Excess caecotrophs - when will improve after pellet change?

[Chii]

Hi everyone!

My lionhead girl, Miffy has a poopy butt history back in shelter and had tiny dry poops. She was fed muesli. When I took her in, I started feeding her Burgess Excel pellets for adults and her poops are now round and big, just as my other bunny's droppings. Her excess caecotrophs were gone. Now it's about a month she lives with me and I see caecotrophs in her cage again every morning.

I've read that Burgess may cause a poopy butt and switcher her to Supreme Science Selective (24% fibre) 2 days ago, but poopy butt is still there.
How long to wait after switching pellets to rule out that it's food related and not some health problem? Is there anything else I can do to help her? Is it dangerous?
Thank you in advance!:carrot

 

[JBun]

First off, you should do a pellet change gradually over 2 weeks, to give your rabbits gut flora time to adjust to the new food and minimize the chances of digestive upset.

The dangers of uneaten cecals is that your rabbit will be missing out on essential nutrients obtained from eating them. The danger of mushy cecals is that there is a microflora imbalance causing them to be mushy and this can lead to other more serious digestive issues. There is also the danger of fly strike occurring when the poop is getting stuck to the fur.

It's possible the burgess pellets are just too rich and you need to feed less of them, or switching to the ss pellets may solve the problem. But it usually takes more than a couple days before you see results. Especially if it has been an ongoing problem.

Instead of suddenly switching to the ss pellets, it might work better to gradually cut out the burgess pellets over the next several days while checking to make sure your bun is eating plenty of hay to make up for less pellets. , or you could just decrease the amount of burgess to see if that helps. If not, then continue to decrease the burgess pellets until you have cut them out, making sure your bun is eating plenty of hay. Then once the excess cecals have cleared up, gradually introduce the ss pellets into the diet. Pay attention to how your rabbits poop is as you are increasing, and if you see poopy butt or excess cecs, back down the pellets a little to see if that clears it up.

Some rabbits just can't tolerate certain pellets very well, too many pellets, or some can't tolerate any pellets at all. You just have to find the right balance for your rabbit.

 

[Chii]

JBun, thank you for your reply!

I feed SS to my other bunny, so when Miffy arrived I gave her both brands: Burgess and SS to see which one she likes most. And SS has more fibre, so I mixed them. She is used to both brands by now. I am aware that I can't switch her to unknown pellets overnight.

I will follow your advice then and will gradually cut out pellets. How long approximately does it take to stop making excess cecals ? Should I expect changes in few weeks or more?

 

[JBun]

Ok, I just usually include pellet transitioning info as many people don't know this. Glad that's not an issue here then.

You don't necessarily need to cut the pellets out completely at this point if the cecal problem isn't really bad. I would just start reducing the burgess pellets until they are eliminated over the week, but keep the ss pellets at the same amount and not increase or decrease. Then once the burgess are eliminated from the diet for a week, if you are still seeing cecals, start reducing the ss pellets a little every few days until the cecals stop. You can then keep the pellets at this level or try increasing them a little bit and see how your rabbit does on that amount. How long before you see results really depends on the severity. Though usually you will see improvement after a day or two.

It's also essential that your rabbit is a good hay eater and you are free feeding a good grass hay, and making sure she actually eats it. Fiber from hay is one of the best things to help correct digestive issues in rabbits.

 

[Chii]

JBun,

I am not sure about the severity - it is usually about 3-5 caecals in the morning. By the day I can see her with the head ducked in the bum, so I assume she eats the rest.
About hay - both my bunnies are not huge hay eaters, but since they get limited greens/vegs and pellets, they have not that much of a choice and I see them nibbling on it throughout a day. While Miffy has this caecal issue I don't give her fresh greens or treats (piece of apple or carrot).

I will follow your advice and will see how she will be feeling. I will update this thread as soon as there will be any changes.

 

[JBun]

That doesn't sound too bad. I would think decreasing the burgess out of the diet should help clear it up.

Have you tried giving different varieties of grass hay? Hay can vary quite a bit in each crop. It may just be they don't like the taste of the hay you are using. A different crop or batch of the same hay may be better, or trying a different variety of grass hay.

It might also be they are getting too many pellets and as you decrease the pellet amount, this will cause them to eat more hay. If a rabbit is filling up on pellets, they won't be very hungry for their hay. Just depends on their size, age, and the amount of pellets you have been feeding.