Dry, Broken-looking Fecals (starting again)...

[Jenk]

I'm unsure if Zoe's gut will recover from her latest plastic-eating escapade. It so upset her digestive tract, which has never functioned normally.

Over the past 2-3 days', she's (again) begun passing more and more dry, broken-looking fecals (along with her typically-odd, megacolon-ish ones). In the past, waiting to see if if the problem would correct itself hasn't worked; thestart of dry fecals always spiraled into more dry, broken-looking ones (and a slower-moving digestive system).

Her current diet is onlyhay (1st-cut timothy and a littleorchard grass) and 2 tsp. of pellets/daily. I'm ready to start decreasing even the pellets to see if they're contributing to the drier fecals.Zoedrinks a lot of water in 24 hours', and it's still not enough to hydrate her gut. (Or her gut is misappropriating watersomewhere along the line.)

The vet doesn't like to give sub-Qs unless a bun stops producing fecals (or has nearly stopped producing them).But I'm leery tosyringe-feed Zoe water because flavoring it with anything runs the risk ofupsetting her gut even more.

It's a Catch-22, as I worry even more now about going on vacation onJuly 3rd....

Thankyou,

Jenk

 

[JimD]

What kind of pellets are you giving her?

 

[JimD]

How is her appetite?
Does she eat all of the pellets?

 

[Maureen Las]

Hi Jen

I think that her problems are from some inherent abnormality in her gut whether it is called mega-colon or something else. I really don't think it has anything to do with anything that you are dong with her. You are doing everything right and it is happening anyway.

All I can say is just watch and see what happens. You have plenty of time before July to deal with an episode if it turns into that.

I am so sorry that your buns are so much stress.
Actually I had a horrible day yesterday with my dental patient bunny Beau ; I was a stressed out wreck the whole day (will tell that story later) I totally understand the kind of anguish that this creates for a person. :cry2
Hugs and 1 more

Maureen

 

[Jenk]

JimD wrote:

What kind of pellets are you giving her?

She gets just 2 tsp. of Oxbow BB/T.

How is her appetite?
Does she eat all of the pellets?

At the moment, it's still fairly good. If it's decreased, I can't yet tell. (In times past, though, her appetite has noticeably decreased, as has her activity level.)

She definitely scarfs the pellets; she views anything other than hay as ayummy treat: pellets, herbs,and orchard hay.

I gave her an extra 20 cc's of plain water tonight. I know that she's already ingested a lot of water today; I'm curious to see if her fecals seem less dry tomorrow morning. (But if her gut's not properly absorbing/distributing fluid, then I suppose it won't make a difference.)

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

I think that her problems are from some inherent abnormality in her gut whether it is called mega-colon or something else. I really don't think it has anything to do with anything that you are dong with her. You are doing everything right and it is happening anyway.

You're likely right. I believe that she has the genetic condition that either renders many of the nerves in her intestines inactive, or she's missing nerves all together. And there's no fixing a condition like that. I just wish that there were something to at least try that might give her a reprieve.

I don't know what to feed her anymore; the only thing that's "worked" best for her is a hay-only diet. But so many people come down on you for "starving" a bun by feeding just hay. The flak gets tiresome, on top of the stress of her not receiving enough nutrients from it.

All I can say is just watch and see what happens. You have plenty of time before July to deal with an episode if it turns into that.

I wouldn't say that it's plenty of time, in the sense that any medication she may need to resume takes time. She's needed the help of motility drugs in the past, and it takes 1.5-2 weeks' to administer and taper it off. So I am feeling the stress of the time frame....

I am so sorry that your buns are so much stress.

These health issues are not something what I'd anticipated whenwe brought home the girls. It was a lot to be hit with from the get-go (right after the first month with them). I'd be calmer about rabbit ownership if I'd had some normal time with them; but it wasn't to be so.

Actually I had a horrible day yesterday with my dental patient bunny Beau ; I was a stressed out wreck the whole day (will tell that story later) I totally understand the kind of anguish that this creates for a person. :cry2
Hugs and 1 more

I'm sorry that Beau's having dental issues (something I've not yet had tohandle...*knock on wood*). Please give him extra pets for me.