Sudden death, other rabbit not eating

[Michelledickerhoff]

My boy is doing better after the vet and the syringe feeding. He ate a few pellets on his own this morning. Who new he loved baby food that much lol he went crazy for it! Too bad it's so sugary tho, the only thing different I've noticed is that he has a little bit of the sneezes, maybe because I had to get him out in the cold to go to the animal hospital. I've let the pet store know yesterday after I dropped him off at the vet, she had another owner before me, 2 little kids and their grandpa, I guess they brought her back to the pet store because they couldn't take care of her. So who knows what she was exposed to. Poor Layla rip

 

[JBun]

I'm so glad he's doing better! Maybe ask your vet about the sneezing. Sometimes dust or sensitivities to things in the house can cause it, but also bacterial infections can be a cause.

Also I thought that I should mention that you may want to be careful about feeding your bun sugary foods, especially with a suspected digestive problem due to harmful bacteria. The bacteria feeds off the sugars, so can make the problem worse.

I'm just so glad to hear he's improving

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Okay thank yu I'll probably quit the baby food and only the pellets soaked in water until he's eating on his own. I snuck some cut up pieces of Timothy hay in there too, even tho he usually doesn't eat the Timothy hay but I don't think he noticed. He isn't all the way back to his ornery normal self but it is deff an improvement from the nite before I took him to the vet!

 

[JBun]

Did your vet not give you Oxbow Critical Care feeding mix? It's a powdered mix especially made for sick herbivores. You could ask your vet about it. Or the soaked pellets should be ok if he's eating that alright, unless there is mushy poop that isn't clearing up, then the critical care might be a better choice.

Did the vet give you any medications for him, to give at home?

 

[Imbrium]

I snuck some cut up pieces of Timothy hay in there too, even tho he usually doesn't eat the Timothy hay but I don't think he noticed.

Lol... reminds me of my mom grinding up veggies in the food processor and sneaking them into meatloaf and such when I was a kid.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Lol imbrium! Jbun yes they gave me a pill form of antibiotics to give him a half one twice a day. Which is hard to suck up in the syringe with the mushed pellets, so I mix it with a tiny bit of baby food like up to the number 2 mark on the syringe. I'm about to call and ask about his sneezing. And about the medical food yu just told me about. I wonder why he didn't offer that. Do yu think they sell it anywhere?

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

His poop isn't really mushy anymore like it was but it's very tiny tiny balls now, normally they were way bigger than that

 

[Imbrium]

Some feed stores sell critical care for herbivores, but not many from what I've seen. If your vet doesn't have it, another alternative is to try other vets in your area. It can also be found online... apparently it's easier to find than it was when I first ordered some over a year ago - I just found it on Amazon for $8.05 for a 141g bag (which is a reasonable price) and it's Prime/super-saver eligible.

If you can't find it locally and don't have Prime, I could use my Prime membership to get it to you faster (since free super-saver shipping requires a $25+ purchase and takes ages to arrive). Basically, I would buy it off of Amazon myself and put in your address as the delivery address and then you can pay me back through PayPal. If you've got a PayPal account, I can give you my email address and you can just send me the money for the food... if not, I can use my PayPal business account to send you an invoice, since that can be paid using a credit card, debit card or your checking account *without* having a PayPal account (since PayPal processes the payment, your payment information would still be protected through them).

By the way, did your vet give you probiotics to give with the antibiotics? If not, I could slip some BeneBac Plus in with the hay samples I'm going to be sending.

Come to think of it, I should have an unopened bag of critical care somewhere. I'll see if I can find it... if I do and it's not expired yet, I can just send that with the hay via priority mail and it should get to you on Monday. I wouldn't charge you for it, since (assuming it's still good) I really doubt I'd need/use it before the end of its shelf-life - I'd rather give it away than have to throw it out later .

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Imbrium yu have saved me twice! No he did not give me any probiotics, if yu end up not having any, yes I do have pay pal!

 

[Imbrium]

Ok, let me go scrounge around for critical care and start getting stuff together for you

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Okayy

 

[Imbrium]

Geez, people are being ridiculous about the Critical Care. Amazon insists that it's going to be delivered on Tuesday with Prime shipping even though orders placed on Friday normally arrive on Monday.

I thought maybe I could find it locally, since priority mail will arrive on Monday... called feed stores; no one had it. Started calling vets near me... one had it, but the chick insisted they needed to see the bunny. I said the bunny had already been seen by the vet, I just needed the critical care... she kept insisting that they'd HAVE to see that bunny. I hung up on her for being unreasonable. If I can buy it off Amazon no questions asked, you do NOT need to "see the bunny". It's not prescription-only and it's not even medication.

The next vet referred me to a pet store that was really close to me... I called and they DID have it. I took the bunnies and gliders for a car ride to check out the pet store (we'd never been to this one before). In retrospect, I should've asked how much it was before we went, heh - they wanted $16.99 for the 141g bag, which is utterly absurd. The bunnies got doted on by pretty much everyone in the store, though, and I got a couple things for the kitties so at least it wasn't a wasted trip . After that, I called my vet, who wanted $13 for the critical care. Again, pass.

Now I'm arguing with an Amazon customer service rep who thinks if she says "the shipping is 2 days and you'll receive it on the 3rd day" enough times, that makes it a valid argument. No, that's not how Prime works. That's never been how it works. I'm no longer arguing with her, as I "hung up" by closing the chat window - we were obviously at an impasse. Usually Amazon customer service is *great* and they really take care of you... but not this time. I blame the stupid holiday >.>

Anyway, it would've been $3.99 extra to get it delivered Monday ($8.99 extra to get it delivered tomorrow, sheesh)... I didn't think they should get paid more for something that's supposed to happen for free and I figured you'd probably rather wait until Tuesday than pay another $4, so I just placed the order normally (if you DO want to pay to get it on Monday, though, let me know and I can change it).

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

Tuesday will be fine, how much was it and how do I go about getting it to yu thru pay pal the only thing I've ever done with pay pal is buy and sell on eBay

 

[JBun]

So did your vet not prescribe any metacam for pain? Pain control is essential to get a rabbit eating on it's own again. I would ask about it, and you may also want to ask about a motility med now that your bun is having small poop. Small poop indicates a gut slowdown which can sometimes develop into GI stasis. And that is something you DO NOT want happening if it can be avoided.


Jennifer, I know! It's so ridiculous how they treat Critical Care like some sort of medication, when all it basically is is food. Then there's the places that say it is for vets only. WHAT! I think Oxbow must have some sort of special deal with vets.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

The doc gave him a shot to get his gi track moving, to help his poop because he was having very mushy poop. He didn't prescribe anything for pain..he gave him 3 different shots right when we came in my receipt says it was baytril, dexamethasone, and metoclopramide, and then he gave him another shot of baytril before I picked him back up

 

[Imbrium]

Metoclopramide (aka Reglan) is a GI motility drug to get/keep his GI tract moving. Dexamethasone is a steroid; metacam (the usual bunny/small animal pain killer) is an NSAID... from what I gathered from some brief research, steroids and NSAIDs shouldn't really be taken together (which explains why you weren't given metacam). Not sure why the steroid was given, though.

 

[Michelledickerhoff]

My boyfriend said he was once given steroids by his doctor when he was sick and it was to make his body stronger so it heals faster, so I'm assuming maybe it's meant for the same thing

 

[JBun]

Steroid use in rabbits is very risky, as it lowers their immune system, and makes them prone to any underlying health problem surfacing. So generally steroids are for VERY ill rabbits, almost as a last resort. Usually in most cases where a pain med/anti inflammatory is needed, then metacam is given, as it is considered a much safer option for rabbits.

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Corticost/Cortico.htm

But yes, if a steroid has been given, you can't also give metacam, and have to wait, I think, two days before you can give it.

The metaclop injection would help, but only the first day it was given. If your bun needs the help of a gut stimulant, it needs to be given every day. It can also be given orally.

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/GI_stimulation/metoclopramide.htm

 

[Imbrium]

Oh, was it only an injection? I got mixed up; thought it was also sent home with him.

I wondered about the steroid... I saw mention of a lot more risks than benefits when I looked it up and was perplexed that it was given instead of metacam. If it only needs to be two days before metacam is ok to give, then I'd definitely ask the vet about getting metacam (and oral metaclopramide).

I really, really hope he likes the orchard hay I sent... I also sent some 80/20 orchard/alfalfa, though not very much - even if he likes that, I recommend being extremely stingy with it. From the sounds of it (based on getting him as a baby/having him for 9 mos), I'm guessing he's only about a year or so? Not really a big deal age-wise to give some alfalfa as long as he gets primarily grass hay... but because of his GI issues, it's probably not a good idea to let him have more than a little nibble.

The 2nd cut orchard is insanely soft... it looks and smells so tasty, I almost want to eat it (I've actually tried it before, it's a little sweeter than timothy and has kind of a "woody" flavor to it) . I think the box + BeneBac + 80/20 blend was about 6 oz total... then I stuffed as much orchard in there as I could without going over 16 oz (since the shipping cost would've jumped up about $2) - that way if he likes it, he'll have a decent bit of hay to munch away on. Speaking of hay, I wish my bluegrass would get here already - that's one of the few kinds we've never tried before! I ordered 45 lbs, so they'd better freaking like it.

Hopefully between meds, new kinds of hay, BeneBac Plus and critical care, you'll have a healthier bunn in no time... which is the best Christmas present anyone could ask for!

 

[Imbrium]

Oh, and btw, recommended dosing on the BeneBac is 1g (assuming he's under 10 lbs) - give him one dose, then a second dose three days later, then after that you can give them a week apart if he still seems to need it (I sent a 4-pack of 1g tubes, ie four bunny doses).