Sick Bunny at Medvet-advice appreciated.

[Alissa_Dandelion]

So here is my bunny story-any help, or general advice is greatly appreciated.

My name is Alissa and I’m a 27 year old bunny mom!  I’ve had rabbits my whole life, but never a flemish giant.  Last Monday I went to a breeder and bought a 10 week old sandy Flemish giant buck that i named Finn.  For the first couple days, things were great with Finn, my only concern was his belly and that I wasn’t seeing him eat pellets.  His belly felt a little bit balloon like and big, but i thought maybe that was normal for the young giant breeds (I’ve had dwarfs, jersey wooleys, and a rex in the past),  But he didn’t seem to be eating much or pooping much and I got really worried.  On Friday, he had a bout of diarrhea and I took him to my regular vet.  They did a fecal test and determined poor Finn had coccidia, sent me home with oxbow critical care feed and albon antibiotic for Finn. 

Fastforward to Saturday morning, i wake up to a cage with four small diarrhea occurrences. Finn ate 2 feedings of the oxbow critical care eagerly in the early afternoon.  About ten hours after, he still hadn’t had a bowel movement and was no longer interested in the feedings or baby spinach which i was told to offer him only if he refused to eat.  I became so concerned I took him to medvet in Hilliard OH which is about an hour drive for me.  They did an xray and admitted him that night for fluids, medication for gi motility , and close monitoring.  The xray showed a lot of gas in Finn’s abdomen, but no blockages.  It is now Monday night and Finn is still at medvet with IV fluids and medications.  He has still had only a couple episodes of mucousy/runny stool.

Today is now Monday,  He had a fecal transplant today which I was unsure about but Dr. Oglesbee (who seems to be very rabbit savvy) recommended it because she says she is concerned for cecal dysbiosis and she is concerned Finn doesn’t have the right flora in his cecum since he is so young.  The plan is for him to come home tomorrow with subcutaneous fluid and injections and oral medications  to follow.  I now have 2K invested in Finn.  I love him very much, one question i have is does anybody know the prognosis for gi stasis/cecal dysbiosis in young rabbits or has anyone had experience with this? I don’t have much more money that I can put towards Finn unfortunately and I’m just worried all of this will end with poor results.  I am also worried that after Finn has been through all of this stress and trauma he will no longer like us and won’t be the kind little bunny i adopted prior to taking him to medvet.  What are things I can do to make him feel more comfortable if/when he gets to come home?   Are there ways to make the injections and subq fluid less stressful for him so he doesn’t associated me with stress when i give him these treatments?

I know this is a long post, i’m just at a loss and need some advice. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[Azerane]

Hey there, sorry about the bad health your poor little Finn has come with.

I’m afraid I’m at work so i can’t offer a great deal of advice right now, but i will suggest that you get some simethicone (infant gas relief, one brand is infacol). If he has a lot of gas in his stomach, or even on suspicion of gas, infacol can be syringed into the side of the mouth. It helps to bind gas bubbles and makes them easier to pass which in turn may help make him more comfortable and as a result more inclined to eat. It is chemically inactive so it’s not a problem to use with what your vet has given.

Wishing him the best, hopefully someone else will be along shortly with more help and info on your questions

[Bam]

Coccidiosis is not uncommon in young buns. It causes true diarrhea. Then the antibiotics given to eradicate the coccidia can cause fecal dysbiosis, esp in a young bun whose GI microbiota hasn’t yet matured. The probiotic live brewer’s yeast, (saccaromyces cerevisiae) has been shown to improve nutritional uptake and weight gain in young rabbits. Enterococcus faecium is another probiotic that can help rabbits, it’s the most prevalent bacteria in the healthy bunny gut. Benebac contains e. faecium.

Gas drops as Azerane mentions are often surprisingly effective. There’s no hard scientific evidence of it’s effectiveness in rabbits, but it’s much used by bunny owners and many of us swear by it. It generally takes effect after 20-30 min. Gas is very painful for rabbits. You can mention it to your vets, they might prefer not to use it due to the lack of hard evidence. 

This is a very serious condition for a very young bun, as you are well aware. We’ve had really serious cases here that made it through.

Don’t worry about him hating you for giving him meds. Buns don’t seem to hold grudges over that sort of thing. They might very well be very upset with you for distributing meds and food by syringe, but after it’s over, they have become used to handling and that is beneficial for your relationship. It’s a reaction sth in the way of “she did those awful things to me and nothing really bad happened, instead I felt much better”. Just be calm, gentle but firm, give him a stuffie to cuddle with and try to make him as comfy as possible.

Here’s a good article from a trusted source about diarrhea in rabbits: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

It has a link to a protocol for emergency treatment of diarrhea in juvenile buns, it’s 10 years old but could still be useful since it is by Dana Krempels, a very highly respected authority on rabbit medicine: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

[Alissa_Dandelion]

Finn came home this afternoon and is doing great they ended up doing a fecal transplant ( introducing some stool from another donor bunny into his gi tract to help his good flora return back to normal) which again I was super skeptical of, but after seeing his improvement I’m impressed! I have given him his first dose of subq fluids and subq metoclopramide and he’s eating well enough he won’t need the force feedings and pooping normal (normal rabbit droppings this time) so far. I’m really impressed with the care he was provided with and although it was expensive, I’m just happy he is doing well. I was so worried! I will go out and get gas drops for him in case I need them! Thank you guys for the awesome advice!

[Bam]

Great news! Thank you for the update! That so cool, a fecal transplant! I’ve only heard of that for humans, but it appears to be quite effective for (human) patients with recurring clostridium difficile-infections. The idea is un-appealing of course, but if it saves a bunny, that’s of lesser importance.

[kirstyol]

I’ve never heard of them doing faecal transplants in rabbits but its mega effective in humans with C-Diff as bam says, one of my old university lecturers worked on the original research for faecal transplants and I can understand how it could work in buns who need a bit of help to get their gut bacteria back to normal. I’m so glad Finn is doing better

[DanaNM]

I am going through a very similar ordeal with my bunny (cecal dysbiosis, gas, stasis). Do you know how they did the fecal transplant? Was it through an enema or orally?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

Dana, I have PMed Alissa-Dandelion about this and asked if she’d be willing to give more details. Hopefully she’ll see my PM and reply.

[Alissa_Dandelion]

Dana-the fecal transplant was through an enema. The vet’s office had a donor bunny available to provide the resources. I will PM you also Finn is still doing excellent. He has normal bunny poops and is eating and drinking and binkying. If you are anywhere in Ohio, i went to Medvet Hilliard ohio and the veterinarian was Dr. Barbara Oglesbee. I really thought we were going to lose Finn and I am very grateful for everything Medvet was able to do for him.  I really hope things are going okay for your bunny, it is a very stressful situation to go through.  I sent you a PM with a little more info about Finn’s treatment. If there are any other questions you have, feel free to ask. Sending positive Vibes your way.

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