Excess cecotrophs and excel hay

[Pixsmudge]

Hi guys:wave:

This sounds pretty odd but I've been having trouble with Pickle and excess cecotrophs atm. He started producing more of them nearly a month ago, my vet just told me to keep an eye on things and I've been cleaning his little bottie every couple of days and managing fine.
Recently hes been pretty quiet and then suddenly stopped eating a few days ago. He was brought inside and I've been caring for him like he's had stasis. He's recovered well from then and been moved back outside but I'm still a bit worried about him. Him and Smudge went right off their Excel adult pellets a week ago which I didnt think much of because usually when I reach the bottom of the bag they lose enthusiasm for the stuff. I also changed their timothy hay to Excel with the marigold in it roughly 2 months ago and theyve had some of Excels barn dried grass as well. I'm curious as to whether anyones had a similar issue when their rabbits have had excel hay and pellets really, he was fine before the change and for about the first two weeks of eating it, then suddenly cecotroph problems.

He's eating again now, although with a little less gusto than before. Theyre not really eating their pellets but nibbling well on their hay and hes being quite fussy with greens e.g not eating parsley but gorging on coriander, and really wanting some fresh greens but only eating a few bits.
Any ideas on getting his greediness back? He seemed happy to eat a little chunk of carrot after i gave him a massage, but previously wouldnt touch it.

Is it possible the excel hay could be responsible for this? I need to get timothy hay tomorrow and I'm quite suspicious of excel but the only alternative is pets at home timothy hay...which doesnt look nice at all.

Any ideas?

 

[susie bun]

I can't comment on whether Excel would cause these problems, but hopefully someone else will be able to help.

My rabbit doesn't like ANY of the Excel hays, although I gather they are good quality and very popular. He will actually eat supermarket bedding hay in preference. I used to give him Excel pellets, but changed to Science Selectivve as it has a higher fibre content.

I order Spenser's hay from The Hay Experts - great service, and although you have to pay postage you can add quite a few things to your order without the charge going up. Hay4Pets are also popular, although my fussy bun didn't like thier stuff.

 

[Fluffers]

Excel pellets can cause excess cecals in some buns. Consider a gradual change onto another pellet. Wagg Optimum are a good brand or Science Selective (regarded by many as the best but also more expensive). Wagg is sold by many of the large supermarket chains.

I would leave off the veg for a while, until he's producing 'good' poos and things have settled down. Veg could be giving him gas or just making him feel generally uncomfortable and he doesn't actually need veg. Pellets & hay provide all the nutrients & fibre he needs. Fresh herbs are ok but not too much of anything. It's not unusual for a bun in recovery to seek out strong smelling herbs like coriander. Parsley is high in calcium too - sounds like he's a smart bun and knows what he should and shouldn't be having :lol: Try and forage for some bramble leaves if you can as this is good for settling a bunny tum and is a great alternative to veg Other foraged stuffs are also worth considering and might suit him more. Have you tried him with apple sticks?

See if you can source some baled hay locally - you could try some livery yards or a farm shop? Generally nicer than the bagged stuff and MUCH cheaper! You may be able to buy 1/2 a bale at a time. I also agree with Susies suggestion re. the hay experts :thumb:

 

[Pixsmudge]

Thanks for the advice

Pix is doing pretty good today, his poops are pretty much back to normal now, no cecotrophs left around so far.

A while back my vet advised never to hold back a buns favourite food completely as this can upset them more, and that normality was quite important in their recovery, so I've cut down on their fresh greens and carrot and offered a small amount to them, its a good way for me to monitor how well they're feeling. If they're feeling pretty good the carrot will go but I know somethings wrong straight away if its still there.

The herbs have been in small amounts and they've responded better to them when I've been handfeeding them, I've always found herbs and dandelions are the best for getting bunnies well again after a tummy upset, so hes been getting little amounts of fresh and dried dandies. I'm looking into getting farm hay for them now, I've just adopted my fourth bunny who's used to great quality farm hay so I'm looking in my local area for some, only place seems to be Guilford though which is a bit far, I don't drive either so..I'm a bit stuck.
Pix has been stuffing himself on meadow hay and for the first time in nearly two weeks seemed excited for some pellets tonight. And yes he's been nibbling on apple twigs A little bunch of fresh grass which could be deemed as rich to a sensitive tummy was offered to him once he was nibbling on food quite well and this only seems to have increased his appetite.

If anything he's become quite attached to me hand feeding him over this stressful period of time and got even more cuddly So I've been able to sit with them and hand feed them quite well which is a good indicator on whats going on. I'll slowly reintroduce the excel timothy hay and keep a watch on what happens