I Don’t Know What’s Wrong…

[bunnymommy32]

Well, Benjamin’s not feeling well again. Quick backstory – he went through a month and a half long bout of intermittent soft cecotropes from January to February until vet #5 found the problem to be overgrown molars. Benjamin went home with us the next day eating hay in a quantity that we hadn’t seen in a long time. Benjamin’s showed a slight inner ear inflammation so the vet choose to pre-emptively strike with Trimethoprim Sulfa and Benjamin finished that February 25.

Fast forward to March 1, Thursday night. I came home for the first time in about a week and gave him three huge handfuls of orchard grass hay. I thought my mother had been giving it to him in addition to his timothy hay while I was away, but she hadn’t so the next morning when we found some cecals we attributted them to the new orchard grass. He got nothing but timothy hay and veggies on Friday. There was a huge storm that lasted pretty much all night so Saturday afternoon when he pooped a cecal cluster we attributted it to the heavy lightning stress. This morning there were no cecals in sight so we figured no storm, no orchard grass means that all is well. Unfortunately, Benjamin was sleepier than usual today starting around noon. He was still eating, but a little below normal amounts. Around 2 PM he produced the mucus covered poops in the picture as well as the dry ones next to them http://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii603/ohithaslosers/?action=view&current=MARCH32A.jpg. These scare the bejeezus out of me. I’ve read that these are the result of stasis. I don’t really know what to do from here. My mom accidentally stepped on the paper towel they were in  so I can’t take them in for testing, but  if he does any tomorrow then I’ll take them in for testing tomorrow. Right after he pooped the mucosal poops he started pooping his normal giant, dry poops and has been doing that since. I’m a little worried that we’re heading back towards the ISC/poopy butt and I don’t know why. His teeth were done less than three weeks ago. Could it be dietary? He gets pellets as a treat about once a week (~1/16th cup), a papaya tablet every day, and 5-6 leaves of endive every day. Do you think he needs more diversity when it comes to his veggies?  We’ve tried red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, cilantro, parsley (italian and flat leaf), mustard greens, collard greens, watercress, wheat grass, spinach, chicory, oregano, and basil, but he’s SO sensitive. He loves Kale, but we heard bad things about it (too much calcium I think?) so we stopped giving him that and his vet said no more celery . Any suggestions? Vibes would be good too. My poor baby’s had a rough year so far.

[Sarita]

It’s very possible it is still his teeth. I would have the vet recheck them.

Also, kale is perfectly fine – the thought that it was high in calcium oxolates is not correct so it is fine to feed him that and it is good for him.

[RabbitPam]

Agreed – kale is good.
You could just call your vet to let her know about the mucus poos, and tell her that unless she thinks it’s something that he needs to come in for right away, you will let her know on your next tooth appointment (is there one scheduled? I got that impression) if it happens again. Or just ask if she needs to see him after it happens again.

As for the food, I think less variety is better when there’s a stressful change, or a health problem. I wouldn’t give him so many different things. Maybe pick the kale, the green leaf and a bit of parsley for treat or topping (or 2-3 other choices instead) and let him settle into those greens for a couple of weeks and see how he does. Steady diets tend to settle a sensitive tummy.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I can’t add anything but am sending {{Vibes}} Keep us posted!

[bunnymommy32]

Update: We took him to the vet. He checked out Benjamin’s teeth – one side is a bit longer than he expected them to be after a month, but he didn’t think it was the main source of discomfort. We got body x-rays which showed a big gas bubble, but no blockage. We’re getting the results for his blood work and the radiologist’s opinion of his x-rays tomorrow. He was eating just okay for the whole week and pooping slightly smaller, but normal poops until today when he was basically just picking at his hay. We’re giving him critical care every hour. The vet gave us Cisapride to get his gut moving, Meloxicam for pain, and Baytril in case of infection. = / Poor baby.

[emkvet]

Ugh, how frustrating, I’m so sorry that Benjamin isn’t doing well. I’m sending so many (((healing vibes))) your way!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Aww Poor Benjamin -sounds like your vet is really on top of it though!! Sending Vibes!

[BinkyBunny]

Rucy was very sensitive to tooth spurs and misalignment issues. I had taken her to the vet when she was drooling and not eating as much only to find she had just some “minor” issues that didn’t seem to look like they should cause such a big reaction, but my vet told me some rabbits are sensitive to teeth issues, so Rucy would get her spurs were ground down (and front incisors if need be) and that really made the difference. So for some rabbits it seems, that the small stuff can cause some issues. Not that that is happening with your bunny, but just something to consider.

[Sarita]

I totally agree with BB – what seems like a minor issue to the vet, may not be to the bunny. I would see about getting the teeth trimmed again and see if that helps.

[Ginger]

I don’t know if this helps or not but a vet I once took my bunn to told me that sometimes their poops just get irregular for whatever reason, and if the poop gets weird to give a few cc’s of concentrated pineapple or grapefruit juice with a dropper. The citric acid will eat through any slight blockage or anything slowing things down in there. The first few poops after that may not be normal but the bunn should start pooping normally again soon after or the next day. Which, I know you said he doesn’t have a blockage but he just might need and extra “umph” to sort of clean him out and get things going smoothly again. Now whether or not this is ethical, I’m not sure. I don’t know if every vet would say the same as the one that told me this. But I can say that I have did this for my rabbit a few times over the years and it has always worked for her. Sometimes right after the dropper, I can feel gas bubbles in her belly and I just put her in her litter box and she’s happy again in a couple of hours. I haven’t had to do this in a long time but I still keep some frozen concentrated juice in my freezer just incase. It’s more simple and cheaper than vet trips. If this is something you consider doing, just make sure not to give too much (just about half a small dropper) and give it at room temp.
And about the kale, my bunn gets it almost every day. She loves it so much and it’s the only thing she will eat eagerly. She just casually munches on other greens and rarely ever finishes the whole leaf. I have wondered if the kale was the problem on the times I tried the juice in the dropper, but there’s no way of really knowing b/c she does eat other things and it’s a rarity to resort to the dropper.
Anyway I hope Benjamin is all better soon!
{{{{Healing Vibes}}}}

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