Unknown problem with intestinal track

[DeSERG]

On the way home after visiting vet. Rabbit has some teeth problem from the right side. But it's not critical atm. The vet says that in current condition she won't sedate him. So we can't check his tooth. For the same reason we can't take blood for the analysis. We'll take his urine to exclude kidney problems.
Also vet prescribed co-trimaxozole for 5-7 days and meloxidine.

 

[DeSERG]

Forgot to say: he didn't lose weight for this week. Good news))

 

[Moonshadow]

Forgot to say: he didn't lose weight for this week. Good news))

That’s awesome news! Keep doing what your doing then, hopefully he gets better!

 

[DeSERG]

Thank you all for your support and advises. We really need it.

 

[Momma Luvbun]

Thank you all for your support and advises. We really need it.

That's why we're all here

 

[DeSERG]

So today probiotics arrived and i started giving it. First is in peletts. Cant say that rabbit like it, but he ate some pieces.

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Another one is in powder.

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I gave him 5ml for 3 times with injector per oral and he drank a bit from his bowl. According to the instruction his daily dose of it has to be 50ml, but i think it's a lot for him. And i don't know how to keep it dissolved. In the fridge or just indoor temperature? And for how long it can be kept?
May be somebody has an expirience with such kind of probiotics?

 

[JBun]

That would be for the whole day, and is probably based on an average 2-3kg rabbit. With your rabbit only being about 1kg, you could probably do a third to half of a sachet. I would divide that amount and make it up fresh twice a day, at room temperature, just left in the water dish. It's also advised to keep a separate dish of plain water.

You do need to either make sure your rabbit is drinking it up, or you may have to syringe it orally several times during the day.

 

[DeSERG]

That's bad that this probiotic has no good instruction. I'm not sure that it can be stored after opening a sachet. On amazon there are reviews were people say that they store it in a fridge for 24 hours. Yesterday i stored it not in fridge for 5 hours and after it probiotic smelled yeast much stronger than when it was just dissolved. And when i filled up a syringe the solute was full of bubbles. May be i'll email the manufacturer for more information.

 

[JBun]

We don't have that probiotic, so I'm not familiar with it's properties. I use Benebac plus and make it up fresh each time, and just put a small scoop in 2-3ml of warm water and give it a few minutes to semi dissolve, then mix it up and draw it up into a syringe to administer orally. It doesn't dissolve completely, but that doesn't matter as it all gets sucked up into the syringe. I do this twice a day. But Benebac is just probiotics. Bio Lapis has electrolytes and vitamins as well.

If it seems to go bad after a few hours, then definitely don't leave it out. I would just make up a days batch and keep it in the fridge, then split it up to give through out the day. And just give as much as your bun will take. If you don't end up giving the full amount, then I wouldn't worry about it. And for the next day only make up as much as you think your bun will take.

 

[JBun]

How is your rabbit doing now on the antibiotics and pain medication? Is he eating any better? Has he started eating his pellets now, and is he eating hay any better? Is his poop looking any better?

You mentioned that your rabbit has cavities and was on antibiotics for that. I suspect that's still a problem and this is probably causing the eating issues due to pain and sensitivity while chewing and eating. 3 weeks on antibiotics isn't usually enough for rabbits, especially with a dental infection. Something like that can take months on antibiotics to clear up. So if the dental infection is still there, your rabbit will need to stay on the antibiotic and pain medication for much longer than 7 days.. I had to have my rabbits on a month of the antibiotic azithromycin for a different infection, and it's a much heavier duty antibiotic than trimaxazole.

So you're looking at antibiotics and pain meds being needed for 4-6 weeks minimum. And you may end up needing to change antibiotics. Trimaxazole(trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) isn't always the most effective antibiotic in rabbits due to it's short half life. You may need to switch to something like enrofloxacin, chloramphenicol, azithromycin, or an injected antibiotic like penicillin, cephalosporin, etc.

I've had the best luck with clearing up infections in my rabbits with azithromycin, because of it's ability to penetrate deep into the tissue(and bone), and it starts working pretty quickly(days), where some antibiotics it can take a week before noticing any improvement. Though some rabbits can't tolerate it, because it can cause serious digestive upset in rare instances, so should only be used with rabbits that tolerate it well.

Ideally the infected teeth need to be removed at some point. But that has to happen under sedation when your rabbit can handle it. Having your rabbit on the anti inflammatory pain med should be helping if the right dose was prescribed by your vet. Inexperienced vets often prescribe too low of a dose for rabbits. Rabbits need at least 3 times the dose that would be given to dogs. Do you know what dose of the meloxicam your rabbit is getting, and what weight your rabbit is at now?

Medirabbit: dental abscesses

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawabscess.html

 

[Diane R]

So today probiotics arrived and i started giving it. First is in peletts. Cant say that rabbit like it, but he ate some pieces.

Spoiler

View attachment 57925
View attachment 57926

Another one is in powder.

Spoiler

View attachment 57927
View attachment 57928

I gave him 5ml for 3 times with injector per oral and he drank a bit from his bowl. According to the instruction his daily dose of it has to be 50ml, but i think it's a lot for him. And i don't know how to keep it dissolved. In the fridge or just indoor temperature? And for how long it can be kept?
May be somebody has an expirience with such kind of probiotics?

I would stick with the Protexin Profibre pellets, I've been using them for many years. Give 1 tbsp a day. I'm not a fan of adding stuff to their drinking water, and, as you say, you won't know how much has been ingested. Plus, it can make bunnies drink less which is not what you want.

 

[DeSERG]

@JBun last days he was only on co-trimaxozole and meloxidine. Today i didn't give him meloxidine because i don't see any changes or improvments after using it. The dose was 0.05ml once a day.
He doesn't want to eat any type of Versele feed except of Nature Original. He also eats apple or crunches. But i give him only 1 little piece of apple with co-trimaxozole and 1 crunch a day.
Also today i added mush of apple to Protexin Profibre pellets to make him eat this and he ate it. I'll try this trick with Laga Complete. Hope that it will work.
His poop still hasn't change. He eats more hay. Today he took in 25ml of probiotic.
My vet said that she won't check his mouth till he recovers because she's afraid to do full anesthesia.
So now the only way for us, as i see, is to do what we do. After some time we'll resume antibiotics, i think.

 

[DeSERG]

Monday, 4th day on probiotic - nothing changed.
He refused to eat pro-fiber even with an apple. Yesterday i decided make a new trick. I made two protions of mush of pro-fibre pellets. Added an apple oi one and a banana in the other portion than dried it up in oven in covection mode. Rabbit liked the apple ones, bananas he don't want to eat.
Now i think to do the same thing to Laga complete. Want to make a mush of it, add an apple or buy a plum, dry it in oven and may be than he'll eat it.
Still can't take his urine for the analysis.
He eats a hay, drinks water and probiotic, but still poops are wet.

 

[DeSERG]

One more thing. He very often pees. But it's not usual process. It's like leeking. For example he lies on carpet and when he stands up I see little wet spots. And his tail is constantly wet.

 

[DeSERG]

Today I stopped probiotics. Still no changes.
His pee problem increases. His appetite decreases.
What pain relief can you suggest? Meloxicam doesn't help.
I think that the reason of that can be that he's not sprayed. He doesn't pee as usual rabbits do. His tail is always wet and he cleans up under it every minute.
What can I do to diagnose that problem?

 

[Diane R]

Today I stopped probiotics. Still no changes.
His pee problem increases. His appetite decreases.
What pain relief can you suggest? Meloxicam doesn't help.
I think that the reason of that can be that he's not sprayed. He doesn't pee as usual rabbits do. His tail is always wet and he cleans up under it every minute.
What can I do to diagnose that problem?

You really need a good rabbit vet. If you can't find a rabbit vet in your country, try to find a vet who is willing to discuss the case with rabbit vets in the UK. They can try Molly Varga: Services | Molly Varga Vet

 

[DeSERG]

Thanks) I'll contact them. And i'll try to find more remote help from vets. If somebody can recommend any skype/twitter/telegram/facebook vets - i'll be grateful for it. Or a link for forum topic. Any help, guys

 

[JBun]

Your rabbit may have a UTI. That would be the most likely cause for urinary incontinence. I know your rabbit was just on antibiotics, but you'll probably need to do another course of antibiotics, something like enrofloxacin or sulfa/trimethoprim.

 

[DeSERG]

@JBun UTI is urinary incontinence? I can't visit my vet earlier than Monday/tuesday, so I'll google it. I agree with you about the course of another antibiotic.
Is there any way to diagnodse that UTI? How does this lettes decrypt?

 

[DeSERG]

Who can say what does that coloured rabbit icons mean on the map?