English spot Rabbit is bloated (RIP)

[Bustercat]

Hi there, we have a bunny from a store that sells them as feeders. She's about 6 weeks old, and two pounds.

She's been on a diet of timothy hay (as much as she wants), romaine lettuce (as much as she wants) and pellets (a cup or so a day).
We also made the mistake of feeding her 'rabbit food' from petco that had corn, sunflower seeds and colored bits mixed in with the pellets.

Her bedding is that blue puffy soft paper mulch, her toilet is shredded paper.

Well, we'd noticed her stomach getting bigger almost from day one. Then two days ago, the night after eating a bowl of that bad petco rabbit food, she was behaving strangely, and her stomach seemed big and tight as a drum. A few hours later she was running into walls, and her head was listing and body totally limp.
No vets were available so we rubbed her tummy for 3 hours. Gas escaped and feces.

Happy to say she was back to normal, her stomach deflated and very energetic.
She's been on the following diet to recouperate:

Wet, mashed pellets to curb liver damage and give nutrients
As much romaine as she wants, soaked in water for hydration and roughage
As much hay as she wants — roughage

But I've noticed her stomach bulging again. (it always seems to happen over night!)
The thing is, she has a healthy appetite, is running around the house. She is defecating, but mostly clusters and a few pelets. It seems soft. She is also urinating alot, probably due to the large amount of water she's taking.

Today her stomach seemed firm and bloated, so I gave her some simethicone (1cc) followed by 4 or 5 ccs of water. She's eating hungrily, I'm rubbing her stomach, I hear it gurgling loudly, she's leaving pellets and urinating, but the swelling isn't going down and I don't hear gas escaping. Its been like this for a while.

I can't get her to the vet for 3 days when he's back in the office. Any advice? Anything else I could be doing?

The only thing different from what she was eating at the store was lettuce, should we cut that out?

 

[mistyjr]

Not good, I had a rabbit die in a few hours from bloat. You do not want to rub her belly, We did this to our girl and her belly explode into peices, And giving a very young rabbits lots of greens isnt good either. But i am sure somebody else would help you with this.
Rabbits cant (fart) get gas out,

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Here's the RO Source on Bloat/Gas
I have never dealt with this but I know that with Bloat you should not rub the stomach.
Also since your bunny is still young I would cut back on the Lettuce, it is a good source for roughage but young tummies need time to adjust to it, that could be your cause on the Bloat.

Hopefully one the wonderful Infirmary Mods comes along to help further

 

[Maureen Las]

She is too young to have a lot of geens ; Totally eliminate the greens right now. For now let her eat hay ..try to give her grass hay instead of alfalfa for the time being ; cut down on the pellets also.

matter of fact give her just hay for the night.

keep up the simethicone 3 consecutive doses an hour apart and then wait at least another 8 hours to give it again if the problem persists.
try to get a probiotic like benebac or get probios at a farm or tractor supply store. and give her a dose


let us know...

 

[Maureen Las]

Encourage exercise , if her tummy is extremely hard ..don't massage it ...

I would try to syringe pedialyte rather than plain water.

 

[Bustercat]

She only seems to want lettuce. She'll eat her hay and pellets, but not as much.
What can I do to make sure she drinks her water to get hydration? She doesn't touch her water bottle.

I read about spiking her water with water or vanilla extract/flavor. Which is better for a young bunny, and how much?

Thanks for the help!

 

[mistyjr]

I would lay off the greens until shes a lot older. Giving to much greens at a young age can really hurt them ( like diarrhea).
And just get her on lots of hay, some pumpkin, and water. You can give her a bowl of water and spike it with some flavor...

Hope this helps..

 

[Maureen Las]

I actuallu have never used vanilla extract but have spiked the water with a small amount of apple juice

Ireally wouldn't use pumpkin in a case of possible bloat.. and please don't give lettuce for now

 

[Bustercat]

Well, she's pretty comfortable on a vibrating toothbrush. She's not super firm, so she's getting a slight massage. She's peed and it's coaxed some very small bowl movements.

I've rubbed lettuce on her hay, and she's interested for a sec but then turns away. Swelling has not gone down, but there's some gurgling in her stomach.

 

[Bustercat]

Update: Soaking the hay helps, she's eating, which is good. Still bloated. It's lopsided, but feels soft to the touch. Rabbit doesn't seem in pain.

 

[Maureen Las]

Vibrating toothbrush sound like a good idea...

 

[Bustercat]

she's like a zombie. Not sure she's going to make it.

 

[Pipp]

Ugh, so sorry. How is she now?

This kind of an upset in a baby is a really tough thing, and sadly very common. The five week (or so) weaning mark is very dicey even with rabbits whose bodies are not stressed out by environment changes. The separation from her family, the new surroundings and new diet(s) lets the bacteria take hold, but it also happens often to rabbits still in the nest. They're susceptible to bacteria and internal parasites and often end up with a weaning enteritis, an inflammation of the intestinal tract.

If it was happening from the day she arrived, she could have already have had whatever bug it is that's causing this.

The usual treatment for bloat-like symptoms is to stick with plain hay and water and not force anything, but its a hard balancing act between the gas, stasis and dehydration. A gassy rabbit may be good for 12 hours or so without food while the gas is addressed. Sometimes the gas symptoms can be overcome for awhile, but they're very likely to re-bloat.

The 'clusters' were cecals and a sign of trouble, although they can also appear in healthy babies. Its definitely trouble when the cecals are liquid. Loose stools, whether they're cecal or fecal matter, means the rabbit will require fluids.

It's best not let them eat much other than straight fiber sources like hay, although they often don't cooperate and you can't force them to eat hay. More than 12 hours without food is cause for concern while 24 hours is critical. Somewhere between these points, they'll need force feeding, at least a little pellet mush or canned pumpkin.

If a rabbit is too lethargic to eat or drink, they need to be warmed up and given a bit of honey water (or better yet, Nutri-Cal), although that can be dangerous as well. The sugar can feed the bad bacteria in the gut. But the lack of calories can cause a fatal liver ailment, so again it's a gamble either way.

Sometimes antibiotics are best, sometimes they'll do more harm than good. Sometimes a probiotic like Benebac will help.

One product that often helps is a paste (or powder) called Bio-Sponge which a horse vet is likely to have on hand, and only sometimes dog and cat vets.

When a vet is available, they can pinpoint the bacteria or parasite causing the problem and take the best course of action, but even then it's an uphill battle.

I hope she makes it.


sas ray:

 

[Bustercat]

She passed at 12:30 tonight.
Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[Maureen Las]

I am so very sorry to hear this

you really did your best


Maureen