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Megacolon..?

Is it the ripple like movement you're referring to?

I haven't noticed it although to be honest when he flops he's normally directly on his back with his feet up in the air in his dip in the hay he likes to make - or he's bunny loafed.

Last night he threw him self down in a weird way almost like he'd collapsed but I didn't take note of his side :( I'll look in future - what does the ripple mean?

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Yes, peristalsis is the normal action of the intestines, but in my Rabbit they can become very extreme, basically instead of gut slow down he goes into gut motility overdrive. Until we managed to get him stabilized on a treatment regime/diet that worked for him he would have numerous episodes of passing huge wet fecal poo and sometimes his fecal poo would turn to diarrhoea. He was also unable to absorb much in the way of dietary nutrients, so he was underweight and continuing to loose weight.

Taking the advice of trusted and well qualified Vets
and not giving up hope was what pulled us through. That and my Rabbit's general laid back demeanor, taking all the intensive hands on care he needs in his hop :)
 
I was looking at him earlier flopped and when he eventually rolled onto his side I think I did see those kinda moments. Mm ima keep watching him - currently I'm measuring how much water he drinks within 24 hrs gunna do an average over a few days xx

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I hope he's OK today?

How serious/severe did William think the problem with his gut might be?
 
Yes, peristalsis is the normal action of the intestines, but in my Rabbit they can become very extreme, basically instead of gut slow down he goes into gut motility overdrive. Until we managed to get him stabilized on a treatment regime/diet that worked for him he would have numerous episodes of passing huge wet fecal poo and sometimes his fecal poo would turn to diarrhoea. He was also unable to absorb much in the way of dietary nutrients, so he was underweight and continuing to loose weight.

Taking the advice of trusted and well qualified Vets
and not giving up hope was what pulled us through. That and my Rabbit's general laid back demeanor, taking all the intensive hands on care he needs in his hop :)

He's just been on hay for days, and it's been significantly better in his litter tray though. William said about weeds being good - however it makes him have those huge wet poos so i'm staying away from that :(
 
I hope he's OK today?

How serious/severe did William think the problem with his gut might be?

Not really sure we know yet. He's seeing him this Friday and going to have a good feel of his stomach. Hopefully he'll have been able to have a look at the sample I dropped in also. I might ask if they can do an Xray or a scan of some kind? so we can see if theres an actual issue like he's not developed correctly or something.. He's lost weight in the last 3 weeks, but then again he's not having anything but hay.. so I'd be surprised if he hadn't lost some weight xx
 
He's just been on hay for days, and it's been significantly better in his litter tray though. William said about weeds being good - however it makes him have those huge wet poos so i'm staying away from that :(

Have you tried him on dried forages ?
 
He's just been on hay for days, and it's been significantly better in his litter tray though. William said about weeds being good - however it makes him have those huge wet poos so i'm staying away from that :(


What weeds have you been giving him?
 
I've tried dried forage earlier in the week after he'd been doing better for a few days and it made him very unwell :(

Tried him with fresh nettle and dandelion, I know dandelion can have an effect on the motility. But he didn't have very much of either and it wasn't good after :(

Also I noticed that veggies have a bad effect on him and fruit.
 
I've tried dried forage earlier in the week after he'd been doing better for a few days and it made him very unwell :(

Tried him with fresh nettle and dandelion, I know dandelion can have an effect on the motility. But he didn't have very much of either and it wasn't good after :(

Also I noticed that veggies have a bad effect on him and fruit.

Which one in particular ?
 
I've tried dried forage earlier in the week after he'd been doing better for a few days and it made him very unwell :(

Tried him with fresh nettle and dandelion, I know dandelion can have an effect on the motility. But he didn't have very much of either and it wasn't good after :(

Also I noticed that veggies have a bad effect on him and fruit.


What dried forage have you used, Grace?
 
Which one in particular ?

I tried some of the burgess ones - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burgess-Ex...513512982&sr=8-2&keywords=burgess+garden+herb < didn't get them here but was this one and another one which was in yellow packaging.

This also - http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/woodlands-dandelion-mix
And this - http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/woodlands-blackcurrant-and-apple

Having trouble finding links to all the ones I've tried haha - but all the ones I've tried were packaged forage and/or herbs
 
I tried some of the burgess ones - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burgess-Ex...513512982&sr=8-2&keywords=burgess+garden+herb < didn't get them here but was this one and another one which was in yellow packaging.

This also - http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/woodlands-dandelion-mix
And this - http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/pets/woodlands-blackcurrant-and-apple

Having trouble finding links to all the ones I've tried haha - but all the ones I've tried were packaged forage and/or herbs


I just wondered whether you could gather some bramble leaves? They are good for digestion.


Another thread here that might be of interest ... This was written by thumps, who is a mine of information :)

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...ried-given-your-stasis-prone-buns-tree-leaves


Also some stuff on foraging:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/foraging

http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/2014/06/04/rabbit-safe-weeds/

http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/2017/06/06/foraging-for-rabbits-5-more-weeds/
 

Yea I can probably they're the ones with the woody stem right? - in one of the things I bought it had bramble roots in it with something else I forget - that also didn't have a good effect. It's so strange because he was fine until like a month or so ago and it seems to have just got worse and worse and now anytime I offer anything he's really happy to eat it, but then looks so uncomfortable later and the output isn't good :(
 
Yea I can probably they're the ones with the woody stem right? - in one of the things I bought it had bramble roots in it with something else I forget - that also didn't have a good effect. It's so strange because he was fine until like a month or so ago and it seems to have just got worse and worse and now anytime I offer anything he's really happy to eat it, but then looks so uncomfortable later and the output isn't good :(


Sorry if you've said this already, but what tests does William propose to do, if any?

Brambles have thorny stems and trail all over the place. Pretty much like rambling roses!
You can very often find them on patches of scrubland and they don't need drying. They can be fed as they are.

http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/brambles-rubus-fructicosus/
 
Sorry if you've said this already, but what tests does William propose to do, if any?

Brambles have thorny stems and trail all over the place. Pretty much like rambling roses!
You can very often find them on patches of scrubland and they don't need drying. They can be fed as they are.

http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/brambles-rubus-fructicosus/

Thanks, I'll have a look for some later :)

I'm not sure currently. He's going to see him Friday and he said he wants to have a good feel of his stomach to feel if theres any hard poo that he can feel (apparently that's not a good sign) Also wants to weigh him again and mentioned something about muscle waste and you can feel it - think he's going to check that as well - also hopefully he'll have been able to check the sample I gave him for and parasites etc. just to be sure. After that I guess I'll find out Friday what he thinks we should do. In the meantime he wanted me to play with his diet and monitor water intake because I said he was drinking more than my other two bunnies. Playing with his diet so far has made a huge difference.

Typically what I feed Fleur and Clementine and was feeding Atticus (before) in a day - Half an egg cup of pellets in the morning and some packaged forage or herbs or something not lots just mixed with pellets - and then the other half of the egg cup in the evening with a handful of mixed veggies - Also they have unlimited hay from timothyhay.co.uk and I also give them handfuls of other types of hay as well - and i've also started feeding readigrass every few days, just a small handful as I know it's high in calcium.

Atticus now just has timothy hay - Fibafirst sticks (which I also give the other two although Fleur isn't that keen haha) and he's had a few pellets as treats - Like he's probably had 10 pellets in the last week haha - which don't seem to have upset him :)

One major improvement from my pov is I can now pick him up and put him against me (which he really likes its the only time he grooms me and doesn't bite me :D) - this is grim but before he always had like brown poo liquid where he poops from... was also leaving puddles of this stuff around.

One thing I first thought was maybe something just didn't agree with him so once I cut everything out I started reintroducing stuff into his diet but anytime I gave him a small amount of one thing it got worse again :( the only way to avoid the cowpats, huge wet poos, huge pellet poos and puddles seems to be for him just to eat hay and a couple pellets - He did have an apple branch (I think they were apple - I ordered them on here) which he stripped all the bark off and was fine after :)

Sorry for essay and mistakes that will almost certainly be in abundance haha :) xx
 
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Thanks, I'll have a look for some later :)

I'm not sure currently. He's going to see him Friday and he said he wants to have a good feel of his stomach to feel if theres any hard poo that he can feel (apparently that's not a good sign) Also wants to weigh him again and mentioned something about muscle waste and you can feel it - think he's going to check that as well - also hopefully he'll have been able to check the sample I gave him for and parasites etc. just to be sure. After that I guess I'll find out Friday what he thinks we should do. In the meantime he wanted me to play with his diet and monitor water intake because I said he was drinking more than my other two bunnies. Playing with his diet so far has made a huge difference.

Typically what I feed Fleur and Clementine and was feeding Atticus (before) in a day - Half an egg cup of pellets in the morning and some packaged forage or herbs or something not lots just mixed with pellets - and then the other half of the egg cup in the evening with a handful of mixed veggies - Also they have unlimited hay from timothyhay.co.uk and I also give them handfuls of other types of hay as well - and i've also started feeding readigrass every few days, just a small handful as I know it's high in calcium.

Atticus now just has timothy hay - Fibafirst sticks (which I also give the other two although Fleur isn't that keen haha) and he's had a few pellets as treats - Like he's probably had 10 pellets in the last week haha - which don't seem to have upset him :)

One major improvement from my pov is I can now pick him up and put him against me (which he really likes its the only time he grooms me and doesn't bite me :D) - this is grim but before he always had like brown poo liquid where he poops from... was also leaving puddles of this stuff around.

One thing I first thought was maybe something just didn't agree with him so once I cut everything out I started reintroducing stuff into his diet but anytime I gave him a small amount of one thing it got worse again :( the only way to avoid the cowpats, huge wet poos, huge pellet poos and puddles seems to be for him just to eat hay and a couple pellets - He did have an apple branch (I think they were apple - I ordered them on here) which he stripped all the bark off and was fine after :)

Sorry for essay and mistakes that will almost certainly be in abundance haha :) xx


Thank you for the essay Grace, there's a lot in there :)

Regards Readigrass - it's only freeze dried grass and I have free fed it (sometimes it's been the only forage a dental bunny will eat so they have eaten bags of it all the time!) for many years. I have not had a bunny with sludge having free fed the readigrass. If you're worried about calcium, then perhaps change to a lower calcium water?

Some info on calcium here:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food


Also, I was looking up some stuff because of the way you describe the soft/runny poos.
This might be interesting?

http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/
 
I think I would leave him on the hay and the Fibafirst for a while. Maybe try different types of hay to stimulate his interest and thereby encouraging him to eat more. If he's losing weight I would try giving him a few extra Fibafirst. Also, if you say he tolerates stripping the bark from twigs, I would get some more of those to give him.

Then if you find his tummy is settling down over several days, I would try giving him very tiny amounts of dried forage, but only one type at once (so no mixes). Only after a period of his tummy settling down again, would I then try a different type. I think it's more important to get him to eat foods that he can tolerate at the moment, even if that means he's not having much variety.

Sending lots of vibes for the beautiful Atticus.
 
Thank you for the essay Grace, there's a lot in there :)

Regards Readigrass - it's only freeze dried grass and I have free fed it (sometimes it's been the only forage a dental bunny will eat so they have eaten bags of it all the time!) for many years. I have not had a bunny with sludge having free fed the readigrass. If you're worried about calcium, then perhaps change to a lower calcium water?

Some info on calcium here:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food


Also, I was looking up some stuff because of the way you describe the soft/runny poos.
This might be interesting?

http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

That's helpful and good to know thanks :) I don't need to feed readigrass all the time anyway because it's just one of many different hays that I feed alongside the timothy hay for variety :) I feed alfalfa in smaller quantities as a treat and William said he wouldn't because again calcium (this he said a while ago just generally).


But maybe as Atticus seems fine with readigrass I'll give him some more per day as his diet is less varied that the other bunnies x

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