Blockage, Food and Probiotics?

[AbbyGirl]

Since Abby is at the vet and the girls are with their grandma I’ve been researching to see about blockage so I can prevent this from happening as best I can.  She eats A LOT of fresh baled timothy hay.  Her favorite pieces are the corser ones.  I’m so puzzled as to how this happened……

I feed Abby ZuPreem pellets and the calcium content is not listed.  So I called and they said they could not release that information to me.  The fiber is 22%, protein is 18% and the 2nd ingredient is corn.  So I’m wondering if the extra protein and starch from this pellet is not good for her.  American Pet Diner is my other choice.  Their fiber is 30%, protien is 14%, calcium is 0.5% and there is no corn in it.  Does this sound like a better pellet for her to be eating?

I was also looking at the Critter Be Better Probiotic Feed by American Pet Diner.   I called the company and they said it would be very beneficial to her.  That I should feed her half of this and half regular pellets until 1 bag is gone and the feed it to her for a few days once a month.  What are your opinions on probiotics?  Are they beneficial to a rabbit that has had a blockage?  Does anyone else use them?

Lastly, is there anything else I should be aware of or that I should look for to prevent this from happening again? 

[Sarita]

I don’t think it can hurt but there is no proof that it is beneficial or not.

Many times vets will take rabbits off pellets totally if they continue to have blockages.

Really the best prevention is hay, plenty of exercise and drinking water.

I’ve used the Critter be Better and I think it would be beneficial but it won’t prevent blockages.

[Tate]

The thing with ZuPreem is that they provide an alternative to wheat and soy, which is corn. I’m not sure if corn is any more harmful than soy (wheat should be fine though). You can try switching her, although I haven’t had any experience with the American Pet Diner pellets. As far as calcium goes, I *thought* that excess calcium levels would just be peed out and you would see it in her urine. Unless it was an extremely high dosage of calcium, I don’t think it’s hurting her.
I use BeneBac probiotics every other day for Fievel. I think that it helps digest food, but the research on it really goes both ways. Again, not sure about American Pet Diner probiotics, but I think that pretty much all supplemented probiotics are not native to the rabbit GI tract and there is debate on whether they can live, let alone break down food, in such a acidic environment.
I’ve heard that you want to maintain a diet low in carbohydrates in order to prevent further stasis. Hay is obviously good for her because it’s insoluble, but you’d want to stay away from soluble fibers. You also want to make sure she isn’t eating anything like carpet or plastic. My two LOVE to pick out carpet strands and eat them.
Try brushing her more often to, although it looks like she’s already short haired. “Too much” grooming can cause stasis as well.

[Ashley&Bing]

Like I said in your other post about Abby, I have just been through this. Bingley has a good diet but a bad habit of chewing and swallowing anything he find interesting. For example, socks, trash bags, candles and his former stuffed pal Rosco. He is a master escape artist as well, making the areas of my home that are not bunny proof dangerous for such a curious little guy.

So I asked my vet what preventative measures to take and he gave me two things: Papaya tablets and Laxatone. The Papaya tablets are “formulated exclusively for House Rabbit Resource Network” (thats what the bottle says) but I got it through my vet office. They look like pills, but contain 20mg of papaya fruit, 10mg of bromelain and 5mg papain and nothing else. Bing loves them! The Laxatone is actually for cats, but is safe for bunnies, and the label reads “Lubricant for the elimination and prevention of hairballs”. Its an oral gel that comes in two flavors, Tuna and Malt, so naturally I chose the malt lol. Bing actually loves this too. The doctor said that I couldn’t give him too much, but to do 1cc once or twice a week during sheds, and daily is the shed is very bad or he ate something like a candle. :-/ I also added some apple juice to his water to entice him to drink more water (especially because I was about to travel with him).

When he did get his stasis last week, I was in the process of moving and packing, and taking finals, and I feel sad to say I could not devote a lot of time to playing with him. I did not notice he ate a large portion of his tunnel in the night. It was untreated willow…but he ate so much of it!! (Which is now safely in my bearded dragons cage, being enjoyed by her instead!) I also had not given him Laxatone that week like I normally do once a week. So when he got sick, the vet upped the dose to 3ccs twice a day for 3 days. So all this goes to say, even though its for cats, I swear its safe for bunnies. My vet has all kinds of awards for bunny lovers.

That is what I do for preventative measures and it still happened to me… I took a lot of measures to try and stop him from getting sick, but to no avail. Some bunnies are just stubborn when it comes to hay or water or yummy looking candles. :-/

[AbbyGirl]

Thanks for your opinions.
Abby loves her hay. She has gone through over 20 lbs in about 2 months. It’s nice coarse timothy hay too. She drinks tons of water. I fill her medium sized crock at least twice a day. She also gets papaya every night. It’s one of her only treats.
She is not the normal bunny by any means. She doesn’t chew on paper, towels & blankets, carpet, cardboard or willow! She doesn’t chew on anything unless it’s her food! She doesn’t dig at anything either.

[Tate]

I think unfortunately the best you can do is recognize the signs of stasis before it becomes a serious problem. :\ It sounds like she is perfectly well behaved and well fed!
I would highly recommend “When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care” by Lucile Moore. There is a nice section on all kinds of digestive ailments that may be useful, plus it’s just a really good first aid book. I’m glad I got it. The Laxatone could be a really good idea, especially if Abby takes to it like Bing.

[Ashley&Bing]

Hmm if she is eating tons of hay and drinking water, then maybe its the pellets? I have tried the ZuPreem pellets before, but only one bag. After that i couldn’t find it anywhere so i went back to his old Kaytee pellets.

If you do try the Laxatone, you’ll need to get it through the vet. I haven’t seen it in stores, but it might be there. My secret to getting him to eat it the first time was this: I put the 1cc in the middle of his tablespoon of pellets in his bowl and shake it around to make a pellet ball. He was not digging it at first but after a few hours of sniffing his pellets and realizing that wasn’t getting any new ones, he ate it. I have actually always done it this way until he got sick and I put it in the little syringe and he went for the syringe like his life depended on it!

She is not the normal bunny by any means. She doesn’t chew on paper, towels & blankets, carpet, cardboard or willow! She doesn’t chew on anything unless it’s her food! She doesn’t dig at anything either.

That is so crazy! Cardboard is a food group to Bingley! Lol!

[Ashley&Bing]

I think unfortunately the best you can do is recognize the signs of stasis before it becomes a serious problem.

Yes, this is very true.

[Sarita]

I would consider cutting down on pellets. Their is no proof with the papaya tablets either but people swear by them – the idea behind them is that they break up the mucous that holds the hair together but really most blockages are not just hair, it’s all organic matter including pellets.

Laxotone, it’s an old fashioned remedy and some people swear by it, but it’s pretty old school. I guess it couldn’t hurt.

I think you should increase her veggies and decrease the pellets. It’s a more natural way to prevent the blockages.

[AbbyGirl]

That’s what I’m going to do Sarita. I already cut down from the 1 cup she got at the rescue. We’re down to 3/4 cup. Maybe it’s time to go down to 1/2 cup now. I also think the APD pellets will be much better for her since they are higher in fiber.
There really were no signs that this was coming. She just stopped eating and drinking on Saturday and seemed very tired.

[Sarita]

Discuss her new diet with the vet as well and see if the vet has any insight or ideas as well – pick his/her brain :~)

Sometimes it does just come on. I remember when Pepe would have blockages and he would not act in pain at all so there is not always obvious signs other than not pooping or eating. Pepe’s appeared to be due to dental problems.

Has the vet given you an update on her?

[AbbyGirl]

Not yet but my husband is dropping off her stuffed lamb for her right now and will be asking how she’s doing. The other thing her vet said was that it is possible that she had a respiratory infection first that caused the blockage. Yesterday her runny and crusty nose started. So she said it’s really hard to know which one came first.

[Sarita]

It’s possible the URI caused her to stop eating – she may not have shown the actual signs until yesterday when her gut starting shutting down and decreased her immunity.

More vibes for Ms. Abby.

[Juli]

The Probiotics would probably be a good idea as long as you give her the right amount. The pellets that i reccomend is MannaPro. You can buy it at Tractor Supply co. And i mix that with a little bit of rolled oats. Thats what i feed Dakota and she loves it. It has everthing good and healthy for a rabbit in it.

[Tate]

I definitely would not be feeding a rabbit with stasis issues rolled oats. Rolled oats can be ok if a rabbit has diarrhea, but they really are not good for buns. They are very high in carbs and soluble fiber- NOT something you want if Abby is already having digestive issues.
The MannaPro pellets seem ok, but they also seem totally geared towards breeder rabbits… So, higher calories. You could try Oxbow, if you haven’t yet. The hunt for good pellets that rabbits tolerate seems endless, at least in my house.

[Sarita]

Rolled oats are not good for any rabbit other than as a treat. I think you are on the right track w/Abby to limit the pellets and I think the ADP in limited amounts is the way to go.

Rabbits do not get diarrhea and if they do, they are in very dire circumstances so rolled oats are not going to help at all. Carbs can cause cecal problems which most people attribute to diarrhea and it’s not diarrhea.

[KatnipCrzy]

Just because a rabbit loves something does not mean it is good for them- in fact it can mean the opposite. Look at the situations of trying to switch from cheap junk pellets to Oxbow pellets.

I have always considered Zupreem a good pellet. A pellet that is great for one rabbit may not agree with the other rabbit- so it is good that there are differences in ingredients while still addressing the house rabbit standard recommendations for pellets.

BUT one huge pet peeve of mine is customer service and reputation. If I am feeding my pet their food and they cannot release that info to me……. that might prompt me to switch as long as it did not impact my bunnies overall health. And company reputation- a company that produces one “premium” food and many lines of “junk” food (which accounts for most of their sales)- I am more likely to choose a different company.

[Author]

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