Decreasing Fecal Size (again)...

[Jenk]

7.5 weeks ago, our Cali boy started passing very small fecals. I treated him with gut massage, Simethicone, Metacam,and sub-Qs (one dose) because his water consumption had decreased. (His small fecals didn't look dry.) He began passing normal-sized fecals in24 hours after I'd started treatment.

Now his fecal size is again decreasing noticeably. He tested negative for Coccidia when we got him (over a year ago).And the rabbit-savvy vets by me don't treat for Coccidiosisunless it's proven necessary.

I can't figure out what else would be causing this issue. His diet remains stable, and, at the moment, his appetite/thirst seemnormal. I gave him one probiotic dose this morning and may give it for another few days to see if things improve. If they don't, I'll be consulting the vet.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[tamsin]

Any other history of illness/gut issues? What is his diet?

It's quite common for gut problems to be a secondary symptom of something else so it can be hard to track down the issue. It can be anything from something causing stress to a teeth problem, a urine infection, a parasite, a bad batch of food.

Diet can still be an issue even if you haven't changed anything. Rabbit's food requirements can change throughout their life time so things like less exercise, neutering, growing up can effect what they need to eat.

 

[Jenk]

tamsin wrote:

Any other history of illness/gut issues? What is his diet?

My answer to your first question is: I'm unsure--and yes. When we adopted him (post-neuter), he was thought to be five months old; he's now approximately 33-34 mos. old.

He'd been found as a stray andhad a vet check-up within a week of his adoption. Hetested negative for Coccidia/other parasites.

He'shad several gut slowdown and stasis issues since we've had him (the first, and most serious one I suspect was due to ingested fur). At times, his fecal size/qty. has decreased and his gut has become loud/gassy, which is what occurred 7.5 weeks ago.

His diet consists of: Oxbow BB/T pellets (4 Tbsp./day); 1st-cut timothy hay (unlimited amounts); Romaine, curly parsley and Italian parsley (about four large Romaine leaves and a pile of the parsley/day).

There have been times when he's had gas and gut slowdown after eating sweet meadow hay, which I've since removed from his diet. But my husband has been feeding him some of Sweet Meadow Farm's non-1st-cut timothy hay, which does have some orchard grass in it; for all I know, this could be offsetting his gut. (Last night, I told my husband to not add it to our boy's litter box, hoping that his fecal size would be normal by this morning; it wasn't.)

It's quite common for gut problems to be a secondary symptom of something else so it can be hard to track down the issue. It can be anything from something causing stress to a teeth problem, a urine infection, a parasite, a bad batch of food.

I can likely rule out the bad batch of food, since our other two buns eat the same pellets and hay. This is my biggest fear: it's going to cost an arm-and-a-leg to track down the problem. In our experience, all the testing in the world doesn't reveal most bun problems. And it just seems like at least two of them have a problem at the same time;bun ownership hasprovenfinancially overwhelming for the last two years.

Diet can still be an issue even if you haven't changed anything. Rabbit's food requirements can change throughout their life time so things like less exercise, neutering, growing up can effect what they need to eat.

He weighs about 8.5 lbs. Thus far, 4 Tbsp. of pellets have been enough to keep his weight steady and his appetite for hay high. I'm unsure what might need to be tweaked.

I've noticed that he's already drank a large amount of water since his dish was refilled (at 11 pm last night).

 

[Jenk]

As a precaution, I've given my guy three Simethicone doses (the first two spaced hourly, the third given two hours after the second dose). I also gave him one Metacam dose (earlier this afternoon).

I've just listened to his gut sounds with a generic stethoscope; his left-hand side is very volatile (i.e., making constant churning/popping/gurgling sounds).

If he doesn't start producing fecals by this evening (or if he shows no interest in his greens), I'll consider giving him a dose of sub-Qs before bedtime. I've a feeling that, no matter what, I'll have to force him to exercise tonight to get his gut moving better on its own.

At this point, I don't know if he has some form of blockage, or if his gut is just really irritated from something more simple (e.g., diet). Ugh!

Jenk

 

[tamsin]

They can drive you crazy can't they trying to work out what's wrong!

Is he still eating? If so I would temporarily cut down his pellet ration to increase his hay intake they should make things move better and increase his poop size. Rabbit's can cope fine for a few days on hay only but he's quite a big chap so I'd just half it.

Is he sensitive to veg? If not they I'd try to add a little more variety. I feed quite a wide range of types of veg and find that way my rabbits tend to have no problem with encountering anything unusual.

Exercise and gentle tummy rubs are a good idea to help with movement too

I hope he improves soon.

 

[Maureen Las]

I usually give a probiotic now when my buns have GI upsets or gas and I think that it helps . I give simethicone, tummy rubs, pedialyte and benebac ( not at the same time )

 

[Jenk]

tamsin wrote:

They can drive you crazy can't they trying to work out what's wrong!

In the 2.5 years that we've had rabbits, I've aged at least a decade, I swear!

Is he still eating? If so I would temporarily cut down his pellet ration to increase his hay intake they should make things move better and increase his poop size. Rabbit's can cope fine for a few days on hay only but he's quite a big chap so I'd just half it.

He never really stopped eating. In fact, yesterday, he drank a huge amount of water and ate a large amountof hay within a very short time period. :shock:

I gave him a prebiotic/probiotic dose (Probi), Simethicone (three doses), and Metacam (one dose). By 7:30 pm,he was awake, eating more hay, and demanding his greens. I could still hear his gut at times while he was lying down (and my head was a foot, or so, away from him).

I fed everyone pellets this morning before reading your post, but I'd considered cutting down his pellet ration. I wound up cutting it by only half of a tablespoon, but I will halve it tomorrow, if his gut noises continue.

Is he sensitive to veg? If not they I'd try to add a little more variety. I feed quite a wide range of types of veg and find that way my rabbits tend to have no problem with encountering anything unusual.

There's a story behind why we've settled on feeding just parsley (curly and Italian) and Romaine. Our one bun can't tolerate most greens and only gets a tiny amount of Italian parsley (as her gut allows). Another bun is seems to havesneak-attack digestive issues if she gets anymore than a small amount of greens.And now our male has been having intermittent gut issues (possibly from sweet meadow and hay, as well as a hay mix containing some of it).

When we tried feeding a greater variety of greens, we were wasting so much money on stuff going bad. Anything besides parsley and Romaine just wasn't fresh on a consistent basis. And for as much as the vet visits have cost us that far, we need to save all the money that we can (for the next vet visit).

Exercise and gentle tummy rubs are a good idea to help with movement too

I hope he improves soon.

I did massage his tummy several times yesterday (and noticed some sensitivity, judging by his minor flinching). I kept the massages gentle, though; and I did make him run a bit when he was out of his pen for his evening exercise.

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

I usually give a probiotic now when my buns have GI upsets or gas and I think that it helps . I give simethicone, tummy rubs, pedialyte and benebac ( not at the same time )

I did break down and give him a prebiotic/probiotic (called Probi). I dislike giving anything that messes with a gut's flora, but that's due to our one girl having such a touchy, easily-imbalanced gut. I'm always concerned about an imbalance being caused by something that's purposely introduced to the digestive system.

But since I gave him one dose of Probi yesterday, I may give him one today, as well.

Other than Pedialyte, I did gave our guy everything that you've listed. (Yes, I spaced the doses out. ) I felt thatPedialtye (or syringed water, watered-down Critical Care, etc.) was unnecessary because he drank a huge amount of water. I figured that between the water he drank and his evening greens, he'd have a good deal of fluid running through his system.