What's wrong with Victory? - stinky bottom

Victory is a 2.5 years old Netherland Dwarf and has had a few litters. She was sold to me last month already bred, and day 30 of her gestation was July 21 (earlier this week). She never kindled.

We kept her on the same brand feed she was on previously, and did all we could to make her transition from Colorado to Texas climate as easy as possible. She has done very well and shown no signs of distress. (We built an insulated box, put large clay pots in the box, and connected the pots by pvc tubing to the buns cages. Every day at noon, we put ice jugs in the insulated boxes, so they can rest in the heat of the day in their 'air-conditioned burrows', which typically stay in the low 70's.)

The other 2 pregnant does who were sold with her kindled on time, and their kits are doing well.

Victory has no discharge from her nose, her eyes are bright and clear, she is eating and drinking well, and her elimination seems normal. When she has outside-cage time, she is active and curious.

HOWEVER, when I palpate her, I think I can feel at least one kit in her, and her bottom area has been yellow and stinky for over two weeks now. Should I be concerned? Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong?

I greatly appreciate any help you all can offer,
Michelle

If that is staining due to diarrhea, get your rabbit to a vet immediately. It looks to me like urine staining though. With the urine stained fur, I would suspect a urinary tract infection, in which case she would need antibiotics. Though it's possible another health problem could be causing the incontinence, such as e. cuniculi, bladder sludge, kidney problems, uterine problems, or arthritis to name a few. It's also possible a retained kit is causing an infection. Best to have her checked over by a good rabbit vet.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=13366

There will also be some additional health risks associated with the urinary incontinence. Urine in contact with the skin can lead to urine scalding. Also with it being the summer, there is a risk of fly strike, so you will need to keep her clean and her fur dried up to reduce the risk. If you clean her up, remember bathing a rabbit is dangerous. Try a cloth or unscented wipes, but if absolutely necessary, a butt bath may be done, where only the soiled area is cleaned. Then you need to ensure to dry your rabbit thoroughly, making sure that your rabbit doesn't get too cold, hot, or overly stressed from the process.
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/Flystrikedontgetcaughtout.pdf

Jbun does such an excellent job with her advice I don't have anything to add.

But would just like to say, wow! What a beautiful blue eyed white you have! I have one too, but he isn't nearly as nice of a type, but he makes up for it with his super sweet personality

I'm really impressed with homemade air conditioning cooling system, do you have any photos to share? I think a lot of people would be very interested to see how it works.

Thanks for the quick reply, JBun.

She does not have diarrhea--I've been watching carefully.

I gave her a bum-bath earlier today. There were no open sores on her genitalia, but there was a hard crusty substance in her fur. Her front part was quite red and inflamed.

I'll get her to a vet tomorrow.

And thank you for the compliment, SquidPop. She is a beautiful rabbit with very good conformity. We are hoping for some great litters for her once my two ND bucks are old enough.

I'll post some photos of my cooling box at some point!

Michelle

We've recently spent over $2,500 on rabbits and their set-up, so I was really trying to avoid a vet bill on top of that.

It occurred to me that whenever my kids or I am sick, I muscle-test us and then treat with herbs, homeopathy, EFT, or BioSET (the last two are energetic treatments, like acupuncture, but without the needles, just tapping.)

I decided to do the same with Victory, and ended up dosing her with about 10 drops a day of an herbal mixture called Quintessence. By the second day, she was having no more discharge, and her private parts were no longer red and inflamed. By the third day, the strong smell was mostly gone. I'll probably wash her bottom area today, and give her one more dose.

Quintessence is one of my go-to remedies of choice, because it strengthens the immune system to overcome viral, bacterial and even parasitical infections. It's very expensive though, so I use it sparingly. In this case, it was well worth it.

Also, I no longer feel that she has a retained kit. I think I was feeling up to high, and palpated organs. I'm still a newby when it comes to palpation.

~Michelle

I'm glad your bunny seems a lot better. Thanks for the tip on Quintessence next time I'm at the healthfood store I'm going to ask for some

I was going to mention that if you were absolutely sure she had a kit in her then she would have absolutely needed to go to a vet, otherwise she could have gone septic.

Glad to hear that things have cleared up though

Victory seemed to improve on the herbal tincture I was giving her, then regressed, so I took her to a vet this past Thursday.

He thought she had a UTI, and prescribed an antifungal, antibacterial shampoo once a day to treat the urine scald on her bum, and an oral antibiotic (trimethoprim sulpha) twice a day.

I've read that oral antibiotics have to be used with extreme caution because they can kill off too much of the beneficial flora. So we've been watching our little girl very closely. After 2 full days of doses, she has developed diarrhea. I brought her inside for observation, removed her pellets and gave her only hay and water with a capsule of lactobacillus broken open in it.

I've been researching online as much as I can tonight, and I'm overwhelmed with the different suggestions. It seems that Benebac would be very helpful. Do you all agree? Other suggestions I've read have included banana, pumpkin puree, and small amounts of bread. I tried to feed her a little bit of bread tonight, but she just ground her teeth and refused.

Love to hear any of your recommendations!

Thanks,
Michelle

p.s. At least the original issue seems to be resolving--no more stinky bottom from strong-smelling urine, and the urine scald is healing up very quickly.

If she has profuse watery diarrhea, isn't eating on her own, and is exhibiting signs of pain, get her to a vet immediately.

Trimethoprim sulfa is usually well tolerated in rabbits, however there is always a risk an antibiotic can cause digestive upset. If your bun is having profuse watery diarrhea, you need to get her to a vet right away as this is an emergency situation. If it is just some mushy stool and her behavior is still normal(acting and eating normally), then you may be able to correct the imbalance with the diet change to hay and probiotics, but you should call and consult with your vet. It may be a good idea to ask your vet if a fecal test is needed. You will also need to change to a different antibiotic. Baytril is a common one given to rabbits for UTI's and usually doesn't cause digestive upset, though you may need to wait a few weeks for her digestion to normalize again before attempting.

Bene bac is a good probiotic to give. And stick with strictly hay and water, as long as this isn't true watery diarrhea and as long as your bun isn't showing signs of dehydration. You want to avoid pellets and other starchy sugary foods as they can worsen the harmful bacterial growth that is causing the diarrhea. A good quality grass hay is best to restore a healthy bacterial balance. If she isn't eating on her own, vet, then you will need to syringe feed a recovery food. Oxbow critical care is commonly used, and you can get this from your vet.

http://rabbit.org/the-mystery-of-rabbit-poop/
http://rabbit.org/appropriate-use-of-antibiotics-in-rabbits-2/
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm
http://rabbit.org/intermittent-soft-cecotropes-in-rabbits/

eta: Does it list what antibacterial and antifungal is in the shampoo?

I think benebac is very good and most importantly very safe. People even use it on tiny baby bunnies with good results. The other thing I think is important it to syringe fluids escpecially when there is diarrhea. Water or low sugar pedialyte (you can find recipes online for homemade pediatlyte). I always think if you keep the bunny hydrated it has a better chance of clearing out any bad flora in its bowels. I think lots of fluids and hay are the most important.

I think benebac is very good and most importantly very safe. People even use it on tiny baby bunnies with good results. The other thing I think is important it to syringe fluids especially when there is diarrhea. Water or low sugar pedialyte (you can find recipes online for homemade pediatlyte). I always think if you keep the bunny hydrated it has a better chance of clearing out any bad flora in its bowels. I think lots of fluids and hay are the most important.

Malaseb Shampoo:****

Active Ingredients***

Miconazole Nitrate***

Amount2%***

Chlorhexidine Gluconate***

Amount2%***


I really appreciate your quick replies. Victory has quickly become my favorite of our 14 rabbits, and I was so worried about her last night that I dreamt about her and then woke up early so I could check on her.

She pooped soft unformed poop 2 or 3 times last night and urinated once. She also drank nearly the entire 2 cups of water with probiotics I left for her last night. After a few minutes of watching her, I saw her strain to go to the bathroom but nothing came out. So I checked her bottom and it seemed plugged, so I washed it off enough to unplug her I hope.

As soon as I let her out of the bathtub, she was her normal inquisitive self trying to check out everything.

The shampoo I've been using is Maloseb. For some reason my phone only let me paste the info about it at the top of this post. We will discontinue both the oral and shampoo until we get the loose stools resolved.

I'll be at the pet store bright and early to buy the benebac and oxbow critical care, if they carry it. Thank you for everything!

Michelle

I'm glad your bun seems to be doing fine despite the bad reaction to the antibiotic, and hope she is continuing to improve. The shampoo ingredients look alright. If this occurred with one of my buns, I would be stopping the antibiotic too. But it is still important to consult with your vet if you haven't already done so.

Hopefully the mushy poop clears up quickly and your bun is back to normal soon. Let us know how she does