Cecal Question??? HELP

[Flemish Mommy]

My 16 week old Flemish Giant is having once in a while loose cecal pellets, they are very mushy and sometime not in a cluster. I took her to the vet a week ago had her poop tested (negative), He told me she was perfectly healthy. (He is very rabbit savvy and owns three of his own). Now I just switched her litter, food, and hay could she just be reacting to this? She is normal otherwise, she plays and goes crazy and eats Parsley and a little carrot as her veggies. Please help?!?!

Food: Purina Rabbit Chow 

Hay: Oxbow Timothy

Bedding: Horse Stall Pinewood Pellets   

[Sarita]

Possibly. You might try a timothy based pellet instead of the Purina Rabbit Chow which is alfalfa based.

I don’t think the bedding is a factor at all.

Parsley and carrot should be fine – I would limit the carrot though – it’s perfectly healthy but it’s a root vegetable which should be limited. It should be more greens like parsley, romaine, cilantro, etc…

I would try to encourage her to increase her hay intake as well. How much pellets are you giving her?

[Flemish Mommy]

Well the vet told me to just get food from my local feed store (he didn’t tell me what kind). She eats like a pig, I give her two 1/4 scoops a day. She eats a lot of hay and drinks a TON of water (but I have read giants tend to drink more water then normal). She didn’t like romaine so next time I go to the store I’ll be bringing the list of approved veggies with me. She was on Kaytee Timothy Hay and Kaytee Forti-Diet this is why I was told to switch.

[Sarita]

Can you get the Oxbow Basics T? She is a large bunny and she is still growing so I don’t think those are too much pellets for her.

I don’t know why he would advise you to get pellets from the feed store…that’s odd. The alfalfa pellets are higher in protein which is why she may be getting mushy cecals.

[Flemish Mommy]

My mom likes to be cheap so she asked where to get big bags of rabbit food cheaper. Anyway, I’ll have to see what store sells oxbow food in my area, the feed store only sells the hay and other oxbow products but no food. 

[Sarita]

I can totally understand being thrifty and trying to save money.

Normally a smaller rabbit may not eat so much pellets but larger ones and growing ones are going to eat more…as she ages though you can reduce the pellets, but it will still be more than the average rabbit.

[Flemish Mommy]

Yeah. Im just freaking out a little its not good being a new bunny mommy and having high anxiety plus I think I need to stop reading to much into things thats why I was so worried. Im like a mom that checks on her kid every 5 minutes when all they are doing is playing or sleeping. lol 

[CinnabunMom]

Lol, I get that “worried mom” thing. Cinnabun and I have been together for a year and I still freak out anytime she does anything odd and my whole family makes fun of me because I check her litter box 3x time a day looking at her poops for any signs of trouble *paranoid momma*. But, right around 16 weeks (same age as your adorable Flemmie) she also got loose cecals that she just didn’t want to eat. I was introducing veggies, which she loved, giving her unlimited pellets and hay and water but she still had them on occasion. In my experience it was just a matter of finding the right balance of food and she very never leaves them now. Maybe it has something to do with how young they are?

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