Persistent cecal dysbiosis

[Maria2022]

Hello all, new to this group. I got a complex issue with my bunny.

I have a 4 years old mini rex bunny, male, neutered. A month ago he had GI stasis and possible cecal dysbiosis. My vet treated him with motility drugs, pain killers and Enrofloxacin. 7 days after he got metronidazole for his persistent mushy poop. His poop became more mushy and paste like after antibiotics. we had fecal sample done, vet talked to specialist and they recommended nystatin for small amount cyniclomyces. I started and gave 2 doses of nystatin and my bunny again had more liquidish poop. I went to a second vet , she did another blood work and x-ray and fecal sample. His blood work was okay except mildly increased globulin. Fecal sample one coccidia cyst. Xray was fine. Now we have started him on Toltrazuril. Waiting for fecal culture to come back.
My bunny is eating some hay, giving him critical care very small cilantro and kale(not everyday). No pellets.

Now Does anyone dealt with long term cecal dysbiosis?
Anyone knows the prognosis?
Anyone knows about fecal transplantation and successfully did it?

 

[JBun]

Instead of all of these medications, did your vet ever recommend trying a change of diet first? Cecal dysbiosis is most often caused by excess carbohydrates/sugars in the diet, and insufficient fiber. The usual correction for diet based cecal dysbiosis is a temporary(sometimes permanent) grass hay diet. This helps get the gut microflora back in balance. Also, have you tried adding in a probiotic like Benebac plus, Fibreplex, ProC(not sure what you have available where you live)?

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
https://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

 

[Maria2022]

Hello JBun, thanks for your reply. I am not feeding him any sugars or carbs. For last couple of days he is eating a good amount of hay but I feel its not sufficient enough so I replace him with critical care. I got a hay bale from a local farm and using oxbow timothy, orchard and oat. He is also on Bene bec for last 4 weeks.
I would say there is some mild improvement in his poop though.
My vet said after culture and sensitivity she might try fecal transplant.

 

[JBun]

I read of one other case of a rabbit receiving a fecal transplant, and it sounded like it helped the rabbit a good deal. So that might be something that could be beneficial to your rabbit.

If you can get to the point where he's entirely on free fed grass hay where he's eating it really well, and you can start to remove the critical care feedings, that's what I would want to do. I've had a few rabbits with serious ongoing genetic digestive disorders, and a grass hay no sugar/carb diet, is what helped keep it managed. I'm a big proponent of using good quality grass hay to help correct most digestive issues with rabbits. It just always seems to work better than anything else.

 

[Maria2022]

Hello JBun, Thanks for the reply. My bunny just finished his coccidia treatment. His poop became loose again after seeing some improvement. I also supplemented him with critical care. I am not sure whether Critical care or the post coccidia treatment causing him liquidish poop again. I saw oxbow critical care and oxbow pellets have the similar ingredients. I am giving him very tiny cilantro and tiny bit of kale. I stopped vege for 2 days but it seems like vege was not the issue.

 

[Diane R]

It takes weeks, sometimes months, on a hay only diet to see improvement when they have cecal dysbiosis. If you can get him to eat lots of hay I would drop the critical care.

 

[Maria2022]

This is the issue, I feel like he is not eating plenty but a good amount of hay. As he is not using his cecotropes he might develop a nutritional deficiency as per vet. Do you think hay only diet will resolve and his nutrition would be ok? Thanks

 

[Diane R]

He must be eating cecotropes, he would be very ill if he wasn't. I would try a hay only diet but get several types of tasty grass hay to get him to eat lots of it.

 

[Maria2022]

I do have different types of hay. Local farm timothy, oxbow timothy, oat and orchard. Now my bunny is a picky one, I had to try really hard to get him on hay. WHen he is on hay he does poop a lot. I feel I should not supplement him with CC or anything. My vet thought he might feel weak or become sick that's why asked me to continue CC. I guess I will discontinue it. Thanks for your reply.

 

[JBun]

Grass hay is the best course to get a rabbits cecal microflora back in balance from my experience. As long as a rabbit is eating the hay well, enough nutrients should be provided through the hay short term, if it's a good quality medium leafy(not too coarse) green grass hay. Then once it helps get the cecum back in balance, the cecotropes become normally formed again gradually, and start being consumed normally by the rabbit again so they're getting those needed nutrients. Of course, this is provided there isn't some other underlying condition causing the mushy poop.

I've had rabbits on a free fed grass hay and select greens only diet for several years in the past, because of some rabbits with sensitivities to pellets, and all of my rabbits did really well on this diet. They all were healthy and stayed at a healthy weight, and the ones with the digestive disorders, this diet helped keep them in the best possible health they could be in, considering the chronic digestive issues they had going on. So I certainly believe in a pellet free diet as being a good thing for many rabbits, when it is done correctly and the rabbit can maintain good health and a healthy weight with it.

 

[Maria2022]

My bunny lost 180gms over a month after getting GI stasis. He now weighs 1.02 kg. I am worried about that.