Soft Fecal Pellets photo attached please help!

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Floyd2019

Floyd2019

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Hi,

My bun has been having soft, moist fecal pellets for the last few days. He is prone to intermittent soft cecotropes as I've written about before. But he is eating his cecal pellets fine as I have watched him eat them and see none in his litter or pen.

These are definitely fecal pellets but they are brown and soft almost wet around them as if he is drinking too much water but he isn't.

There are golden ones around them but I genuinely don't believe these are cecals, they are too light brown and large and separated from each other.

He does eat a lot of hay, and recently I stopped feeding him bok choy for 5 days to clear up a bout of soft cecotropes so maybe he needs his greens back?
(He only eats bok choy as his greens due to tummy sensitivity and intermittent soft cecotropes. The bok choy does not cause the soft cecals, it was some treats that caused the flare up)

Advice needed!20190712_195048.jpg 20190712_195048.jpg 20190712_195042.jpg
 
Hi Floyd2019, I have no advice but just commisseration. How is your bunny doing? I have a 3 year old neutered buck with cecal dysbiosis and ISC. He is eating some but nowhere near enough and is on antibiotics and appetite stimulant as well as Critical Care. The vet did x rays and blood work and his cecum is a little distended but gas bubbles are not bad, blood work is normal, and no impaction. Yesterday he ate about two cups of cilantro and a quarter cup of pellets but no hay, today a little bit of hay but no greens or pellets yet. I have offered him kale, parsley, romaine, arugula, cilantro, carrots, broccoli, celery, and cauliflower, and tried several different types of hay to entice him but not much luck.
 
I have observed my rabbit eating normal looking cecotropes (grape clusters) as well as the cecotropes you're describing (round and wet). Im unfamiliar with your situation - how often are these ones occurring, and does he ever eat them if you present them to him or if he visits it later?
 
John Wick said:
I have observed my rabbit eating normal looking cecotropes (grape clusters) as well as the cecotropes you're describing (round and wet). Im unfamiliar with your situation - how often are these ones occurring, and does he ever eat them if you present them to him or if he visits it later?
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He is having a flare up so they aren't his usual poos. He does not eat them at all. I am putting him back on his probiotics and hopefully it will help. I had fed him a peice of bok choy and the soft cecotropes started up again
 
EricaWD said:
Hi Floyd2019, I have no advice but just commisseration. How is your bunny doing? I have a 3 year old neutered buck with cecal dysbiosis and ISC. He is eating some but nowhere near enough and is on antibiotics and appetite stimulant as well as Critical Care. The vet did x rays and blood work and his cecum is a little distended but gas bubbles are not bad, blood work is normal, and no impaction. Yesterday he ate about two cups of cilantro and a quarter cup of pellets but no hay, today a little bit of hay but no greens or pellets yet. I have offered him kale, parsley, romaine, arugula, cilantro, carrots, broccoli, celery, and cauliflower, and tried several different types of hay to entice him but not much luck.
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Floyd is ok, I fed him a tiny peice of bok choy on Saturday and his soft cecotropes started up again. So I picked up his probiotics from the vet this morning and plan on giving them for a week along with a hay diet and occasional bok choy. Hopefully it helps.
When I first got Floyd he was 8 weeks old and his problems started at around 3 months. I tried every leafy green and nothing helped. He was only eating hay for a solid 4 months at least. My vet put him on antibiotics and probiotics together, and had me consistently feed small peices of bok choy after a week of only probiotics. It seemed to work. Bok choy or baby bok choy is the best leafy green for rabbits. It has everything they need. If I were you I would forget about greens at the moment and focus on getting him eating timothy hay and orchard grass for protein. He has to get back to being comfortable eatong and get that fibre moving. You can worry about greens once he is stabalized and eating hay normally. Then I would talk to your vet about probiotic supplements, and while you have him on those, if his poo is normal, you can introduce bok choy very slowly.
Trust me, been down this road, it is so exhausting and emotionally draining.
Floyd was good for 3 months and I got too excited and fed too many treats thinking I was giving them sparingly, but these buns need a very strict and boring diet unfortunately.

Oh also, I saw you have him on pellets. My vets advice is no pellets and everything I have read says that usually rabbits with this problem don't do super well on them. Try slowing doen the amount he gets and see if he starts eating more hay. Hay is more important than pellets and if all goes well he can bok choy!
 
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Hey there, thanks for sharing your suggestions. I wish I could convince this rabbit to eat some hay, I'm sure you're right that it would help. I have tried two brands of timothy, oat, orchard, and even alfalfa, but he's only eaten about six pieces that I've seen over the last week. I've tried it in a hay feeder, bowl, on the floor, and in his litter box. He was at least eating 1/4 cup of pellets a day and the aforementioned cilantro yesterday but today not even that. I read that he needs hay probably exclusively to clear this up but since he won't eat it the vet said critical care plus eating pellets and greens just to keep his digestion going.
 
EricaWD said:
Hey there, thanks for sharing your suggestions. I wish I could convince this rabbit to eat some hay, I'm sure you're right that it would help. I have tried two brands of timothy, oat, orchard, and even alfalfa, but he's only eaten about six pieces that I've seen over the last week. I've tried it in a hay feeder, bowl, on the floor, and in his litter box. He was at least eating 1/4 cup of pellets a day and the aforementioned cilantro yesterday but today not even that. I read that he needs hay probably exclusively to clear this up but since he won't eat it the vet said critical care plus eating pellets and greens just to keep his digestion going.
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Have you tried pribiotics instead of antibiotics? They really shouldn't be on antibiotics for too long, as well my vet had probiotics being given with antibiotics so the good flora is replaced. Probiotics and hay is your most important asset to managing this :) i would experiment with some of that and see if you can get him eating hay. Make it the only thing available to eat for the day
 
He hasn't eaten more than a couple pellets since Sunday. This is so hard, he's such a great little bunny but he just will. not. eat. I feel like we're torturing him with the syringe feeding and medications :(
 
We took Hayden to the vet again this afternoon and she says he is doing about the same as Sunday, she showed us how to give him subq fluids twice a day, and we continue with the antibiotics and appetite stimulant. He's going in on Friday for another check if not sooner. She says since he's still active and inquisitive we should keep up the fight! He's so well-behaved too given all that he's going through. I hope Floyd is feeling better.
 
EricaWD said:
We took Hayden to the vet again this afternoon and she says he is doing about the same as Sunday, she showed us how to give him subq fluids twice a day, and we continue with the antibiotics and appetite stimulant. He's going in on Friday for another check if not sooner. She says since he's still active and inquisitive we should keep up the fight! He's so well-behaved too given all that he's going through. I hope Floyd is feeling better.
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Yes definitely keep up the fight. Why does your vet want to continue antibiotics? I only ask because usually antibiotics are avoided with rabbits unless absolutely necessary and are used for the shortest time possible. Floyd is alright, still has some soft and mishapen poo amd cecotropes but I have him on probiotics and a hay/water diet until they clear up. If it makes you feel any better (or at least less alone) i had a nice, big cry the other night while checking his litter box. It's not easy to know your pet isn't the healthiest he can be. It causes a lot of stress and sadness. But it's worth sticking with them and praying for the best outcome. I have added your bun to my bunny prayers and I really hope he starts eating soon! Being active and himself is a good sign so there is still hope in recovery!
 
Floyd2019, has he ever been tried on a dewormer? Sometimes irregularities in a rabbits droppings can be due to an intestinal parasite. Even if a fecal float were to come back negative, there can still be a worm load that needs treating. I would try fenbendazole, 20mg/kg once a day for 5 days, then 10 days off, then one more dose. I've known of other rabbit owners that have had persistent unexplained health and poop issues with their rabbits, and had it clear up after giving a dewormer. So something to consider. I'm including a link on pinworms, but it won't necessarily be pinworms that could be affecting your rabbit. It's just the most common intestinal parasite for rabbits to get.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/Pass/Pass_en.htm

@EricaWD has your vet done a thorough dental exam to rule that out as the possible cause for your rabbit not eating hay? Dental problems causing mouth sores is the most common health cause of a rabbit not wanting to eat hay but being willing to eat other foods like pellets and veggies.
 
Floyd2019: Thanks for your prayers! I am sending good thoughts for Floyd as well.

Hi JBun, yep his teeth have been checked.

Yesterday Hayden nibbled some hay, some cilantro, and some pellets. He didn't eat anything over night, whereas that's when he usually eats a few tbsp of pellets. He went back to the vet this morning and was prescribed pain medication. I picked up some simethicone to try as well. He has eaten some celery since we administered his medications. He goes back in a few days for another re-check depending on how things go.
 
Thanks Blue eyes.

More than a little frustrated here as Hayden didn't eat anything last night and only a couple pieces of celery yesterday, and he's becoming impossible to syringe feed because he fights so much. It's good that he's feisty but also not good because it's so hard to keep feeding him.
 
Sorry I couldn't figure out how I could edit the previous post, but we are going back to the vet in an hour and a half to get Hayden's teeth looked at again. He still won't eat and I'm not confident the vet's previous exam was good enough. Hope we don't have to anaesthetize him to get a good look at those molars!
 
We saw the first of two vets we've seen today and Hayden had x rays. His teeth are fine. The vet ordered some lower GI motility medication but we might not get that until Wednesday, and suggested papaya enzyme. Now we are doing pain medication, antibiotics, upper GI medication, simethicone, papaya enzyme, sub q fluids, and critical care. Poor little rabbit!
 
He ate some parsley! And some fiesta mix, which I know isn't great but I'm hoping he'll get in the habit of eating again and I'll slowly phase it out for the healthier stuff. It's a long day at work until I can see what he's done today.
 
Hayden ate about two cups of parsley and 1/4 cup of pellets since yesterday. We haven't seen him munching hay yet but I think he's finally getting back on track. The vet ordered some lower GI tract stimulant but maybe we don't need it.
 
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