Hello guys, I have a pet store dwarf lion head bunny that's roughly 9 weeks old....she was great and healthy and beautiful, and then all of a sudden Candy started to let out this heartbreaking scream. Before I even realized what was going on I was already by her house trying to give her a head rub and some comfort....upon touching her, and even lifting her she didn't stop screaming for about 6 more seconds. Then all of a sudden she is acting normal! >.<. So naturally I do some research and after the wife and I literally researched for about 2 hours and came up with nothing, we came to the conclusion ( more like we HOPED) that something scared her, like our cat that is normally friendly or anything else I didn't notice. The next day she was fine, but the day after that.....she did it again.....and this time I was already there. Nothing was happening around her....she just started having a fit basically....and as soon as I put my hand to her with some comforting words....she stopped. So now I'm freaking out. I check her and she looks physically fine. Start doing some research, and about 10 mins later I look back in and boom....she has terrible diarrhea. Gave her water by hand and kept her close all day since vet wouldn't be in till the next day. Now...this is where it gets even weirder....I take her to the vet....and her poo is normal now mind you.....but the vet (who I am almost sure is lying about rabbit experience) kind of shrugged off the screaming as 'frightened by something', and gave me some hydration and blended dry greens to give her with some probiotic. And charged me $500. So we get home and a few hours go by and then all of a sudden she gets super watery poo again and I am running into the bathroom to get some tissue to clean her up and BAM she starts screaming again. At this point I'm literally in tears. Because after this scream fit....she is having like...neurological tremors or something.....and grinding her teeth like crazy. As I'm trying to find another vet to no avail.....about 20 mins go by and she's acting completely normal and fine again. Please. Someone help me out. It's seriously breaking my heart when I hear that. And to see her little convulsions I ....I want to help her but I can find no information on this.....please....
Urgent! Screaming/Diarrhea! What is it?!
- Thread starter littlesol
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Sorry, I don't know what's wrong, my uneducated guess would have been some kind of bloat that causes pain and effects digestion....
Simethicon against bloat wouldn't hurt, worst thing it does nothing. About 10-15mg per feeding. But, no, that's not like it.
What do you feed? Not that I think that's the problem, but it's a basic bit of information.
Anyway, never heard about such a thing, there could be something fundamental wrong with her. As far as I know screaming is no reaction to pain, also definitly not when they are frightend by something. They scream because of actual terror, like when a rabbit gets grabbed by a predator (or thinks so), it's a kind of defense. Does she lose control of motion during these fits?...
No Idea if epilepsy , a slipped disc, a jammed nerve, or such things are even possible...
Lets see what the others come up with.
Btw, is this vet a ripoff, or are vets in the US that expensive? I never paid more then 60€
Simethicon against bloat wouldn't hurt, worst thing it does nothing. About 10-15mg per feeding. But, no, that's not like it.
What do you feed? Not that I think that's the problem, but it's a basic bit of information.
Anyway, never heard about such a thing, there could be something fundamental wrong with her. As far as I know screaming is no reaction to pain, also definitly not when they are frightend by something. They scream because of actual terror, like when a rabbit gets grabbed by a predator (or thinks so), it's a kind of defense. Does she lose control of motion during these fits?...
No Idea if epilepsy , a slipped disc, a jammed nerve, or such things are even possible...
Lets see what the others come up with.
Btw, is this vet a ripoff, or are vets in the US that expensive? I never paid more then 60€
Exotic vets are hard to come by and even harder to afford. She gets the same as my other 3 babes, Timothy with the occasional alfalfa, and a little bit of pellet twice a day. She doesn't lose control during the fit, but afterwards the last time,her jaw started twitching, then it looked like she was doing some sort of silent scream. Then she involuntarily jumped backwards and her legs were stuck extended for a few seconds....then she hunched her back up and walked towards me like that....and then I held her and tried to comfort her and she seemed to relax a little...then after about 10 minutes she loosened up and went back to normal.
If the diarrhea isn't just a temporary loss of bowel control when the seizures happen, but is watery diarrhea that is continuing to happen throughout the day, it needs to be treated immediately, as this is a true emergency in rabbits, especially young bunnies, as they can dehydrate quickly and the toxins released from the bacteria causing some forms of diarrhea, can be fatal. If the loose stool seems to be a temporary loss of bowel control only when the seizures are occurring, then to stop the loose stool the seizures need to be addressed and treated.
If your rabbit is truly having seizures and this is the cause for all the screaming and is causing the loss of bowel control, if the last vet didn't do any diagnostics, you will likely need blood tests and xrays done to try and help determine what is causing your rabbits illness. There are various causes for seizures in rabbits, most common would be e. cuniculi, infection, and head trauma, especially in young rabbits. There are meds that can be given to help calm the occurrence of seizures, but what exactly is given will depend on what the vets findings are.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Epilepsy_Bears.htm
If at all possible you need to find a different vet. Any vet that doesn't take seizures and diarrhea in rabbits seriously, is not rabbit savvy. That vet should have never discharged your bunny without suggesting tests and medications to help diagnose and treat your bunny. If you can, try and get a video when one of these fits occur, as well as collect a sample of the diarrhea(store in fridge) to bring into the vet. If you would like to list your general location, it's possible someone may be able to suggest a rabbit savvy vet in your area. You can also take a look at these lists of rabbit savvy vets.
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forumdisplay.php?f=21
I'm very sorry for your poor bunny and really hope you are able to find a decent vet to figure out what is going on.
If your rabbit is truly having seizures and this is the cause for all the screaming and is causing the loss of bowel control, if the last vet didn't do any diagnostics, you will likely need blood tests and xrays done to try and help determine what is causing your rabbits illness. There are various causes for seizures in rabbits, most common would be e. cuniculi, infection, and head trauma, especially in young rabbits. There are meds that can be given to help calm the occurrence of seizures, but what exactly is given will depend on what the vets findings are.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Epilepsy_Bears.htm
If at all possible you need to find a different vet. Any vet that doesn't take seizures and diarrhea in rabbits seriously, is not rabbit savvy. That vet should have never discharged your bunny without suggesting tests and medications to help diagnose and treat your bunny. If you can, try and get a video when one of these fits occur, as well as collect a sample of the diarrhea(store in fridge) to bring into the vet. If you would like to list your general location, it's possible someone may be able to suggest a rabbit savvy vet in your area. You can also take a look at these lists of rabbit savvy vets.
http://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forumdisplay.php?f=21
I'm very sorry for your poor bunny and really hope you are able to find a decent vet to figure out what is going on.
