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Excess caecotrophs/soft poo. Any changes that I can make to his diet?

jazxo

jazxo

Mama Doe
My little Luna is a rescue bun, came into rescue at 3/4 weeks old (from some horrible auction) and came to me at 5 weeks old.

Since he's been with me he's hay fresh timothy hay 24/7 and has always been a decent hay eater.
When he was really young he had a handful of SS pellets twice daily and sometimes I'd slip him a few more because he was quite underweight.
As his condition improved I cut it down to an egg cup per day.

He's always had smaller than normal poo and always produced excess caecotrophs. I put it down to his troubled start.

It goes up and down but at the moment his diet is literally hay, 20 SS pellets per day and occasionally herbs like basil, mint, methi, coriander, parsley and in the spring he'll be getting brambles/hawthron again.

I don't know if the caecotrophs have increased but I am noticing it more since they have a smaller litter tray. I'm now thinking I shouldn't just sit back and let it happen :(


Any suggestions? All welcome.

Also, which herbs are easiest on the gut? and, does anyone buy dried brambles online?
 
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His diet sounds good to me. Does he have any mobility issues stopping him from reaching them?
 
No, I often watch him bend round to eat them from his bottom and he'll either eat one or a bit of one and drop/leave the other :S
 
I wonder if he has teeth problems as Lewis has a misaligned jaw and I think this is what causes him to leave excess Cs? Hope you can get him sorted xx
 
Tonibun, that is a good suggestion but he often kind of chews them, then spits them out? He's also had his teeth checked several times so I don't know :(
 
jazxo said:
My little Luna is a rescue bun, came into rescue at 3/4 weeks old (from some horrible auction) and came to me at 5 weeks old.

Since he's been with me he's hay fresh timothy hay 24/7 and has always been a decent hay eater.
When he was really young he had a handful of SS pellets twice daily and sometimes I'd slip him a few more because he was quite underweight.
As his condition improved I cut it down to an egg cup per day.

He's always had smaller than normal poo and always produced excess caecotrophs. I put it down to his troubled start.

It goes up and down but at the moment his diet is literally hay, 20 SS pellets per day and occasionally herbs like basil, mint, methi, coriander, parsley and in the spring he'll be getting brambles/hawthron again.

I don't know if the caecotrophs have increased but I am noticing it more since they have a smaller litter tray. I'm now thinking I shouldn't just sit back and let it happen :(


Any suggestions? All welcome.

Also, which herbs are easiest on the gut? and, does anyone buy dried brambles online?
Click to expand...

How much hay does he eat? Have you tried alternative sources of fibre, e.g. readigrass?
 
Can i say, i had 2 bunnies who couldnt tolerate science selective and always had excess caecals on them. Unsure how to change over especially in a baby bunny but it may be the SS ???

Ps, they also didnt tolerate greens/herbs either?
 
He eats just as much hay as my other bunnies have. I have tried adding Fibafirst into his diet with no avail and have also tried him on a hay only diet
 
My rescue rabbit, Gerry had excess caecotrophs. We got him in May last year and until a month ago, always produced excess caecotrophs. We took him to the vet and they tried Bio Lapis, which helped a lot (he would only leave 1-2 instead of around 6-7 per day), which seemed to suggest it was his digestive microflora being unbalanced. He hated Bio Lapis though, so we tried Pro Fibre (which has similar probiotics in it). This helped also, although he would leave around 3-4 with this. We also tried putting him on Oxbow Digestive support tablets, which seemed to help also. However, he still didn't eat all his caecotrophs.

We brought both Gerry and Molly inside for the winter about a month ago, and since then, he has eaten all his caceotrophs. I don't fully understand why this is, maybe he feels safer indoors, or there's less to distract him from eating them. Now, he's on a spoonful of Pro Fibre per day, with 2 tablets of Oxbow Digestive Support.

I believe his problem was due to an imbalance of microflora. But it could also be due to environment, whether he feels safe or if he's in a busy area.

I hope this helps you. I would see a vet and they may suggest probiotics.
 
LionheadLuver said:
My rescue rabbit, Gerry had excess caecotrophs. We got him in May last year and until a month ago, always produced excess caecotrophs. We took him to the vet and they tried Bio Lapis, which helped a lot (he would only leave 1-2 instead of around 6-7 per day), which seemed to suggest it was his digestive microflora being unbalanced. He hated Bio Lapis though, so we tried Pro Fibre (which has similar probiotics in it). This helped also, although he would leave around 3-4 with this. We also tried putting him on Oxbow Digestive support tablets, which seemed to help also. However, he still didn't eat all his caecotrophs.

We brought both Gerry and Molly inside for the winter about a month ago, and since then, he has eaten all his caceotrophs. I don't fully understand why this is, maybe he feels safer indoors, or there's less to distract him from eating them. Now, he's on a spoonful of Pro Fibre per day, with 2 tablets of Oxbow Digestive Support.

I believe his problem was due to an imbalance of microflora. But it could also be due to environment, whether he feels safe or if he's in a busy area.

I hope this helps you. I would see a vet and they may suggest probiotics.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for your reply. He's the most chilled out little guy ever, very relaxed and he lives in my quiet bedroom with another bunny that adores him. I tried Pro fibre pellets and they worsened the problem :(
 
I feel bad for shooting everyones ideas down but I've tried pretty much everything that everyone has suggested apart from swapping pellets. Should I try him just on Fibafirst with no SS?
 
jazxo said:
I feel bad for shooting everyones ideas down but I've tried pretty much everything that everyone has suggested apart from swapping pellets. Should I try him just on Fibafirst with no SS?
Click to expand...

All rabbits are different so its just trial and error. :) My rabbits are on Fibafirst. Gerry was originally on Excel, but changing him to Fibafirst didn't make much difference to him, but it may help yours if he's on it solely. :) Has he had a full vet check recently?
 
When you remove any item of food you need to keep them off that food for a minimum of 2 weeks to see if that food item is the culprit. We got a similar problem with buttons and are working through removing items one at a time to see what effect it has on him
 
The things I tried previously were monthly. I couldn't keep him on Pro fibre for more than a week though as it made him a lot worse
 
It may be worth giving the hay only diet another go and also carefully observing how he eats in case it is tooth related.

As a vet nurse perhaps you can have a really good look at his teeth with one of those funny metal things (!).

Good luck. He is SUCH a sweetie.
 
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