Baby Bunny 7-8 weeks in pain? Won't eat much. Possible gas?

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Envyme

Envyme

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May 26, 2009
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Location
, California, USA
Location - Southern Cali

- Description (Breed, color., weight) - Mini Lop under 1 lb but weight unknown as I just got her

- Age unknown my guess is 7 weeks

- spayed/neutered? no

- Notes on Fecal and Urinary Output
- are the bunny's poops and pees normal? no, not pooping much since this am
- When did they last use their litterbox?Doesn't use a litter box yet but basically pooped a good amount this am and waseatinglast night but notverymuch since this morning. Peeis normal.

- Any unusual behavior? Not moving a lot. She will get up and hop if I put her on the floor for maybe 6 hops then she will stop and just sit there. She also purs/grinds teeth but it COULD be her grinding her teath from being in pain.

- Medical History -- has s/he been to the vet or been sick before? No

- Diet - what does your bunny eat? Alfalfa hay and some pellets I havefor my other buns by Oxbow (sp)
- when and what did s/he eat last?A very little bit this evening (mushed up pellets I mixed with water). I could not get my syringe to suck it up so I gave her some from a spoon and she took a very small amount.

- movement - any unusual movements? Is she hopping normally? Not moving as much as yesterday. She will get up and hop if I put her on the floor for maybe 6 hops then she will stop and just sit there and maybe grind her teeth.

- are there any plants, chocolate or other substances within reach? No

- has the rabbit been outdoors? indoors.

----------

I did give her a bit of 100% pure fresh pinapple juice a few minatues ago and she took some. When she did I could here a little gurgle from her tummy as she was drinking. Could be gas?

Can I give her any Metcam? How much for such a small bunny?

Should I give her anti-gas Infants MYLICON? How much? How often?

Any advise would be super duper appreciated!

Thanks!


 
Here is the library link to Gas:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11931&forum_id=10

Before doing anything, is her tummy hard like a rock, or is it somewhat pliable? If it is hard, call your vet asap... bloat cannot be treated successfully at home.

If her tummy is pliable, you can follow the protocol listed in the link.

Will try to find dosing info for you. Hang tight.

ETA: gas med dosing is 1 cc. (see post below main entry in library)
 
Give this bun a probiotic like benebac or the kind for horses called probios; in addition give the baby gas meds ( just simethicone .. probably give about 0.5 cc as this bun is small. Encourage her to hop around ; this does sound like aGI disturbance which can gosouth fast in a bun that young.

Iwould mix the pineapple juice with pedialyte to cut down the effect of so much sugar.

then let us know
 
Ok...I gave her 1 cc but a little spilled so she probably got just under that. She did eat a little bit out of my hand. She does not have a really hard tummy like I thought I felt this morning. I checked her this afternoon and it seemed pretty normal until just a few min ago. It is not hard like a rock but not soft either.

I will give her some benibac too. Should I mix it in water and syringe it to her since I can't give it to her on hay or pellets?

Can I give her any paid meds? Her teeth grinding has be worried.


 
I honestly can't tell you whether or not to give pain meds, as I'm not an infirmary mod... :(. I think you have to use your discretion.
If you choose to try metacam, here is the drug calculator:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

ETA: My Evie is just a bit under 2 pounds, and all she can have is one drop every 10-12 hrs. Just to give you a weight references, as I don't see a metacam listing in the drug calc.

Yup, mix it up and syringe her. Water is the real key in this situation. If you've got any canned pumpkin sans spices, you can put that down her as well.
Any pedialyte (re-hydrant for kids) around?

How active is she? Can you play with her, get her moving?
 
You can give her another dose of simethicone and mix the benebac with a little juice if you have the powder form .

what kind of pain meds do you have ?

Is their any way that she could have injured herself in any other way?
 
She ate some last night and ate more hay this morning. She was moving around more last night (according to my bf who heard her when I was sleeping). She is pooping but her poops are black and tar like...what could cause this tar like poop that is more sticky in consistency than her poops the first days I had her.
 
I don't know why her stools are black ; in a human it would indicate old dried blood ..not sure of the significance in a rabbit.
possibly she should see a rabbit knowlegeable vet.
Continue to keep her well hydrated either with pedialyte ,water or both. if you did not get a probiotic please do as it is important.
if she is showing any signs of gas you can give more somethicone
 
angieluv wrote:
I don't know why her stools are black ; in a human it would indicate old dried blood ..not sure of the significance in a rabbit.
possibly she should see a rabbit knowlegeable vet.
Continue to keep her well hydrated either with pedialyte ,water or both. if you did not get a probiotic please do as it is important.
if she is showing any signs of gas you can give more somethicone
Click to expand...

I did give her beni bac last night. How often should I give this to her?
Thanks :)
 
Oh my gosh really?! Maybe I should hold off on giving that! This on is so tiny I would rather take a less agressive approach. I don't want her in pain!
How often should I give benebac?
 
It sounds like your rabbit is weaning. Is it with it's mother? Domestic rabbits do not fully wean until they are about 8 weeks old. What you are describing is a GI problem. I would not use the Metaclopramide.....it is obvious the vet you called is most likely not an exotics doctor. This isn't a cat or dog. Metaclopramide is not a drug I would allow to be given to any of my rabbits....and none of my vets will use it.....and it is the subject of numerous lawsuits in human medicine due to very serious and odd side effects. The effects induced by this drug can cause severe pain and in some cases cause a perforation of the intesinal walls....and that is fatal. And most likely this rabbit is dehydrated and Metacam is not appropriate for use in dehydrated animals.....it is very rough on the liver.

When a rabbit weans, there is a rabbit change in pH in the gut. This results in a die off of the beneficial bacteria. This bacteria will start to decay and becomes toxic. This beneficial bacteria also manages the bad stuff....and in weanings and stasis/ileus events, this loss of management allows a bad bacteria, primarily Clostridium, to grow. This bacteria can be fatal. A proper response is hydration by any means necessary....and the quicker the better. We have has some success in using an antibiotic called Metronidazole. It is effective against gram positive bacteria such as Clostridium. This drug also has very beneficial anti-inflammatory properties. I also use a horse product called BioSponge to bind and filter toxins from Clostridium. A probiotic, like Bene Bac, will help support the pH in a more natural acidic state (do not use yogurt). There is only a limited window of opportunity to properly treat this condition. Good luck.

Randy
 
Hi Randy, Thanks for your reply. To be honest the age is unknown for this bunny because she was from a pet store...I know I shouldn't have but she was so cute I could not just leave her there...I guess thankfully I didn't because who knows if she would have survived there...probably wouldn't have. :( Anyways, I am guessing she is 7-8 weeks old. She may be a little older or a little younger. It is hard to tell. She does drink plenty of water on her own now. I have been giving her extra water through a syringe which she loves. Thank you for your reply about the RX the vet gave me. The funny thing is she specializes in bunnies and has 10 or 11 of her own...many of the rescues use her too. She is on the HRS list of vets too. I think she is more rabbit savvy then my local vet but who knows. It is really hard to tell. I will NOT for any reason give that medicine to her. Sounds terrible and I won't do it. Thanks for the info on that.

How often can I give BENE BAC??

I will keep you all posted :)
 
angieluv wrote:
You can give benebac everyday
Click to expand...

Thank you I will give her some today too :)

As far as BioSponge, what would I give her dosage wise 1 cc?? and how often? I am planning to go to a store locally tomorrow that sells horse products to see if they sell it. I hope I can find it.

Does BioSponge help TREAT Clostridium or do I really need Metronidazole as well?

Her poops are still dark but a little bit ago she did let some pellet poops that were more normal looking thank goodness!!

ETA: I googled Clostridium and can not find symptoms of it in rabbits other than issues relating to GI stasis...Any other ways to tell if she has it?
 
Clostridium develops when the gut is in stasis allowing the inbalance of the flora in the gut to get out of hand allowing the 'bad bacteria (clostridium) to proliferate. It is the outcome of untreated stasis. It is in some ways similar to botulism .

when clostridium develops the bun will get a very hard tummy , be in pain and sometimes pass mucous in the stool.
if you keep her hydrated, eating and give benebac, simethicone and there is some passage of stool it is less likely for clostridium to develop.
I have never used the biosponge but if you can get some we can get the dosage from Randy. you will need to weigh your bun.

Randy is a wild life rehabber and uses this stuff all the time " I would totally trust his advice. if you can get the biosponge it is probably better than metronidazole although that is definitely a good option if you cannot get the biosponge

Iwill try to find something more on clostridium.
When it comes to GI disorders it is imperative that the owner takes a very active role in treating the rabbit .
it sounds like you are doing that :goodjob
 
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

This article i informative and the writer is rabbit knowledgeable , however it is not as up to date as Randy's treatment.

We would not talk enemas nor gut motility drugs, although the gut motility drugs are still used frequently by many vets.

You rabbit is still a baby and hasan even more delicate GI tract than an adult.

most pet store babies are taken from their moms too young... babies like this often have poorly established GI tracts and also a weaker immune system

but that doesn't mean that she won't be alright.

 
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