very close eye and getting to the vet ASAP if there is any deterioration.

When a normal state has been resumed you can very slowly introduce whatever feed you choose, a high fibre pellet is best, but no rabbit, other than a giant breed perhaps, needs more that an eggcup full of pellets/muesli a day so do not increase above this amount when you do introduce it.

Hay is the most important part of any buns diet and many members do not feed any pellets at all.

But baby buns can deteriorate very quickly, watch water intake as they can get quickly dehydrate, offer a small bowl as well as a bottle.

Good luck

Dustyrabbit, thanks for the reply! I am definitely pushing the hay and I picked out all the orange things from the food. She does not have any loose stool other than the cecal issue, which is good. Just checked on her again and she hasn't had any more cecal clumps in the past 4 hours. I will limit her pellets for the time being, but I've always been told that baby bunnies should have unlimited pellets until 6 months of age and the pellets should be alfalfa based when they're young because they need the calories to grow. Not trying to disagree with you on bunny care- I'm sure you know a lot- different reputable people have different ideas on feeding rabbits and it can be hard to decide who to go with! My adult bunnies get 2 to 3 tablespoons of pellets per day, not sure if that measurement is used in the UK but it isn't a whole lot. Also, how much is an egg cup? Is an egg cup one of those little bowls designed to hold a soft boiled egg?

Yes it is. I give Doughnut an egg cup of pellets. When she was young I was told to feed her unlimited and then I had lots of uneaten cecal, she preferred the pellets to the cecal obviously! Once I cut back then they were all eaten and now she begs for her pellets as they are a treat for her. I also give her bramble leaves as they are good for her digestion as well as lots of hay.

Cpayne, is that Doughnut at the bottom of your post? If so, she is ADORABLE!! Also, my little girl seems to be feeling better. No more stray cecals since I started the thread Hopefully it stays that way!

Yes that's her. She is very cute but a little monkey at times. Loves eating my lining paper, now put plastic corners up around it so she can't nibble!

That's good news, it's just about getting the balance right. when she was ill i just gave her mainly hay and noticed her poops were so much bigger so I then cut down on pellets to an egg cup and also give her bramble leaves which are good for the digestion and also dill which is good for gas. Now introduced rose petals which she loves and rose leaves.

Aw, glad to hear Doughnut is doing well! She sure is a cutie patootie. My little lady is feeling better, too. No more uneaten cecals! I'm glad it was just temporary. I worry about my babies a lot and if they show signs of illness I tend to get really anxious so it's a big relief. What are bramble leaves? We may have something like that here and I'm just not familiar with it because of the terminology difference between the United States and the UK, for example very few people have egg cups here and I doubt I'd really know what you were talking about if I hadn't lived in Europe for a while

I was just about to start a thread on this very thing! My friend has a baby bunny approx 12 weeks old now. Two weeks ago we went round to help as she had a lot of poo stuck to her bum and needed a wash to get it off as it was very matted. We talked about feeding and friend was giving unlimited but has cut down to an eggcup twice a day. Went round yesterday and poos very much better but still a few excess caecals. DO we think it might still be a bit too much pellet food for Nutmeg? She ate quite a bit of hay whilst I was there and poos were golden and crumbly. Could there be any other reason?

My buns are now 15 weeks, but were 10 when I got them. I initially fed unlimited but got some uneaten cecals. Now I limit them to a 40g each a day. This is still over an egg cup full but they are in fantastic health, are little hay monsters and full of energy. I think often the unlimited pellet idea is for baby baby buns, in my mind by the time they are 11 or 12 weeks and older they become adolescents, so I give more than I would for an adult and less than I would for a 5/6 week old!

No worries. I know different people do follow different advice with their babies. Mine have only ever had an eggcup full of pellets, any more in the early stages did produce tummy troubles.

In the Uk the emphasis is on a natural diet for bunny health and tooth wear so hay is the staple with a few pellets and veg (once they have been carefully introduced) if you want although many follow a hay and veg or wild food only diet (wild foods such as hawthorn, apple tree leaves, brambles etc). After all, wild bunnies don't eat pellets.

Also, everybun is different, one of mine is much more sensitive to dietary change than the other, they are brother and sister, you just have to work out what suits them.

Glad your bun is well.

Not ure if it's of any use but it might be useful to read this- for those of you who have young bunnies http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?327923

Hugabun - bramble leaves are blackberry leaves, the bushes where you get the fruit off and the usually grow in the wild. I found out that rose leaves are very similar so since I have lots of roses I also give them to Doughnut too. I guess an egg cup would be about a heaped table spoon but not too heaped. I'm think it's about 8g maybe, will measure it out for you and refer back later!

Martlou - yes I think it's still a bit too much. I cut down to two eggcups after giving unlimited, that stopped the cecal but I've cut her down to one now as she then eats more hay. What else does Nutmeg get food wise? Sometimes veg can do that. I was worried Doughnut would starve but she's fine and begs for her pellets as they are so yummy! I give her the SS ones as the Excel ones gave her a poop bum.

Doughnut is a mini lop so if you have larger rabbits they may be able to eat more pellets but I don't know. Just going on my experience. When I cut her down her poops are now the size of peas and never see uneaten cecal.

Dustyrabbit (I originally typed Dustbunny and had to look, ha), thanks for the info! And Cpayne, thanks for the info on bramble. I don't have that around here unfortunately. Aren't there different terms for Mini Lops and Holland Lops in the UK? In the United States, Holland Lops are the littlest ones and Mini Lops are the second littlest. Don't you call Holland Lops or Mini Lops Dwarf Lops and the other is reversed? Can't remember!

And I hope all the other little bunnies in this thread do well with their tummies! This is my first baby to have excess cecals like this. Every bun is different! Oh and she's still doin' great.