Gurgling Rabbit

[kopiikat]

I'm not sure what to do about this weird "illness." I'd appreciate any advice.

First, I'll give some background: a few days ago, Aki had a bad case of really runny , black diarrhea. Aside from that, though, he was acting totally normal. My boyfriend and I were really worried, as that had never really happened before, and when I searched for illnesses that involved diarrhea, there were tons of terrible responses, most of which could quickly be fatal. Because of this, we called up the vet right away.

Unfortunately, the 24 hour clinic was closed (for some reason) and the closest place we could go was hours away. Panicked, we called my boyfriend's father, who isn't a vet, but is a doctor and has also cared for lab animals in the past. He suggested giving 50mg of Ciprofloxacin (which I had left over from an illness of my own.) We gave him two doses, and he seemed to be better in about a day and a half.

I don't know how he could have gotten sick, since his diet was almost exactly the same as usual that day, and I don't think he could have been exposed to anything toxic. We gave him a little spinach, which maybe set off his bad stomach, since I've heard too much of that can be bad.

Anyway, now, for the current problem. Aki is gurgling. It sounds just like a gurgling stomach on a human, but I've never heard it from him before, so it worries me a little. Also, his ears feel a little warmer than usual, but I might just be imagining that. Finally, do you think he could still be sick from before?

Do you think this is anything to worry about? Please help. Thanks in advance.

~ Michele

 

[naturestee]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you get him to a regular vet? I don't know how much Aki weighs, but according to the Rabbit Drug Dosage Calculator (which is quite accurate, btw) the dosage range is 5-15 mg/kg. So at the highest dosage of 15 mg/kg, your rabbit should be over 7 pounds. There's also a note that this drug does tend to alter the GI flora which can cause more problems, and I expect a heavier dose than appropriate would make that worse.

Here's the site:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

What are his fecals like now? Is he acting normal? How old is he and how long have you had him? Could he have gotten to a house plant or was he playing outdoors?

The gurgling might be from gas trapped in his intestines. Does he feel bloated or is he sitting very upright or pressing his belly to the floor unusually? The gas would be caused by a bacterial imbalance. It can be treated with simethicone (baby gas meds), although since it is probably related to the diarrhea episode it's best to get a vet's opinion.

 

[kopiikat]

Aki is about 5 years old, and I have had him since he was four months. He hadn't really been out much in the days before he got sick, and he didn't go outside or anything. He's also pretty small, so now I'm worrying about the dosage.

He's basically acting normally, but I think he might be a little bloated. We're calling up vets to see which ones might be open as soon as possible.

According to one website I just found, symptoms seem typical of "GI Stasis," although his stool has been fairly normal since the diarrhea went away... We're going to try giving him pineapple juice, in case there's a blockage that's causing the bloating, and cutting down on his pellets. I'm also going to try to encourage him to excercise, since that was suggested on a website I read.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[naturestee]

Keep in mind that GI stasis is a symptom, not the problem itself. It's the slowdown or halting of movement of the GI tract. It can be caused by a range of problems including other problems with the GI tract (gas, bacterial imbalance, etc), tooth problems, or pain from just about anything else. Stasis that is caused by a blockage is actually rare, although blockages forming because of stasis are more common.

Check our Rabbit Health References thread for more info:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11918&forum_id=10

If he's still eating, pushing hay never hurts. He may also be a bit dehydrated, so give him a water bowl if he usually has a bottle, wet veggies or canned pumpkin if he tolerates them, etc.

 

[naturestee]

How's Aki doing?

 

[kopiikat]

I'm so sorry that I've forgotten to respond allthis time! I tried to respond a long time ago, but the forumwasn't working in my browser and I ran out of time.

Well, first of all, Aki is totally better!

After going to the vet (actually a number of different vets) a fewtimes, we FINALLY figured out what was wrong. AKI HAD E. COLI!

At first we became extremely paranoid since we thought we had given Akifood that had gone bad. We cleared out the whole fridge thatday, and tried to clean everything. But, remember my firstpost where I said we had given him SPINACH the day before??

Aki got sick from packaged spinach!

After a number of shots, a few weeks of crushing pills into his food,and giving him Bene-Bac for about TWO MONTHS, he FINALLY stopped havingdiarrhea. FINALLY we could let him out of the cage and notworry about staining the carpet, and FINALLY the house didn't smellterrible!

We were so scared for a while, and were especially scared since wethought it was our fault that he got sick! Now that we knowthe cause, it's a little more comforting in a way, but also extremelyscary because it was totally out of our hands.

Thank goodness for all of your help and for my strong bunny! :bunnydance:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Thank goodness your bunny is ok. Definitely sounds like a strong one too!

 

[missyscove]

I hadn't seen this topic before today, and justas I read spinach, that's the first thing I thought, of course, I wasjust watching the news. I'm glad he's better.

 

[Haley]

Wow..Im so happy to hear that your rabbit is okay!

I think everyone will think twice about giving their buns packaged greens such as spinach!

Thanks for the update Is that Aki in your avatar! So adorable!

 

[kopiikat]

Yup, that's him.

 

[Haley]

you should start a blog if you have time! He is adorable and we love pics!