Colonic distention in lops?

[northerndancer]

Hi all

Just looking for a bit of advice. My bunny is going to the vet first thing tomorrow, as she has a very poopy butt that I have been unable to get properly clean.

She's had this before and had to be shaved under anaesthetic.

Unfortunately she seems to just produce massive caecotrophs (like the size of a cat dropping) that then get stuck to her fur. They smell dreadful-like fish. Sorry to be so graphic but other bunny owners understand these things can be dangerous.

We keep her clean for a while and thought that cutting back her diet (sprinkle of oats, half cup pellets shared with other rabbit, grated veg, and hay always available-she never eats hay though) had helped but now its started again.

(She eats like she is ravenous, and seems happy in all other respects. Also produces normal rabbit dry droppings too.)

Has anyone else seen or cured this problem? I saw something about colon distention, but have been unable to get further info. Could this be it? Any experiences or help before the vet tomorrow would be very much appreciated.

Liz and Flora

PS forgot to say she has had her teeth taken out because of malocclusion 14 months ago.

 

[naturestee]

Good to see you back!

What kind of pellets does she have? Some rabbits can get large and mushy cecotropes from eating alfalfa pellets- too much fiber. Switching to timothy pellets often helps.

It could also be from a bacterial imbalance. Does she steal cecotropes from her buddy? Some do. If not, you could try feeding her one. That would inoculate her with good bacteria.

Let us know what the vet thinks. There can be a lot of different causes for this.

 

[Greta]

Whoa, that's one big poo! poor bun!
I would think maybe it's something to do with her diet, but I'm not sure.
Let us know what the vet says, Ok?

 

[mygrl2k3]

Luv who isnt a lop.. had a dirty butt and needed butt baths.. After i started using Purina rabbit chow no more. Hope you can figure out the problem so you can fix it.

Cristy

 

[northerndancer]

Thanks for your replies.

I feed Burgess excel pellets but I think I'll change them gradually to the lite mix as its higher fibre.I threw out thebag so cantcheck if its alfalfa but will do so next time. I think I'll chop up hay and mix it in with the veg to see if she'll eat it that way. I'll offer her a poop from Dancer if I see him leaveone!

Cheers

Liz

 

[FlopsnWills]

sounds like too many pellets.. you might wanna try feeding your buns their pellets seperately. start out by giving them 1/4 cup each and if she still has them, try am 1/8 of a cup. my mini rex, charlie has access cecos when i gave him 1/4 cup of purina rabbit chow a day, now he only gets 1/8 cup and never has access cecos.

 

[PepperGrl]

to solve the not eating hay problem... you might want to try a different brand of hay. My two never ate much until I switched to Kaytees timothy hay and they really gobbled it up... after awhile I switched to Oxbow's hay and they liked that even more than the Kaytee... I can't seem to keep their bowl full. It might just be a picky bun... doesn't hurt to try.

 

[Boricua_bunny]

I agree with PepperGRl about the hay. My rabbit didn't like to eat hay, until I switched him to Kaytee Timothy Hay. Now, he eats it all of the time!

 

[northerndancer]

I'll try some different hay thanks.

I spoke with the vet yesterday. Unfortuately I think my rabbit has also been eating cat biscuits since I cut back a little on their food, and the vet thought that was the most likely reason. They seemed a bit resigned to the fact that some rabbits are just like this and it is more a case of coping with cleaning her daily rather than being able to cure it.

I've had to just take the cat biscuits away as the cat isnt all that keen on them andis too fat anyway.

The good news is the nurses were able to cut offmy bunnysmatted fur without her needing an anasethetic.

Thanks all for your advice,

love from Liz , Northern Dancer and Flora(newly clean and not smelly!:bunnydance.