Cecotropes...

All that is in my 2 bunnies diet is 1/4 cup of A&P rabbit natural pellets each per day, unlimited good quality farm hay and fresh water, yet every day for months now I am finding cecals left all over the shed, which are making a big mess on the floor and a lot of the time it causes my Blossom to get a sticky bum.

They don't get herbs or vegetables or anything else for that matter because of this situation.

I am failed as to what to do.. I don't want to decrease pellets because I don't want them losing any weight, but i'm not sure why they are doing it..

The A&P pellets are 23% crude fibre and 12% protein

I usually mix burgess excel or harringtons with their regular pellets, but it seems to make the problem worse

They've been to the vet and were given a clean bill of health, and we came away with some probiotics and a 9 day course of panacur wormer which seemed to help but the problem has more or less returned

(They were previously on excel, this was when the problem started, but since moving them onto A&P it hasn't improved either)

Is your vet rabbit savvy as sounds to me like they aren't getting too many pellets. I know Excel can sometimes cause a lot of cecotropes.

I would take them back or go to an exotic vet specialist as something seems to be wrong and to me it doesn't sound like it's their diet.

cpayne said:

Is your vet rabbit savvy as sounds to me like they aren't getting too many pellets. I know Excel can sometimes cause a lot of cecotropes.

I would take them back or go to an exotic vet specialist as something seems to be wrong and to me it doesn't sound like it's their diet.

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Yes, she did know what she was talking about. I'm just really upset, I want them back to normal again

Do you know what it could be?

I don't I'm afraid. Normally it is poor diet, too many veg or introducing something too quickly.

I would either take your bunny to a specialist to find the cause or maybe just give them hay for the day and see if you still see the cecotropes. Some bunnies have very sensitive tummies. If you don't see the cecotropes on hay only then it may be that he can't tolerate pellets, quite a few bunnies on here can't and either have a hay only diet or bits of veg or herbs too.

They will be fine on hay just for a day and then maybe introduce little bits of herbs as they are gentler on the stomach and elimiate the pellets altogether. You just need to find out the cause.

cpayne said:

I don't I'm afraid. Normally it is poor diet, too many veg or introducing something too quickly.

I would either take your bunny to a specialist to find the cause or maybe just give them hay for the day and see if you still see the cecotropes. Some bunnies have very sensitive tummies. If you don't see the cecotropes on hay only then it may be that he can't tolerate pellets, quite a few bunnies on here can't and either have a hay only diet or bits of veg or herbs too.

They will be fine on hay just for a day and then maybe introduce little bits of herbs as they are gentler on the stomach and elimiate the pellets altogether. You just need to find out the cause.

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Okay, thank you.

Let us know how you get on.

Poppy has this - we've been to the vets lots of times, had loads of tests etc and still none the wiser.

We think protein attributes to it, even things like plantain set her off so I'm trialling timothy hay to see whether its the differnt plants in the meadow hay thats doing it as I have no idea whats in each handful I give her. Also green oat hay is a definate no no.

Stress definately sets her off - its worse if Im on holiday and someone else is looking after them, or if there is any change in enviroment/routine, its worse when a strange noise scares her etc.

Like you we didn't have any probs the whole 28 days she was on panacur and also have no probs if she is on fibreplex so I don't know whats in it that helps. I've tried other probiotics but they upset her (possibly as higher in sugar).

Its not as much or as often as it was when we first got her, but I do think we are starting to find a balance diet wise and am hoping the timothy works. I use fibreplex if it is really bad as I'm not sure if its ok to use permanently.

I find that blackthorn leaves are good in the majority, but not all of these cases.
They're only suitable from the time the sloes are fully ripe (now) until the leaves fall.
They seem to stabilise the caecal micro organisms very quickly.
Old, tougher, bramble leaves are also very good.

Amy104 said:

Poppy has this - we've been to the vets lots of times, had loads of tests etc and still none the wiser.

We think protein attributes to it, even things like plantain set her off so I'm trialling timothy hay to see whether its the differnt plants in the meadow hay thats doing it as I have no idea whats in each handful I give her. Also green oat hay is a definate no no.

Stress definately sets her off - its worse if Im on holiday and someone else is looking after them, or if there is any change in enviroment/routine, its worse when a strange noise scares her etc.

Like you we didn't have any probs the whole 28 days she was on panacur and also have no probs if she is on fibreplex so I don't know whats in it that helps. I've tried other probiotics but they upset her (possibly as higher in sugar).

Its not as much or as often as it was when we first got her, but I do think we are starting to find a balance diet wise and am hoping the timothy works. I use fibreplex if it is really bad as I'm not sure if its ok to use permanently.

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You don't know how glad I am to find someone in my situation! Lol. No matter what I feed mine though, the problem doesn't change which is why i'm thinking it could be to do with the hay too. It only really started when they were getting the fresher stuff.. So maybe the next bale will hopefully be different ..

If you find a cure please let me know, i'm at the end of my tether!

Other than leaving cecals they are still healthy.. Eating, drinking, pooing the normal stuff, are active at night etc.. Other than losing a bit of weight they seem to be okay.