Need Advice on new baby rabbit, please help!

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playon

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Hello! Just yesterday I got a 7 week old rabbit. She's very friendly and sweet, but I brought her home and I notice she's been having a little diahrea. Not a lot at all, but a little. And her poop is a little runny. She was with another rabbit, so I'm thinking it may just be the stress of moving? She's drinking and eating as far as I can tell. Her stomach's not making any noise or anything weird like that.
Please help! I've been reading and hearing some bad things about rabbits having diarrhea, and I just want to make sure this isn't serious.

Thanks!
 
What exactly does the poop look like? Is it soft but formed into little balls, kind of like a cluster of grapes? Or is it truly runny?

If it's just soft, it sounds like cecals, which are the poo bunnies are supposed to eat. Sometimes they don't eat it and it ends up on the floor - this can be caused by stress, change in diet, or sometimes it just happens with young bunnies and then clears up. Usually feeding a lot of hay and lower amount of pellets will clear things up. If it persists for more than a couple days, or there is a very large quantity of cecals, a trip to the vet is in order.

If it's truly runny diarrhea, your bun needs to see a vet immediately. This isn't normal and won't clear up and could be a sign of a serious problem.

I'm going to move this to the infirmary - you'll probably get more responses there.
 
7 weeks is very young. Usually you're not allowed to sell rabbit under 8 weeks of age.

In any case, you will need to be vigilant about treating this or get her to a vet immediately. Is she eating? Try to give her the exact same food she had at the place you got her--same brand of pellets, etc. Take out any sugary treats, like carrots, apples, oats, wheat-based products. Give her some probiotic. Pet stores sell a good one called Bene-Bac and farm stores sell a good one called ProBios, but if you can't get either of those, go to the pharmacy and get acidophilus capsules. Do not give yogurt or a milk-based probiotic as rabbits are lactose intolerant. Offer her an additional water source--a bottle if she already has a bowl, and a bowl if she already has a bottle, and a bowl full of pedialyte (infant rehydration drink with low sugar content but good electrolyte content).

Anything else you can tell us about the runny poos/diarrhea? Are they mushy balls of poop, or actual liquid diarrhea? What is the color? Is there any mucus?

If there is mucus, it is all liquid poo and no solids, she isn't drinking or eating, she is acting lethargic, or if the color is not brown, the bunny needs to go to the vet ASAP. She may have a condition called mucoid enteritis where bad bacteria in the GI tract build up, causing diarrhea. The toxins released by the bacteria need to be absorbed by a special drug--two options are Questran and Bio-Sponge, and the bacteria need to be killed along with adding anti-inflammatory effects to the GI tract, accomplished with a drug called metronidazole. She will also need sub-q fluids. Questran and metronidazole are prescription only. Bio-sponge is a newer product that not many people have. I ordered some to keep on hand but it is primarily used in horses and isn't commonly stocked by other vets.

Young bunnies have an unstable GI bacterial population. Starting at birth, they gradually populate their GI tracts with the correct bacteria simply by being groomed by the mother and being around her. As they are weaned off milk and onto solid food around 6 weeks, it is critical that they get the correct bacteria from their mother. For months after weaning, the GI bacterial community is unstable because it is so newly established, and it is most unstable when the bunnies are younger. The post-weaning time is important for bunnies to remain with their mom so they can get and sustain the right GI microbes. Your girl was taken from her mom a bit too early so her GI system is even less stable.

In my book, a bunny with diarrhea under 3 mo of age is an immediate emergency vet visit.
 
Hello all! Thanks for all the advice! She's doing fantastic and her tummy's back to normal, just a small upset! Thank you!
 
my first rabbit who was 9 weeks old died of dioreah, but then my current bun bun, wolfgang, had dioreah when he first moved, and still gets dioreah every so often if his food changes or something in his environment changes, it could just be the stress, but if he is still eating and drinking it should be fine.
 
Get Benebac to give to your rabbit during stressful times.; it is a probiotic which helps keep the microorgainisms in the GI tract balanced

Sold at many chain pet stores in powder form ( cat type is OK) or in individual gel tubes for small mammals
 

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