Rabbit with severe diarrhea - RIP

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Klugheit37

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Hello all,

I have a 7-8 year old female netherland dwarf who has severe watery diarrhea. There's no emergency vet clinic that can take rabbits until tomorrow, so I was hoping for some insight or advice to at least keep her comfortable through the night. The run-down:

- Diarrhea is severe and foul smelling and has coated her entire bottom. Didn't see any strange behavior from her until this evening, but it's possible it could have been going on longer.
- She's been laying down and quite lethargic. She gets up every now and then to quickly groom herself or drink some water, but she won't eat.
- The most worrying part is she occasionally lets out a high-pitched squeak, usually when she sits up or lets out a large breath. There's no sign of upper respiratory problems other than that.

I've cleaned her cage and laid out her fresh water and hay/pellets/greens to entice her to eat. She's been eating the same thing for 7-ish years now, so I'm stumped and very worried about her. Thanks in advance to any replies.

-Katie
 
About a week ago, I came from school and Casper had diarrhea just after I arrived. I was so worried and took him out to monitor and he was going a lot, and not in the literbox. He is a lionhead with extra fluff at his bum and he was getting so dirty, even picking up dust or anything on the ground. His too was watery and foul smelling.

I didn't want to stress my bun so I didn't try to clean his bum if he wouldn't let me. My case is a bit different because he was not displaying any signs of pain or being lethargic, he was actually active. He refused pellets, but ate hay and I syringed fed him water. Important thing is to keep him hydrated.

I tend to avoid veggies with diarrhea or mushy poop. Just the day he had diarrhea I ran out of hay. So I picked some grass and he ate it without any problem. Later that night, he continued to have diarrhea. Not having much of a choice, I prepared some cooked rice for him. It dried out the diarrhea so much he wasn't even pooping for hours after that. I also brought my bun to the vet that day.
 
Hi Marie,

Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm glad Casper is doing better. I'm worried about greens/veggies too, but I'm not sure which is worse - the diarrhea or her not eating at all. She's a finicky eater to begin with, so my reasoning was put out something she'd really like to see if she'd eat at all, but I'll take the greens out of her cage for now.

I'm hoping she just pulls through through the night.
 
I would definitely keep pushing hay and water, and keep an eye on her. Get her to a vet ASAP as it is quite a severe situation.

:pray: Thinking of you and your bun, I hope she gets better soon.

If worst comes to worst and she won't drink, it may even be worth taking her to a non-rabbit savvy vet for a few hours, to get some fluids into her via IV.
 
Thank you, Charlotte! I definitely will keep an eye on her. Thanks for your well wishes.

It's 1 am here, so only 24 hour emergency vets are open. I've called every one within 1+ hr of us, and none of them will even take rabbits. I found one that has their rabbit doctor in at 7, so I'm hoping she holds out until then.

On the plus side, she has been nibbling at things and has been a little more active, so hopefully she continues to improve!
 
Profuse watery diarrhea is actually an extremely serious situation with rabbits, as it often has to do with pathogenic bacteria or harmful protozoa. The common bacteria to cause this is e. coli and clostridium. If it happens to be clostridium, that is extremely dangerous to leave untreated for even a few hours, as it releases dangerous toxins. E. coli is slightly less urgent but serious as well. Another cause of diarrhea is the coccidia protozoa. Clostridium would need to be treated with the antibiotic metronidazole, and questran may be needed to bind the toxins. E. coli can be treated with baytril or sulfatrim. Coccidiosis can be treated with the sulfatrim as well.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm

The problem is that without a fecal test being done right away, there is no way to know what is causing the diarrhea. If at all possible try and get her into the emergency clinic and get a fecal test done. If they absolutely won't treat her, see if they will at least test a fecal sample, and then maybe if they find something they will at least let you get the meds needed for the night, until you can see a vet tomorrow. Since they aren't rabbit vets, double check any meds they give, especially antibiotics as some can be deadly if given to rabbits and some are dangerous to be given orally, with this list of dangerous antibiotics for rabbits, and list of rabbit safe meds.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/Unsafe_drugs_main.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Safe_drugs_main.htm

If none of this is possible, then like mentioned, encourage hay and hydration. If possible don't feed the veggies, but if that is all she will eat on her own, ensure they are absolutely not spoiled at all as this can be a contributing cause to gut problems, and try and stick to veggies she has been used to eating for a long time and not shown any digestion problems with. Absolutely avoid any sugary items. And make sure she stays hydrated, even if you have to syringe her water. If you do, just make sure to do it slowly, giving her time to swallow so she doesn't risk aspirating the fluid. If the emergency vet will give a sub q injection, that would be helpful too.
 
Thank you, Jenny. I'm pretty sure you were correct considering how fast everything escalated. I called several more emergency vets and hospitals and got some more advice, but none were able to take her until 7 am today. Unfortunately, she didn't make it through the night... I was up with her until about 2 and by the time I woke up again at 5 she had already passed.

Thanks again to you and Charlotte for your kind words, and I'm sorry I couldn't update with better news. Luna was my best little cuddle-bun these past 7 years... I'm still trying to cope with this sudden loss.
 
I'm so sorry. I was hoping she would pull through. I just lost one this past month and it's difficult. I'm so sorry to hear of Luna's passing and maybe you can call your regular vet and see if you even want to, know what she had before she passed.

You are in my thoughts and I wish you luck in dealing with this difficult time. I'm still dealing with mine.

Vanessa
 
I'm so so sorry. I can't imagine what your going through. know that you are in my prayers. :(
 
I'm so sorry to hear that she didn't make it through the night. :( At least she passed knowing that you cared for her deeply, and did everything you could for her.

Binky free, Luna. :pray:
 
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