distended colon

[tailof2rabbits]

okay, i'm a new member and this wasn't how i wanted to start off. it's a new development. My girl Mocha who's approx. 5 weeks old has been living on pellets and hay already. i saw her at a pet shop and i know, i know i shouldn't have but i felt bad and wanted to "save" her. now i'm neck deep in it. i have a 10 week old boy and he's healthy but that's beside the point.

Mocha's colon is way distended. there's just no nice way of saying that. her poop'sdoubled/tripled in size. It's Monday 1amwhere i am and there's just no vet for rabbits who'll take me in. Hell, there aren't enough vets for rabbits in third world countries. dogs and cats are where the money's at. Enough bitterness. I need help. i'm freaking out... i want to cry but i haveto bethinking clearly. Willa milk mixture containing lactobacilli help?she's getting weaker.

 

[naturestee]

She's having large, soft poop? Or large hard poop? And by a distended colon do you mean that it is outside the body, or is this an assumption from her fecal pellet size?

Don't use milk products with rabbits- they aren't capable of digesting them properly after they've been weaned, and cow's milk is different from other milk and can just upset her stomach further. Not to mention thatLactobaccilli are not normally present in rabbit intestines and the addition is usually short-lived and not particularly helpful.

All I can recommend is to make sure she is drinking water. If she isn't, you can use a feeding syringe (you can find them at pharmacies for giving medicine to human babies) to give her a little. Check over her hay and pellets and look for mold or weeds that may have gotten mixed in. And is this the same stuff that she was eating at the pet store? If not, the fast change in food may be the problem. Go get some of what she was used to eating and offer that instead.

Where are you located? There are a some vets listed for Asia and South Africa near the bottom of the page here:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

I hope she makes it through this. Poor little girl.
urplepansy:

 

[RO STAFF]

• 
  1) Weaning Too Young
  
  If the bunny suffering from runny stool is a baby, how old is he? If younger than eight weeks, and not nursing, his runny stool problem maybe due to his being weaned too young. Many pet stores will (illegally)sell rabbits younger than eight weeks of age (and some as young as four weeks!), because that is when they are still "cute" and more apt to be purchased on a whim. Sadly, many of these babies will succumb to intestinal disorders.
  
  Unlike most mammals, baby rabbits have a sterile lower intestine until they begin to eat solid food at the age of 3-4 weeks. It is during this time that their intestines are at their most critical phase, and the babies need their mother's milk, which changes pH and provides vital antibodies that help the baby gradually adjust to his changing intestinal environment. Without mother's milk, a baby starting to eat solid food is highly susceptible to enteritis (inflammation of the intestinal lining), which can cause fatal diarrhea.
  At the first sign of runny stool in a baby rabbit, off to the vet!Treatment for diarrhea in baby rabbits will probably include subcutaneous fluid thereapy, and administration of oral probiotics. Lactobacillus acidophilus powder (NOT yogurt, which can make the problem worse) suspended in clean drinking water and carefully administered via syringe seems to help foster a healthy intestinal environment and may even soothe intestinal inflammation. A very small amount of a clay-based product such as Kaopectate can help solidify the stool and stop the cycle.'
  
  2) Intestial Parasites
  
  
  As mentioned before, coccidial infection is very common in some areas,and some vets will simply treat a baby rabbit's diarrhea as coccidia,even without a fecal test. Common antibiotics used to treat coccidiainclude Albon and the potentiated sulfas, such as Trimethoprim Sulfa(TMZ) or Bactrim.

 

[tailof2rabbits]

Thanksfor all the help. I actually found that article before seeing your replies. Lactobacillus acidophilus -->We have this local drink called Yakult. (I'm from the Philippines, btw. I have nice and competent vets but I'm still looking for a specialist... especially since I want to have them neutered and spayed. Anyway,) It's cultured milk containing lactobacilli,specifically used to aid digestion. I fed her .6ml of that with lots and lots of hay. She's improved a lot. Not distended anymore. She's been nippy though because I've been holding out on the pellets. Still not as active but at least there's some activity. She runs around for 5 minutes, takes a break, then runs again.

Marbles, on the other hand, developed a bad case of diarrhea an hour after I posted. I swear, my head was spinning. Yakult also cured him. It's magic, I'm telling you. I'll be posting pictures of them on the appropriate thread. I'd hate to do so under the "Distended Colon" thread. Heh.Thanks again.

 

[AmberNBuns]

I am glad to hear that your babies are feeling better.

I just wanted to add - if you feel that probiotics would be beneficial but might be concerned about problems digesting dairy, they have capsules at most health food stores that you could break open and use the powder. I have used this along with digestive enzymes to help my bunny get througha terrible bout of stasis (along with hydration etc...) So milk and yogurt are not the only sources of probiotics.