Hi, I am glad I found your forum I have a orphaned bunny I have been feeding since he was approximately 7 days old, he was taken from a cat, then discarded in a trash can so human intervention was a must. I followed the Dr Dana Kremple's protocol for feeding orphaned domestic rabbits to the T. In spite of my efforts nearly four weeks ago Zero developed enteritis. He was on a 14 day course of Baytril,Gentamicin (10 days) and Flagyl (10 days) it has been 8 days since his last dose of antibiotics and he seems to be doing very well. My concern is my vet is having me weigh him twice a day stating that sudden weight gain/ loss is an indicator of bloat. Is this true? I am not sure that I have read that information anywhere online. Am I making myself crazy weighing him and worrying for nothing. I weaned him at day 45 which is much earlier than I planned to because he was eating too much solids then would still eat his formula until he made himself miserable and his tummy extremely taut.
Here is the list of what he is getting:
Currently gets .25 ml of Simethicone 3 x daily
Critical Care 1/4 TSP mixed with 3 parts water 3 x daily
Benebac 1/2 gram every other day
2 TBS of Oxbow Young Rabbit Pellets (1TBS am and 1TBS pm)
His pellets are limited to encourage hay consumption.
He is eating approximately 1 cup of Orchard Grass and one cup of Timothy Hay
I have never had to force this boy to eat anything! He is still playfull, pooping normally, but he has days like today where within 12 hours he will gain weight in excess of 15grams. I am not exactly sure of his breed but I am guessing he is perhaps a New Zealand or dilute Californian (he has some gray in his tail and the tips of his ears). I know NZW rabbits are bred for meat, is this a logical explanation for his weight gain averaging around 100g a week?
As I am typing this he has just finished zooming around his cage (after two hours play time) and nibbling on more hay. Should I be concerned about the weight as much or are there more serious signs I should be looking for?
Please help, I have been fretting over this bunny for six weeks!
Here is the list of what he is getting:
Currently gets .25 ml of Simethicone 3 x daily
Critical Care 1/4 TSP mixed with 3 parts water 3 x daily
Benebac 1/2 gram every other day
2 TBS of Oxbow Young Rabbit Pellets (1TBS am and 1TBS pm)
His pellets are limited to encourage hay consumption.
He is eating approximately 1 cup of Orchard Grass and one cup of Timothy Hay
I have never had to force this boy to eat anything! He is still playfull, pooping normally, but he has days like today where within 12 hours he will gain weight in excess of 15grams. I am not exactly sure of his breed but I am guessing he is perhaps a New Zealand or dilute Californian (he has some gray in his tail and the tips of his ears). I know NZW rabbits are bred for meat, is this a logical explanation for his weight gain averaging around 100g a week?
As I am typing this he has just finished zooming around his cage (after two hours play time) and nibbling on more hay. Should I be concerned about the weight as much or are there more serious signs I should be looking for?
Please help, I have been fretting over this bunny for six weeks!