Bunnies Tummy not right!!

[Rudy]

Hi People

I was wondering if someone can put their finger on how I can help my little bunny with her health.

She is a 5 year old dwarf lop and lived inside for the first 2 years and her health was fine, feeding her greens and pellets. Then owing to living problems I put her outside and she seemed to go into a depression. She got soft faeces and fly blown a few times. I had to clean her often. I bought her back inside three months ago and she still had soft morning faeces and a very smelly bottom, I almost wondered if it was a bacterial problem in her tummy. I had and still have to was her bottom every day.

I put her on bran - off the pellets. I realised the oat bran was also causing a problem (maybe too high in Carbohydrates) as when she didnt eat for 3 days this smell and wet bottom cleared up.

I took her to the vet and used a probiotic paste for 5 days (Promax) but this made her very lethargic and sore.

I do not know where to go now with her tummy. At the moment she has lots of hay, dandelion leaves, broccoli leaves and a small carrot every few days. I have taken her off all pellets. her night pooh os big and solid and her morning still sticks together.

Thanks to anyone who has the time or knowledge to offer help to my beautiful bunny.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

First of all welcome to the forum!!!

Secondly...I'd cut out veggies and greens altogether. COMPLETELY. I had similar issues and when I stopped all the veggies and greens it began to resolve. I have since begun feeding some "kitchen waste" (broccoli stems, the bases of Romaine hearts, carrot tops) but I don't feed enough to be a staple in their diet...more like a little snack sometimes. For now, I'd stop or reduce pellets, and offer some oats and a LOT of hay. The more hay the better for tummy problems.

The pro-biotic paste is a good idea, btw!!! I would also consider offering a bit of plain yogurt, too...if she will eat it that is. Some probably won't. Just make sure it is "live culture" and not full of sugar.

I'm worried about the washing part...unless she has liquid feces on her I wouldn't be washing her that often.

Either way I really hope you can resolve her tummy troubles, she sounds like she's in good hands though!!! Do keep us posted on how she does...and btw, I'm still reasonably new to rabbits so I expect that some folk here with LOTS more experience than I do will give you advice, too.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Welcome to RT! I agree with what Kyle said and would like to add you might want to try old fashion oatmeal in her bowl. The long cooking kind not the instant. Its easy to digest and they seem to like it.

 

[Rudy]

Thanks Kyle and AmysMacdog. I was steering away from Oat meal because she was still reacting with the smelly bum and I had read that it was high in Carbohydrates and it may not be good for bowel problems.

Maybe I should offer her some sprouted wheat seed for the pro biotic properties?

I had an animal communicator work with her a few times and that is why I took her off the pellets because she was sayign the nuts hurt her guts and hence she asked for bran.

I am washing her because the watery fluid (which seems like a thrush discharge) is making her skin red and raw. She has no fur around her bum now. She also has quite a bit of soft faeces that gets stuck on there. The vet gave me a pink cleaner that they use to steralise before operations which is watered down.

She loves sprouted chick peas and lentils etc but hasn't had them for a long time now.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I personally wouldn't do sprouts until she's not having symptoms...I'd cut her back to oats and hay only. If she's having issues, introducing new foods might exacerbate the problem. Better to go back to basics then add in more rich foods later when she's feeling better.

I had an animal communicator work with her a few times and that is why I took her off the pellets because she was sayign the nuts hurt her guts and hence she asked for bran.

...nuts? :shock: Wait, you mean like nuts ground into the pellets or are there actual nut chunks in her pellets??? If she's on a pet-store brand of pellets with all that seed mix stuff in it then yes, the pellets may be a big part of the problem. Those shiny rainbow-looking foods may look good to our human eyes but I've found they aren't very healthy or nutritious. It'd be like eating snickers bars and McDonald's french fries at every meal. A good solid pellet brand that has the percentages of protein and stuff right on it is best, plus in addition to being more nutritious it is often less expensive than the pet-store brands. They vastly overcharge...and trust a former PetSmart employee, most pet store folk will not give you good info on rabbit nutrition.

I like the Mana Pro brand of rabbit pellets, personally.

But anyways, yeah I'd cut out everything but hay and oats...the kind AmysMacdog suggested. Remember that rabbits are herbivores, not vegetarians, their gut is designed to process grass and hay is just dried grass. Ergo if there's a digestive problem...hay, hay and more hay. Due to space and storage issues I buy giant bags of compressed alfalfa cubes, they seem to work well, too.

 

[Rudy]

Yes, I shy away from the colourful Pellets as well, here in New Zealand we have a Farming store called "Farmlands" and they make the more natural pellets but they do vary in different types of grasses etc that they put in every season. I can only source hay here that is the longer grass dried with some clover in it - we are not as specialized here to sell alfalfa hays unfortunately.

Thanks Kyle

 

[Flemishstar]

AWWW hope she feels better.....

Also what do you mean by um... animal communicator...you mean she talks to animals?

....if someone could read my bunnies thoughts it would be alot easier to know when these New Zealand whites are gonna kindle lol!!!

 

[Rudy]

Hi Flemishstar, Yes, she works on a spiritual level with animals. It was fascinating the things my bunny said true to our history together. I have also used her to speak to my goat as well - helps me to understand how I can make their lives with me better . Awesome to hear from another kiwi Bunny lover!

 

[MaggieJ]

Rudy, are you familiar with the rabbit practice of cecotrophy? Sometimes people mistake uneaten cecal droppings for a digestive upset.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

In any case, I would put your rabbit on a temporary diet of grass hay and kitchen oatmeal... Not too much of the oatmeal.

I am not familiar with New Zealand plants, but the lawn weeds plantain and shepherd's purse and the leaves of raspberries, blackberries and strawberries will help firm up her poops. I would avoid other greens and vegetables for the meantime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/weedguid/shepherd.htm

 

[Rudy]

Thanks so much MaggieJ. Yes, I am aware of them and I think she went through a period of not re-ingesting them but I see she is now and feeling better.

I will try the oatmeal in small quantities again and see how she reacts

Thanks

 

[Marinea]

I don't have much more to offer besides repeating what Maggie said, but I wanted to say:

Welcome to RT, Rudy!

Sorry it's under these circumstances, but I hope you stick around, and I hope your bun gets better soon!

 

[Rudy]

Thanks Marinea, I should have joined earlier! is great to have the support from others who have been through this and I can continue to offer my little Bunny what she needs!

I gave her a little clean off this morning and she is looking a lot better and not the yeasty smell I was having problems with. Is a little easier at the moment because the weather its terrible outside so she is not wanting to head out onto the lawn to fill up with greens!

Many thanks

 

[Marinea]

Is a little easier at the moment because the weather its terrible outside so she is not wanting to head out onto the lawn to fill up with greens!

I'm sure you know this, but there are lots of weeds that can problems for your bunny. I hand pick the greens my rabbits get just to avoid any bad ones.