Soft Stool

[Robyn89]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum. I'm trying to find some information about my rabbit's condition. Rowan is a 4-yr-old male, neutered, mini lop (or possibly holland lop) who, for the past year or so, has had problems with his bowels. He tends to have soft stool that sticks to his bum. He has been to the vet and last summer was diagnosed with early arthritis in his lower back. He was started on Metacam and glucosamine/condroitin which seemed to help for awhile. Then the symptoms came back. I took him to another vet who didn't seem to think it was the arthritis acting up as Rowan is young and has no problems getting around. He suggested I try deworming which I have been doing for the past 2 weeks. Again, at first it seemed to work but now his soft stools are back. When the vet examined Rowan he said that everything seemed normal with his digestion and suggested it could be allergies. He eats Martin timothy based food and timothy hay (doesn't tolerate veggies well). I started increasing his Metacam yesterday from every second day to everyday. I am at the end of my rope. I don't know what else to do with Rowan. Has anyone experienced this problem and what have you done to help it? Interestingly enough, I've been tracking Rowan's stool patterns for the past 2 weeks as I thought I was noticing a trend. Sure enough one week he's fine then the next week he isn't. I don't know if this has any significance.

Please help if you think you might have anything to offer. I'm really concerned about my little fella.

Thanks

 

[Maureen Las]

Why are you increasing the Metacam?

How much pellets do you feed daily?

Was there anything (food brand ) that you changed a year ago when this started?
Do you get farm hay or is it a brand name?

Also curious what the vet used for deworming?

Welcome to RO

 

[Robyn89]

I've increased the metacam because Rowan was initially put on it for arthritis pain. I'm thinking that perhaps he's in greater pain now because he can't reach himself...maybe this is why I'm finding soft poops around. I hate increasing his dosage though so I'm probably just going to cut back to his regular amount.

The amount of pellets I've been feeding him has varied over the years. Right now I've cut back to about 1/8 cup twice daily. He's eating more hay so I'm hoping this will help. His food brand hasn't changed in several years and he eats Timothy Oxbow hay.

I have to call the vet today and ask the name of Rowan's de-worming meds because I accidentally threw out the package. When I find out the name of it, I'll post it here.

Thanks!

 

[Robyn89]

The name of the de-wormer is Panacur. Is this a typical med for buns?