• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Old rabbit with jelly in poo

Lady Logamorph

Lady Logamorph

Mama Doe
Hi everyone, I have an elderly rabbit who is approx 9 years old called fifi. She was neutered and had a dental a few months ago which she recovered from ok. Since then she has had a snuffly nose so has been on a course of septrin but the main problem is her poos haven't been right since being neutered even before she started on septrin. She has also lost weight gone doen from 2.05 kg to 1.75 kg. her poos are mishapen and she keeps getting a clear jelly coming out. She has been wormed and has had her poo checked under a microscope which hasn't shown up anything. I've given her a tube of fibreplex which hasn't made a difference. Has anyone else had this and any suggestions on anything else to try.
 
Did the Vet comment on how her spay went ? Was the uterus 'normal' ? Did the procedure involve having to move her intestines about a lot ? My first thoughts is the possibility of post surgical adhesions. The weightloss is very worrying though. Did the Vet take a chest Xray and run a full blood profile prior to spaying her ? I would expect this to be done when dealing with a 9 year old Doe.
 
Molly Varga did her spay she said there were no abnormalities of her uterus but there was no mention of her intestines so I will ask her about that. I did see her last saturday about the problem and she has suggested carrying on with the fibreplex and trying to get her weight up by upping her pellets, she's worried about doing another dental with her weight being so low as she has a back molar missing hence why she will need another dental at some point. She had a blood screen after her spay as she was looking thin and they all came back clear. I'm not sure if an xray was done either I will speak to Molly about this as I don't think it was she didn't put it in the notes. I have a strange feeling about this that something happened during the spay that's causing this as she was fine before and she has been eating very well since then. She hasn't gone into statis or missed a meal and is eating grass and forage really well. She was exposed near to some rabbits who had coccidia but she has had septrin and they didn't notice this in her poo test. With post surgical adhesions would it be likely that she would be off her food? She seems fine in herself that's the strange thing she eats like a horse.
 
Lady Logamorph said:
Molly Varga did her spay she said there were no abnormalities of her uterus but there was no mention of her intestines so I will ask her about that. I did see her last saturday about the problem and she has suggested carrying on with the fibreplex and trying to get her weight up by upping her pellets, she's worried about doing another dental with her weight being so low as she has a back molar missing hence why she will need another dental at some point. She had a blood screen after her spay as she was looking thin and they all came back clear. I'm not sure if an xray was done either I will speak to Molly about this as I don't think it was she didn't put it in the notes. I have a strange feeling about this that something happened during the spay that's causing this as she was fine before and she has been eating very well since then. She hasn't gone into statis or missed a meal and is eating grass and forage really well. She was exposed near to some rabbits who had coccidia but she has had septrin and they didn't notice this in her poo test. With post surgical adhesions would it be likely that she would be off her food? She seems fine in herself that's the strange thing she eats like a horse.
Click to expand...

She may not be off her food in the initial stages. But gut motility is usually effected in the end. Did the mucus appear before starting Septrin ? Also, it is possible to have a false negative for coccidia in fecal testing. Was it a 3 day fecal sample that was tested ?

What is her daily diet ?

Is she drinking and weeing more than normal ?
 
Jack's-Jane said:
She may not be off her food in the initial stages. But gut motility is usually effected in the end. Did the mucus appear before starting Septrin ? Also, it is possible to have a false negative for coccidia in fecal testing. Was it a 3 day fecal sample that was tested ?
Click to expand...

the mucus was there before starting septrin she has been on septrin for about a week now but she has on and off mucus for about 2 months..it seemed to clear up and then it would appear a few days later. The first test was just a sample from that day but I do have a 3 day sample here ready to post to molly today for another check, I took some from saturday, sunday and today.

Jack's-Jane said:
What is her daily diet ?
Click to expand...
she is having a small handful of pellets 3 times a day and then some veg normally sprint greens, kale, broccoli, celery but only a small amount. I've tried cutting out the veg but it didn't make a difference she was still getting the jelly. She won't eat hay at all but does eat grass, dandilions, vetch, plantain. Worried about the winter I'm desperately trying to dry some to use over the winter for her.

Jack's-Jane said:
Is she drinking and weeing more than normal ?
Click to expand...
She does drink quite a lot of water but always has done I'm not sure if it's because she has more pellets than the other rabbits and she is weeing normal the only thing I would say is her tail and back legs are very wet permanently. I give her tail and back legs a wash every couple of days in the hope she doesn't get sore.
 
she hasn't been tested for e.c but she has had a 5 day course of panacur a couple of weeks ago mainly because I have had problems with pinworms in one of the rabbits so have done all mine and my fosters.
 
no there was no improvement. A full tube of fibreplex didn't improve it either which I was hoping would help. In fact she has has episodes of just jelly come out on it's own. She is also very gurgly and I have actually heard her expel gas :shock:
 
I hope that Molly can figure out what is wrong. I know how stressful it can be to have a Rabbit with a gut problem of unknown cause.
 
I'd go back to Molly Varga- she's a top rabbit vet so hopefully more tests will diagnose it.

From my understanding, jelly in the poo is a sign of inflammation in the gut - has bunny had an ultrasound or xray done of the gut? That would also tie in with the weightloss.

I would discuss with your vet the possibility of the gut being a bit dodgy (for whatever reason) which is being made worse by her diet. I wonder if it is being inflamed further and not absorbing nutrients properly due to the lack of fibre and high levels of protein. In which case replacing the normal pellets with a very high fibre pellet (Oxbow/Fibafirst/VetCare Digestive) may help slightly - I don't think it is the cause of the issue, but it may help.

Has she always been incontinent or just since the spay?

Out of interest, why was she spayed so late, was she exhibiting symptoms of uterine cancer or has she been bonded to a new rabbit?

I hope she's feeling better soon.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys poo sample has been sent so will report back if anything has been found. If not then I am going to speak to Molly about her going back in for more tests. I think Molly is concerned about putting her under GA with her weight low and her age but I can't see any other option at this point if she keeps getting the jelly.

I'm not sure if she just had a good night of poos but there seemed to be an improvement I didn't notice any jelly and they seemed more round. Although yesterday she did have quite soft poos. I really am at a loss with what's going on it's very frustrating.

Nessar - I was going to change her pellets as she is on excel to one with a higher fibre content. I was also wondering about the OAP pellets maybe give those a try the science selective ones.

I don't think she is incontinent as she does lift her tail and do full wees but for some reason she gets it all over her tail and legs but I'm not sure why. I will get some pictures of her later on so you can see what I mean.

She was in a PAH adoption centre and was not doing so well in there as she had been living as a house rabbit and wasn't spayed when I got her. Because she needed a dental she was spayed at the same time. I would like to bond her but she is so bonded to humans she is the friendliest rabbit I have ever had she follows me everywhere around the house. It would be nice to bond her to an oap male rabbit though as I don't think she has had the company of another bunny before.
 
Lady Logamorph said:
Thanks guys poo sample has been sent so will report back if anything has been found. If not then I am going to speak to Molly about her going back in for more tests. I think Molly is concerned about putting her under GA with her weight low and her age but I can't see any other option at this point if she keeps getting the jelly.

I'm not sure if she just had a good night of poos but there seemed to be an improvement I didn't notice any jelly and they seemed more round. Although yesterday she did have quite soft poos. I really am at a loss with what's going on it's very frustrating.

Nessar - I was going to change her pellets as she is on excel to one with a higher fibre content. I was also wondering about the OAP pellets maybe give those a try the science selective ones.

I don't think she is incontinent as she does lift her tail and do full wees but for some reason she gets it all over her tail and legs but I'm not sure why. I will get some pictures of her later on so you can see what I mean.

She was in a PAH adoption centre and was not doing so well in there as she had been living as a house rabbit and wasn't spayed when I got her. Because she needed a dental she was spayed at the same time. I would like to bond her but she is so bonded to humans she is the friendliest rabbit I have ever had she follows me everywhere around the house. It would be nice to bond her to an oap male rabbit though as I don't think she has had the company of another bunny before.
Click to expand...

She may not be able to adopt a 'good' position to wee due to age related osteoarthritis in her hips/spine.
 
That was my wonder as well Jane although she is very bouncy and doesn't struggle to get around but she doesn't seem to lift her tail like my other rabbits...certainly not as high and she will do a wee on the floor and stay sat in it rather than moving away from it.
 
I don't know much about the possible side effects of spaying older bunnies, but isn't it common in older females of other species that if a hysterectomy is performed it can sometimes affect the muscle tension of the bladder area and cause 'leaking'? I wonder if this may also be a factor for your bunny, LL?
I'm hoping a cause and cure can be found for the jelly poos. Sending vibes and hugs your way. xxxxx
 
Thanks MM that is a thought she has definately gone downhill since the spay so something has affected her. The thing is if I hadn't have had her spayed I probably would have been constantly worried about the risk of cancer so it was a difficult call. Last night wasn't good found lots of lumps of jelly on the floor and her right nostril still has a white mucus coming out even after being on septrin for a week and a half. She is going back to Molly next week for more tests I just hope I get to take her home again I'm so worried she won't get through another GA.

this is the stuff that comes out of her bum. Has anyone else seen this?

15276749882_9f7d3ff936_b.jpg


her tail
15090579587_4293cdd8c9_b.jpg


her nose
15274016861_6aefd7dd32.jpg


and this is fifi
15254137136_cf0a8d13af.jpg
 
Yes, I have seen something similar. Sadly it was not a happy outcome :cry: The Rabbit had cancer :cry:

I really hope that this is not the case here. I am surprised that she was spayed though. But given that Molly is a Specialist I am sure she had valid reasons.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Yes, I have seen something similar. Sadly it was not a happy outcome :cry: The Rabbit had cancer :cry:
Click to expand...

Oh dear Jane I hope that's not the case either she's a very special rabbit she has definitely stolen my heart in a big way. I'm really hoping since it started from after the spay that it isn't anything sinister. Will let you know the outcome next week after her seeing Molly. Thanks for everyone's advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Abcess or possible tumour - UPDATE
Replies
16
Views
304
tonibun
T
L
**UPDATE***Cleo's fluctuating weight :(
Replies
10
Views
256
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Alicia
Female rabbit swollen genitals
Replies
2
Views
698
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Back
Top