Rabbit has maggots, very worried!

[Halima0011]

*** Sorry for the length in advance***

So I recently just became an owner of a bunny that was previously my sisters, the reason being that she didn't take very good care of her at all.. She never cleaned her cage and Timothy hay was hardly introduced to her diet in the past few weeks or so. Unfortunately this gave her terrible diarrhea which then matted her back side and gave her maggots. I took her to the vet on Friday as soon as my sister reported to me that something was wrong with her because she had not been eating or drinking and not using the bathroom for sometime. After I took her to the vet they gave her a really deep cleaning, shaved off her matted parts, and a shot of antibiotics. Now I am making sure her backside stays clean and will disinfect her cage twice a week until she gets better. She is currently on Baytril and Albon suspension which is administered orally everyday. The maggots had been falling out of her since I brought her home and I am cleaning them up, however I haven't seen one in a while now. NOW, I am more worried because she is not eating or drinking at all.. I took her in yesterday for fluid treatment so she doesn't get too dehydrated, but no matter what, she wont eat? I am scared she might have GI Stasis, but my main question was going to be with the antibiotics and Fluid treatment may the GI Stasis go away instead of me getting another treatment for her? The vet also mentioned GI Stasis so maybe she prescribed the antibiotics for that, not sure because I don't know much about the antibiotics in the first place. Also what can I do at home to have her start drinking more water and eating?? Right Now I am trying to feed her tons of hay, fresh water everyday, very small amounts of celery and then just some rabbit pellets.

But besides that she seems fine, she has gained a little bit more strength back and a little bit of her feistiness given she has been fighting me more while trying to give her her medicine. Any advice is appreciated!! Thank you.

 

[JBun]

If there are still maggots on your rabbit you need to get her back to the vet immediately!!!

Any and all maggots and eggs need to be cleaned off immediately by the vet. If you are seeing ones on the surface, that can mean there are many more below the skin. The lack of appetite could be due to continuing maggot infection below the skin and the vet needs to check for this very thoroughly. Fly strike in rabbits can prove deadly in a matter of hours. You do not want to delay even for a minute to get back to the vet, or at least phone the vet explaining your rabbits condition and ask whether or not you need to bring her back in. Though it may be if you aren't seeing an experienced rabbit vet, that it would be better to find a rabbit specialist to take your rabbit to.

If your vet is only prescribing antibiotics for gi stasis and not pain medication, gut motility meds, as well as a syringe feeding mix to force feed to your rabbit daily if she is not eating well, then I would suspect your current vet may not be very rabbit savvy. If so I would suggest trying to find a rabbit specialist.
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

If there are no more maggots or eggs found, it is possible the gi stasis may be due to the antibiotics causing nausea and lack of appetite. In which case the vet may want to switch your rabbit to a different antibiotic that doesn't cause lack of appetite for your rabbit, or if not and there is no sign the antibiotic is causing diarrhea, you may just need to syringe feed your rabbit a food mix and water several times a day until the course of antibiotics is finished. Oxbow critical care is the most common food mix used and you should be able to get it from your vet. If your rabbit is not drinking and eating well on her own, it will be necessary to syringe feed food and water until she is eating better on her own, or the gi stasis will continue to get worse.

GI stasis many times doesn't clear up on it's own and can just gets worse until it proves fatal, if the appropriate measures are not taken. Which are the vet ruling out a complete obstruction, followed up with ensuring the rabbit is not dehydrated and giving fluids if so. Then the appropriate medications are needed, along with daily force feedings of water and food. In very severe cases the rabbit may need to be admitted for IV fluids and supportive care.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

 

[majorv]

The Baytril is probably causing the GI upset. Albon doesn't usually cause issues. If you can give her some probiotics it would help with the GI issues until she's finished with it..

 

[Cheyrul]

Omg! This horrifying, I've never heard of such a thing@

 

[PhoenixTheMiniLop]

Omg please take this baby to the vet immediately!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cheyrul]

How's the bunny doing now?

 

[Azerane]

Omg! This horrifying, I've never heard of such a thing@

It's called fly strike. It's not particularly common but is most often associated with rabbits living in unsanitary conditions, or those with a poopy butt. It's rare for indoor rabbits to get. But it is very serious.