Feeding bunny with sticky poops

[rosaleen]

Hi, I’ve used the forum extensively the past few weeks for info to help my rabbit bebe. she is is 13 and a half with a recent onset of partial hind leg paralysis. She eats and drink well and is alert. I’ve startEd doing a 28 day course of panacur though she had the same course in September.
shes usually having 1 or 2 of sticky poops a day plus what I call a spodge of sticky poops. She was having her meds with pellets soaked in pineapple juice and mixed with a smear of banana though I know the sugar in them wasn’t ideal. shell now accept the panacur along with her Metacam twice a day, in pellets soaked in just water. should the sticky poops and splodges stop now?
when my non rabbit savvy vet saw her she said hay only, no greens etc. because her bum is messy. Is this right? The quantity of pellets is confined to mixing them with the meds whereas before Id allow her quite a lot to help keep her weight up. ( I now give her oats to help).
any advice please on the best diet for her.

 

[InspectorMorse]

How much hay is she eating ? A lack of hay in the diet often causes the rabbit to end up with a mucky bum.

Oats as in porridge oats can cause excess cecotrophs

Rabbits with hind leg paresis often struggle to be able to reach their bum to get to their cecotrophs, so having a messy bum might not be dietary related but mobility related. The Rabbit would need longterm help with keeping themself clean. Uneaten cecotrophs should be placed where the Rabbit can reach them. Don’t mash them up in food. This breaks down the mucous coating around them and thus defeats the object of the Rabbit eating them. Which is to get ‘good’ bacteria to the cecum. This then leads to the production of unformed cecotrophs, uneaten cecotrophs and the Rabbit getting a mucky bum.Without the mucous coating the highly acidic environment within the stomach of the Rabbit would kill the bacteria in the cecotrophs. When a Rabbit takes them directly from their bum it might look as though they are chewing them. But they are not, they just make a chewing jaw motion to promote saliva production to aid swallowing of the cecotrophs whilst it remains whole.

Unless your Rabbit is eating a good amount of hay then having a messy bum is more likely to be an issue. So going back to my original question, how much hay is she eating?

It might help to give her some Fibreplex. It certainly won’t do any harm

Fibreplex for Rabbits - From £8.66

A high fibre paste formulation for rabbits and small pets. Fibreplex for Rabbits provides palatable, easy to administer extra dietary fibre to encourage normal hind gut function. Includes beneficial micro-organisms to rapidly populate the gastrointestinal...

www.vetuk.co.uk

There’s also these

Protexin Pro-Fibre

Protexin Pro-Fibre is available online with fast delivery from VioVet, the trusted supplier of veterinary medication, foods and animal care products

www.viovet.co.uk

Additional information here

Rabbit Dirty or Sticky Bottoms

Creating better tomorrows for all pet rabbits Rabbit Dirty or Sticky Bottoms A happy bun has a healthy bum! Healthy rabbits with a good diet don’t get dirty, sticky bottoms. They produce two kinds of poo. Firstly, the more common pellets, which are large, round and dry and full of fibre. The...

rabbitwelfare.co.uk

Dirty bottom syndrome - Bishops Stortford Vets

 

[rosaleen]

Hi thanks very much for all your info. BeBe is eating a lot of hay, a mixture of readigrass which she seems to prefer to the offered Timothy hay.I’m at home most of the day and constantly refresh both with a fresh lot every 2+3 hours when the previous offering looks like it’s gone down, or even if it hasnt. I also offered oat grass but doesn’t seem to have any of it. Ive been giving a teaspoon of porridge oats each day to help increase her weight. I weighed her last week She’s 1.7k. I’d thought she was losing more weight but she’s actually the same weight as three months ago so I can stop the oats.
After reading a post here about acupuncture being beneficial bebe had her first home treatment 7 days ago and is due her second one later today. Her mobility improved a huge amount -though it’s slipped back a bit the last couple of days- and Bebe was much more able to bend forward and looked like she was able to reach her cecotrophs.
i should explain, her messy bum seems to be more about wet compacted fur on her bum. The acupuncturist helped me last week to try and clean it and is bringing a shaving device today. She is a vet but admits to not being a rabbit savvy vet. She explained that rabbit skin is very sensitive and so I’m confident she’ll do a good job. i read on the forum about cornstarch powder and so Id got some.
Again after reading posts here i also bought some protexin profibre but BeBe is very resistant, the same with bio-lapis whichshe wouldn’t touch at all so that’s why I went back to fibreplex. This appears to stimulate her appetite as well and she loves it.

 

[rosaleen]

Sorry I should also explain BeBe is free range house rabbit and spends all her time in the living room. So it’s ideal for a being able to monitor her

 

[rosaleen]

Also again after reading posts here a bought some arthri aid. But Im pretty sure I made a mistake with the dosage, giving her a full dose for a cat of upto 5 k -she’s 1.7k and she stopped eating. Fearing GS I started her on Infacol and after 3 days appears fully recovered. I want to start her on it again but I’m reluctant. Any feedback from other users would be appreciated

 

[rosaleen]

Re her diet, she LOVES apple branches of which I give her an unlimited amount

 

[InspectorMorse]

Are you certain the soiling is poo and not wee? Rabbits with hind leg / mobility issues are prone to developing ‘bladder sludge’ as they might not fully empty their bladder when urinating. This results in a build up of calcium deposits in the bladder which causes thick sludgy wee which can progress to bladder stones. Symptoms of bladder sludge can include leaking wee, so the Rabbit ends up with a soiled rear end.

What are her fecal poos like ?

 

[rosaleen]

Hi again, I’m sorry iM being very confusing with my descriptions.
I’m fairly sure her bum issues are down to wee. she doesnot like being handled at all, but I get a look very now and then. When the acupuncturist comes later we’ll have a proper look amd clean her up. When BeBe last visited the vets 3 weeks ago, one issue was matted bum fur and she was partially shaved and cleaned then but not very successfully.

I’ve found the sticky poos in her hay and that’s what Im focused on them because I keep seeing small clumps of them as I said, apprx two a day, but also the spludge as I call it which appears to have no individual poops, but is obviously made up sticky poos, just a small or medium mass of dark ……….splodge! About once a day. All of which I remove From her area.
I see bebe raise her rear end and I’m assuming she’s peeing then. But because of her mobility issues she not always able to keep her balance and, I’m guessing here, she may well have then have sat back down as it were into the wee. But if the acupuncture continues to improve her mobility hopefully the bum issue will no longer be a problem

 

[rosaleen]

Hi again, I’m sorry iM being very confusing with my descriptions.
I’m fairly sure her bum issues are down to wee. she doesnot like being handled at all, but I get a look very now and then. When the acupuncturist comes later we’ll have a proper look amd clean her up. When BeBe last visited the vets 3 weeks ago, one issue was matted bum fur and she was partially shaved and cleaned then but not very successfully.

I’ve found the sticky poos in her hay and that’s what Im focused on them because I keep seeing small clumps of them as I said, apprx two a day, but also the spludge as I call it which appears to have no individual poops, but is obviously made up sticky poos, just a small or medium mass of dark ……….splodge! About once a day. All of which I remove From her area.
I see bebe raise her rear end and I’m assuming she’s peeing then. But because of her mobility issues she not always able to keep her balance and, I’m guessing here, she may well have then have sat back down as it were into the wee. But if the acupuncture continues to improve her mobility hopefully the bum issue will no longer be a problem

 

[rosaleen]

Ive just done as you advised im your first post and put the uneaten cecotrophs where she can eat them and almost immediately she did, which is great. So thanks very much. I confess I’d always picked them up so they’d be no chance of theM getting stuck on her fur, and so neither she nor i would tread in them. I’d been keeping them to show the acupuncturist as she d asked about them.

 

[rosaleen]

You’d asked about her fecal poops? Those are the light brown dry ones? They’re fine, plenty of them and the right size for her weight id say.

 

[rosaleen]

Hi really sorry for my very late acknowledgment, I’ve just caught up with it.

 

[rosaleen]

I also need to say that very sadly BeBe passed away

 

[InspectorMorse]

I also need to say that very sadly BeBe passed away

So sorry for your loss

RIP BeBe

 

[rosaleen]

Thanks very much for your thoughts. I appreciate it.

 

[twistedtiggerz69]

I have been reading your post about Bebe and am really sorry for your loss. If she lived such a long age of 13 then she must have been well cared for ❤

 

[joey&boo]

I'm so sorry for you loss. Sweet dreams BeBe

 

[bunny momma]

I just saw this and am sorry cor your loss.

 

[rosaleen]

Thanks. BeBe was so lovely always calm and gentle. Always in my heart