Reoccuring mucus droppings

Question
Hi Dana,
Gracie, our 8.5 year old,rabbit.  Weight is 1.82Kg. Her right rear leg was amputated over 6 years ago.  Over time she has become less mobile.  Over the last several months we have noticed that every few days her droppings have become like gelatinous tapioca pudding.  Diet consists of timothy hay, timothy pellets, salad, and we suppliment her diet by syringe feeding Oxbow Critical Care.  We have varied her diet with no effect.  She has been to our veterinarian of 15 years who has treated our rabbits successfully many times.  But this has her stumped. I was finally able to get a decent picture of her droppings and if that will be of any help I will be glad to forward it to you..

Many Thanx,  Rick.

Answer
Dear Rick,

Chronic, low-grade enteritis (inflammation of the intestinal lining) can cause the signs you describe.  There are so many possible causes that it may be hard to pinpoint one.  Pain, stress, and cryptic illness can all cause GI tract slowdown that, in turn, allows overgrowth of irritating bacteria and yeast.  

It might be possible to break the cycle of inflammation with medications that will soothe the intestinal lining.  We've had good results with sulfasalazine (old fashioned, but really works!), and even barium.  

Since Gracie is less mobile, consider that she might be having arthritis pain.  Ask the vet about pain management, and if the vet is concerned about irritating the GI tract with an NSAID, then ask about tramadol.  (Metacam and tramadol can be a good combination, and metacam is not as harsh on the GI tract as many other NSAIDs.)  Just controlling her pain might help her resolve the GI irritation on her own.  

Hope this will help.

Dana