New bunny not eating/pooping & jelly sludge (RIP)

[Cassidy]

We bought a 8 week old Holland Lop/Lionhead mix and he never pooped normally. He quickly got a poopy butt and I noticed a clear slightly yellow jelly coming from his bottom. We fell in love with him quickly because he was pretty social and curious with us. So I don’t think he was traumatized by his new home. We took him back to the breeder because I was worried about him. She confirmed he felt like he lost a little weight because he wasn’t eating. She’s keeping him to watch him and give him medicine but she hasn’t said what she thinks is wrong with him.
We really want him to get well so we can get him back but I’m torn on leaving him there since she has so much experience or if I should get him and take him to a vet. I’ve done research and I can’t really find anything conclusive on what could be wrong. Any thoughts?

 

[JBun]

He had/has mucoid enteritis. Depending on what form of it that is going on, it could be extremely serious, even fatal. Babies can develop this from the stress of weaning and/or going to a new home, plus if any diet changes occurred or high carb/sugary foods fed.

If it happened due to the bunny stopping eating, then as the digestive tract gets moving again when the rabbit is eating again, there can be a small amount of mucous from digestive tract irritation from the lack of eating, mixed with fecal poop. But this will return back to normal fairly quickly, as the rabbit is eating again.

But if it is happening due to pathogenic bacteria starting to grow from stress or lots of carbs altering the ph and microflora of the digestive tract, then this can be very serious. If there was profuse and mostly jelly substance coming out, this is the most severe form and is usually a fatal illness.

So it's going to be up to you if you want to take the bunny back and try and get treatment at the vet. If it wasn't too serious of a case and the baby just needed food, then the breeder may be able to turn it around if they are very experienced and know what they're doing. But if it was one of the more serious enteritis illnesses, then the rabbit needs the proper prescription meds and treatment from an experienced rabbit vet to have any hope of turning it around. But even then there are no guarantees.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Medirabbit: bacterial and mucoid enteritis

WARNING: LINK CONTAINS VERY GRAPHIC NECROPSY PHOTOS, but has a very detailed explanation of why weaning enteritis can occur.
Medirabbit: weaning enteritis/diarrhea

NOTE: home remedies do not replace the proper veterinary care.

 

[Cassidy]

He had/has mucoid enteritis. Depending on what form of it that is going on, it could be extremely serious, even fatal. Babies can develop this from the stress of weaning and/or going to a new home, plus if any diet changes occurred or high carb/sugary foods fed.

If it happened due to the bunny stopping eating, then as the digestive tract gets moving again when the rabbit is eating again, there can be a small amount of mucous from digestive tract irritation from the lack of eating, mixed with fecal poop. But this will return back to normal fairly quickly, as the rabbit is eating again.

But if it is happening due to pathogenic bacteria starting to grow from stress or lots of carbs altering the ph and microflora of the digestive tract, then this can be very serious. If there was profuse and mostly jelly substance coming out, this is the most severe form and is usually a fatal illness.

So it's going to be up to you if you want to take the bunny back and try and get treatment at the vet. If it wasn't too serious of a case and the baby just needed food, then the breeder may be able to turn it around if they are very experienced and know what they're doing. But if it was one of the more serious enteritis illnesses, then the rabbit needs the proper prescription meds and treatment from an experienced rabbit vet to have any hope of turning it around. But even then there are no guarantees.

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Medirabbit: bacterial and mucoid enteritis

WARNING: LINK CONTAINS VERY GRAPHIC NECROPSY PHOTOS, but has a very detailed explanation of why weaning enteritis can occur.
Medirabbit: weaning enteritis/diarrhea

NOTE: home remedies do not replace the proper veterinary care.

thank you for your reply. Unfortunately he didn’t make it and we are heartbroken.

 

[Freedom]

Oh no so sorry.

 

[Roo1234]

So sorry for your loss, I’m sure he enjoyed the time he spent with you