6 weeks old rabbit with weird diarrheic-like poo

[zeehas]

I'm taking him to the vet right now, but they don't have proper diagnostics for rabbits, just a generic vet consultation. Please let me know what you think it might be, and what if anything I can do about it. The kits behavior seems to be ok, nothing too noticeable, but he has always been a slightly frightened kit, he shivers a bit sometimes (I have had him for a couple of days only). He also has a problem where he got his mouth and paws dirty, from poo I presume, I tried my best to clean it, but the fur seems damp and clumped together all the time.

 

[zeehas]

The poo on the right is the poo he had before, the liquidy brown stuff is what he is doing now

 

[JBun]

If that is actual watery fecal poop and not urine mixed with poop, diarrhea is considered an emergency in rabbits. It's possible he has developed enterotoxemia. It's something young recently weaned baby rabbits can be especially prone to.

Treatment would be with the antibiotics metronidazole, possibly tetracycline, and cholestyramine to bind the bacterial toxins. You'll also need sub q fluids and probably a rabbit syringe feeding mix like critical care. Enterotoxemia is very dangerous and can be fatal in hours, so it's very important to get the proper meds started right away. If you're able to save your rabbit, it's going to be extremely important to get your rabbit on the proper high fiber diet to prevent something like this from happening again.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Dysbiosis

 

[zeehas]

The vet gave me a powder mix of vitamins and antibiotic. I'm having to force feed him with a syringe, he is not eating otherwise. The vet recommended a human baby powder called Cerelac, or brown bread. As of now I have been able to syringe feed soaked brown bread.

 

[zeehas]

I just now found that bread is generally a bad idea, I wonder why the vet would recommend that. Should I get the cerelac baby mix or crush up hay pellets?

 

[zeehas]

I found this other bunny at the pet store after I went to the store to tell them that they shouldn't sell kits under 2 months (I was not aware at the time I bought the little kit). Have a look at its ear, it has some sort of fungus growth.

 

[zeehas]

If that is actual watery fecal poop and not urine mixed with poop, diarrhea is considered an emergency in rabbits. It's possible he has developed enterotoxemia. It's something young recently weaned baby rabbits can be especially prone to.

Treatment would be with the antibiotics metronidazole, possibly tetracycline, and cholestyramine to bind the bacterial toxins. You'll also need sub q fluids and probably a rabbit syringe feeding mix like critical care. Enterotoxemia is very dangerous and can be fatal in hours, so it's very important to get the proper meds started right away. If you're able to save your rabbit, it's going to be extremely important to get your rabbit on the proper high fiber diet to prevent something like this from happening again.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Dysbiosis

I was feeding him hay pellets with some oats and black oil sunflower seeds, it's what the pet shop recommended too. Did that cause the enterotoxemia? I was also giving him parsley and some dill leaves, which I have since stopped. Please tell me if I should do away with the pellets, or could it have been the parsley and dill leaves that caused it?

 

[Sweet Potato rabbit]

Are you feeding him any hay? 6 weeks sounds too young to eat fresh herbs/vegetables...

 

[zeehas]

he doesn't like the hay that i got him, I cant find timothy hay nearby, i got him some alpine meadow hay and he hasn't eaten it yet (i gave it to him few mins ago)

 

[JBun]

@HalaBuns you're in the same country as this member aren't you? Do you have any vet recommendations you can share with this member?

Yes bread or any grain based food isn't an ideal thing to be feeding rabbits. Soaking the hay pellets in warm water and making a mush would be better. Are the hay pellets just plain compressed hay or if not, what are the other ingredients in them?

Can you post what ingredients are in the antibiotic powder you were given? Particularly the active antibiotic, as some antibiotics given orally to rabbits, can prove fatal. And it can be a common mistake for vets not experienced with rabbits to make.

You also really need the cholestyramine as that is what prevents the toxins in the digestive tract from killing the rabbit. If you can't get that med, I would try and find activated charcoal or kaolin, or even something like peptobismol to coat and protect the digestive tract, would be better than nothing.

If your rabbit really does have watery diarrhea, I can't over state the urgency in getting the proper medications started right away.

 

[zeehas]

This is what the vet sent me when I asked what she used

 

[zeehas]

The antibiotic ingredient is neomycin

 

[JBun]

Ok. Well, neomycin is safe to give orally to rabbits, but there are possible ototoxic and nephrotoxic risks with it's use, just so you're aware. And if your rabbit has diarrhea caused by the clostridium bacteria, I don't know that neomycin is going to do anything for it. Neomycin is for diarrhea caused by e. coli bacteria, and that usually produces a very yellow color of diarrhea, not brown. Like I posted previously, you need the antibiotic metronidazole. I guess just do the best you can. Hopefully your bun will be ok.

Medirabbit: antibiotics safe for use in rabbits

 

[zeehas]

I have metronidazole in tablet form, is there a different one for animals? It's 11pm here and all the vet pharmacies will be closed. Please let me know if and how I can administer the tablet form of metronidazole.

 

[JBun]

That would work if you can calculate the correct dosage and mix it with juice or a syrup(no artificial sweeteners). Or if you have a human compounding pharmacy that can make it into a suspension. Dosage info is in that link I posted above. But it's up to you if you want to try it or stick with the one the vet gave you.

But if your rabbits fecal poop isn't normal now and is still watery diarrhea, the cholestyramine is really the medication that has the greatest chance of saving the bunny, because it's the exposure to the toxins released by the bacteria, that result in it being fatal. If you are able to get some, it needs to be given at least one hour after any other medications. There is info in this link about meds and dosages for treating diarrhea in baby rabbits.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf
If your bunnies poop is back to normal and the bunny is eating on it's own again, it may have been some bad food it ate and it may be ok now. But definitely avoid grain foods and sugary foods. A good quality hay(no mold, no noxious weeds) is the best thing right now to help correct digestive upset issues, if the bunny will eat it really well.

 

[zeehas]

That would work if you can calculate the correct dosage and mix it with juice or a syrup(no artificial sweeteners). Or if you have a human compounding pharmacy that can make it into a suspension. Dosage info is in that link I posted above. But it's up to you if you want to try it or stick with the one the vet gave you.

But if your rabbits fecal poop isn't normal now and is still watery diarrhea, the cholestyramine is really the medication that has the greatest chance of saving the bunny, because it's the exposure to the toxins released by the bacteria, that result in it being fatal. If you are able to get some, it needs to be given at least one hour after any other medications. There is info in this link about meds and dosages for treating diarrhea in baby rabbits.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf
If your bunnies poop is back to normal and the bunny is eating on it's own again, it may have been some bad food it ate and it may be ok now. But definitely avoid grain foods and sugary foods. A good quality hay(no mold, no noxious weeds) is the best thing right now to help correct digestive upset issues, if the bunny will eat it really well.

I found a normal poop-like ball in the bunny's enclosure, I'm not sure if it's poo or it's a broken off piece of black oil sun flower seed that I put for him to eat. Are you able to tell from these pictures?

 

[zeehas]

I uploaded high-res versions of the poop photos here
https://ibb.co/L8c5B0nhttps://ibb.co/Rj5zJQ1https://ibb.co/mqXWkYs

 

[zeehas]

He seems to be poo-ing OK now. Solid balls, a bit hard though.

 

[JBun]

If he'll eat lots of good quality hay, that will help improve the poop and get it back to normal. Glad he seems to have made it through this and is recovering.

 

[zeehas]

just an update, he's eating quite some hay compared to before, and pooping a ton too!