Another sudden illness... not too late yet! Please help. (RIP)

[Orgrath]

Hello,

I am MousQwene's fiance. Another of our babies has fallen ill, tho we may have caught it soon enough, however we need guidance. Little Rorschach is disoriented. We can't tell if his vision is gone/fading/low in response. He is short of breath but still moving and cleaning. He will drink, but not on his own. We haven't gotten him to eat just yet. He seems against eating more than unable as he appears to be turning the food down by pushing it away when we try to feed him. He was a little caked with poops but not like the others. We think we may be able to nurse this one back.

As a postscript, thanks for the help in her previous post, we have narrowed it down and we believe it may be the food. We will no longer be using Small World and hope to find a cost friendly solution (we aren't cheap... I lost my job and am in the process of finding a new one... till then money is tight.)

Thanks,

Orgrath

 

[Orgrath]

UPDATE: He appears uspet that his butt is dirty... is cleaning. He appears alert. Interest in hay. May not have eaten. More on this until healthy or worse.

 

[TinysMom]

One of the biggest things to make sure of is that your baby doesn't dehydrate - so try giving him water (I sometimes add a drop of vanilla to give it a bit of flavor).

How old is this rabbit? His butt is dirty - as in diaherrea? Something else?

Once we know the age - we might be able to help a bit better...

 

[Orgrath]

15 weeks old. Not diarrhea, but like he sat in place and went.

 

[Flashy]

He really, really needs a vet. Given you have lost two other already he really does need to go. It could be the food but equally it could be a parasite like Coccidiosis or a bacteria build up like Clostridium.

Is there any way to get this one to a vet?

 

[Pipp]

I honestly wouldn't count on it being the food, but definitely change it regardless.

I think I previously linked the enteritis article by Pamela Ally. It really goes through the usual suspects, per se:

http://www.showbunny.com/gastrointestinal.htm

If its not the food it's something contagious like Coccidiosis and you must prepare and treat for that also.

Coccidiosis

As noted, the best weapon is hydration. I'd also give him a little Nutri-Cal to keep his strength up. Will he eat canned pumpkin?

You really have to take preventative measure and follow the advice in these Library files about cleaning and disinfecting.

sas ray:

 

[Pipp]

PS: You may be able to just bring a stool sample in if you have an understanding vet. They can look at it under a microscope and it call tell a lot.


sas ray:

 

[Orgrath]

Our chief problem is lack of funds to do so. We just don't have the money to do what we need to. :-(

 

[Flashy]

That's understandable, a lot of people are struggling, especially in this financial climate.

Maybe this link might help. http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12684&forum_id=10 It has a useful post at the start of the thread but also two potentially useful links later in the thread too.

 

[Flashy]

How is the little one doing today? How are you guys?

 

[Orgrath]

He's still touchy. We've given him his own space away from his brothers and sister. He's trying to eat now, but only getting little bits. I fed him more water cause the bottle appeared untouched in his cage. Tho on the upside he is very responsive visually. He looks funny at you when you come near as if to say "Whaaaaat... I was comfy."

 

[Flashy]

I'm glad to hear he is still with you and fighting Please keep us updated. Also remember to watch the other two siblings closely because there is a high likelihood that they may start to exhibit symptoms too.

Also, as a side note, at four month, the girls and the boys need to be separated anyway (because you face another litter imminently otherwise) and so this may be a good reason to do that now.

 

[Orgrath]

Yea, we did that. Tho thanks for the heads up, one litter at a time for us.

 

[Orgrath]

Well it was a good run and I feel like he almost made it, but after a short petting earlier we were unable to stop what was inevitable. Rorschach passed away early this morning. Binky free Rorschach.

To prevent this from happening again we will be seperating each bun, not completely from sight but to different cages. and in the process disinfecting each area and completely cleaning everything surrounding. Thank you again for all your help.

 

[Flashy]

I'm so sorry. I suspect this is something that may spring up in all your buns. Hopefully the cleaning may help it given we don't know what it is, there is no guarantee.

Binky Free Rorschach

 

[Orgrath]

Well at the moment all buns are happy and healthy, so hopefully the change is timely enough. As an upside, Little Stewie was a stinker-buns and got loose. We came home after a short time out and he was in the middle of the living room looking as if to say "I did NOTHING!". A chase ensued, but he is in custody again. I will stay in touch here should anything develop in the future. Should the cleaning help we may save some buns in the future for someone else who has had the misfortune to come home to a sickly bun.