Umm...can the judge be a little more specific? Probably not especially since you can't contact him. How can the judge know how to treat something if they can't identify it? I use Purina pellets and have had no problems at all with the product. Notto say that any one individual bag may have spot mycotoxins. And I do some very advanced medical work on rabbits but I am totally unaware of any medical product known as Comfy.
Bloat is always a symptom of something else. If the rabbits are dying, the most likely cause of death is due to a bacterial imbalance in the GI. The imbalance can be caused by any number of things....certainly some type of toxin (if it's in the feed, it's most likely mold), stress, water, infection or most anything else. In simple terms, the bloat is caused by gasses caused by decaying bacteria. The beneficial bacteria that has died also keeps the bad bacteria under control. Without that good bacteria, the results are usually a major GI event.....called various things depending on what part of the country you are in. We know it here as Cecal Dysbiosis. While I am not involved in shows, I do know that sometimes the show sponsor provides pellets and the change of pellets can cause some issues. And most people overfeed pellets and feed far too little hay.....and that combination leads to a weakened bacterial population in the gut and makes the population prone to issues.
We most often find a couple of specific strains of Clostridium in the guts of GI compromised rabbits. It is the primary killer of wild cottontails as they wean. The gut of a weaning cottontail and a domestic during stasis/ileus is identical. Clostridium is responsible for most food poisonings in humans. It is related to botulism and tetanus. Birds carry a particularly nasty strain of this bacteria. This bacteria is an obligate anaerobic bacteria....which means it lives in an environment totally void of oxygen. The effects of Clostridium in a rabbit's gut (or any other species) can easily be fatal....in rabbits sometimes less than 24 hours. Symptoms of Clostridium includes loss of appetite, lathargy, labored breathing, rough looking fur and finally they will wobble back and forth, fall over gasping for air and die. Sorry for the graphic description but it is what it is.
Our traditional response to this condition has been lots of hydration (both orally and by sub-q or IV), a probiotic such as Bene Bac and an antibiotic known as Metronidazole. The hydration helps dilute the toxins. The Bene Bac adds specific bacteria....not the kind that is naturally found in the gut....but the bacteria that is in the probiotic tends to acidify the gut and stabilize the pH in an acidic state. A pH of 1-2 is necessary for the growth of healthy bacteria. Many may suggest this but DO NOT use yogurt. Metronidazole is effective against anaerobic bacteria such as Clostridium. But Metronidazole's benefits are much more it's ability to calm the gut....it has huge anti-inflammatory properties.
We have used a human drug, Questran, in an effort to bind the toxins. It works something like the activated charcoal in Toxi-Ban (used by vets in dogs and cats). Problem with Questran is that it is hard to find, must be compounded and requires a huge amount of water for proper functions. I have recently been using a horse product (a horse and rabbit are medically almost identical) called BioSponge. It seems to be able to bind and filter nearly all the toxins released in a major GI event. I have only used it in a very small test group but have been nothing short of thrilled by the results. My most recent test was on some cottontails that were already showing signs of advanced GI distress. A week later, those cottontails are going to released this evening. Since we know that cottontails are much weaker than domestics, this product should be a life saver with domestics. It is available in both a powder and a paster. The powder is easily mixed in water and can be syringe fed....or can be sprinkled on greens. Simethicone can be administered to help with the gas. This drug is not absorbed into the body. It simply acts on the surface tension of the gas bubbles which allows them to collect into a passable form.
I would do some serious research to isolate the source of the problem.....and it could be anything. Good detective work is in order here.If there is any question about the quality of the pellets and/or hay....by all means toss it andstart with another source. I have tossed entirebales of hay and full bags of pellets that I questioned their quality. Good luck.
Randy
