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New Bun Not Eating Caecotrophs

DebbieC

DebbieC

Warren Scout
Hi everybody, I wonder if anybody has any advice.

I brought my new bunny Chloe home at the weekend after being at the rescue to be bonded with Olly. I've noticed some uneaten caecotrophs in their cage, I'm pretty sure they are hers as I've never had a problem with Olly regarding this, plus I have seen him eating some of his, whereas I haven't noticed her yet. She is eating well and seems to be ok in herself other than adjusting to her to life.

She is a year old, spayed, vaccinated etc and no dental issues (she was checked over at the rescues vets) She is a good hay eater and is eating lots of it. I'm feeding her an egg cup of pellets in the morning and some herbs daily (basil, mint, dill, thyme etc) She isn't overweight.

Any ideas why she could not be eating them. I'm not sure if she eating none at all or producing exces ones. Could it be where the rescue have gradually changed over her diet to what we feed Olly, so its just from a change of diet and maybe it wasn't introduced gradually enough? Although she would have had pellets and hay at the rescue, it's only the herbs that may be new to her. And I wouldn't say she has had excessive amounts of them as Olly is a little piggy and eats some of hers too!

I have also noticed that her poos are HUGE compared to Ollys and she is slightly smaller than him (he is a Dwaft Lop, Chloe is a small x breed)

Any help on this would be great. I don't want to stress them with the vets already unless I know it's necessary.
 
Olly and Chloe :)

6ehudyzu.jpg



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Anybody? :( Is it worth cutting everything out of her diet apart from hay for a few days? And maybe just a few pellets. Is this healthy for her?
 
Just hay for a day or two would do her no harm, but I'd be more inclined to think it might be a teeth issue? Maybe pop her to the vets just in case :)
 
Thanks. I've just sent an email to the rescue asking if this is normal of her. They said when she first came to them she did it too but it stopped, so is probably just adjusting to the move. Will cut down her greens and see how it goes.
 
Often a rabbit won't eat it's cecotropes because of being overweight and not being able to reach down there properly, a medical issue like arthritis making it difficult to reach down there, too rich of a diet causing excess cecals, or a bacterial imbalance causing the cecals to not smell right and thus remain uneaten. With a bacterial imbalance the cecals will usually be unformed or semiformed and mushy, and have a variety of causes from diet, stress, medication, or other health problems.

If your buns cecals look normal but are just uneaten, it may be from being in a new home. She may just need a few days to settle in. Then after having a chance to settle in, if it is still occurring, then it would be worth investigating other possible causes. Often it is diet related and reducing pellet amounts helps correct it, but health problems being a cause is also a possibility.
 
Thanks for the advice. I think they look normal, quite shiny and still formed, mostly in a small bunch. I'm putting it down to the stress of moving for now but if it doesn't clear up after a few days of cutting down on herbs then I'll get her checked at the vets.
 
Last edited:
I think I'd give her a few days to settle and see if it gets better on it's own, if not try going for hay for a few days. It might just be the change in routine (you probably feed on a different schedule to the rescue) and the move has upset her.
 
Is she loosing important nutrients by not eating them for several days or will she get enough of what she needs through hay and pellets?
 
From your description it sounds like they are forming properly, so she's just leaving some behind, though I would think that she is also consuming some as well. But even then, I wouldn't think a few days without them would cause any issues, though of course it's not ideal. Over several weeks it could start causing other problems if none at all are being eaten.
 
Is it possible that she is a megacolon bunny? They have big mis-shapen poos. She is the right colour to have the En En gene, which is common with megacolon bunnies.
 
FarplaceRescue said:
Is it possible that she is a megacolon bunny? They have big mis-shapen poos. She is the right colour to have the En En gene, which is common with megacolon bunnies.
Click to expand...

She has poos that sound like what you describe, what does it mean if she has megacolon? How is it diagnosed/treated?


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google megacolon rabbit images for poo pictures. I am NOT saying your bunny DOES have this, but it is worth checking out just in case.
 
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