Another sick Bunny

Shop deals on ebay
Love your rabbit
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

stina3246

Active Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Messages
34
Reaction score
0
Location
Ferndale, Florida, USA
I've had Lawney for about 1 1/2 months I guess. She is about 4 or so months old I'm guessing. She's an indoor bun and has been acting fine since I got her. She had the sniffles the first week but that went away. On Sunday afternoon I gave her a tiny bit of alfalfa. She's never had it before so I gave her just 2 or 3 sticks of it. She ate it and was fine the rest of Sunday and monday morning but last night when I got home it looks like she had a bought of Diareah (sp) and she hadn't touched her food. This morning she isn't feeling well. She did not poop at all last night. She just wantsto sitthere. She did poop just a tiny bit a few minuets ago and it was slightly larger and softer then a normal poop. Could the alfalfa have upset her that much? If she isn't feeling better by tomorrow she'll see a vet.
 
I just lost a rabbit yesterday that was doing the same thing. I have 2 more sick ones now I am dealing with, both only 4 months old. Their bellys are swelling up terrible and you can hear the tummy rumbling. One is worse than the other and doesn't want to eat. I have given them pediatlite and water and the one is drinking it, the ohter I have had to dropper feed. I also went and got them infant gas drops and giving them that to help relieve some of the pressure of gas. I want to keep them eating so the digestive system keeps working and trying to work things through. I am giving them whatever they will eat, dandilioin leaves seems to be good and good for them.....you can give the gas meds 4 times a day, mine is 4 mo. old, 9 lb flemish babies and i give them 7.5 cc
 
Nancy McClelland wrote:
need to get her to a vet right away--the runs and not eating are not good things with bunnies.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:

Especially in young bunnies. Their guts can be quite sensitive, and an overgrowth of "bad" bacteria in the gut can lead to lots of problems. The bacteria secrete toxins into the rabbit that make it to the bloodstream, and these toxins can kill the rabbit. The vet can give a product called Biosponge or Questran to absorb these toxins and keep them out of your rabbit's bloodstream.

Dehydration from diarrhea is also a big concern. The vet should give her sub-cutaneous fluids. These are injected between the skin and the body cavity and are rapidly absorbed. They may also use an oral rehydration therapy, which is a mix of sugars and electrolytes in water that will help rehydrate.

Until you can get her to a vet, give her pedialyte (pediatric diarrhea electrolyte drink, very similar to oral rehydration therapy the vet can give) or water by mouth--I'd say 10mL/hr at least. Remove all food except grass hay (not alfalfa--something like Timothy). If you have a probiotic, like Bene-Bac, give some of that.

But really, I have a list of things that I would take a bunny to the vet ASAP for, and one of them is diarrhea in a young rabbit, or serious diarrhea in an adult rabbit.
 
smay wrote:
I just lost a rabbit yesterday that was doing the same thing. I have 2 more sick ones now I am dealing with, both only 4 months old. Their bellys are swelling up terrible and you can hear the tummy rumbling. One is worse than the other and doesn't want to eat. I have given them pediatlite and water and the one is drinking it, the ohter I have had to dropper feed. I also went and got them infant gas drops and giving them that to help relieve some of the pressure of gas. I want to keep them eating so the digestive system keeps working and trying to work things through. I am giving them whatever they will eat, dandilioin leaves seems to be good and good for them.....you can give the gas meds 4 times a day, mine is 4 mo. old, 9 lb flemish babies and i give them 7.5 cc
Click to expand...
The swelling is from gas produced by overgrowth of bad bacteria. That is a lot of simethicone, although I know your bunnies are a lot bigger than mine. We usually say 1cc (or mL) per hour for 3 hours, then wait 3 hours before giving more doses. That's for a 5lb rabbit. I think too much simethicone can cause diarrhea, so I would only give it in cases of diarrhea where you can hear gurgling in the belly or see bloating, and I wouldn't give that much.

Dandelion leaves are a mixed bag. They can cause diuresis (removing water from the system), but they're also a herbal remedy for bloat and gas. They're pretty high in water, but with the sensitivity of a young bunny's gut, especially the gut of a young bunny that's having diarrhea, I wouldn't give any veggies--just hay, water, and pedialyte.
 
Just a quick word about the use of Questran or BioSponge in rabbits.....I can probably count on one hand the number of vets that are aware of using these products. Questran is a human drug that seems to be useful in binding toxins. There are two problems with using this drug...first, it has to be compounded by a real pharmacist. Next, it has to be given with huge amounts of water. But it is certainly an option worth investigating.

BioSponge is something we are testing here with wildlife. It is an equine product that appears to be able to bind and filter nearly all the toxins from specific strains of Clostridium. This is a bacteria that is commonly found in a decaying gut climate and it can be fatal. A horse and a rabbit are medically nearly identical. This drug has proven very effective in foundering horses so it should work on rabbits. We are currently running our first test sequence on cottontails. The cottontails we have came in under duress. Had not eaten or drank in a couple of days. We are now approaching 72 hours on BioSponge and they are alert and eating well. Too early to tell but so far, so good.

Again, these drugs are both excellent options in dealing with enterotoxins during a GI crisis. But few vets are aware of there benefit. And a little side note, Metronidazole (an antibiotic) has huge benefits when used in a stressed GI....not so much for the antibiotic aspect, but it offers huge anti-inflammatory qualities.

Randy
 
;)I have to read about the biosponge ; if you can get them without prescriptions maybe they should be in a first aid kit
thanks for finding the links Claire
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top