Runny Poops!

[jamiealexandria]

I had my four year old neutered male rabbit out playing today when I realized that he has extremely runny poops, like completely liquid, and it was all over my carpet. His vet is closed until Monday. There are emergency vets in my area I could take him to, but I am hesitant to do so. He is acting quite normal. He's very playful, hopping around. I cleaned out his cage that he shares with his spayed mum. He is currently tearing into fresh hay I just gave them so his appetite is fine. Last night I gave them a quarter of an apple to munch on and I'm worried that this is what upset his stomach. I'm pretty positive I got all the seeds out of the apple before I gave it to them. I gave him and his mother a few pieces of broccoli before I realized he wasn't feeling well. I have yet to see him drink water which is concerning me. I feel like I should just sit with him for a while and see if his body can sort this one out. Am I crazy? Should I be rushing him to the emergency vet right now?

 

[JBun]

Yes, the apple is the likely culprit. That much apple is far too much sugar and likely upset the delicate microflora in his digestive tract. If it was just a little bit of watery feces and his poop is back to normal now, he may be alright. If he is eating the hay really well, that is actually the best food to get the digestive tract back to functioning normally. I would continue to offer as much hay as he will eat, make sure he has fresh water to drink from a dish(he should drink when he gets thirsty), and closely monitor for decreased appetite and any more abnormal feces. If his poop stays good from now on, his appetite stays normal, and he starts drinking normally, I would presume it was a one time upset and that he will be ok, but this is just a guess on my part. If in doubt, seeing a rabbit savvy vet is always the best thing to do.

But if he is continuing to have ongoing profuse brown watery diarrhea with no normal feces(or very little), and/or bloat, sloshing sound in the belly, that would be considered an emergency and I would want my rabbit seen by a rabbit savvy vet immediately. Profuse watery diarrhea is usually caused by pathogenic bacteria(can happen from excess sugars), which can be very dangerous when it occurs. I would want the rabbit savvy vet to give IV or sub q fluids, metronidazole and an another antibiotic like ciprofloxacin or enrofloxacin for the pathogenic bacteria. And possibly questran to bind the toxins released by the bacteria. The important thing is when there is profuse watery diarrhea, to get the proper meds administered right away to stop the damage done by the toxins and bacteria.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/Clostridial_enteritis_rabbits.htm