Less energetic, excess cecals, misshapen droppings?

[pani]

Hi there!

I'm a little concerned about Felix's behaviour today. Yesterday he got his first calci vaccination and had his nails clipped, which was understandably stressful, but after coming home he rested in his hutch for a bit and then got out and played like he normally does.

This morning he seems a lot less energetic, not running around, no binkying, and when he moves he's quite slow. He's mostly just sitting like this -

Although thankfully he's leaning against his water bottle now, which is more normal for him.

He's producing more excess cecals than I've seen in a while... I've been reintroducing greens into his diet and did give him a little more spinach yesterday, so it could be due to that.

His droppings also appear to be a bit misshapen, sort of teardrop shaped and tailing off towards the end.

He's gotten lethargic before, after what I suspect was a strain (he was being mishandled by someone when I wasn't home to supervise) to his back or legs, but recovered after a few days. He's still struggling if I try to grab him, which is normal behaviour for him, and he's still eating hay. Hasn't touched his pellets today, but will eat Oxbow treats. His belly feels normal, not hard or bloated.

Could this be indicative of something more serious, or should I just lay off the greens for a few days and see if he returns to his normal bouncy self?

 

[JBun]

Keep an eye on the eating, drinking, and pooping. You may also want to give your vet a call and ask about any affects the vaccine may have. We don't have vaccines in the US, so I'm unfamiliar with them or any side effects they may have. Hopefully it's just a temporary thing and will be cleared up in a few hours.

Since the greens are a new thing, you could hold off on them until he's feeling a bit better, but just make sure he is still eating his hay well.

 

[pani]

I just texted Felix's breeder, who administered the vaccination - she said sometimes he can be a bit off for the first day or two after the vaccination, but should be okay after that. He seemed fine last night after coming home from getting his vaccination, but maybe it took some time to affect him.

 

[pani]

He hasn't had any greens in the last 36 hours, only hay, pellets, food mix from the breeder (mainly comprised of hay and some oats for gaining weight), and a few small Oxbow timothy treats. He's acting more like himself, much more energetic although not back to his spazzy old self just yet He did do a hop that could have been a binky so he's definitely getting there! I suspect his behaviour should normalise again by tomorrow, and then I get to go through aaaall this again when he gets neutered, but probably worse!

I am a bit concerned about his poops from today - I see a mix of his normal droppings along with some unformed cecals, I think:

And I also found this, which looks like a large single cecal? It's dark and squishy like a cecal, but it's larger than his normal droppings. This is the only one.

I emptied his litter box before I went to bed last night, and found this when I came home, so this is about 18 hours later. Is this less droppings than normal or is this okay? I feel like I pick up more when he's running around, but sometimes when he's out he drops heaps at a time (marking his territory, I guess) so maybe that's not a good number to go off as 'normal'.

He's still eating, still drinking, saw him do a binky before so he doesn't seem to be in pain. He is stretched out across the floor but he does that quite often when he's relaxing, so it's hard to tell if it could be related to his gut. I don't have too much hay left tonight, I didn't get to pick any up today as the woman I get it from wasn't home, so I'll get more tomorrow. He's got a bit left but it's all the smaller end parts, are they still good for his digestion? I'm so mad at myself, I thought I had enough hay to get by a few more days but he ate more than I thought.

 

[JBun]

Sometimes their droppings can be a bit off after they haven't been feeling well. You may want to cut the sugary starchy foods, like the oats, oxbow treat(it's full of grains), and any other sugary treats, as these will contribute to the bacterial imbalance causing the mushy misshapen poop. Hay is going to be the best thing to get his poop looking normal again. You may be ok to continue with pellets for now, but if his poops don't improve, you may need to consider cutting back on those as well, for a few days. But try cutting the treats and see how he does, and just continue to monitor how much of his other food he is eating.

Any hay is better than none. Just feed what you have left, and get more asap.

 

[pani]

Thank you, Jenny.

I'm picking up a big bag of oaten hay after work tomorrow, and I have a bag of lucerne on the way via mail. I'll lay off the treats, otherwise his diet is very basic - hay, pellets, and the oats were because he's a little underweight.

Thanks for calming me down, I just get so worried about my little darlin'! He's yawning and stretching a lot tonight.

 

[JBun]

The Lucerne will help with weight gain, and won't be adding extra carbs into his diet. Just make sure to introduce it into his diet slowly, as it can cause digestive upset for some rabbits, when introduced too quickly.

 

[pani]

Seemed more like himself this morning, and no weird poops.

 

[pani]

Scratch that - behaviourally he's pretty much back to normal, but he's still doing those large, dark, squishy poops. Doesn't seem to be in any pain, still eating hay.

 

[JBun]

If the mushy poop doesn't clear up after a couple more days, you should probably try reducing pellet amounts next, along with providing unlimited grass hay. You just need to give his gut bacteria a chance to get back in balance. Sugars and carbs, even in the pellets, can contribute to the imbalance. Reducing pellets also will increase hay consumption, and fiber from hay is really the best thing to help restore the correct balance of bacteria.

http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/