dental bun and caecotrophs

I have a mini lop boy who has had his front teeth removed. We have had him at the rescue for a couple of months now after he came in with flystrike (thankfully it was caught in time).
There are always a lot of caecotrophs in his home. He tends to use his litter tray for proper poops, but the caecotrophs are just in random places - sometimes a lot overnight.
He has a diet of 80% good quality hay and a small amount of SSS pellets, along with a probiotic pellet from the vet (cant remember the name). I have cut down on fresh greens as I thought this may have been the cause, but I am now wondering if he just can't eat them due to no front teeth?
I have a home for this little boy, but I need him to be as healthy as possible before he goes to new home.
Can anyone advise me please?
Jan

I have a rabbit with no incisors and she is able to eat everything I give her. I cut the spring greens up into small pieces for her and she has no toilet problems. Sometimes when a rabbit has had front teeth problems it also has molar problems. Maybe this is the reason?

He had his molars checked 3 weeks ago when he was castrated, and a week ago when he had his tear ducts flushed. They are ok at the moment. Just a little concerned. I have had bunnies before with no front teeth, and they have not had problems.... but I just can't sort this bunny's bum out!

I also have had several with no front teeth and none of them had caecotroph issues.

I think you may need to consider another 'cause'

When he first came in (with flystrike) he had been fed on a muesli type mix, and I gradually changed him to excel. As this seemed to rich for him, I gradually then changed him to SSS pellets. This is what his new owner will be feeding him as her other bunnies are on it. The main thing he eats is meadow hay.
However, If it is not his lack of teeth, it MUST surely be diet related.
He hasn't been wormed.... could this be an issue?
Unless anyone here can suggest anything other?

Is he just on pellets and hay? How many pellets daily?

Gives an idea of what it could be in the diet.

Also is he a good weight? If he's a bit over he may be unable to reach.

If there's a bacterial imbalance in the caecum it could be coming out smelling a bit 'off'. Im not sure how you would check this but wonder if probiotics would help in this instance.

He has about an egg cup full of SSS a day and a few probiotic pellets (10 or 12) of these: http://www.vet-medic.com/small-anim...ing+ads&gclid=CJv49ovgyboCFQ7LtAodx0AAig#8551
plus unlimited hay.
I don't think he is overweight, but he may be, slightly.

FarplaceRescue said:

He has about an egg cup full of SSS a day and a few probiotic pellets (10 or 12) of these: http://www.vet-medic.com/small-anim...ing+ads&gclid=CJv49ovgyboCFQ7LtAodx0AAig#8551
plus unlimited hay.
I don't think he is overweight, but he may be, slightly.

Click to expand...

Ok pretty much what I was expecting, but doesn't help us much :?
I'm not hugely knowledgeable so I may be missing something, but that still only leaves me with thinking maybe they don't smell right to him. I think slightly overweight shouldn't be enough to be a problem. The link doesn't have any ingredients but other sites do say it has probiotics in it, but whether there's something else that could cause a caecum imbalance I'm not sure.

Hopefully someone will come along soon who will have an answer for your boy xxx

Thanks folks. He WILL be going back to the vets in the next few days, but I don't have transport atm and rely on other people to take me.

I popped a link to this thread into Rabbit Chat to ask for ideas, as I was thinking of suggesting just a hay only diet for a little while and got this response from thumps_, who has lots of experience with difficult tummy buns.

"I agree completely. Quite often the diet has to be hay only for a week after they return to normal to stabilise the bacteria & prevent recurrence."

So hay only for a week? See if it works? What about the probiotics?

FarplaceRescue said:

So hay only for a week? See if it works? What about the probiotics?

Click to expand...

I would say just the hay. It could be that the probiotics are actually causing the imbalance, if they are primarily one form of bacteria for example.

wont harm to give it a try :wave:

FarplaceRescue said:

wont harm to give it a try :wave:

Click to expand...

Best of luck with him xxx

:wave: Hi I'm late again!
I agree with all that Raven moon has written.

A bunny won't eat their caecals because they can't reach them or they don't smell right.
It's normal for them not to do them in the litter tray, but wherever the urge takes them. I suppose because they expect to eat them straight from the production line & don't know they're "off " until they appear.
Also a lot of us have buns who are intolerant of Burgess pellets. I'm not surprised after what he's been through.

The abnormal smell can be caused by medication as well as inbalance of caecal bacteria, usually initiated by imperceptable gut slow down.
eg poor diet with inadequate fibre, painful conditions elsewhere, untreated dental disease, psychological stress, physical stress etc.
Probiotics are usually unhelpful because they don't provide the bacteria specifically found in rabbits.

99.99% rabbits respond well to a hay only diet. UK hay is a good mixture of different grasses & plants which are perfectly adequate to sustain a normal rabbit indefinately. (USA has monculture hay of just 1 type) It's by far the best way to treat this problem. He won't need the vit D3 in pellets if he's an outdoor bunny.

If you still have probs after a week drop me a pm. I'll send you some blackthorn leaves which usually help difficult cases, but can't spare many because Benjie needs a lot. (he's a very stress bunny with pasteurellosis)
It's a common shrub through the country - the black berries - sloes are used to make sloe gin by country folk. NOT for bunnies.:lol: