Bad Bunny Belly

Question
I have a 10 year old Netherland Dwarf who resides in the house with me.  He has been quite healthy throughout his life with the exception of his belly slowing down and him not pooping a few times and needing cisapride to get things right again.  This seems to be happening every few months now but the vet tells me he is just getting older and his body is slowing down.  When it happens, we do cisipride for a few days and everything is back to normal.

I went away for a week 2 weeks ago. When I came back I noticed a lot of soft poops. (The kind he is supposed to have, but many more...sticking to the floor and him.) My boyfriend had just left a few hours before adn they weren't there. I cleaned the pen and a few hours later, they were there again. He was also sneezing and his nose wet. (This has never happened before.)

I took him to the vet who said he had a sinus infection (gave antibiotics) and cisipride as he said he felt an obstruction (again) and some pain killer so he wasn't straining.  The runny nose has stopped. There isn't any discharge from his eyes but he is still sneezing a little but not nearly as much as he was.

Its been a week and when we wake up there are lot of poops (good poops) in his pen. He is eating, he is alert. But by noon there are a lot of soft poops in his cage and around again. Tonight I am taking him to the vet, but when cleaning his pen to get him ready, I just noticed a little spot of blood. I picked up a poop and there was blood on it. I picked him up and there is blood on his bum.

Now I am scared to death.  We are on our way to the vet but I want to make sure I am taking every precaution I can to get Thumper better and make him comfortable. Do you have any suggestions?

Answer
Dear Kara,

The blood on the poop might be just from a polyp in his rectum, so unless the vet finds something more serious, don't panic.  

A ten year old dwarf bunny may have molar spurs, and this could be causing the chronic GI tract slowdown.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

and ask the vet about doing a dental exam to be sure that dental pain isn't at the root of this.  Filing a painful spur off can make all the difference in the world.

The cecotropes he's leaving around are not a major problem.  He may just be a bit arthritic, and can't bend around well enough to eat them as they come out.  He leaves them on the floor, and then eats them from there.  We have a couple of elder buns who do this, and it's just from a lack of flexibility.  But it can result in cecotropes being squashed onto the bum, so keep an eye on his rear end to be sure he stays clean.

If the vet feels hard masses in the abdomen, and thinks these are in the intestine, then a few days' dosing with lactulose can really help soften things and make them easier to pass.  If he has hard, desiccated poops coming down the chute, those could cause irritation, and possibly the bit of blood you saw.

I hope the blood is not from anything more serious, such as a tumor.  But the vet will be best able to judge that.  If you're not satisfied that the vet you're seeing is doing all he can, then you might wish to find another vet for a second opinion here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana