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.