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Poo Problems!

JoP62

New Kit
Hi, My rabbit, Lemmy, is nearly 5 years old, but we've had him for about 2 years. Over the past month, he's produced a small blob of diarrhoea every morning when doing his first poo of the day. His other poos are normal, he's eating as usual and is full of beans and naughtiness. We haven't rushed him to the vet because this usually upsets him and makes him worse. He never poos in his hutch, so goes from 10pm when I put him to bed (well, usually 10.30 by the time I actually get him in his hutch!) to about 7am and we're wondering if this is the reason for the diarrhoea, especially as he's getting a bit older. Has anyone else had a problem like this? :wave:
 
Hi. I'm afraid I'm don't have any advice for you as I've only been a rabbit owner for just over a year. However, my bunny Mr Higgins is a year old and he won't use his litter tray in his run at all. He's fine when he's indoors but doesn't go to the loo at all when he's outside. He's had a small amount of diarrhea three times in the last year but like your rabbit it wasn't much. I'll be interested to hear anyone's advice they have for you. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will be along shortly to help you out. X
 
is it definitely diarrhoea, or any chance it could be Cecotrophes? Bunbuns had it for a while that she would have them in the morning, but that stopped, I emailed our vet at the time, since they are great at helping like that if they could, and explained it, and she said it could be normal if they hold on to it for too long, which she did, since she decided to stop using her hutch toilet also.... anyway, she's now totally fine and has been for a year, but it was worrisome at the time, I remember it well. but may be worth checking if it is by any chance cecotrophes instead of diarrhoea, and if you're concerned try emailing or phoning your vet, a lot of the time they can help without having to see them, well they always managed to do with my girl, and they always say during check ups how healthy she is.
 
Hello again everyone, we took him to the vet this morning, as the diarrhoea got a bit worse. She said his bowel is making more noises than it should, so has given him Zantac and a fibre medicine to slow it down a little bit. She thinks it's probably because he's been eating more grass since it started growing again and it's a bit rich for him. His temp is normal and everything else was ok. Thank you for your replies :) Think of me when I try to get the meds down him twice a day!!:?
 
oh good, glad you went, and hopefully it will be over very quickly. And gosh, yeah I don't envy you with the medication, never fun trying to give it to them, good luck with that. hope he's all good again soon.
 
What meds have you got. Doughnut is permanently on zantac which taste like mint and metaclop which is sweet, so likes both of them. I just offer her the syringe and she comes running over. If you have trouble I've always crunched up a bit of weetabix and put the medicine on that, most rabbits love weetabix and it's a stress free way of getting it into them.

Doughnut is a bit looser on the grass as like you say it's rich but it is good for their digestion :)

Sorry just realised you put what medicine it is. What's the fibre medicine called? Not fibreplex is it as that apparently tastes of carrot but I thought that stimulated the gut too.
 
Sorry for taking so long to get back. Yes, it was Fibreplex and he hated it, despite loving carrots!! Mind you, I found the syringe difficult to use because of arthritic thumbs, so that didn't help. There's no change in his poo, so we've collected samples and they're going off to the lab today. He's still fine in himself. Wish he was like Doughnut about his meds!! :) Will try the Weetabix thing if he gets more though - thank you for the tip :) x
 
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Good morning, Hope Lemmy gets well soon. If I have to give meds I tend to squirt them onto slices of apple, having removed any other foods temporarily. They love apple. Fibreplex is a bit greasy and I've spread it on front paws. Buns don't like sticky fur so they wash it off. Good luck.
 
Thank you - that sounds like a couple of brilliant ideas. Lem loves apple, so I think we'll try that and also putting it on their fur. He's hilarious when we've picked him up for any reason, he has to go and have a major wash, so if we put something sticky on him, I'm sure that will work too! :)
 
Yes, she did and they are fine - he sometimes gets a little sharp point, but he's very good and lets her file it down. Good thought though, thank you :)
 
It's not really changed. He was getting really stressed with being caught twice a day, so we stopped the Zantac as it wasn't doing anything anyway. His poo has been tested and everything that should be in it is there and there's nothing that shouldn't! He's got an appointment tomorrow for another check-over, but it might be that this is just him now! Thank you for checking on him :)
 
It sounds to me like your bun may have cecal dysbiosis. This is when the fecal poop is normal but the cecotropes are semiformed or unformed and pasty. It occurs when the rabbits microflora in the cecum is disrupted resulting in the incorrectly formed cecotropes. This most often occurs from too many starches/sugars in a rabbits diet from their pellets and/or carb rich treats. Though other things can also cause it like rich spring grass, a food sensitivity, antibiotics/medications, stress, toxins, insufficient dietary fiber, parasites, metabolic disorders.

It's a process of elimination to figure out the possible cause. If parasites, metabolic disorders, antibiotics, stress, and toxins are ruled out, then you are likely dealing with a dietary cause. This is most often resolved with an elimination diet to figure out what the offending food is. Sometimes giving prebiotics/probiotics can also prove helpful in helping to resolve the issue. I've read good recommendations for avipro plus, though it's not something I have used as I'm in the US.

These following links have info on the subject as well as dietary adjustments that can be made to help resolve the issue. It usually starts with a hay(grass variety) based diet, and once the issue is resolved gradually reintroducing other foods, slowly and one at a time so that if it reoccurs it will be easy to pinpoint the food causing the issue. The important thing when trying this is to ensure your rabbit is actually eating their hay, and lots of it to make up for pellets and other foods being temporarily removed. You should also consult with your vet before trying this.

http://www.sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/chronic_intermittent_diarrhea_in_rabbits.pdf
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

With the poopy bum and warmer weather approaching, you will also need to regularly check and clean your bun several times a day, to ensure your bun doesn't get fly strike.
 
It's not really changed. He was getting really stressed with being caught twice a day, so we stopped the Zantac as it wasn't doing anything anyway. His poo has been tested and everything that should be in it is there and there's nothing that shouldn't! He's got an appointment tomorrow for another check-over, but it might be that this is just him now! Thank you for checking on him :)

You're welcome :wave:

I hope the vet can give you help with managing this tomorrow. JBun has an interesting post, and worth maybe printing off and discussing with your vet?

Good luck xx
 
Thank you for the information JBun :D. Interestingly, we took him back to the vet on Thursday and they said they think his gut flora has been disturbed by the Rear Guard. They've given us Bio-Lapis to re-balance. Getting it down him is another matter!!! I have tried sprinkling it on carrot and apple (normally he'd kill for apple, but as soon as he smelt it, he ran away, though he ate the bits that didn't have it on!). You can make it into a solution, but he won't drink it and syringing makes him so stressed he gets poorly. The vet suggested not using Rear Guard might be an option, but I'm not keen on stressing him every day by catching him to check his bum!! We didn't get him until he was nearly 2, so he wasn't handled a lot before we had him, hence it being such a job to catch him and him getting so stressed by being caught! I'm willing to try any other suggestions people have for getting the Bio-Lapis down him!! :wave:
 
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