Does my bunny have megacolon? Please help!!!!

[Bunbun]

I think my bunny has megacolon – his poops are egg-shaped, sometimes they are huge, and sometimes they are really tiny. What are the symptoms of megacolon? I searched it up and I couldn’t find it. Does the bunny still act normal? How else does one know that a bunny has megacolon other than poops? Is it deadly? Please help, I’m really worried!

(He also pooped more than 2 doubles a few days ago. He probably pooped 3 or 4 doubles that day!)

[Q8bunny]

I don’t know much about megacolon symptoms, but I do know that multiple poops and small poops are signs of a bunny gut that’s slowing down for whatever reason. And that big poops can also be a sign that the bun’s diet is too rich (too much sugar or carbs, for instance).

If you can’t talk to a vet on the phone or take your bun in, I would try this at home first: baby gas drops (I usually give 3ml every hour for at least a few hours) coupled with gentle tummy massage (you can Google videos demonstrating techniques) and a diet of hay and water only until poops normalize. If you have it, a probiotic like Benebac is also good at this point.

If the problems persist, the bun may require a motility drug to get the gut going again. In emergencies where a bun can’t make it to a vet, I know that buns can be given a bit of Zantac (the human antacid and ulcer medicine ranitidine) since it acts like a mild motility drug, but I don’t know the correct dosage.

(((healing vibes, bunny)))

[Azerane]

I know a little about megacolon from reading I’ve done in the past. It’s most common in white rabbits with black spots, such as your rabbit. That doesn’t mean that every white rabbit with black spots will have megacolon, but it’s an issue that’s typical of that colouring when the rabbits have certain colour genetics behind them. Namely the EnEn dominant “charlie” gene. Which usually refers to black ears, eye marks, butterfly nose, a broken line along the spine, a lack of a chain of spots down the side (may be a spot or two) and pretty much white coat all other places.

As for diagnosis, egg-shaped poops and poops that frequently change in size are certainly indicators, as meagcolon is often a result of the nerves that contract and shape and move the poop, either being damaged or not formed properly from birth. Another indicator can be mucous in the poop, however mucous is also present with other conditions too. As are double-poops, and poops that change size as a bunny goes into stasis.

Rabbits with megacolon often have difficulty maintaining weight and condition as they can’t always absorb all the nutrients neccesarry from their food, for this reason if not managed it can be fatal. In addition to this, I have read that megacolon rabbits tend to have a shorter life expectancy than rabbits without (about 6 years from memory). Certain foods can also make the condition worse. Megacolon has no cure, if your rabbit has it, they have it for the rest of their life, so caring for an MC bunny is largely about managing diet, often a more basic diet, limiting certain foods, adding others, removing some foods completely and adjusting the amounts so that it affects your bunny in the least way possible. What works for one rabbit, may not work for another as every rabbit is different when it comes to managing megacolon. It’s important to keep very close track and what you’re feeding, how much of it, and how it affects your rabbit.

Having said all that, coccidia and other dietary issues are still possibilities that should be ruled out by a vet before diagnosing megacolon. I would 100% recommend a vet visit to discuss your concerns and possible causes. Take some samples of the poops that are different sizes and shapes so that they can see).

[Bam]

I too would recommend a vet-visit. As Azerane says, many things can cause bunny poop to be abnormally shaped, from parasites to a diet lacking in fiber to an allergy to certain foods and several other things.

Megacolon is sometimes called “cow-pile-syndrome”. We have a member here who has a megacolon bunny, Sukka, and she (Redbunbun) has written extensively about her bun’s condition and what she’s done about it: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/140315/Default.aspx

[redbunbun]

Hello! I’m the owner of Sukka, the megacolon bunny in the thread bam just linked. I’m sorry to hear about your darling bunny’s tummy troubles.

Well, the coloration of your rabbit and the symptoms you’re describing unfortunately fit the bill for megacolon. HOWEVER – megacolon is rare. Even among rabbits displaying the coloration that megacolon presents with. Don’t despair yet, and definitely don’t chalk these symptoms up to megacolon before your bunny has been diagnosed by a savvy vet. Especially with a potential case of megacolon, it is extremely important that you go to a vet that really knows what they’re doing with rabbits, and believes that rabbits can suffer megacolon. There are still plenty of vets worldwide that deny the entire thing even exists. Be prepared that, even with a savvy vet ready to believe you, they won’t really know what to look for and won’t have seen a megacolon bunny before. As rare as it is, and as often misdiagnosed and unnoticed as it is, most vets won’t have encountered megacolon patients before. Don’t despair at this if it’s the case – a vet willing to learn and look stuff up for you and discuss megacolon treatment can be found even in a vet with no prior megacolon experience.

For a case of megacolon, other possible contributing factors must be ruled out until a definitive diagnosis can be made based on the remaining symptoms. For us, that meant blood tests, fecal samples and x-rays to rule out kidney problems, systemic infections, other structural anomalies and parasites. The diary bam linked to has a further explanation of our diagnosis process, if you’re interested.

Slight correction to what Azerance wrote, even though most of it was spot on: megacolon can appear with all colors of spotted rabbits, not just black and white. It’s more linked to the pattern in the coat than the color paired with white in that pattern. The heredity of megacolon is also not entirely certain yet – there is a definite link between spotted coat patterns and megacolon, but the scientific studies to back it up are, unfortunately, few and far between.

That being said…

If your bunny does indeed prove to have megacolon, try not to panic, as hard as that may be. Take it one day, one symptom, one dietary change at a time. The good thing about megacolon is that it can be managed well with careful dietary planning, possible motility medication and a crisis kit (and the knowledge of how to use it!) for any megacolon “flare-ups”. The bad thing is that it will rule your bunny’s life for its entire life. I won’t lie, it’s definitely not an easy disease to live with and manage – the times I’ve despaired with Sukka’s condition are beyond count. But it can be lived with. It can be managed. Our little Sukka is a good example of that, and through her illness I’ve come to understand much more about rabbits and their digestive systems than I ever thought I would. She has taught me a lot, and I know many other megacolon rabbit owners feel the same. It’s a tough battle, but it’s so worth it to see that sweet bunny in your care happy and thriving.

I have contact information for an excellent knowledge and support group for megacolon rabbits and their owners on Facebook, which has really saved my sanity and Sukka’s life. If you’d like, once you have a diagnosis (or before!) you can send me a PM here on BB with your Facebook information, and I can ask the owner of the group to add you to it.

[Azerane]

Thanks for the additional infomation and corrections redbunbun. You can learn about something from reading about it, but it’s nothing compared to the knowledge of someone with experience Can I ask, how old is Sukka?

[Bunbun]

Thanks so much for the help everybunny! Haha…anyways… I think I might experiment with the food for a while before I take him to a vet. I don’t even know where to find a vet!

Should I cut off his pellets, then, and see if his poops change? And if they do change, does it mean he doesn’t have megacolon? I think I might post a picture of his poops so that it might be more clear what they look like. I am REALLY scared because even if he doesn’t have megacolon, he probably has some other sickness! 

[kmurphy]

Here are a list of rabbit savvy vets in Ontario as it looks like that is where you are from. I would urge you to find a good vet that you trust before something major comes up. You might also want to just take BunBun in for an overall health evaluation and ask about his oddly shaped poops. 

http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/Can…tm#Ontario

[redbunbun]

Azerane, Sukka is about ten months old now. She’s got quite a bad case of megacolon, so her symptoms have come on very early and very strong. She’s more prone to wet-gut episodes and gas, as opposed to the giant, dry, oval fecals people tend to associate with “classic” megacolon. MC symptoms can vary wildly even in the same rabbit during the course of the same day, but bunnies tend to either tend towards dry-gut (“classic”) megacolon or wet-gut megacolon. Both come with their own set of issues.

BunBun, absolutely under no circumstances should you cut the pellets of a suspected megacolon rabbit before you’ve cleared the rabbit as a non-mc bunny. Megacolon bunnies have issues with maintaining and putting on weight, so they do very poorly on a diet of just hay and water. However, lots of megacolon bunnies don’t handle fresh food very well – that’s somewhere where you could start, if you’re interested in doing some dietary switch-ups.

A fecal sample testing for coccidia is the first thing on the list for any suspected case of megacolon, which requires a vet visit. If your rabbit is getting a good diet, it’s unlikely that the cause of the misshapen poops is dietary. What pellets are you feeding? How much of them? As long as they’re high in fiber and good-quality all around, and you’re feeding an appropriate amount for your rabbit’s size, that’s also not a likely culprit. Does your bunny eat lots of good-quality hay? Drink enough water?

If all these things are okay, a vet visit is in order. If not, fixing some things in the diet may correct the problem.

[Bunbun]

Alright! thanks for saving my bunny… I’ll take out the vegetables and put the pellets back in. 

He likes to eat pellets. He is always acting as if he’s starving when he runs out of pellets and wants more. However, I try to just give him about three or four small handfuls a day. I think he takes a drink from his water bowl one or two times a day, which seems to me like he’s not drinking enough, but I can’t be sure. He does eat hay, he has a favourite box filled with hay in which he loves to hide and dig. But I don’t know if he eats ENOUGH!

I just have two more questions: if the poops go back to normal, does it mean he doesn’t have megacolon? And does megacolon worsen with time?

Thank you all so much, you have no idea what this means to me! 

Oh, I just realized something! My bunny eats a lot, but he never gets fat! (Is it normal to be able to feel a bunny’s spine?) He’s always skinny! Is that a sign of sickness?? Redbunbun mentioned something about megacolon bunnies having a hard time putting on weight.

[kmurphy]

I don’t think that if his poops go back to normal you can say that he doesn’t have Megacolon as it is an ongoing condition. The diagnosis obviously needs to be confirmed by a vet.
From what I have read you should be able to feel a bunny’s spine but it shouldn’t feel super sharp if that makes sense.

[Azerane]

No matter if they’re fat or thin, rabbits always act starving for pellets, at least Bandit always did

In regards to him being thin, that could definitely be a sign of illness, whether it’s megacolon (because they have trouble absorbing nutrients from their food), or intestinal parasites (which are taking all the nutrients instead). Your rabbit’s spine should not feel sharp and well define, when you pet him you should only just be able to feel slight bumps, but it shouldn’t be well defined or pokey. If he’s underweight and having trouble with his poops, I’d think you’d definitely need to visit the vet, he’s eating well so that’s not a problem which means that there’s something underlying going on that’s preventing him from putting on weight.

If the poops go back to normal it doesn’t rule out megacolon, as the poops from that can change, and change again as time goes on.

[redbunbun]

Megacolon does usually get worse over time. In a dry gut dominant megacolon bunny, the dry, giant pellets scar the intestines, which makes them smaller, which leads to more and more frequent stasis/blockage episodes and poorer and poorer gut motility. In a wet gut dominant megacolon bunny, the scarring is usually not as severe, but with the normal effects of aging wearing out the already weak intestinal muscles their symptoms tend to worsen as well.

A megacolon bunny can never be cured, but with the right diet and medication combo you can minimize the symptoms and thus prolong the rabbit’s life and ease the discomfort the condition causes them. So, unfortunately, a change for the better in his poops doesn’t rule out megacolon. However, it is extremely unlikely that, even with the best possible diet for your bunny specifically, you’d see a large amount of completely normal poops out of a megacolon bunny. The vast majority of mc-bunnies will always have iffy poops, even on their very best days. So if you see that, then there’s a case for your bunny not being megacolon. And, seeing as megacolon is as rare as it is, there’s still plenty of other possible causes for these poops that need to be ruled out before turning to megacolon as a diagnosis.

That being said, I would still strongly urge you to go visit a rabbit-savvy vet with your bunny. Our Sukka wouldn’t be alive today if I hadn’t taken her in when her only symptoms were strangely-shaped poops and trouble putting on weight. With a megacolon rabbit, you never know when that first serious gut slow-down or stasis episode is coming, since they are far more prone to these issues than normal rabbits. The occurrence of stasis and related hypomotility issues (gas, blockages, even bloat) are more of a rule than an exception for any megacolon rabbit, and if you have one, you need to be prepared to nurse your bunny through these episodes when they occur. This means metacam, motility meds, ampule enemas, fluids, anything your vet thinks you should have in your home arsenal, and (as always) instructions for their use.

Megacolon or not, digestive troubles are always dangerous for rabbits, so it’s still important to get it sorted. Even coccidia can be dangerous if left untreated, and it makes your bunny more susceptible to further illnesses and dangerous complications.

As for thinness: our Sukka is very thin (4kg weight, vet estimates she should weigh about 6,5kg with her skeletal structure) and our Tossu is a very healthy, well-muscled sportsbunny (4,5kg of muscle!). The biggest difference is the spine. With Sukka, you can feel every individual vertebrae as kind of “boxlike”, and you can basically wrap your fingers around her individual vertebrae. In addition, the drop-off behind her rib cage under her spine towards her stomach is very steep. When you run a hand along the top of her back, you can feel very sharply where the rib cage ends – there’s almost like a “cliff” there. Her hip bones and shoulder blades protrude from the line of her back so that they poke into your hand. When you pet her, she feels very bony, sharp and hard.

In comparison, when you run a hand along the top of Tossu’s back, you can feel his vertebrae, but more as small bumps one after another. They’re not boxy and you can’t wrap your fingers around them, there’s definite padding there, but they are easily feelable without exerting any pressure on him. In addition, the place where his rib cage ends flows much more smoothly in to the rest of his body, there’s no jarring “cliff”. In general, he is round, soft and pleasing to pet, though essentially all the same bones that you can feel on Sukka you can feel on Tossu as well. However, the bones aren’t sharp or hard, they feel more like they’re covered in a layer of fleece. You don’t need to push down to feel them (if you did, he would be too fat), but they don’t poke up into your hand, either.

So, depending on which way your rabbit leans, he could either just be in good condition or be too skinny. You’re definitely supposed to be able to feel their spine, hips, shoulder blades, etc, but not quite as sharply as with Sukka – and, with Sukka, you can actually SEE them. That’s definitely not supposed to be the case.

[Bunbun]

Oh, then I don’t think Bunbun is too skinny. When I pet him, I feel little bumps but not big ones. 

I will try to take my little bun to the vet as soon as I can… though I don’t know when that can be! 

And again, thanks so much. I know I’ve said that so many times, but seriously. This has helped me so much!

[Author]

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