Urgent Advice Needed

Hi All,
Looking for a little advice quite urgently as i'm not sure what to do.

Bun is not being her normal self. For the last three days i've noticed she had a dirty bum, we cleaned it up the first day, but disregarded it as i noticed a few mushy cecotropes that had been squished and sat on. Put it down to too much carrot and took her off the sugary fruits straight away.

Got home last night about 9pm and she seemed a bit quiet. she usually comes up for kisses and pats and runs around like a lunatic (although she doesn't like to be handled this is her way of showing love every night and morning). Last night she ran away from me and didnt want to know me.

So i checked on her this morning and she was sitting in the same spot i left her. Only this morning she was lethargic and still didnt want to know me. She hadnt touched her pellets from last night, still running away and even getting a little agressive/annoyed. At closer examination she was hunched over, grinding her teeth every now and then, keeping very close to the ground when she did move around (to get away from me) and flopping over which is not that often normal for her. Her belly seems slightly bloated but could be deceiving cos she was all fluffed up, didnt feel too hard but she didnt want me touching it. She still has a dirty bottom but i cannot find any mushy stools this morning making me think its pure liquid. She seems to freak out every time i put my hand near her likes shes nervous or her senses are heightened and shes not a nervous bun generally.

I gave her some Kale, Cos and parsley all soaked in water to keep her fluids up as her water doesnt seem to have gone gown, she at the greens but slowly. I also gave her some fresh hay to which i watched her eat a bit of.

I'm unsure with what to do, my partners update an hour ago was she seemed a little more alert, has eaten all the greens so he gave her more cos and said she is sitting up now but still in the same spot.

I'm a little bit of a worry wart and always think the worst but do we need to take her to the vets or will she come out of it herself with close monitoring?

Thanks in advance.

Are you finding any stools at all? If she is having watery diarrhea you definitely need to get her into the vet immediately. Have you fed her anything new in the last several days, or any of her veggies that might have been a bit off?

I'm concerned about the severity of symptoms you've described and the fact it's gotten worse and not better over the last few days. It's possible it was something in her diet that has caused the upset, but the problem is that the coccidia parasite and pathogenic bacteria can also have similar symptoms, and these things can be fatal if not treated correctly and immediately. Unless she in now feeling better and acting normally again, I honestly would be getting her into the vet right away, and have a fecal sample checked, her teeth checked for a possible dental cause to the mushy poop, as well as being checked for a GI blockage.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

I'll also add that if she stops eating altogether then you should syringe feed her critical care. You may want to start doing this now if she's only eating a small amount of veggies. If you don't have access to critical care then syringing mashed up pellets, baby food (foods high in moisture and fiber) or canned pumpkin is fine, pineapple juice also helps. If she isn't drinking you would also want to syringe her water. I also suggest bringing her to a vet ASAP if she's still having this behavior, when bunnies stop eating it is very serious. Good luck!

Thankyou for the feedback. I think i am a little apprehensive because i had a little boy about 5 years ago who went through a similar thing and the vets here are not amazing with rabbits, I think I'm worried she wont come home.

But i think i need to bite the bullet and take her.

I haven't introduced anything new into her food at all, shes usually a pig for carrots and apples but she only gets one or the other. Cos lettuce everyday and then I alternate weekly with Kale, spinach and parsley. I dont think any of the veges were spoilt, the carrots sometimes are a little soft but not rotten. Shes had mushy cecotropes when she was a baby fairly regularly but never has she had a dirty bottom like this. This morning the only feces I noticed were tiny! i would describe it as the size of a mouse poo and was soft.

Im also starting to wonder if what is across her bottom and hind legs is in fact urine and not feces, there are no clumps of feces at all, and haven't been in 3 days. I did notice this morning her urine was a dark orangy brown but not the first time ive seen it this colour.

I will try mush up some pellets and syringe her water in the meantime.

I just have a caution. If at this point she is no longer pooping, you should NOT syringe feed, as there is a risk of there being a blockage, and adding food to this situation can make things much worse. You should only syringe feed if she is still pooping and eating but just not enough, or a vet has checked for and ruled out a blockage. If she is not eating and pooping, you should get her to the vet.

If she is having urinary incontinence, it could be due to pain from the stasis and digestive upset, or it could be the other way around and she has a urinary problem causing pain, which has lead to the digestive upset. If she continues to have urine soaked fur, she does need to see a vet as she likely has a UTI, or possible bladder sludge or kidney issues.

Once you get through this crisis with her, if she is still having mushy poop issues, you may need to make some diet adjustments. Excess sugars and carbs are the most common cause of this in rabbits., as well as not eating enough hay, dental issues, and arthritis. Once other health problems are ruled out as the cause, it's safe to assume it probably has to do with her diet. You can start with eliminating any sugary and starchy treats to see if that helps. If not, you may need to adjust her pellet amount down and increase her hay. Here's some info on what it is and how to clear it up.
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

Here are some listings for some rabbit vets. Hopefully you will be able to find a good one near you.
http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/AustralianRabbitVets.htm#New South Wales
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=12014

If there aren't many poos and they are small, I would still syringe water or electrolytes. But like jbun said not food because of possible blockage. I always worry that if they are in any kind of pain they also may stop drinking water and the worst thing that could happen is they could get dehydrated. So I would still syringe the water but not food.

Hi All,
Thankyou for your responses, we took her to the vet this afternoon.

He didn't particularly tell us what could be wrong with her. He has prescribed a 7 day antibiotic and has given us a product to syringe feed her called critta care. After the 7 days if she doesn't return to normal he said they will test further. We syringed her some of the liquid food tonight and she seemed to enjoy it which makes it easy.

Ive been told to take leafy greens and veges off her at this stage and allow her unlimited hay (which she always has) and pellets in case she feels like eating.

He felt her belly and there is no bloating, checked her teeth and they are fine. So looks like it is down to diet but the strange thing is it has always been the same and consistent.

We will keep a close eye on her, any tips from here on would be greatly appreciated. Any tips on getting her to eat more hay when i provide her fresh hay every second day and its always available?

Hopefully she pulls through, I'm not coping very well tonight with reminders of my little boy a few years ago. Fingers crossed for us.

I'm glad you got her to the vet. Did he not give any pain relief for your rabbit? If not, I would call up and ask to pick up some meloxicam suspension, unless your bun seems to be doing well at this point. Pain relief can make a big difference in getting a rabbit eating again, as a rabbit has stopped eating due to pain. A gut stimulant is usually given as well. I'm glad she is liking the critical care. It makes it a lot easier when you aren't having to fight them to eat it, and it will help keep her digestion moving so a blockage doesn't develop. Did the vet not test a fecal sample? Which antibiotic were you given?

I personally wouldn't be removing leafy greens unless you suspect one of them may be causing gas pain, as dark leafy veg is a good way to add moisture to a rabbits digestive tract, which is needed to help prevent a blockage and keep things moving. Once in a while a particular veg can cause issues for a rabbit and lead to digestive upset and mushy poop, but in my experience it is almost always too many treats and/or pellets that is the cause of mushy poop. The sugars and starches lead to a disruption of the microflora in a rabbits cecum, which can lead to overgrowth of harmful bacteria, which will lead to the mushy poop occurring. Though sometimes when trying to sort out the cause of mushy poop, it's usually best to start with a hay only diet until the mushy poop clears up, then gradually add pellets and veggies back in one thing at a time and gradually increasing the amount. As long as your rabbit normally eats hay, by decreasing pellets, your bun should naturally increase hay consumption, as pellets are a concentrated food, so rabbits tend to fill up on them. When a rabbit eats more pellets, they will eat less hay. You do have to keep a close eye on hay consumption and your rabbits weight once you either reduce or eliminate pellets, to ensure enough hay is being consumed to make up for it, and your bun doesn't get skinny. You'll want to provide fresh hay each day. You want to be able to keep track of whether or not your bun is eating the hay and how much. It's easiest if you just keep providing smaller piles during the day, instead of one large pile. Then when you check on your bun it will be easier to tell if she has been eating the hay. I may also provide just a pinch of pellets to help gauge how well my bun is eating. If you read the link I shared, it explains what mushy poop, or cecal dysbiosis, is and how to go about correcting it. Also, here is some good info on how a rabbits digestive system functions.
http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf
http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

I read a tip for getting rabbits to eat more hay on another post. Squeeze some fresh juice out of a pineapple, or watermelon and mist the hay lightly with a sprayer, yum!

Also, if you are going to feed any fresh greens I think just plain leafy fresh grass (without seed heads) is always a good choice for a sick bunny, easy for them to digest, high fiber and doesn't have too much sugar, protein, calcium or oxalates which can be a problem in other veggies like kale and broccoli.