Eating a lot of Care Fresh

[Offspring2099]

Penny had another lose tooth about a month back that was extracted. During the recovery phase she picked up this habit of eating Care Fresh bedding and kinda a lot of it. I can definitely see it in her poop, I can break the poop in half and it seems ALL Care Fresh.

I also noticed that she is breathing heavy at all times. Little bit better when she is resting but pretty bad when she is "out". It's not the weather, because she is 5 and this is the first summer she is doing this. Plus we keep her cool at all times.

I was wondering if her breathing heavy maybe some kind of side effect from eating Care Fresh. Could it cause stomach pain?
Or is it ok to eat Care Fresh, could it even help her with fiber?

Notes:
- No nasal discharge.
- Still Active.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

 

[dquesnel]

Hi there, its different with every rabbit but I noticed one of my guys breaths noisier when he is completely asleep and in one particular position that puts pressure on his windpipe. The other doesn't make any sounds, probably because he doesn't lay the same way. Is it that you can see her body heaving, or can you hear the breathing? I think if it has started suddenly I would worry but if it has started because she is in a certain position, or laying on something then that might explain it. My guy does the breathing noises when he is laying in a flat flop, with his head laying down as well.

You do need to get her to stop eating her litter. That is not a good thing and I'd be concerned. Best thing is to go out and buy some galvanized wire from a hardwook store/farmers co-op (it is a bit like chicken wire, or lighting grid wire) cut and bend it so it sits in her litterbox. That way she can't get to her litter anymore, and also will be able to get off a potentially damp bathroom area. The grids keep my guys so nice and clean, and I find it much less expensive since I just put newspaper under it.

Also maybe she was eating the care fresh during her recovery because it was softer than anything else she was able to eat? She was probably craving fiber. Nonetheless, its no good, could cause a blockage and should go. Hope this helps some!

 

[Offspring2099]

Thanks for the reply.

She did start suddenly with the breathing. I've never seen her breath so rapidly. Even when she is resting its a little better, but still breathing heaver.

I'm sure that's why she started to eat Care Fresh. I'm afraid to take it away though, because Penny doesn't eat hay and I thought that maybe if she wants that fiber, I'd let her have it.



dquesnel wrote:

Hi there, its different with every rabbit but I noticed one of my guys breaths noisier when he is completely asleep and in one particular position that puts pressure on his windpipe. The other doesn't make any sounds, probably because he doesn't lay the same way. Is it that you can see her body heaving, or can you hear the breathing? I think if it has started suddenly I would worry but if it has started because she is in a certain position, or laying on something then that might explain it. My guy does the breathing noises when he is laying in a flat flop, with his head laying down as well.

You do need to get her to stop eating her litter. That is not a good thing and I'd be concerned. Best thing is to go out and buy some galvanized wire from a hardwook store/farmers co-op (it is a bit like chicken wire, or lighting grid wire) cut and bend it so it sits in her litterbox. That way she can't get to her litter anymore, and also will be able to get off a potentially damp bathroom area. The grids keep my guys so nice and clean, and I find it much less expensive since I just put newspaper under it.

Also maybe she was eating the care fresh during her recovery because it was softer than anything else she was able to eat? She was probably craving fiber. Nonetheless, its no good, could cause a blockage and should go. Hope this helps some!

 

[Haley]

Yeah I think the carefresh litter has got to go.Idoubtshes getting any nutritional benefit from it and it could really cause GI problems if shes consuming too much. Try switching to Yesterdays News or putting a stitching screen over her litter box.

Is she able to eat hay at all? If so, I would put a ton of hay in her litter box in hopes that she will eat more of that. Is she eating pellets and greens normally?

Im not sure about the breathing, but I would definitely be worried if one of my buns was consuming so much litter. Try removing it and see how she is in a few days.

Has she gained any more weigh recently? I wonder if weight gain or even a tooth problem could be a possible cause of the breathing problems.

 

[Maureen Las]

I had 2 rabbits that ate carefresh..definitely not a good thing..it dried out their poop and I was very fearful that it could cause stasis.

You could get a grate or change litter;

they probably wouldn't eat aspen shaving or pelleted pine.
.mine did eat yesterdays news.
The heavy breathing is NOT normal
A vet appt is probably the way to go.............

 

[Maureen Las]

Just wanted to add that carefresh is in no way, shape or form anything close to "fiber" for a bun.

Don't worry as much about her not eating hay as worrying about getting a screen over the carefresh or removing it entirely.

Please don't let her eat anymore.
In terms of her breathing

if it is different than her norm; it needs to be looked at.
All buns have individual quirks that are particular to that rabbit but ifthe rabbit deviates fromhernorm it should be looked examined
Heavy breathing could be anything from a lower respiratory infection, heat stress, heart problems etc.

 

[Ivory]

Carefresh definitely is NOT good for your bun to be eating. I'd suggest removing it. It can cause an impaction, which you do not want to deal with.

 

[Offspring2099]

Haley,
She hasn't eaten hay in about 3 years. But I might use Timothy hay anyways as her bedding. She is eating her greens and pellets, but still likes soft water down pellets too. Weight is about the same, no major gain.

angieluv,
Vet already looked at her. Penny sees a vet every month for teeth trim. He listened to her didn't see anything wrong.

 

[Maureen Las]

I don 't want to be a pain because I know that you are trying and have her best interests at heart
but why does she want her pellets watered???
Maybe she needs dental x-rays
you can not do a good visual exam of teeth; the bunneeds to be sedated and x-rayed ..just like with people...'my Beau also doesn't eat hay although he once did; his teeth are very bad!

 

[Haley]

Maureen, Penny has had severe dental abscesses and infections since right around the same time my Max had his (Offspring and I went through a lot of that together with our buns) so he's seeing a great vet and shes on lots of meds for her abscesses

Heres what I would try: put a stitching screen over the carefresh or yesterdays news litter asap. Then, take some timothy hay and rip it up or cut it up into smaller strands, then try putting some over the stitching screen where she usually eats the carefresh. Maybe we can trick her into eating a little hay if she thinks its litter Regardless, get that carefresh where she cant munch on it! lol

Does she like pumpkin? That would be a good supplement to her diet if she still wont eat hay..

 

[JimD]

With Penny's history of tooth problems, she's probably picked up a preference for chewing on things soft......like the pellet slurry and Care Fresh.

When did the vet last look at her teeth?

The softened pellets are probably ok....as long as she's eating enough of them and not filling up on Care Fresh.

The Care Fresh has got to go, though.
Or make it inaccessible to her by putting a screen over it.

Or consider switching the litter/bedding you use.
I prefer to use wood pellets for littler.

 

[Offspring2099]

Penny had an exam where the vet looked at her teeth about 10 days ago. And she had xrays done about a month ago.
Her molars are not pefect, but the vet didn't see anything major.
She is on bicillin still, every other day, because the xrays did show a bit of injection where she had first surgery.

She has done this before, she likes the softer pellets but gets back to normal. But this time she is munchin on care fresh.

angieluv,
You're not a pain, that's why I came here to get more opinions and I Thank you for it.

Haley,
What is a stitching screen?

 

[Maureen Las]

I think that a stitching screen is a screen that you use to do needlepoint on?? or something :?
we'll haveto wait for Haley to respond

it has something to do with sewing and not rabbits.:biggrin2:

 

[Haley]

Its a thin plastic screen you can get at craft stores like Michaels. Then you can cut it to size. Heres some pics from Pebbles' blog:

 

[Maureen Las]

looks like a poop sifter to me

also looks likeit would work.................

 

[Offspring2099]

Hmm, I see I see. Looks like I need to go shopping. Thanks guys.

 

[Offspring2099]

**UPDATE**

Removing Care Fresh from Pennys litter box was a great idea. She is pooping so much more now, I would say more than twice as much. But she is still breathing heavy after she barely moves. I'm starting to think that she is a bit obese.

She always got unlimited pellets after she couldn't eat timothy hay anymore. So I'm not sure what do. Should I start limiting her pellets to about 1/3 cup per day (Penny is just over 6lbs .... we feed her Oxbow's Bunny Basics/T ... she is 4.5 yrs old) ?

 

[Maureen Las]

If she is breathing heavily maybe she has another problem . Why don't you post her pic so we can see how overweight she is/ (unless it is too embarrassing for her LOl)

I've got a few chubby ones myself and yet there breathing is normal .
i think that you should cut back on her pellets.

I also have a dental patient rabbit who eats no hay. I actually give him Critical care in a bowl because I know that it hasadded fiber, hay etc in it.

She could have a respiratory problem ..


but I'm glad removing the carefresh helped; I also had the problem with 2 of mine chowing down on it.

 

[Haley]

Im glad to hear her poops are better. That carefresh is nasty stuff if ingested!

As for the breathing, has she had her lungs and heart listened to lately? Her breathing shouldnt be that bad if its when shes not overly active, even if she was a tad overweight.

As for the pellet amount, Im not really sure...does she clear her plate when you put it down? How much would you say she consumes a day? I think its good she gets more pellets if she wont eat any hay but I thinkunlimitedmay betoo much. Maybe limiting her to like 1/2 cup would be worth a try? Does she eat greens to supplement the pellets?

 

[Offspring2099]

Here are some recent shots of Penny.

Biting the couch, lol!

Last time at the vets, the vet tried to listen to her breath, but he said it's hard to hear anything because she is breathing so rapidly when she gets there. But that's how she always was at the vets, gets real scared and breaths fast. He suggested xrays, but she has to go under.

She eats about 2/3 of a cup of pellets a day. With carrots and parsley in the morning/evening. It's hard to explain how much carrots and parsley she eats. I can take a picture tomorrow, but it's not a lot.

But really guys, she just had a poop explosion after we stopped care fresh, it made me very happy, now hopefully we can figure out this breathing problem.