Jessscott
New Member
I am beside myself and out of ideas so I am wanting to reach out for some more advice. We got Dustin and Molly as 3yr old bunnies from a shelter last year. For the most part they have been healthy and quickly became a big part of our lives. Molly has recently been sick.
At the start of June I noticed that she had lost weight and had signs of diarrhea and immediately took her to the vet. Once there, they tested her droppings for coccy and didn't find anything, however she seemed to perk up and we were sent home with something called Bactrim just in case. We gave her critical care also. For the next week or so she recovered and we thought that it was over. Then she had another diarrhea episode and was very bloated (you could see her tummy swirling under her coat) and again we rushed her to the vet. That vet wasn't helpful and just gave us the same again.
The day after we took her to a rabbit specialist vet who did full round of blood tests and xrays. They didn't find anything unusual and were given more blank stares. At this point she was given more bactrim, painkillers, pro biotics, gut stimulant and critical care. We were also feeding small amounts of pineapple juice in case there was a blockage that needed to be broken down. She was on 3 hourly critical care feeds.
She seemed to improve over the next week and was ravenous for food, taking fresh grass and thistles etc but avoiding the pellets that she once loved.
However one more week on, same thing, down hill again.She also appeared to start losing her balance and was not as coordinated when hopping. This time the lady that we adopted them from came and took her to give round the clock care. she had an injection of pro-pecillin and was given a course of Baytril. Really improved, but then a week later she displayed a bloated stomach again. She was given daily injections of pro-pecillin for a week and was the best she'd ever been. Even started putting weight back on and very coordinated again.
It had been a week since her last injection and she displayed a bloated tummy again. However no runny poos anymore. Whenever she is bloated now she lays flat on her tummy with her head on the ground. She is still eating and drinking and seems fine otherwise. I have noticed she gets bloated at night - in the morning and during the day she appears to be 100%.
A friend has suggested that it may be mucoid enteritis and after googling it I am really hoping that it isn't. In terms of her diet, she has constant fresh grass hay, fresh grass, other plants such as dandelions, thistles, flatweed, mint, parsley etc that she picks when in our back yard (approx 3 hours a day), otherwise she lives inside all the time. She has a small amount of barastoc pellets in the morning and maybe one stick of celery and a bok choy leaf at night. I would also give her a piece of banana, apple or carrot each day.
I'm really sorry for rambling on but I have tried to provide as much information as possible. I love my buns so much and don't want them to suffer! If you have any ideas it would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jess
At the start of June I noticed that she had lost weight and had signs of diarrhea and immediately took her to the vet. Once there, they tested her droppings for coccy and didn't find anything, however she seemed to perk up and we were sent home with something called Bactrim just in case. We gave her critical care also. For the next week or so she recovered and we thought that it was over. Then she had another diarrhea episode and was very bloated (you could see her tummy swirling under her coat) and again we rushed her to the vet. That vet wasn't helpful and just gave us the same again.
The day after we took her to a rabbit specialist vet who did full round of blood tests and xrays. They didn't find anything unusual and were given more blank stares. At this point she was given more bactrim, painkillers, pro biotics, gut stimulant and critical care. We were also feeding small amounts of pineapple juice in case there was a blockage that needed to be broken down. She was on 3 hourly critical care feeds.
She seemed to improve over the next week and was ravenous for food, taking fresh grass and thistles etc but avoiding the pellets that she once loved.
However one more week on, same thing, down hill again.She also appeared to start losing her balance and was not as coordinated when hopping. This time the lady that we adopted them from came and took her to give round the clock care. she had an injection of pro-pecillin and was given a course of Baytril. Really improved, but then a week later she displayed a bloated stomach again. She was given daily injections of pro-pecillin for a week and was the best she'd ever been. Even started putting weight back on and very coordinated again.
It had been a week since her last injection and she displayed a bloated tummy again. However no runny poos anymore. Whenever she is bloated now she lays flat on her tummy with her head on the ground. She is still eating and drinking and seems fine otherwise. I have noticed she gets bloated at night - in the morning and during the day she appears to be 100%.
A friend has suggested that it may be mucoid enteritis and after googling it I am really hoping that it isn't. In terms of her diet, she has constant fresh grass hay, fresh grass, other plants such as dandelions, thistles, flatweed, mint, parsley etc that she picks when in our back yard (approx 3 hours a day), otherwise she lives inside all the time. She has a small amount of barastoc pellets in the morning and maybe one stick of celery and a bok choy leaf at night. I would also give her a piece of banana, apple or carrot each day.
I'm really sorry for rambling on but I have tried to provide as much information as possible. I love my buns so much and don't want them to suffer! If you have any ideas it would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jess