Intermittent Soft Cecotropes

[katlupe]

I had never read anything anywhere about ISC (Intermittent Soft Cecotropes) until someone on this forum (sorry, I can't find the thread today) posted a link to an article about it. I could not believe it.....it sounded like exactly what was wrong with my bunny! Well, I printed it out and followed it exactly. At first it was difficult to not give him anything but hay. He begged and pleaded, but I was strong. One of the things about him is that I got him by accident and didn't know anything about house rabbits. One of the foods I fed him after seeing it on a list of foods for rabbits was oats. Well he loved those! So he was eating those along with greens and hay. He always had plenty of hay. But he'd barely ever drink water, unless he was low on greens.

It was hard because for all the time I had him, he has had the soft cecotropes off an on. It would be stuck on his fur and I would be cleaning it up and off my carpet too all day long. I was puzzled by this because he didn't act sick or anything. So I read that article and it said to feed him hay only for several weeks until his poop and the cecotropes was normal. It mentioned mixing the hays. I buy hay from a local farm that he eats but I also use it for bedding in his cage and litter box. He is a free roam bunny in my apartment and has a cage that he can go in and out on his own. It has his litter box in it and he sleeps in there daily (among many other spots too). So plenty of hay in there. I started ordering oat hay from Amazon to add to it. He loves that. He could not eat enough of it! Now he has slowed down on eating so much of it. I think he got used to it and I added the greens back into his diet. No oats though.

What a change it has made! He is 6 years old and is more active again. Hopping around my apartment as soon as I get up in the morning. He is friendlier when people stop in to visit and comes right up to them. The weird thing is that I have never seen this condition mentioned anywhere in all the bunny articles I have read and researched for. Thank you to whoever posted it. I just could not find it this morning.

 

[JBun]

The article I believe you are talking about, is the one done by Susan Brown DVM, that is reposted on the HRS site. But there is other info out there, it can just be hard to find as ISC issues can be called by several different terms, like runny poop, mushy cecals, intermittent diarrhea, intermittent soft stool, intermittent soft cecotropes, sticky bottom syndrome(new term to me), excess cecals(not the same thing though), but the primary term for the condition is called cecal dysbiosis. I've included a bunch more links on the topic if anyone wants to dig into it more. Though essentially it covers the same stuff.

I'm glad you came across the info and were able to get the problem sorted out for your bun. It's a condition that is often not understood by many rabbit owners. So many owners just try and deal with the mess, not knowing they can actually fix the problem in most cases, with some dietary adjustments. The rabbits cecum has a delicate balance of microflora to it, and this can easily be disrupted in many rabbits, with dietary changes or imbalance. Finding the right dietary balance for your rabbit can make all of the difference in having a healthy happy bun

https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952892
https://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/
https://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/cecal-dysbiosis-in-house-rabbits-what-the-hay/
https://lafeber.com/vet/gastrointestinal-problems-in-rabbits/
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/illness/dirtysticky-bottom/
https://cooperthepooper.com/rabbit-...ng-the-poopers-butt/the-scoop-on-rabbit-poop/
https://sawneeanimalclinic.com/downloads/chronic_intermittent_diarrhea_in_rabbits.pdf
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-droppings.asp

 

[katlupe]

Thank you for the links. Even though he is back to normal now (or what I think normal is) I like to read everything I can about it. I now smile every day when I clean his litter and see that normal poop.