rabbit covered in poo and lathargic (RIP)

[dittac]

just come to one of my oranges, who was runnin around like mad yesterday with her sister, and shes covered in poo round her tail and feet. it is full clean day todayand they poo in one corner so thought she might have been sat in that but shes lathargic too, she usually struggles when you pick her up then she settles but this time she wasnt bothered, lettin me cradle her like a baby. im currently emailing my vet about it as to what action i should take, anyone else had this? any advice? her cage mate her sister is fine, totally clean and bouncing around like a nutter



i dont wanna lose her

 

[Pipp]

How old is she? The most important thing is to get warmish fluids in her, hopefully some fiber and a pro-biotic like bene-bac. And keep her warm.

I'll post info from the Library in a minute.


sas ray:

 

[dittac]

shes approx 2 yrs old, the only probiotic stuff i have is for reptiles? ive used that with success in rabbits to get them to eat. Shes with her sister though, so worried she may pass something to her? ive brought them both inside, they used to free roam the spare room so thats where they will stay now til break. ive got some syringes so i will get some fluid into her. she was eating for england yesterday!



thanks for replying

 

[Pipp]

If you can read the entries in this article and try and ID the problem, it may help.

Your best bet is to get her to a vet ASAP for an infusion of fluids and Critical Care feedings and the proper drugs.

Enteritis Complexes: Coccidiosis, Mucoid Enteropathy, and Enterotoxemia (Pamela Alley) - describes the different intestinal ailments that commonly cause diarrhea in rabbits.
http://www.showbunny.com/gastrointestinal.htm

Intestinal Diseases -- Enterotoxemia, Tyzzer's Disease, Colibacillosis, Proliferative Enteropathy, Mucoid Enteropathy (Merck Vet Manual)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171319.htm


sas :clover:

 

[Pipp]

Only offer her hay and water for now, although I doubt she'll eat it.

The reptile probiotic should be fine.

Also try some baby gas drops with Simethicone, and give her quite a large dose -- at least a full CC every hour for three hours.

If you can get Critical Care, which is like a ground pellet mix but formulated for sick rabbits, that would be great. (You may have something similar under another name).

If she can't get to a vet, and she's taking fluids and has a little food in her stomach, you can give her some pain meds like Baby Motrin or Ibuprofen. (I give my small bunnies about a quarter tab of Baby Motrin).

But fluids and fiber, gas and pain relief will help, as will the probiotic.

A Vet can test her fecal material. At her age, its most likely Cecal Dysbiosis and a gut imbalance -- you have 'bad' bacteria over-running good bacteria, but its really best to pinpoint a cause. It could be diet-related, a bug or another intestinal problem or something else stressing her system.

If its a gut imbalance, there's an antibiotic that may help -- but with bacterial imbalances, it's also good to know which bacteria you're dealing with.

A Vet is your best bet.


sas :clover:

 

[Pipp]

PS: Best to try and get some infant electrolyte replacement formula, it's Pedialyte here, Dioralyte in the UK...

 

[dittac]

thanks for that, ive contacted my vet and am awaiting a reply. i have endless amounts of baytril which is an anti boitic so could give her that if the vet says so. i had some colic medicine somewhere but cant for the life of me find it. i have actually got some of the critical care you talk about so will get some mixed up

Could i give her the fluids sub cutaniously? i realise its not something you would be suggesting to do under normal circumstances but i have administered fluids sub cut to several types of animals under my vets permission, i have the needles and syringes here and i also have a bag of sterile fluids. im also trained in venapuncture and though its different on animals i know how to handle needles.



shes up in her room now with hay and straw, she wont take the water orally, she isnt even attemptin to swallow, and my worry is if i carry on with it she will aspirate on it.

i also dont have the pain meds you have adviced, only metacam, just lookin to see if its safe with rabbits. if not i will go to the shop now

 

[Pipp]

SubQ fluids are best, yes, so go for it. (Not venapuncture).

No Baytril, not the right antibiotic.

Critical Care or at least the fluids first, and then the Metacam, which is the best pain med for rabbits, but it needs to be given to well-hydrated rabbits with a bit of food in the stomach.

She sounds very sick.

PS: Keep her warm, maybe a heated rice sock, a snuggle-safe or something similar.


sas ray:

 

[dittac]

right guys been to the shop



please tell me if any of these arent suitable



i have

calprofen - containin ibuprofen, its in liquid form for infants 3+ months, unfortunately its strawberry flavour though, that should be ok shouldnt it?

dioralyte - unfortunately again its blackcurrent flavour! nothin plain at all

infocol - for colic containin simeticone

also got some ibuprofen tablets but theyre adult ones just incase she couldnt have the liquid form but they will be stronger



also have oxbow critical care

should i give her a bit of everything?



as for fluids, i know its not venepunture, i only mentioned it so you guys knew i was familiar with needles n stuff.

she isnt very well, but she was the vision of perfect health yesterday i cant believe it!

quick reply needed so i can give her all this stuff ive got for her if its suitable

 

[Maureen Las]

If she still has diarrhea she possibly should be on a drug called flagyl; the sub q fluids is fine if you know what you are doing and have the proper solution

I would not give the calprofen as you have no idea how to dose it

simethicone and the diorlyte is fine

What does your rabbit look like right now .. Poops etc disposition ?

 

[Maureen Las]

this product was originally made for horses to treat clostridium.


http://www.entirelypets.com/platbio15cc.html

it actually works well on rabbits
Randy ( another wild life rehabber mod here) uses it on young rabbits at his rescue all the time
You may be able to get some from people who own horses. This would be good if you could get it
it is called biosponge and absobs toxins in the Gi tract

 

[Pipp]

SubQ, Critical Care, Metacam, InfaCol, probiotic are good.

With the SubQ, you won't need the dioralyte but normally it would be good as well.

 

[dittac]

angieluv wrote:

If she still has diarrhea she possibly should be on a drug called flagyl; the sub q fluids is fine if you know what you are doing and have the proper solution

I would not give the calprofen as you have no idea how to dose it

simethicone and the diorlyte is fine

What does your rabbit look like right now .. Poops etc disposition ?

I HAVE FLAGYL!!! ops caps shall i give her that as well as everythin else?



rabbit hasnt pooped since i cleaned her but shes all wobbly and all over the place! would a stomach problem cause her to do that?

should i treat the same?

 

[Pipp]

I'd go for the Flagyl but I don't know the dosage... AngieLuv?

Wobbly is a sick bunny thing, a bad GI upset will cause that.


sas

 

[Maureen Las]

Don't give anything without determining the proper dosage

I cannot tell you to give this because I am not a vet , however the drug is metronidazole and is in the calculator with an average dosage.

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

if you are going to do it you cannot just guess at a dosage .

 

[dittac]

shes in my arms now, flacid, i think shes passed away ive lost my beautiful baby

 

[Maureen Las]

OMG I am so very sorry
it sounded really bad
I am so very sorry :hug:

 

[Pipp]

I'm so sorry.

You did everything you could. Her chances really weren't very good at all. She was very sick.

It was more likely something like Enterotoxemia and not Coccidiosis, the transmittable one, but probably a good idea to disinfect her area with hydrogen peroxide or a mild bleach solution.

Really sorry.


sas :tears2:

 

[dittac]

thanks guys, im in tears here, she was part of my first trio, and now im worried for her sister who lives with her. is she likely to get sick? if its enteroxemia will it not be passed to the others? how is she likely to have caught it in the first place?

i had something similar happen to one on christmas day, she passed away, had loose stools, but i couldnt get her to anywhere for a pm due to the holidays. Though she didnt die in front of me so i wouldnt be able to say whether the symptoms were exact. The only similarity is theloose motions i found.When she died everyone got cleaned and disinfected.

ill explain her symptoms a bit more now, and how she passed away. Yesterday my partner fed them both and they were both chompin at the bit to get to the carrots so this has all happened within the last 24 hours if that.

when i found her she had loose stools on her fur, she was lathargic, let me pick her up, occasionally kicked out to get down. then when ive just come back with all the medicine she was sat up but wobblin, her head was wobblin from side to side, then she went to run off but was un co-ordinated and falling over, she then came to rest on the hay lay full length. i then cradled her in my arms about to give her the meds when she started taking sharp breaths, pausing about a minute in between. she did this for about ten breaths then stopped and was gone


as much as i dont want to, i will be takin her for a pm tomorrow if he will do it on a sunday

 

[hln917]

I'm so sorry.