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Update on Gerry`s caecotrophs

LionheadLuver

Warren Veteran
Hi

We got Gerry from a rescue in May. Since day one, he's produced excess caecotrophs. He was fed on Burgress Excel and a varied of veg and hay. At the start, he would leave about 6-7 caecotrophs a day.

We changed his diet to Fibafirst as it has lots of fibre. We thought this would stop the caecotrophs, but it didn't. We stopped all fresh veg too gradually, but this didn't change anything either. We took him to the vet who gave him painkillers to rule out pain for refusal to eat them. This didn't change the amount of caecotrophs left.

We then tried Bio Lapis which, after a month of daily dosage, changed everything. He ate all his caecotrophs, but would some days leave 1. However the only way to get the Bio Laps into Gerry was to mix a sachet in a little water and syringe it into his mouth. This is stressful for him so we tried to find an alternative.

We bought some Pro-fibre pellets which have the same probiotics in it as Bio Lapis so we thought it would work the same but be an easier way of administering it. Gerry likes them but he's started leaving caecotrophs again. He's now leaving 3-4 per day.

I don't know what to do next really. I don't want to keep him on Bio Lapis for life as I don't know if it's good for his digestive system and its stressful to him to administer it. He's on 1 spoonful of Profibre pellets per day. I don't know if this is enough but he is bonded to another rabbit and I don't want Molly to eat it so I couldn't feed it ab-lib. Please help me with this.
 
I cant remember if you have tried him on a no pellet/hard feed diet ? I have had recent experience of having to do this for a Rabbit with a GI tract problem and it has bought about a dramatic improvement. Also, two Exotics Vets have said that giving additional probiotics may NOT be that helpful as the Rabbit's stomach is extremely acidic. This acid will kill all the 'good' bacteria before they arrive where they are needed. The Exotics Vets advised giving a PREbiotic, these are non-digestible carbohydrates which act by promoting the growth and/or activity of probiotic bacteria in the gut. Unlike Probiotics, Prebiotics are not altered by digestive enzymes. The Exotics Vets recommended I give the Rabbit Avipro Plus. The Rabbit will probably remain on this for life. He will also never have any type of commercial Rabbit Feed.
 
I cant remember if you have tried him on a no pellet/hard feed diet ? I have had recent experience of having to do this for a Rabbit with a GI tract problem and it has bought about a dramatic improvement. Also, two Exotics Vets have said that giving additional probiotics may NOT be that helpful as the Rabbit's stomach is extremely acidic. This acid will kill all the 'good' bacteria before they arrive where they are needed. The Exotics Vets advised giving a PREbiotic, these are non-digestible carbohydrates which act by promoting the growth and/or activity of probiotic bacteria in the gut. Unlike Probiotics, Prebiotics are not altered by digestive enzymes. The Exotics Vets recommended I give the Rabbit Avipro Plus. The Rabbit will probably remain on this for life. He will also never have any type of commercial Rabbit Feed.

Thank you for your helpful advice. He's seeing a vet today so I'll discuss this with them. I'll have a look at Avipro.
 
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