Worried about my bunnies cecals.

[AmberandHolland]

My three year old Holland Lop started getting a ton of cecals at night, some deformed. I decided yesterday I would cut back on his pellets and increase the amount of hay he gets. I buy him a mixture of Oat, Wheat and Barely harvested hay and I added a bit of Timothy hay to make up for the pellet decrease (his pellets are Timothy based). That night he had a couple mushy deformed cecals, but for the most part they looked alright. Well this afternoon there was a mess in the cage. Soft poop was on the floor, which is very unlike him to not poop in the litter pan. I went out for a few hours and I came back to his back end a mess and more deformed and messy cecals on the cage floor. It was more mush than actual cecal and they are bigger than I'm used to seeing. Should I call the vet first thing in the morning or is this increase due to the diet change and adding the extra hay and limiting the pellets? I'm so worried about my little man!

Thank you all in advanced!

P.S- He is acting normally. Still eating, drinking, and wanting to play.

 

[stevesmum]

Yeah I would definitely get that checked out. And he should be getting unlimited hay at all times, meaning at no time ever should he be at risk of running out of hay. How much do u feed a day in terms of greens?

 

[AmberandHolland]

Thank you for the response, Stevesmum! My bun has unlimited hay, but I just added a bit more and threw the extra Timothy with the blend because of the lack of pellets. I usually alternate between the Oat/Wheat/Barely blend and the Timothy most of the time. As for greens, he actually doesn't like fresh at all. I give him freeze dried veggies, natural crisps etc a few times a week. I have never seen as picky of a rabbit as him. If it doesn't have a good crisp or crunch he has no interest. Actually sniffs, gives me a look and jumps away. Even if I leave it sit for awhile, still nothing. He'll just throw it away from him.

 

[stevesmum]

I read on here once that the seedy tips on oat hay can cause issues. Or, Maybe even though he likes the freeze dried stuff it is causing gut issues? Rabbits are meant to eat fresh greens. It's good that he's acting like himself. I'd stick with hay and water for a couple days and see. I'm sure you have lovely produce where you live, maybe try different things and find something he will go for, like kale, carrot tops, cilantro, parsley? Is he still eating some cecotropes?

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

You should not be seeing any cecals, they should be eating them all. The occasional cecal is ok but it should not be a regular occurance. I would recommend taking a trip to the vet. Mushy poop isn't good. And the rabbit can get dehydrated very quickly if it gets worse. Taking pellets away would not likely cause things to get worse. Usually when there is an issue, giving hay only will improve things. Also avoid anything sugary. Don't give any greens or anything new until this is resolved. I would be off to the vet.