Enlarged colon ?

[PamsWarren]

A bit of background on the rabbit - 11yo spayed girl, sensitive digestive tract (frequently has soft stool or excess cecals requiring butt-bathes, especially if given too many greens or alfalfa hay) and kidney issues (diagnosed with kidney disease, but she doesn't really fit the profile of a rabbit with kidney disease)

Thursday night Muffy appeared to have a difficult time urinating (circling in her box, hiking her bum way up when trying to pee, trying a couple of times before actually peeing, etc). When she finally did pee, the stream was strong (no dribbling or anything). I noticed that she had a giant poop-ball stuck to her bum (which we initially thought was the cause), so we gave her a butt-bath. Next morning still having difficulties, so I booked her in for the first vet appointment I could get (Saturday AM). It alsonoticed thatshe had passed some mucous or some thicker, odd looking urine at some point on Friday eve. By very late Friday night, she was peeing normally again, but was still having some very soft stool with some normal stool mixed in.

Vet did a urinanalysis (some crystals, but no infection) and an xray (no stones or sludge). The xray did, however, reveal an enlarged colon. The vet also commented that the placement of some of her organs seemed odd to him. Not sure why…I was so releaved that they didn't find any stones…plus I was feeling a bit flu-ish, so I didn't even think to ask for more info.

Since Saturday AM, she has continued to have some bouts of soft stool (perhaps it is even a bit watery at times) with regular stool mixed in. Her appetite seems ok, I guess…she's a grazer, so it is hard to tell sometimes. She is bonded to Fuzz and sadly over the past few weeks, Fuzz seems to want to eat everything that causes Muffy to have poopy butt - lots of fresh veggies like kale (which really does not agree with Muffy), dill and dandelion, alfalfa hay, alfalfa hay cubes, slop (soften alfalfa pellets with some critical care and banana mixed in), etc, all of which Muffy has really been enjoying :bunnydance: (her weight is up to 2.9kg…typically, she would be about 2.6 or 2.7kg). It's been difficult to strike a balance between getting enough food into Fuzz, but not giving so much that Muffy is affected.

Now that Fuzz is eating more of his normal diet, I have stopped giving him slop and alfalfa hay, although I really think that Muffy is more sensitive to the veggies than the alfalfa. I am hoping that a stricter diet will help.

Any idea of what an enlarged colon may indicate? If the soft stool does not get better on a stricter diet, I will take her back to the vet. What tests should I ask for?

Also, any thoughts as to why she was having a difficult time peeing?

Muffy says thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[tonyshuman]

Have you read some stuff on megacolon? It's a somewhat controversial condition, as some people don't think it really exists. My position is that some bunnies are much more sensitive in the GI tract, probably due to something like irritable bowel syndrome in humans, and that can be called megacolon. It also seems to have a genetic component. Is Muffy a hotot or "eyeliner" bunny?

I'll post some megacolon links:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Differential/mega_differential.htm
A bit technical: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Mechanical_diseases/megacolon.pdf

This used to be called "cow pie syndrome" by many rabbit owners because the poos look like cow pies.

My guess is that the poo issues came from stress and pain due to bladder issues, simply because she has known kidney issues and they seemed to be acting up a bit around the same time.

You might consider asking about metronidazole, which is an antibiotic but also acts in an anti-inflammatory way in the GI tract.

Edit:
Sorry, didn't answer all your questions. I think the reason she was having trouble peeing could be due to the urine itself--it could be a bit damaging to her skin and could cause pain at the urethral opening. Also, if her colon is so huge that it's displacing her other organs, it could be putting pressure on her bladder, like when pregnant humans have their uterus putting pressure on the bladder, causing some issues with urination.

Did the colon have feces in it, or air? If it were air, she could been having a serious bout of gas that caused a lot of pain, which could have caused the bladder issues too.

 

[PamsWarren]

<<Have you read some stuff on megacolon? It's a somewhat controversial condition, as some people don't think it really exists. My position is that some bunnies are much more sensitive in the GI tract, probably due to something like irritable bowel syndrome in humans, and that can be called megacolon. It also seems to have a genetic component. Is Muffy a hotot or "eyeliner" bunny?>>

I have read some of the info on megacolon and do wonder if Muffy may be a megacolon bun. BTW, Muffy is an angora-mix, white bun with grey points (but not a REW).

I really wonder if Muffy is a bit arthritic now and not able to clean herself as well as she should or get to her cecals. Her back foot does sometimes hit the side of the litterbox when she is jumping in and maybe with the extra weight, she's just not able to get to her bum. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever see her having a cecals snack.... onder:

<<This used to be called "cow pie syndrome" by many rabbit owners because the poos look like cow pies.>>

Yeah, that pretty much describes her poop sometimes.

<<My guess is that the poo issues came from stress and pain due to bladder issues, simply because she has known kidney issues and they seemed to be acting up a bit around the same time.>>

I would not be surprised if stress is an issue as Sir HumpsAlot has been alive and well lately. ullhair:Since Fuzz has been on a regular bunny diet, Muffy hasn't had as many poo issues.

<<You might consider asking about metronidazole, which is an antibiotic but also acts in an anti-inflammatory way in the GI tract.>>

If her poo issues persist, I will ask about a course of metronidazole.

<<I think the reason she was having trouble peeing could be due to the urine itself--it could be a bit damaging to her skin and could cause pain at the urethral opening.>>

Interesting theory. The vet did mention that her vulva looked a bit swollen. The vet thought that perhaps she had passed a mucous plug, which I thought sounded very plausible. Especially since the last time I saw her really strain to urinate, there was a bit of what could have been mucous on top of her poop.


<<Did the colon have feces in it, or air? If it were air, she could been having a serious bout of gas that caused a lot of pain, which could have caused the bladder issues too.>>

I think the vet thought the colon had feces in it. I saw the xray...did not look like gas (and the vet did not mention gas).

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Pipp]

I'm actually thinking the opposite, that Muffy was actually trying to pass gas and the pee was incidental. Or as Claire noted, the gas was also causing discomfort to the kidneys or bladder or whatever. But I think the gas, plug or even a large poop refusing to come out is a good possibility. (ETA: I've seen two of mine hop around in the litter box trying to pass gas and it does look like they're trying to pee).

Could the "swollen colon" have been the gas and fluids that often show up during an intestinal 'incident' like this? Was that mentioned?

How rabbit-savvy is the vet do you think? 'Odd' compared to what? Can you get the x-ray and send it to somebody for a second opinion? It's highly unlikely, but just in case something is twisted or swollen that shouldn't be.

Not sure if our Infirmary Mod/Rehabber Randy, well experienced with x-rays and the just about everything else, is going to have the time, but he'll probably want to take a look if he does. Sending a file with the image would be great if that's possible.

sas :clover: