Too many cecotropes

Question
QUESTION: Hi there,
I have a nearly 2 year old lop. She weighs just under 5 lbs ( that is last time she was weighed at the vets a few months ago).
I feed her timothy hay and greens, no pellets.  However, lately she's been producing many cecotropes and leaving them behind. Also, the cecotropes are not the usual ''grape bunch'' but it's broken up. In other words I see half bunches and even some single cecotropes laying around. She also has some sticking to her bum.
She is eating and drinking as normal. She also gets plenty of exercise because she is never caged in.
She's producing fecals as usual also.

If this doesn't improve in the next days I'll bring her to her vet.


ANSWER: Dear Melissa,

Sometimes a bunny fed a diet too rich in protein or carbohydrates will start to ignore cecotropes and leave them around.  She's no doubt eating *some*, but just enough to keep her flora going.  This can be a mess!

If the cecotropes are well-formed pellets, that's good.  If they're small and kind of dried up, that's not so good because it could indicate that she's not sufficiently hydrated--unless the cecotropes you're seeing have just been lying around for a while and dried up.

In any case, if she's eating and drinking normally and her cecotropes are not mushy, this isn't a cause for major concern.  On the diet she's on, I can't imagine her getting too much protein, but her body is telling her *something*.

Since she's a lop, I'd also have her molars checked for spurs.  Weird eating habits often signal this problem, and it's not always hard food they ignore.  You just can't predict.

To find a good rabbit vet, use the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for the prompt response..
So her cecotropes are definitely not dried up.. although they are kind of mushy.. but I mean they are shaped, it's not liquid pooh or diarrhea.. in that case she would already be at the vet.  They're mushy in the sense as they have always been.. they aren't hard like the fecals. This is normal right? if they are retaining shape?

If her molars were hurting would there be a reduction in her appetite?? Because there isn't.. she always acts like she's starving and as though we never feed her ( even though she gets about 2 cups of veggies, in three sittings approx., and unlimited hay).
Is there such a thing as overproduction of cecotropes?
Can I check her molars myself? I check her front teeth all the time and look into her mouth when she yawns.. but I'm not too sure what molar spurs look like. Would you be able to direct me to an image link of bad molars?
Thank you very much
I greatly appreciate your help!
Melissa

Answer
Dear Melissa,

I would say there's not really such a thing as "overproduction" of cecotropes.  I would say, rather, that there can sometimes be "underconsumption" of the cecotropes she produces.  Why this happens is not clear.  But it does, though it usually clears up eventually.  From your description, her cecotropes sound normal, and that's the important thing.

You can't really check her molars yourself, without an otoscope, and even an otoscope won't allow you to see deep back into the mouth. But if she's eating well, this probably isn't a concern at this time.

You can see a few images of rabbit molar spurs here:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=rabbit+molar+spurs&btnG=Search+Images&gb

Hope that helps.

Dana