Baby's Breath Smells Like Rotten Milk!

[Runestonez]

Our girl Daphne has been with us for 20 days so far...she was dehydrated and malnourished when she first came home. Since we brought her home I have noticed her breathsmells like rotten milk. I would be concerned about her teeth...but she has already been to the vet and he checked her teeth and did a full exam on her. (We didn't notice the smell till a day or two later, after the vet, when she was giving us kisses) She is otherwise perfectly healthy. It isn't cecal breath either...I am stumped...has anyone else had this?? Anyone know of possible causes?

I know you can get awful breath when your stomache is constantly empty(can't remember the name right now) but it should have stopped by now!

Thanks, Dani!

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

What do you feed her?

I had a similar problem when i hand-reared my baby bun, She had some food trapped in her mouth that she couldnt swallow. It didnt bother her, but it did smell.

This may be a problem, but even if it is something else, it is worth investigating. Rabbit food, even the more natural ones (grass pellets),will go off and smell if trapped in a bun's mouth.

Good Luck sorting this problemo out

 

[Runestonez]

ghostbustererbunny- Sorry I should have been more specific...she was 8 weeks(we think)when we got her...and have had her for 20 days. She is eating alfalfa pellets and timothy pellets, 5 different types of veg and timothy hay. I am assuming that you were referring to a younger bunn...Daphne is quite self sufficient. Her breath has smelled consistantly over the last 2 weeks at least. No tbadly...but noticably! I am assuming at her age if she had food trapped we would notice, and her eating would be off??

 

[JimD]

It could a symptom of a GI bacterial imbalance.

~Jim

 

[Runestonez]

JimD-That's what I was wondering at first too. Would a probiotic help do you think? The food she is eating is good quality...her poops are good...so are her cecals...Suggstions? I could call the vet, but I don't think he will do anything as long as she is otherwise healthy...Suggestions?

 

[Runestonez]

OK...I just called our vet and he is going to give me a call back between patients. I'll see if he thinks she should come in, or if we should do something about it!I'll post again when he calls back tonight!

 

[JimD]

Runestonez wrote:

JimD-That's what I was wondering at first too.Would a probiotic help do you think? The food she is eating is good quality...her poops are good...so are her cecals...Suggstions? I could call the vet, but I don't think he will do anything as long as she is otherwise healthy...Suggestions?

Our vet prescribed Benebac to balance the bacteria.

 

[Runestonez]

No word yet from our vet...but I will ask about Benebac when he calls. Actually, I think I'll run out now and grab some...at least that way it will be on hand for later!Thanks JimD!

The thing that worries me the most is that her breath smells too sweet. If it was just stinky baby bunny breath it would be fine...but for the amount she eats there has to be something else involved! We just got her healthy too...so I don't want her to get sick again!:?

 

[Runestonez]

So far the vet and I are playing phone tag! He phoned this morning and I missed him...so now I have to wait till later this afternoon!

JimD-Did you just follow the instructions on the back of the package?? It says here to dose once for up to 5lbs of body weight and then again in 3 days. Does that sound right? How long did you treat for?

We gave her the first dose...and unless the vet has any objections dose her again on Monday. He knows what is wrong...so if he we rereally worried he would have called back asap!

Thanks!

 

[naturestee]

When my vet prescribed Benebac for Mocha once,he said one gram (she's only 2 lbs) daily for three days, then once every three days for three more doses.

Hope that helps.

 

[JimD]

Hi Dani!

I'm not sure of the exact dosage that we gave.
It must have been different than what the packaging says, because we were giving it to her everyday....and I seem to remember that it was more than once a day, too.
The vet gave us the Benebac in the click-a-dose dispenser and we just followed her instructions.We were instructed to finish the entire tube.
Our bun was battling a GI infection and had gone into stasis. I'm thinking that the Benebac was not only to help with the stasis, but also to help maintain healthy flora while taking antibiotics too.

I tried to find my posts on the dosages, but I'm not having much luck.

~Jim

 

[Runestonez]

Thanks JimD, Thanks Naturestee!

The tubes of Benebac we got are 1g each...4 to a pack. I wasn't really worried until this afternoon a friend mentioned a chinchilla she had that had an ammonia smell to it's breath dying of renal failure! Ooops, there goes Dani...into worry phase!LOL

I'll try the dosage Naturestee posted, unless toldotherwise.Daphne was in stasis when webrought her home...pin sized poops, rock hard cecals,warming pads and pureed pumpkin. How much fun can one person haveon a Friday night! So today I have beenwatching her...her poops seem to keep changing sizes...bigger, smaller, darker, different sized cecals. It's almost like her body can't decide what to do.:?

Also she has been marking on things the last day or so. She is approximately 11 weeks today. I am trying to sort out emerging bunny behavior from something that might be pointing to a more serious problem. I could swear she looked like she was straining to poop today once or twice. I've also caught her napping in the litter box(unusual)...so I am watching her like a hawk. If I so much as get the feeling something is off...well lets just say our vet isn't going to get much sleep tonight!

She is still eating fine though so that is my little happy thought in all this. If I show up at thegate to her enclosure and she isn't there gooning for all she's worth looking for handouts...then I will really start to worry!

Thanks Guys!

 

[Runestonez]

OK...the vet called! He isn't worried. His thoughts are the following: The breath is related to her stasis. The smell he thinks might be fermenting hay...caused by warring bacteria. He thinks that the appearance of her poops changing might be because the good and bad bacteria are warring back and forth. He says not to worry atthis point since she is still eating and drinking. If she shows signs of stasis we are to call back asap...but to keep her GI tract moving.

He also agreed with Naturestee's dosage: Once a day for 3 days(he wasn't too sure about 1g per...he was thinking closer to 1/4g instead,bunny is 1pound 1 ouce.)and then we are to call back on Monday...if nothing has improved or shows signs of worsening...we are to go in to have a look see! He likes the idea of treating with the Benebac to try to bolster the good bacteria and he thinks it should straighten out on its own over the weekend!

Thanks again JimD and Naturestee!:bowWhat would I do without you! LOL

 

[naturestee]

How is she feeling today? And how does she like the Benebac? Mocha hated it passionately.You have never seen such a dissaproving bunny face!:shock:

 

[Runestonez]

We are about to try a banana baby food and Benebac mixture...I didn't get an unapproving face...I got kicked..hard by little bunny feet:shock:. And then a bunny a-butt-face as she tried to clean her whiskers...like it was MY fault she moved!:? We'll see what she thinks of banana..or if that isn't quite the stuff maybe pumpkin or apple mango. After that we go back to straight Benebac!Hehehe!

Either way she looks better today. Much more active than yesterday...we bought several more toys for her to try to get her to play more...she likes to lounge a lot but isn't much for playing unless daddy and I are there to get her going. We bought a grass ball and hid her cookies (mommas secret recipe) inside...it drives her crazy but she gets up and pushes the ball around all over the place. We just want to make her more active!

 

[chinmom]

That's so strange...all of my animals LOVE benebac! I've treated pretty much all the critters (including Georgie)with it, and I've never had any objections.

When mine have been getting antibiotics, they are usually every twelve hours, and then I treat with a probiotic (benebac) every six hours(between doses). It helps to restore the natural flora that antibiotic skill.

When I've had any instance of loose poo or things like that, Iimmediately treat them with a probiotic. The chins and my dog take acidophilus tablets if they're ill. They are flavored like strawberry and they take them willingly. I will probably test it out on Georgie some time to see if he'll take it, too.

Anyway, sorry for the digression! Hope everything is well with Daphne!

 

[Runestonez]

The Benebac we have is gel form. And Daphne has definate feelings about it! She actually bit the tip off the tube this morning causing hubby and I to freak out a bit. That baby bunny has teeth like a Ginsu! And she has more attitude than all the other bunns put together!Wow!She ABSOLUTELY hates banana! She makes what Tony calls the bunny vomit face...where they pull their lips right back and it looks like a cross between a yawn and barf face! (Oh yeah...got kicked for that one too!) Thank goodness there is only 1 day left! She is much improved and has been a lot more active...still has mild yuck breath...but overall a vast improvement!

 

[JimD]

Hi Dani,

It sounds like things are improving!

Both of my buns hated the Benebac....and both bit the tip off of the tube as well!!! Too funny!

Nose rubs to Daphne!!

~Jim

 

[Runestonez]

Thanks for all the help! Daphne seems to be doing much better...her breath smells less and less. We were worried when she got the tip of the Benebac! Silly bunny! Right now she is stretched out across the arm of the couch beside daddy watching an old Cary Grant classic! She seems to be more relaxed , so I guess there must have been a bit of gas in her tummy before! She has had smootches, nose rubs and chin nuggins till I am sure she is completely spoiled now! Daddy even let her get away with peeing on him yesterday! LOL

We are giving the vet another call tomorrow morning to see if we should keep up the Benebac for a little while longer...but hopefully this will help her straighten things out! Is there anything as great as a happy bunny!!??!!