Slow tums due to moulting-advice please

[Nicola3]

Hi friends :wave:

I've noticed there has been quite a few buns on here with slow tummies, possibly in part due to moulting.

My bun has been moulting really badly recently and his tum has slowed down a tad. There has been a fair amount of fur in his droppings.

What can we do to help our buns through the moulting stage and help prevent a build up of hair in their droppings?

I know some say hairballs are a secondary condition to an underlying condition but my bun has no incisors and doens't eat much hay at all. He often gets like this when he's in moult. I have been grooming him and he is
shedding a lot of fur. It doesn't help that he doesn't eat much hay despite me trying him on every variety I can find and chopping it so he can pick the strands up.

What can we do to help prevent a build up of hair in our buns tummies? I think some bunnies are more prone to this than others, possibly due to teeth probs, not eating enough hay etc.

I know some people suggest:

*Bromelain tablets-He won't eat them and just spits them out
*fresh pineapple juice-worried about sugar content...does it really work?
*kittymalt- some say that this lubricates the intestines but could prevent
them from being hydrated.
*syringing warm water to help hydrate tum
*grooming bun to remove excess hair

Somebody also told me a while back that they administered infacol at regular intervals possibly 3-4 times a day until their buns droppings were back to normal and hairfree.

Does anybody else have any tips?

Best wishes,

Nicola and Harvey xxx

 

[FriskyClover]

Well my lot take the Bromelain tablets without any fuss, Inky adores them (I hide them inside other food for Smokey).

My vet says that the best thing you can do is get them eating plenty of hay to help drag all the fur through. Also, try and keep your bunny moving, it helps their tummies to keep moving too.

 

[Sooz]

Infacol is a totally inert substance which has only one function, to break down gas bubbles. It will have no effect upon anything else except for gas so would have no useful function in helping hair to pass. Furthermore it contains saccharin (sweetener) which can contribute towards GI upsets.

Trichobezoars form secondary to GI motality slowing down which is secondary to another primary condition. In this way 'hairballs are actually a tertiary problem. A rabbit passing fur is actually not a bad thing because it shows the hair is getting through the GI tract, if there is no hair present at all you have to wonder where its getting too :?

A rabbit with a healthy GI motility will be able to pass hair without problems and the best way to ensure your rabbit has a healthy gut is to make sure they drink lots of water and eat lots of fiber.

For the record I dont rate papayazyme and would not use bromelaine personally but of the two this has more supportive evidence.

 

[capel]

Is he able to eat fresh pineapple? I think that's better than the juice as the enzyme is destroyed by the bottling process, and fresh pineapple has the advantage of also containing fibre.

 

[Nicola3]

Hello :wave:

Thanks for your replies.

A lot of the problem is down to him not eating hay. He has to have his molars burred, has no incisors and doens't eat enough fibre. I chop the hay up so he can pick it up but he will not eat it. I have tried every hay I can get my hands on. Bunny basics hays, hay experts sample packs, simply grass, just grass, excel forage, excel herbage, oxbow hays, alfalfa king timothy, timothy, oat and barley, the list goes on. The only hay he really liked was vitaverde hay with dandelion by vitakraft but last year the hay changed and he doesn't like it anymore. It went from being nice and green to brown and smelling horrible and it has been the same ever since. So the search is on for another hay he will eat.

He will eat the herbal garden product from rosewood. It smells lovely and he will eat that. Ideally I would like to find a hay that he will eat.

Any yummy hays out there a fussybun with teethy probs may like?

Hugs,

Nicola and Harvey xxx

 

[SarahP]

Will he eat fresh grass?

 

[elve]

mine didn't like bromelain tablets at first, but now they love their 'pineapple sweeties' - the girls all stand in a line nicely waiting for their sweet :lol:

what you could do is grind the tablet between 2 teaspoons, and sprinkle the powder on some mushed up pellets - just put a splash of hot water from the kettle on some pellets and leave 5 mins to fluff up and cool, before adding the bromelain. Might work?

 

[Nicola3]

Hello :wave:

I have tried picking grass in the past but he hasn't been interested. Will try again.

He eats his SS broken up and veggies but its' just getting more fibre into his diet...that's the thing. The fact that he would eat the vitaverde hay means he will eat it. It's just finding a variety he likes.

Any suggestions re: types of hay I haven't tried yet? Any extra special yummy ones out there to tempt the fussiest of bunnies?

Hugs,

Nicola and Harvey xxx

 

[SarahP]

What about trying Aunty Sally's Bunny Delight from Pampered Piggies?

http://www.pamperedpiggies.co.uk/page.asp?module=shopProducts&categoryID=43&clientID=11

I just thought since he likes some of the herbal hays...?

 

[donnamt]

have you tried fresh hay from a farm shop... loads on here say thier bunnies go mad for that stuff

 

[Raven Rexs]

well my show buns get a moult mix to help them go though it a bit quicker Dodson and horrell barley rings £5 a 20kg sack
and also linseed oil seems to help alot i must say most of mine are in and out of moult within a week!

 

[Nicola3]

Thank you

Will try the Aunt Sallys bunny delight....thank you!!!Yes he does like his herby mixes. He likes herbal garden by Rosewood products too.

I buy a big bale of hay from the local equestrian shop every 1.5 weeks for the rescue buns but he doesn't like it. Saying that it differs in quality, some days it is really coarse and brown, other days it looks quite nice. I have read a lot on here about people saying how good the dust free hay is so I may have to try that if I can buy a small bag of it first to see if he likes it.

Any others I can try him on? Herbal hays? Nice green sweet hays?

Nicola and Harvey xxx

 

[Mad Bunster]

Have you tried giving him some fibre-plex? It might be the extra boost of fibre he needs when he is moulting, just to help him get through it?

 

[Nicola3]

Hello :wave:

I did buy some fibreplex a while ago but it didn't seem to do much maybe I should have persevered. I do use the protexin profibre pellets crushed up with a bit of syringe feed. I may buy some fibreplex again.

Thank you,

Nicola and Harvey xxx

 

[Happy Hopping]

*Bromelain tablets-He won't eat them and just spits them out

For the first 3 weeks, once a week, one of my new bunny Minnie won't eat it. So I smashed the Papaya/pineapple chew w/ 60 mg Bromelain into powder, squeeze a fresh pineapple into juice, and forcefeed her w/ the powder / pineapple mix.

For whatever reason, sometime after that, she now loves the taste of the papaya/pineapple tablet, and eat it whenever I give it to her