Sick Bunnies

[buffytariq]

I have 3 blue baby rabbits which i bred and they are not doing very well. There is one who is the smallest who is suffering from a very bloated belly and he is not eating anything. He goes onto grass all day with his sisters and then at night he gets readi grass and then dry food. He has not touched any of this so i put a second bowl in just to make sure that the others aren't shoving him away. Do rabbits get a type of worm? Is there anything i can do? Please help i don't want to lose these girls

 

[tonyshuman]

I don't know if these guys are old enough to be eating grass. It can be hard on the gut and cause gas. I also worry at this age that he has an overgrowth of bad bacteria in his intestines, as this can be quite common with young bunnies. We need a few questions answered first, though, before we can help.

1) how old are these bunnies?
2) Are they weaned? At what age were they weaned?
3) What is readi grass? What is the dry food? What did the mother eat while she was feeding them?

With babies this young, they can go downhill very quickly. There are some parasites of the GI tract that baby bunnies can get, and if they are weaned improperly, they can get GI bacterial imbalances that can kill them very quickly. The very best thing you can do is take all of these guys and the mom if possible to an emergency vet that is rabbit-savvy. If that's not an option, we can try to help, but I want to assert that the only things that cause bloat in very young bunnies are serious issues that need vet treatment for a successful outcome. If the bunny is older than 6 months, for instance, we can probably help, but younger bunnies have different GI systems.

 

[buffytariq]

The rabbits are 10 weeks and they were weaned at 8.
Readi grass is dry grass which has a lot of protein inside for them. All my rabbits eat it and i have had baby rabbits in the past eat it and not become ill.
I feed them supa rabbit dry food which is what the mother was eating as well when she was caring for them

 

[tonyshuman]

Ok, the diet seems fine. They also weren't weaned too early, which is good. To me this is something a vet needs to see though, because they are so young. I'll temporarily move this to the Rabbitry to see if any breeders have experience with this--they have seen many more baby bunnies than we have. However, I think it sounds pretty serious, and the options (bacterial infection in the gut or parasites in the gut) are best treated by a vet, so a vet visit is probably your best option.

 

[aurora369]

In the mean while, I would start making sure they have enough fluids. Give them some pedialyte (hydrating drink for dehydrated infants/children, bought at the pharmacy) or some water spiked with a bit of juice.

Is the baby pooping at all? If yes, are the poops a decent size and not soft? Is his bum messy at all?

You can also try some baby gas medicine with the active ingredient simithecone to see if that helps the little one pass some gas more easily.

While looking for the answer, I would really focus on keeping this baby hydrated. Syringe the pedialyte or some water if he's not drinking on his own. Just be careful not to get any up his nose.

--Dawn

 

[BlueGiants]

I would syringe feed the babies canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin Pie filling... plain canned cooked pumpkin) thinned with a bit of Pedialyte. Keeps them hydrated and keeps the gut moving. Pumpkin is very high in roughage. You have to keep them hydrated.

It sounds like a weaning enteritis. I usually see it a couple of weeks after weaning and it's caused by an imbalance in the bacteria in the digestive tract. As suggested, the Simethicone (baby gas drops) works to eliminate the gas and bloating.

 

[tonyshuman]

I am guessing you are in the UK because of the pellet brand. The brand name for pedialyte in the UK is dioralyte, and it is a rehydration drink for ill babies. It's a good product to get bunnies hydrated. Simethicone is available by the brand name Ovol, and canned pumpkin is usually not available in the UK. I would look for a pumpkin-based baby food if you can find it--something that contains fiber and can be given via syringe. Carrot or banana or other fruit baby food might not be the best choice, because the high sugar in these foods can upset GI bacteria even more. It's clear that the GI bacteria are out of whack because of the enteritis, so adding high-sugar foods is probably not a good idea there.

I would also look for a probiotic of some sort. I forget what the UK probiotic is called, but here in the US we have Bene-Bac and ProBios. You can also use human probiotics--some members have taken gel capsules that contain acidophillus and broken them apart to get at the dry stuff inside, and then mixed the dry stuff up with water or pedialyte and given it via syringe. A probiotic can help get the environment of the gut the correct pH for the correct bacteria to survive.

There may be some antibiotics that are good for this condition as well, so a vet may be able to help on that end.

 

[loppalove]

has anyone heard from the OP? I was just wondering how her baby was doing..



Hopefully everything turned out alright.

 

[buffytariq]

Hey guys,

Babies are doing really well. They have been on a course of liquid parrafin which worked really well and they are now eating and drinking on their own!

All looks good!

thank you for all your help!

 

[BlueGiants]

Liquid Paraffin? Can you give us an idea of how it was administered or how you did it? :?

 

[buffytariq]

I syringed it to them and then gave them water

 

[BlueGiants]

I'm guessing you used Mineral Oil (liquid paraffin)? How much did you give them? How often? I've never heard of using this so I'm real curious!

I lost a few babies to what we call "Weaning Enteritis" this past spring, all at 10-12 weeks. So am so interested in anything that would help.

 

[tonyshuman]

That is very interesting. I wonder what it did, and how it helped (on a medical level). I'm so glad they're ok though!

 

[buffytariq]

Apparently it helps push out blockages so we administered it and they have been fine since

 

[polly]

It is something that some breeders use over here for enteritus not sure how well it works as I have not used it myself. I tend to stick to the crit care/ pellet smush and green veg in water to get any of mine throuhg it but luckily I havent had that problem since January.