Excess of cecotropes in adult

[BigJ111]

Hi, I know there has been many threads about this but all those I could find regarded young bunnies. Miso is over 2 years old. He had a case of GI stasis and was recovering when we got a heatwave that affected him (bad timing)... He eats and drink normally, but in the past few days, he has been producing a lot of cecotropes (some well formed and some mushy) mostly in the afternoon, and just a few at night, while pooping normally the rest of the time.
I've read about stopping pellets and fresh stuff altogether and keep him on hay and water for a bit until it gets back to normal, as it's clearly a guts imbalance and his diet has never been an issue before, but my concern is that he lost some weight during his GI stasis, and i'm worried that being just with hay he would lose more or at least not gain back the weight he needs to gain back.
Any advice? Thanks in advance

 

[JBun]

It'll depend on if the cecotropes are coming out properly formed and then getting smooshed, or already coming out semi mushy or completely mushy.

Uneaten properly formed cecotropes happen when either more than is needed is being produced(too rich a diet), or when a rabbit is distracted or unable to eat their properly formed cecotropes(eg. arthritis, obesity, dental issues, etc).

When it's from too rich of a diet, the correction is to reduce protein rich foods. Usually this will be with rabbits that are growing and being fed alfalfa(high protein), or regular weight or overweight adult rabbits being fed alfalfa, alfalfa based pellets, or third cut grass hay.

If it's happening because a rabbit is distracted, this will often be with rabbits in a new home, with young rabbits(easily distracted), or when there are environmental distractions(eg. loud environment, predators hanging around, etc). Then there are the health issues that can cause a rabbit to have difficulty eating normally formed cecotropes, like arthritis causing pain and stiffness and making it difficult for them to reach down there to consume them, obesity making it difficult to reach down there to consume them, or dental problems making it uncomfortable for a rabbit to 'chew' and consume them.

For improperly formed cecotropes that come out semi mushy or completely mushy, this is most often due to diet issues, usually too many carbs in the diet and not enough fiber from hay, but can occassionally be caused by a sensitivity to a particular food in the diet, like a certain veggie. Or it can be less commonly due to health issues like liver/kidney problems, heart problems, thymoma/cancer, etc.

https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
https://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/
If your rabbits cecotropes are coming out semi mushy or completely mushy, having just had GI stasis then experiencing heat stress, this could have disrupted the normal balance of microflora in your rabbits cecum, resulting in mushy cecotropes. Increasing good quality grass hay is usually the recommended solution to rebalance the cecums microflora.