tiny fecal

[Tatum]

Ok, my Netherland Dwarf has gained over 1/2 theweight she lost since I have been feeding Benebac, Nutrical, pumpkin,and fresh pineapple juice. She also had her teeth filedalthough they weren't that bad, as her eating slowed down and then shewould no longer eat the hard pellets. She has gained backmost of the weight she lost, BUT she will no longer eat herpellets unless they are soaked in warm water mixed withoatmeal. She also gets all the grass hay she wants and lotsof greens. her fecal is still very tiny, why isn't it back tonormal size? Do you think I will have to feed her like thisthe rest of her life? She is 5 1/2 and lost her companionlast October due to a hairball. (since then I have learnedthe hard way about GI stasis)

Thanks! Tatum

 

[Spring]

Hi. Sorry to hear about her mate . Mayeb justtest around with things? I know my rabbit soemtimes gets smalldroppings when she's been off her pellets or getting through astatis-like situation, but they always go back to normal eventually.Try adding less and less water to it sort of hardens the pellets. I'mnot sure if this'll work, but it's worth a try. She's probablly used toand likes the soft pellets so doesn't want to eat the hard ones. Hopeeverything goes back to normal soon!

 

[Tatum]

Thank you Spring...I did not moisten them onenight, and she did not eat the hard pellets.(In a separatebowl).I didn't think of adding less and less water, I'll trythat tonight. I just didn't want her not to eat at all;henceher not eating at all, I'd just feel too bad for her. Thanksagain...Tatum I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Pipp]

I posted this elsewhere awhile ago, and it may not fit the profile, but...

It took Pipp weeks (maybe a month) to get back to normal after hermolar spurs. She was in pain and only came close to normalwhen she was fresh from a dose of Metacam.

I was so worried, I took her back to the vet after a couple of weeks,afraid that maybe the spurs weren't the problem afterall. She still wasn't eating anything but somepellets, pumpkin and grated carrot. (She never stopped eatingpellets, just everything else, and she never would eat hay).

The diagnosis was SBS.... spoiled bunny syndrome! She hadgotten quite used to being fed fun stuff, so why go back to plain oldfood? So I went back to only feeding herthe plainold food, and sure enough, she started eating it on her own.Now she's eveneating hayand those Oxbow pellets sheused to hate.

Also with Pipp, for the longest time, before we figured out it wasspurs, her poops were small,but plumped up when she got thepumpkin. In this case, though, beatsme.She's getting allthenutrition. Maybe try Critical Care for awhile?It''s a slurry withall the nutrients. You'll atleast know if its the oats and ifeating pelletsagainmakes a difference.

Good luck with her.

sas and pipp :bunnydance:

 

[Spring]

It could also be a lack of fiber. Is she eatinghay? My lionhead since I've been feeding her more hay (She goes througha couple of handfull of timothy/alfalfa daily and likes her hay morethen her pellets!) her droppings have almost doubled in size. If she'snot eating timtohy, try mixing some alfalfa with it as it's very sweet.

I had this too with Pepsi on her first case of a sevre case of statisit took her a long time before she ate something without me handfeeding her (shesh.. what a diva eh?).

How small are they to her normal size? like 1/4 or 1/2 ..?

 

[Tatum]

I must say how impressed I am with all your advice...all of you!

I had to lol when I readabout SBS. Iwas thinking; what is that. You know itmakes sense if it is SBS. You know I don't really know howmuch hay she eats, it is given freely and she never goes without it,plus her shoebox where she sleeps is filled with hay. She wason grass/alfalfa but since I heard how bad the alfalfa is I finallyfound some grass hay with Timothy, Brome and a little bit of Orchardgrass. All 7 of my rabbits seem to likeit.

She does get Nutrical twice aday. Would that be the same as the CriticalCare?

Her poops vary, they weresmall anyways being ND, but they vary from about 1/8 orsmaller, some not much bigger than spec's. They also vary inamount too. Also none of my rabbits like the Timothypellets. Most of my rabbits are young and need the regularpellets (I think), but I bought them for this little girl I am talkingabout. All the rabbits leave them in thedish.

So tonight it is veges,maybe i will cut out the oats and just give pellets with less waterthan she has been used to.

I love this site, thanksto all of you whom responded and sorry this is so long, but I do wantyou to know how much I appreciate the time you all took to helpme. Tatum

 

[Tatum]

I forgot to add that when I too herto the vet, he could feel a hairball, he didnt say how big, but I gotthe impression it wasn't huge or terribly big.

 

[Pipp]

Just read this thread more closely...

If there still is a partial blockage, and it's not just the leftoverdiscomfort from molar spurs, definitely keep up with the things thatwill hydrate it.

Anything that's going to give her extra hydration(like thewet slurry, pumpkin, veggies soaked in water, etc), and anything withfiber (hay, grass, pumpkin,veggies) is good, so don't limitthe water with the pellets until the poops are bigger.(They're probably small becausethe passage is small with thepartial blockage).

Critical Care isn't the same as Nutrical. Nutrical is ahigh-calorie supplement, no fiber or water, just vitamins, fats,sugars, etc. It's probably what has helped with her weightgain, but itdoesn't really help with a GI tract slowdown (akahairball) beyond the weight and appetite issues.Whenher weight and her appetite (aside from the hard pellets)areback to normal, you may want to cut it back.

Critical Care is ground pellets with different types of grasses andnutrients. It's the best bunny medicine out there for justabout everything. High fiber, calories, and I thinkprobiotics (which is what Benebac is), and other goodstuff.It's the same idea as thepellet/oatmixture,but better.

Another suggestion is to make sure shegetsexercise. Get her movingaround. Long tummy massages can do wonders,too.

It can take a while to come out of a stasis problem, and you don't want to backslide.

Spoil her until those poops are big!

sas and pipp:bunnydance:

 

[Spring]

My vet palpated something hard in my rabbitsintestines too and said it might be a blockage. He told me to give aknuckles worth of mineral based laxotive (although I've heard if theintestines are dehydrated it just coats them and doesn't help move theblockage, and sometimes when used for a long period of time theintestines grow to depend on it.. that's what thevetassistant told me).three times adayalong with this enzyime supplement mixture with freshpineapple, these enzyime hairball tablets for cats and a bit ofpellets.

Try going to a health food or vitamin store and see about papayaenzyime tablets. My rabbit to this day still eats them as a pill, as aweekly treat and this is the thing I think really helped a lot. A fewdays after I gave her two tablets a day she was improving greatly.

Also, try putting a towel in the dryer (or some people put it in themicrowave) and putting it down for her as the warmth might help tostimulate the gut movements along with like stee said, abdominmassages. I remember when I had Pepsi wrapped in a towel I would hereher tummy gurgling and then smell this skunky smell.. too bad I didn'tknow about simthecone back then! I think gas was a big part of herproblem and the reason why it took her so long to come back to halfnormal.

How long ago did you take her to the vet who felt something like a hairball?

 

[Maureen Las]

I also read that the petroleum based hairballgel can sometimes just get caught up in the blockage,however , I haveused it at times in addition to fluid, Critical Care and the entire GIstasis regime. I don't think that one thing gets a rabbit over stasisbut all the multiple things that most of us are doing.

 

[Maureen Las]

I forgot to ask you..do you think the problemsstarted after he had his teeth filed? I am going to have to have one ofmy rabbits teeth either clipped or filed and now I'm sort of concernedabout whether it will affect his eating..in my case its the incisors

 

[Tatum]

I'm sorry I didn't get back about yourquestion. No, the problems did not start after her teeth werefiled. I heard she had SBS (spoiled bunny syndrome ) from memoistening her pellets and oatmeal together. She is eatingfine now. I know it's been over a month and I am sorry, Iforgot I had this out here. If you read this angielet me know if you got them filed an how she is doing. tatum