Diet for rabbits with cecal impaction history

A seven-year-old Silver Marten with a history of cecal impaction — that's a situation where diet really matters, and getting it wrong has real consequences. Hay should be making up around 80% of what your rabbit eats every single day: it's not filler, it's the mechanism that keeps the gut moving, prevents cecal buildup, and keeps teeth worn down properly. Pellets should be a small top-up, not the main event. Before I suggest anything specific, can you tell me what you're currently feeding, how much pellet or fresh food they're getting daily, and whether the impaction episodes have been recent or something managed in the past?

You're doing a lot right — low pellets, unlimited hay, leafy greens. But the uneaten soft cecotropes are a signal worth paying attention to. In older rabbits, especially those with a history of cecal impaction, the issue is often that the cecal contents are too rich. Even 20g of pellets can be slightly too much for a seven-year-old with a sensitive gut, and some leafy greens — particularly anything high in sugars or starch — can tip the balance. What pellets are you currently using, and what greens does she typically get in the evenings?

Kale and parsley are both quite rich — parsley in particular is high in calcium and can contribute to cecal overload in a rabbit already prone to impaction. I'd scale those back significantly and stick mostly to romaine and lower-calcium greens like plain green lettuce or a little fresh herb like basil occasionally. On the pellets — Excel is a reasonable brand, but for a senior rabbit with this history, I'd switch her to Burgess Excel Herbage with Dandelion. It's a high-fibre, very low-starch pellet that's genuinely closer to a hay product than a traditional pellet, which makes it much safer for rabbits who can't process rich food without backing up. Keep the portion at around 15g rather than 20g given her age and history. The goal is to give her gut as little concentrated fermentable material as possible while still meeting her nutritional needs.

Timothy is genuinely one of the best choices for an adult and senior rabbit — it's lower in calcium and protein than meadow hay and its coarser texture does a good job of keeping gut motility going. A mix isn't necessary, but adding in some oat hay or feeding a product like Oxbow Western Timothy Hay alongside occasional dried herbs can give her more variety of texture and fibre type without adding richness. The key thing is quantity and consistency: she should never run low on hay, because even a few hours of reduced hay intake can slow things down in a rabbit with her history. If you're not already using a hay rack that keeps it fresh and off the floor, that's worth doing — some rabbits will reject slightly stale hay and then you end up with gaps in intake without realising.

At seven, she's a senior rabbit, so a few things are worth keeping an eye on alongside the diet. Gut stasis can develop faster in older rabbits and with less warning, so if she ever goes more than 12 hours without producing droppings or becomes hunched and quiet, treat it as urgent and contact your vet the same day. Keep a loose eye on her cecotrope output — some uneaten ones are common, but a consistent pile every morning suggests the diet is still too rich. Weight is also worth monitoring monthly; older rabbits can lose muscle mass quietly, and a sudden drop is worth flagging to your vet even if she seems fine. You've clearly got a good handle on her already — the adjustments you're making are the right ones.