(RIP) rabbit died for diarrhea

[anaotilia]

The last rabbit of a family of four died for diarrhea.
In this family the first to die was the mother without apparent reason, after in 15 days 2 of the three babies all of them without showing any sickness.
So, the last of the family, I took in my house to have him always under observation.
I wanted him living because it was the last one of the family.
After one week from the death of his last brother, He started with a small diarrhea of pulpy carrot colour.
So I started to give him every two hours a juice made of hydrolitic solution with carrot, broccoli, pellet and baby cereals. He liked it. 2 or 3 cc. every 2 or 3 hours. His weight was about 300 grms.
twice a day 0,70 cc of trimetoprim sulfa, 2 drops daily of baycol, 0,70 cc of metronidazol twice a day and 0,30 cc of panacur (fenobendazol) daily.
yesterday at midnight I put near him a bottle of warm water to keep him in a good temperature( He didn't eat and always was sad, in the day I always put near him a a big rabbit for companion, but It always looked to stay alone).
This morning at 7 am It was dead with some diarrhea .
So what was my mistake and because i have many small rabbits free in the garden, what can i do when this will happen again?
I noted in four years than when they loose the mother , they don't grow like the others and they die easily in the first 3 months.
thanks for your advices.

 

[JBun]

Diarrhea in rabbits is usually going to be caused by a bacteria like e. coli, or the parasite coccidiosis, though there are other parasites that can be the cause. Was it Baycox and not baycol that you treated with? If so, then between the baycox and trimetoprim sulfa, that should have taken care of the bacteria or coccidiosis, unless his illness was already too advanced, he was too dehydrated, or he got enteritis from the antibiotics( when giving antibiotics you also will need to give probiotics to help prevent enteritis and digestive problems from occurring from the effects of the antibiotics). If it was a tapeworm causing the problem, then those meds wouldn't have treated that. It sounds like you have something contagious spreading through your rabbits, if you have one after the other getting sick. Coccidiosis is highly contagious, but if you have rabbits running around the garden, I don't know how it would be possible to clean their environment without confining them to cages. Is it possible that you could take a fecal sample from a sick rabbit, into the vet, to see if they can determine what bacteria/parasite your rabbits are getting sick from?

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

 

[anaotilia]

sorry, it was baycox not baycol.

 

[JBun]

Yeah, baycox should have taken care of it if it was coccidiosis, and the antibiotics should have taken care of the bacteria(unless it was a resistant strain). So all I can think was that he was too dehydrated already, too sick for the meds to help, got enteritis from the meds, or had something else going on that those meds wouldn't treat, but I'm not sure what else beside tapeworm, that would cause the diarrhea. So, if you have a somewhat reliable vet(doesn't even have to be a rabbit vet), they could take a look at one of your rabbits fecal samples to check it for bacteria and parasites. You don't even have to take the rabbit in with you. You could just bring in a fresh fecal sample. That would be the best way to try and find out what is causing this, since I know your vets aren't all that great when it comes to rabbits.

Did you happen to be feeding them any new foods like veggies or fresh grass that they weren't used to eating?

 

[anaotilia]

TO JBUN

thanks for Emergency protocol for diarrhea You sent me.
Very very useful.

 

[anaotilia]

the food I give them it is always the same: pellet, carrots, lettuce, once a week integral bread, broccoli, apple.
More I have two very favourite rabbits that now they are already aged , they are crazy for cheese......

 

[JBun]

Is the lettuce a dark leafy lettuce, like green/red leaf lettuce, romaine, or is it iceburg lettuce?

 

[Maureen Las]

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

It is very difficult to raise babies without mom but this is closer to the correct protocol and formula . I know that you tried hard and did the best that you could :-( ; I am very sorry!

 

[anaotilia]

green lettuce.

 

[JBun]

Just so you know, iceburg lettuce is the bad one for rabbits and can cause diarrhea, and death if they eat too much of it. Also lots of new veggies/fruit and/or fresh grass, can also sometimes cause runny poop, especially with young rabbits, and if not corrected, could also be fatal. So that's why I was asking about it.

 

[anaotilia]

feeling embarassed for my ignorance!

 

[Blue eyes]

the food I give them it is always the same: pellet, carrots, lettuce, once a week integral bread, broccoli, apple.
More I have two very favourite rabbits that now they are already aged , they are crazy for cheese......

Jbun may know more on this, but it was my understanding that such young rabbits should not be receiving ANY carrots, lettuce, bread, broccoli or apple. Plain pellets and hay are easier on their developing digestive system and the other foods should be avoided until older.

(Oh, and the older ones should not be eating dairy either, like cheese)
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/yogurt.htm

 

[JBun]

No need to feel embarrassed. Owning rabbits has been a learning experience for me too. Rabbits are just very sensitive animals, some rabbits more than others. Veggies are good for them but certain foods can be very problematic, like lots of sugary foods, some cruciferous veggies, and iceburg lettuce in particular. But that depends on the amounts fed, if it's introduced into the diet too quickly, how sensitive the rabbit is, and what the age of the rabbit is. Young rabbits will often have a harder time with veggies/fruit and fresh grass. Sometimes if the mother is fed veggies and the babies have been nibbling on them since being out of the nest box, then they usually don't develop digestive problems, unless they are extra sensitive. But if a young rabbit is getting soft poop or isn't used to veggies, then it is usually best to wait til they are at least 12 weeks old to start slowly introducing new veggies. And it may not have been the food that caused the diarrhea. It still could have been a bacteria/parasite problem that caused it. That's just something you are going to want to try and figure out. If you think it might have been caused by the foods they were getting, then that can be easily fixed from happening again, by changing their diets. This is a good diet info/veggie list for rabbits.

http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#top