Caecal droppings in cage

Hi,

I've got my friend's housebunnies living in their pen my hall for a week. They are quite lad back bunnies but it's obviously a bit stressful to move to a new house and they aren't going to get as much freedom as they are used to as they need to be supervised to be let out here. The pen is about 3' x 6' so they aren't hugely cramped though.

They're still using their litter tray fairly well but there's been a number of caecal droppings in the cage in the last couple of days that they've been here. Is this anything to worry about or is it just likely to be the stress of the move and possibly that I've not got their feed exactly the same as they are used to? They get unlimited medow hay with pellets one day and dried grass the next and some fresh veg every day. I know they've been changed to supa excel pellets fairly recently but I don't think they had any trouble up to now.

Paula

It'll be the stress I think, like you say - bunnies love routine! Seems very odd to only give them hay every other day though - they should have it all the time, whereas dried grass is richer in protein I think, which is what excess caecals are caused by - mine only get dried grass for a treat.

Slight misunderstanding - they get unlimited hay all of the time. Then they have a bowl of pellets one day and a bowl of dried grass (but still hay) on the second day.

I know that they've both put a bit of weight on even with this regime and an hour or two out every night so my friend is thinking of moving them onto the light version of the pellets.

Paula

The excel pellets always make rabbits leave their caecal pellets - it is too high in protein :? Either Allan and Page pellets or science selective would stop this from happening.
I'm not sure that only giving pellets on alternative days is the best idea either :? I would think it would be better to just give a few every day so they are eaten up quickly, about a handful per rabbit is about right, adjusted depending on the size of the rabbit.

I can't really interfere in how they are fed by my friend - I think this is the regime that the rescue centre recommended and they've only had the problem since they've been here. They were on another pellet but I think it proved too difficult to get hold of.

However we may have overfed them on the pellets to be honest - I'll spread them out a bit more for a few days.

Paula

Sounds like the buns have too much protein in their diet. My baby had the same problem, and I did some research (and asked some questions), and found this site:

http://www.lagomorphs.com/pellets.pdf

Apparently, buns need the following in their pellet food:

Fiber: at least 16%
Protein: not more than 16%
Fat: no more than 2-3%
Calcium: no more than 1%

Another important thing to keep in mind, is if their food changes, it needs to be very gradually, or they'll get the runs (not the same as the cecal poops in the box, but just a thing to keep in mind).

I feed Maisie pellet food that has 16% protein, but only because she's a growing bun. When she's nearing a year old, I'll start changing over to 14-15%. When she started having the problem with the extra cecals, it was because she was eating a food that had 17% protein.

Anyway, hope that helps!

P.S. I can see you said you can't really interfere in how your friend feeds them, but maybe if you let her know the above information, she'll change their diet (gradually) and find that they no longer have the problem.

The standard is Protein 12%, Oil 4%, Ash 7%, Fibre 14%,but I may actually have the light already looking at the pellets - they're in a sealed container rather than a bag. The light is Protein 12%, Oil 2.5%, Ash 7.5%, Fibre 18% - and they are predominantly hay fed with limited pellets.

They really are very well looked after rabbits.

There was a caecal dropping this morning but no more during the day so it was probably just the stress of moving and us overfeeding them a bit.

Paula

paulag said:

The standard is Protein 12%, Oil 4%, Ash 7%, Fibre 14%,but I may actually have the light already looking at the pellets - they're in a sealed container rather than a bag. The light is Protein 12%, Oil 2.5%, Ash 7.5%, Fibre 18% - and they are predominantly hay fed with limited pellets.

They really are very well looked after rabbits.

There was a caecal dropping this morning but no more during the day so it was probably just the stress of moving and us overfeeding them a bit.

Paula

Click to expand...

Ok, cool. Glad to hear that things got better. I'm a new bunny owner (I've only had Maisie a month). I was just going based on what I've learned so far...not trying to make it sound like it was the absolute only thing that could be the problem.

I'm really glad it got better!

Thanks for all the feedback - I don't want to give them dodgy tummies while they are here.

They are lovely but they are absolute menaces when I let them out - it's amazing the trouble that the two of them can cause!! They'll have to put up with a half an hour heavily supervised run for the week that they are here.

Normally I drive over daily to my friend's house and look after them there but I've got a hospital placement a hour and a half's drive the wrong way this week so we thought we'd try having them here!!

Paula

Awww!! I hope they settle, I'd assume it was the stress if it's settling. If its not normally a problem for your friend, then stress is prob the main factor! :wink: Sounds like they are well loved bunnies! :thumb:

Just to say that the bunnies tummies settled down and we stopped getting the caecal droppings. My friend picked them up yesterday so their back to having a lot more freedom.

Interestingly she said that they are much tamer after being here for a week despite having been moved twice than they were when she got back last time. When she went away last time I used to go over and let them out for an hour or so every day, but I sat and did work quietly while they were out and then they had 22 or so hours a day on their own. Obviously they benefit from having people around them.

Paula

That's so great! Glad to hear they're doing so well!

Good job!!