babys with nasty poo

[bluepez]

The babies are lionheads, first litter with this buck , but the doe has had others with no problems.

This litter..their poos..are sticking to them! I keep cleaning them off..they were like BALLS this morning..one big ball of POO..almost as big as they were. They are 4weeks old.

Someone had suggested Baytril, but its not for babies, and for nursing mothers.

They are supplied with pellets hay and of course their mom.



Any ideas?

 

[Pipp]

What kind of pellets are they getting? What kind of hay? Any supplements? Does the mom eat anything differently than the others? Any carbs? Or anything like Calf Manna? And does the whole litter have sticky poops?

Off hand, even though babies are supposed to be on high protein diets, I'd encourage more high-fibre consumption.

Assuming they're getting a alfalfa pellets and/or hay, try adding a few Timothy-based pellets to their dishes and/or go for more grass hays in the mix. You may want to try introducing a wee bit of canned pumpkin for some wet fibre and see if that makes it better (or worse).

Watch carefully for any sign of the poo being runny. If that happens, keep them well hydrated and get them to a vet pronto for testing.


sas :clover:

 

[pamnock]

Trim the fur on their butts and smear with a little vaseline to help keep poos from sticking. "Pancake" butts are not unusual in some breeds when the babies are young, so I'm not sure if you have a normal condition occuring or kits with bacterial infections. Tetracycline can be used during outbreaks of bacterial infections. You might consider getting a fecal float done for cocci.

Pam

 

[bluepez]

Tetracycline? Would I obtain that from the vet? I used to work fish..so first thing I thought of was the tetracycline capsules of powder

The babies are eating the hiber pellets and I supply TONS of fresh hay. And its only 2 of them out of the 6. not runny..just a bit sticky then makes the PANCAKE. EWW. lol
I will try the vaseline..and the fecal float for cocci.
thanks

 

[ra7751]

Baytril and Tetracycline are both inappropriate, ineffective and potentially harmful. If, and this is likely, a bacterial agent thatis responsible...it is most likely Clostridium. We see this all the time inweaning cottontails.This is an anaerobic bacteria and neither of the mentioned antibiotics are effective. And both of those drugs can harm any remaining beneficial bacteria and that can lead to additional toxin issues as well as an increased growth of harmful bacteria. Hydration is essential....by sub-q if possible. If you were to use an antibiotic, the drug of choice would be Metronidazole (Flagyl). Not only is this drug effective against Clostridium (and many other anaerobes), it also is an anti-inflammatory in the GI. The best treatment for this condition is a horse product called "BioSponge". It has been nothing short of a miracle treatment for dealing with bacterial imbalances caused by Clostridium. We have successfully used it in rabbits and squirrels. We have been very impressed.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

the biosponge can be ordered in smaller amounts for dogs and cats (although it's original use was in horses)

This is actually a product all of us should be ordering to keep on hand for our rabbits
I have not checked all the varying prices from different companies but this is the product that we would need for rabbits



http://www.entirelypets.com/platbio15cc.html

 

[tonyshuman]

I would trim the fur and check the diet. Avoid antibiotics if possible. If it becomes watery diarrhea instead of loose stool, that would be an emergency. It might be good to have things on hand in case things get out of control, like equipment for sub-Q's, biosponge, etc.

How old are they?

 

[tonyshuman]

Is the poo like this: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/enteritis.PDF

 

[pamnock]

bluepez wrote:

Tetracycline? Would I obtain that from the vet? I used to work fish..so first thing I thought of was the tetracycline capsules of powder

Tetracycline can be obtained from rabbit supply stores or from feed stores. It's a powder that comes in a packet.

Pam

 

[bluepez]

they have normal pellet poos..the other ones..and even the pancake poo bunnies..just seems the sticky poos are just sticking..and then formed the ball.
this am..they were a little icky..but better..

no doesnt look like the picture..lol its on their bottoms.
So I will go to the feed store and see if they have some of the biosponge.
Or get it online if they do not.

I am confused about the tetracyline..so I should use it or stay away? I do not want to cause harm to my 4week old babies

 

[tonyshuman]

It's up to you. I wouldn't do it, but then I wouldn't give my bunnies any antibiotic without at least consulting a vet. It's often difficult to get the bunnies to take the whole dose of tetracycline as it is usually dissolved in their water bottles and thus is hard to ensure each one gets the same amount, etc. Pam is a highly respected ARBA breeder/judge who knows a lot about how to keep a large group of bunnies healthy--the rest of us deal mostly with one or two bunnies at a time so we may use different treatments.

If I were in this situation, I would prefer to use Flagyl (metronidazole), which is only available from vets, as it has better success with GI bacteria than tetracycline. It is easier to get the whole dose into each animal, has anti-inflammatory properties in the gut, and the bacteria are less likely to be resistant to it. However, that's just me and I don't have personal experience with any of these drugs.

This reminds me a bit of a very fat bunny I pet-sat for--he would get a layer of cecal pellets on his bum because he couldn't reach back to eat them, and they'd get all smooshed up against his bum. It would form a pocket around his anal/urogenital area and any further poo or pee that he would have would get stuck in this poo bubble-pocket-thing. I had to give him a butt bath every day around the time he had his cecal pellets (usually once, in the morning) or he'd have all that gunk up against his skin all day.

This is a helpful article although I would never use immodium in rabbits:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

 

[bluepez]

Thank you all for your help. The fecal float came back NEG. And today they just had a few stickies..no pancake poos. LOL

I will keep eye on them, but for now vet said to let them be. They are healthy, just trying my insanity and my worry mode HAHA
thank you lots

 

[tonyshuman]

Good to hear. I'm glad you got the float done just to be sure.