very small white rabbit fails to grow

[Millinex]

I got out of the field because of nasty attitudes, but I would never recommend someone go against what their vet is telling them to do for a sick animal. You can't examine the animal yourself so you just don't have enough info to know what's best.

You believe everything a vet says do you? Here's a great example for you. I breed reticulated pythons (very large snakes) as a staple of my living- one starts to push at the front of his cage (breeding season, males do this sometimes), and rips his face open. It gets infected rather quickly, so I- like every other person without much knowledge on treating it - go to the vet.

9/10 vets will do the following:
Swab it with antibiotic, flush it, pull the cheese/puss out.
Prescribe Baytril.

If the snake sneezes. I take it in. Must be a respiratory infection. They just... give Baytril.

Here's the problem, 9/10 vets will just prescribe something without actually doing the leg work in a "hope" that their random stab in the dark fixes it. I've seen animals come out with severe burns and bad scaring from using Baytril. I've seen animals DIE from using Baytril. I've watched animals wither away and die because a vet is too lazy to bother to order a full culture done, to test for everything and prescribe the right meds for that specific bacteria. I've watched them give antibiotics for viral/fungal infections.

Do you know why I tell people to go against their vets? Because 9/10 the vet is doing what is best for his wallet and his pocket book, if he can tell you over the phone how to treat your animal, he makes no money, but if you have to come back a few times and try 5 different medications- he makes more money.

I don't need to examine the animal head on to determine what might be best for the animal. Any vet/vet tech worth his/her salt knows that stress is a huge HUGE contributing factor to sickness in a lot of animals, and how much it amplifies and makes things worse. The best bet is to usually do as much as you can at home, where the animal is comfortable, and so smaller less invasive treatments than to drag it to a vet and have it pumped full of XYZ. Animals have good immune systems, and are strong- they can make comebacks from some pretty nasty stuff...

Now if your vet does the cultures, finds something, and is proactive about actually being of help- then I'm all for you following that vets advice, but most times, that simply isn't the case.

 

[Kayota]

You realize it's CHEAPER to just give medication than it is for a person to do all those tests?

 

[Millinex]

You realize it's CHEAPER to just give medication than it is for a person to do all those tests?

Sometimes yes sometimes no.

Throwing around a drug as strong as baytril for instance on a whim is nothing but poor practice. Any vet that style is 100% trash.

 

[Watermelons]

If you 2 want to continue to argue about vets, TAKE IT TO PM. Any further posts from Milinex or Kayota in this thread will be pulled and the member will receive an infraction.

Keep this post about the OP's rabbit in question, not your personal opinions on vets.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f39/rabbitsonline-forum-policy-decorum-10320/

 

[ladysown]

may I recommend that... to relieve the pain of the diarrhea or urine scald that you put some cornstarch on his skin?

I hope you have some available to you. It will help keep the dampness off him and make him more comfortable.

feed him hay, possibly some oatmeal (just the dry flakes) and see how he goes. No pellets.

The reason NOT to pick up a rabbit behind the neck like that, is NOT due to the kicking factor... but more to do with the physiology of the rabbit. They aren't built like cats and puppies with loose skin behind their neck. Their skin is attached to their muscle there and grabbing them and supporting their weight causes actual damage to the rabbit.

 

[Jackelope]

may I recommend that... to relieve the pain of the diarrhea or urine scald that you put some cornstarch on his skin?

I hope you have some available to you. It will help keep the dampness off him and make him more comfortable.

feed him hay, possibly some oatmeal (just the dry flakes) and see how he goes. No pellets.

The reason NOT to pick up a rabbit behind the neck like that, is NOT due to the kicking factor... but more to do with the physiology of the rabbit. They aren't built like cats and puppies with loose skin behind their neck. Their skin is attached to their muscle there and grabbing them and supporting their weight causes actual damage to the rabbit.

I was wondering why no one mentioned this about the handling. Holding a rabbit by the skin causes the skin to stretch and tear. In fact, when I used to raise Tans, it was a rule to never pick them up by the skin like that because it stretched the triangle marking behind the neck (proof that it actually does permanently stretch the skin). It's not as bad with babies and small rabbits who are lightweight, but still not recommended. I see it was done in this case to hold the rabbit up for a picture. I personally would have held the bunny on its back in my lap instead.

 

[anaotilia]

unfourtunately in my country 99% of the people (exc vets and people loving rabbits) pick the rabbits by the ears.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

If this bunny is still alive then please let a vet handle it.

 

[DogCatMom]

I'd like to suggest that, as the OP lives in the Dominican Republic, there simply may not be a rabbit-savvy vet within a reasonable distance of her home or even in the entire country.

Home care may be this rabbit's only chance of improving. The OP needs help with the rabbit's diet (which I believe has been offered in this thread), with his skin irritation--how to clean him, keep him clean, and help the skin recover--and how to treat any infection which may be present. This last is the only aspect of treating the rabbit where a vet may be required.

But it is not our place, I believe, as privileged North Americans to hammer this well-meaning woman into trying to take her rabbit to a veterinarian who may not even exist in her country.

/soapbox off/

 

[Kayota]

That's very true... Resources are different in other countries. It doesn't mean people should not have pets.

 

[coco_puffs]

unfourtunately in my country 99% of the people (exc vets and people loving rabbits) pick the rabbits by the ears.

How would they like to be picked up by their ears? Why is OK to pick up a rabbit by its ears? I guess they figure because it's not human it doesn't feel pain? I would think that a rabbit's ears are 1000x more sensitive than ours. I just don't GET people sometimes. :shock2:

Maybe you could start a new trend. Show them how to properly pick up a rabbit.

 

[Zaiya]

Picking a rabbit up by the ears is harmful to the rabbit, plus they are a lot more sensitive! At my local fair, if anyone is caught carrying a rabbit by the ears, they have their premium money taken away!

Anyways, since the starter of the thread did not start it to have people critique the handling of his/her rabbit, we should turn our attention back to the problem at hand - the rabbit's problems.

FOCUS, PEOPLE!!

 

[anaotilia]

most of the people don't know that the 5 senses (touch, taste, sight, etc) are much more developed in the animals than in the human.
So the phisical pain for the animals is much stonger for them than for us.

 

[whiskylollipop]

I hope the bunny is doing ok so far! Those pictures show a bunny in very bad shape indeed, poor thing.

 

[anaotilia]

At the time It is still alive and with the intention of living.
we put him near one of his little friends.

 

[middlemuse]

Thanks for doing all you can for the little guy. I lived in the Philippines for two years, and while I didn't keep rabbits at the time, I did get to see how hard it can be to take good care of animals with limited resources. My roommate watched an entire litter of puppies die of parvovirus, and nursed another back to health from it. You're treating this rabbit with compassion and kindness, and that means a lot, just ask her dog.

 

[lauraloo]

Poor little love, I hope he is still doing fine, Ana it sounds like you are doing all you can for him. Sending you both lots of love

 

[JBun]

If you haven't already, treating for coccidiosis might be something to consider. It can cause these type of symptoms in rabbits. If you have a vet with the capability of testing a fecal sample for it, that would be the best thing to do. Trimethoprim is listed as one med that can treat it, but it has to be given for the appropriate amount of time(Minimum 5 days on, 5 days off, 5 days on). Or there are other meds listed in this link, that are also used to treat cocci.

WARNING: Contains very graphic pictures
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Protozoal_diseases/Cocc_en.htm

But if you have already treated for coccidiosis, and for clostridium bacteria with the metronidazole, then all I can think is that the bloated swollen belly and poor weight gain, is related to the rabbits diet. As I mentioned before, sugary starchy foods can cause bacterial overgrowth and digestive upset in rabbits, especially babies, so it's best not to give fruit, sugary baby food, grains, bread, carrots, etc( basically anything with lots of sugars and carbs). And also eliminating other veggies may help, as they can also cause digestive upset in young rabbits. You will also want to stop pellets as well, as they contain grains and sugars that often contribute to digestive problems once they've started. Like I mentioned previously, grass hay is usually the best thing to give for a rabbit with digestive problems. Unlimited grass hay and usually, nothing else(except water and meds, and electrolytes/fluids when the rabbit is dehydrated). But since you don't have access to dried grass hay, fresh grass will have to do. The problem that can be encountered with fresh grass, is that soft early growth fresh grass, is sometimes too rich and can also cause digestive problems. Using a more mature grass with thicker stems, would probably work the best and cause less digestive problems. So you could try that, feeding only unlimited amounts of mature fresh grass and no other foods. You do want to make sure that the bunny is eating well on it's own, and behavior wise it is acting normal. If after several days, this gets the poop back to normal and there is no longer a swollen belly, then you could probably start slowly adding pellets back into the diet.

 

[anaotilia]

sorry in answering late.
My modem was broken no internet for some days.
It had some little , but very little diarrea, I stopped it with trimetoprim, prodom, febendazole, baycol.

Now we will give him a littel mebendazole.
the problem it doesn't grow, it is full of life, goes from one room to another passing under the door becouse it is big Little a mouse....
yesterday night at three in the morning, I was opening the refrigerator to drink some water and it was behind my feet , looking what i am doing....
it is incredible how someone so small and little has a brain so developped.
I saw that the little rabbits that don't receive mother milk remain small according my old experiences, now I saw some adult rabbits go freely in my
house just for a quick visit, robbing the milk of the cat and I, always explained them that their bodies are not suitable for the cow milk.
But I read in a book of rabbits that the rabbit mother milk is 8 times more concentrated than the cow milk.
What you think?
Now I am lookingfor some rabbit females with milk to help him.
Thanks and regards.
Ana

 

[ladysown]

rabbits that struggle with entropathic illnesses rarely grow well.

Milk at this stage most likely will not assist him in growing.

Now that he is stabilized just continue to feed him well and let him grow as much as he will. He will most likely always be stunted.