Sick bunny while travelling

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Alanna

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
46
Reaction score
1
Location
Victoria, Australia
I'm not actually Alanna- I'm her husband. I just talked to my wife on the phone- our rabbit Thumpy who she's been taking to France from Malta is not doing very well. After a 6 hours of flights and travel last night, she noticed he has pretty bad diarrhoea, and also that his back legs are not working very well. He didn't want to move around a lot and sometimes fell over when he tried to. Today his legs seem only slightly better, but we're still very worried about him. He is drinking and eating alright, but hasn't seemed to poo at all today. He's a shy bunny and I'm sure he's really stressed (he also met his new girlfriend Ginger) and I'm thinking that is all stress-related. I read that diarrhoea is common with stressed rabbits but not falling over.

If he hasn't improved in the morning we're going to call the vet but I'd appreciate any advice in the meantime.

Thanks,

Cullum.
 
I would want to get him to a vet asap. The falling over and loss of back leg use make me think EC. Which needs aggressive treatment. I'm not that familar with what the treatments should be, only that there are others on the board who have gone through it and the sooner the rabbit gets treatment the better.

Here's a link to our library section on EC: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14471&forum_id=10

In the mean time, lots and lots of fluids. Get some electrolyte drink for babies/children. Here it's called Pedialyte, but I would imagine it would have a different name over there. You can either get plain or flavoured. Many rabbits enjoy the flavoured ones and will think it's a treat.

Hopefully someone else will be along with some more advice.

--Dawn
 
Thanks Dawn. He has been drinking lots of water. I read a bit about EC. He doesn't seem to show any other symptoms of EC other than the incontenence and weak hind legs, and he hasn'thad slightest contact with any other rabbits, until today. I'll make sure Alanna gets him to the vet asap, though,just in case though.

Thanks,

Cullum
 
yep vets now!!

He will be badly needing sub Q fluids you can also mush up pellets and syringe feed it. Critical care is also good and maybe a heat pad or Pips favourite dry rice in a sock and heat it in the microwave (not for long!!) as it can screw their temperature up.

High fibre is also meant to be good

EC or muccoid enteropathy springs to mind esp. with the diorreah the back legs could be due to weakness so get fluids into him as soon as possible.

When they do eat its usually veg first so have plenty on hand to try and tempt him into eating its better than nothing!!

Sending thoughts keep us updated if you can
 
Thanks. I just got off the phone to Alanna and she said that he was stable. Just sitting there sniffing around. She said his ears were cold and I gave her the advice you've both given me. She'll call me in the morning to keep me updated and I post an update then. Thanks again!
 
Hi,

The most likely issue here is a vestibular issue....sounds like he has vertigo. Rabbits can't see directly in front of them so they can't focus on a fixed point for orientation sowhen they get an ear problem....they will either be very unstable in the hind quarter (usually the rear legs will bespread wide apart and feet turned outward)or theyspin violently. While EC is always a possiblity, with the symptons mentioned and it appears the rabbit has been in a plane...ears. With EC, it's not usually something that appears all at once. We have had numerous rabbits here with EC...and the onset of paresis from EC was not something that happened that quickly but presented over an extended period of time. There is also the possibility that he has suffered some type of injury...maybe to the head and/or spine that is causing the concern.Was Thumpy with your wife the entire trip or wasdid he travelwith the cargo? Isit possible that a ramp worker may have fed him something that could cause a problem without knowing it might harm him? And stress of the trip may be adding to it. And the upset GI is another sign ofa vestibular issue. Rabbits do get nausea just like people do..they just don't regurgitate (usually). Look at his eyes carefully. Do they move back and forth rapidly? You might have to look very closely for any little tick. If so, that is a condition called nystagmus and means he is searching for up and down orientation.

This is something that should be seen by a rabbit savvy vet ASAP...and it appears your wife's intentions is to do that. In the mean time, as others have mentioned....good husbandry is essential. Hydration is always important. Any of the infant type rehydrating fluid will work....here is the US it is called Pedialyte. Administering fluids sub-q would be much better but that is probably not an option at this time. Wet leafy greens also help with hydration. If it is vestibular or possibly neurological, see how he does in the dark. Rabbits with vestibular issues usually do better posture wise when they are in the dark. Some rabbits respond well to a drug called meclizine....it's the active ingredient in products made for human motion sickness. In a simple explanation...it buffers the reaction between the ears and the eyes and can sometimes improvethe vertigo.

I would say that right now, there are still a lot of questions and few answers. Based on my experience....I would be looking at something vestibular to start my diagnosis and eliminate the ears before I moved on to other things. Several possibilities here but I would think that the ears are the most likely source of the problem.

Randy
 
could a vestibular problem be caused by the pressure changes of flying? since the human vestibular system is in the ear, i assume the rabbit's is too. and the ear is a closed system in humans, leading to pressure building up on the ears when you change altitude quickly, so you have to pop your ears to equalize pressure. maybe it's the same for bunnies? the pressure changes of flying made his vestibular system out of whack? i also know the first time i flew i was really dizzy for a day after, so maybe it's the same with this bunny.
 
Thumpy went off to the vet today, who said that the problems were probably caused by an infection from when he was neutered a few weeks ago. He had been on antibiotics (he did have an infection) but had finished his course the morning of his trip. He's back on antibiotics now and he's still eating/drinking normally. We're pretty relieved that the vet ruled out EC. I think now it's a matter of continuing theantibiotics and seeing what happens- he's back at the vet's on Tuesday.

Thanks for your advice, it's so good to have support out there when out little bouncy friends aren't feeling so bouncy.

Cullum
 
I'm glad you got the answers you needed - and he got the help he needed.

Please let us know how he progresses - and welcome to the forum, Cullum!
 
I can't offer you any useful advice that hasn't already been mentionned but I just wantedto say that I hope your bun gets better soon. :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top