Scourban - is it ok for my rabbits

[squidpop]

Daisy, my male neutered fuzzy lop, became ill day before yesterday. I went out to feed him and he didn't come out of his box to eat so I knew something was up. He seemed weak and limp and couldn't walk very well. He would still eat but you had to bring the food to him because he was too weak to move. I syringed some fluids into him and fed him that night and the next morning he was worse and had lots of mushy poo. He was so weak if he fell over he could not get back up. I had to take him to the emergency vet who admitted he didn't treat rabbits very often. I actually told him to look on the medirabbit page on rabbit enteritis. The vet read that and decided to give me something called Scourban. I gave him Scourban yesterday and last night and Daisy has improved overnight, he can now get back up if he falls over. But I'm worried he didn't poo very much last night and that makes me wonder if Scourban is making him constipated. Scourban seems to have Sulpha-antibiotics and that would be good to get rid of the tummy bugs but I'm a bit worried there might be other things in Scourban, like the Hyoscine hydrobromide which slows gut motility, that might cause constipation. So, I guess what I'm wondering is— Has anyone used Scourban, do you think its ok to give to my rabbit? Below is a bunch of info about Scourban including the ingredients. I'm just a little worried because he has been eating but not really pooing much.


------Here is the ingredients oething called Scourban. I used it yesterday and last night and Daisy has improved some since, he can now get back up if he falls over. But I'm worried he didn't poo very much last night and that makes me wonder if Scourban is making him constipated. Scourban seems to have Sulpha-antibiotics and that would be good to get rid of the tummy bugs but I'm a bit worried there might be other things in it, like the Hyoscine hydrobromide which slows gut motility, that might cause constipation.


------Here is the ingredients of Scourban-------
Prevention and treatment of intestinal infections of bacterial origin in horses, cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, dogs and cats.

Pack Sizes:
Available in 1L, 2L and 5L bottles.

Description
Pink liquid for oral use. Each 30 mL contains:
Sulphadimidine 639mg, Sulphaguanidine 639mg, Sulphadiazine 852mg, Kaolin 3.1g, Hyoscine Hydrobromide 0.6mg plus electrolytes, glycine and pectin.

Mode of action:
Sulphonamide antibiotics exert antibacterial effect. Electrolytes and glycine assist restoration of fluid balance. Hyoscine hydrobromide acts as an antispasmodic. Kaolin and pectin absorb bacterial toxins and provide protective coating in inflamed mucosa.

 

[JBun]

The sulfa antibiotics will certainly help if it is coccidiosis. Did your vet do a fecal float to verify if this was the cause?

I'm not sure what effect the other ingredients will have since they aren't meds that are known to be safe for use in rabbits. The kaolin is likely what is causing the gut slowdown, as it is used as an antidiarrheal. If your rabbits digestion is slowed down too much now, you may need to ask your vet for a gut stimulant(cisapride, metoclopramide) to prevent stasis from occurring.

If you can, it might be better to ask your vet for a plain sulfa med like Albon(sulfadimethoxine), which is commonly used to treat coccidiosis. Another med you should have available to you for coccidia treatment is Baycox, which is actually a more effective med, though wouldn't work if it is a bacteria like e. coli that is affecting your bun. If you go this route, I believe the liquid may be too alkaline and needs to be made into an acidic suspension to counter this. I've read of Coca cola being used.

If you have a usual vet that treats your rabbits, it might be worth contacting them about the diagnosis and treatment with the emergency vet, as the original symptoms that you describe aren't typical of coccidiosis or enteritis(though not impossible), so it might be good to verify that the correct disease is being treated.

 

[squidpop]

Thanks jbun. Daisy does seem to be getting better today. I asked the emergency vet about testing a stool sample and he acted like it could be a waste of time. I think this is because he really doesn't know a lot about rabbits and Daisy should probably get some tests done. Daisy has perked up quite a lot and is eating and moving around now. I think I am going to wait until tomorrow morning and decide whether or not to take him to my rabbit savvy vet who is an hours drive away.

I would like to know what is causing this. This has happened once before but it was not as bad. About 3 months ago he was weak and lethargic and had large cecotropes, I put him on mostly hay and cut his greens and pellets back and he got better in a day or so. This time he seemed much more weak and lethargic to the point where I though he was going to die overnight. His symptoms came on suddenly, he seemed fine the day before and had normal poos, and then the next day was so weak he had a hard time sitting upright. Any idea what could be causing this?

 

[JBun]

Any time a rabbit presents with acute lethargy and weakness, accompanied with poop abnormalities (as opposed to a more gradual decline that could be due to other health problems like anorexia caused by dental issues), I would want to rule out dehydration and heat stress due to hot temps first, then I would be looking towards coccidiosis as a possible cause, or possibly pathogenic bacteria. It would be the most common cause of these type of symptoms. But if it's not one of these, then you are getting into less common illnesses, and sometimes these things can take quite a bit of additional diagnostics like xrays, ultrasounds, blood tests, etc, to figure out what is going on. I would say if it occurs again, to have a fecal sample tested immediately. If it is coccidia that is reoccurring, then you may need to do some deep cleaning to try and get rid of the oocysts that would be causing reinfection.