ra7751
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
Haven't been around much due to some issues with our regional wildlife center. We are in a bit of a lull with rescues....for the time being anyway. But I wanted to update everyone on something we are testing. It is an equine product called Biosponge. It is used in horses quite a bit when they experience GI distress. Since the GI of a horse and a rabbit are so similar, horses suffer from the same bacterial imbalances our rabbits do.....and it's usually due to our old friend Clostridium. For those of you not familiar with GI bacterial composition, Clostridium is a toxic bacteria that can grow rapidly in a stressed GI. This bacteria is usually controlled by the beneficial bacteria that digests the food. But when something compromises the good bacteria, bad stuff like Clostridium take advantage (why it's called an opportunistic bacteria). This bacteria results in upset GI, bloat, pain andmany timesdeath. Clostridium is related to botulism and tetanus and one of the primary causes of food poisoning in humans. This product, Biosponge, appears to be really effective at binding the toxins related to various strains of Clostridium. We experience this bacterial imbalance with weaning cottontails and it is the primary cause of baby cottontail deaths as they wean. A cottontail's wean is much quicker and more violent than a domestic wean. The conditions in a cottontail gut at wean are almost identical to that of a domestic with serious stasis/ileus. This product is available without prescription and comes in a paste or a powder. I will update again as we build a running chart of the possible benefit of this product.....but I am excited that we might finally have another product to help with these serious GI imbalances.
Randy
Haven't been around much due to some issues with our regional wildlife center. We are in a bit of a lull with rescues....for the time being anyway. But I wanted to update everyone on something we are testing. It is an equine product called Biosponge. It is used in horses quite a bit when they experience GI distress. Since the GI of a horse and a rabbit are so similar, horses suffer from the same bacterial imbalances our rabbits do.....and it's usually due to our old friend Clostridium. For those of you not familiar with GI bacterial composition, Clostridium is a toxic bacteria that can grow rapidly in a stressed GI. This bacteria is usually controlled by the beneficial bacteria that digests the food. But when something compromises the good bacteria, bad stuff like Clostridium take advantage (why it's called an opportunistic bacteria). This bacteria results in upset GI, bloat, pain andmany timesdeath. Clostridium is related to botulism and tetanus and one of the primary causes of food poisoning in humans. This product, Biosponge, appears to be really effective at binding the toxins related to various strains of Clostridium. We experience this bacterial imbalance with weaning cottontails and it is the primary cause of baby cottontail deaths as they wean. A cottontail's wean is much quicker and more violent than a domestic wean. The conditions in a cottontail gut at wean are almost identical to that of a domestic with serious stasis/ileus. This product is available without prescription and comes in a paste or a powder. I will update again as we build a running chart of the possible benefit of this product.....but I am excited that we might finally have another product to help with these serious GI imbalances.
Randy