Enteritis?

I have a three week old kit who sat listless. I picked her up and she had a clump of dark poop. I pulled it off and it emitted a horrible smell. I assume she has early enteritis...

What might I do? I added fresh hay, rolled oats and they have water.

I checked the othre four and they seem clean, hungry and fine. Mom is still nursing them as well...

thx

From a small animal Vet site:

Treatment of Mucoid Enteritis

Treatment includes fluid replacement either by injection under skin or orally with an electrolyte solution such as Lectade. Withholding solid food for 24 hours is usually recommended, then feeding stemmy alfalfa hay or similar roughage instead of pellets. Vegetable baby food can be given by syringe or orally. Drugs such as Metoclopramide and Cisapride are sometimes given.

Click to expand...

I'm sure Maggie or others with more info than I have will post soon. Good luck with her. Please post back with results.

It's tricky when they are still nursing and still with their littermates and momma Can you put momma's pellets out of the kit's reach? I believe such cases of enteritis are brought on by the kit suddenly consuming inappropriate amounts of a solid food, pellets or grain being the usual offenders.

You're doing the right thing making hay available - my preference is grass hay at such times, but stemmy alfalfa would also be fine. Large flake (old fashioned) kitchen oatmeal like Quaker is the best thing to feed alongside the hay... If you can limit the kit's intake of solids except hay, so much the better. If you usually use water bottles, add a crock - it encourages easy drinking. You could add two crocks and put electrolyte solution in one.

Good luck with the kit... Hope the others stay okay.<br /><br />__________ Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:40 am __________<br /><br />Just came back from HT where I saw your post about the new feed, CH. There may be a connection between this new feed and the digestive problems your kit is experiencing. The transition from momma's milk to pellets is tough enough for kits... If this feed is harder to digest for adults, it may be the source of your kit's problem. Just a thought.

When you hit a problem with animals, always look for the thing that has changed. Most of the time, that will be connected to the problem.

The feed is what I am leaning to....

I added oats last night; will do so again now as well as a crock.

thx,

If you can put the pellets up out of the kit's reach for a time, that may help too. Or go back to your old feed until this is resolved and then phase the new stuff in more slowly.

I checked, she is alive. Bottom is clear and clean. I wonder if she just became plugged up. She is hopping and moving around--wasn't last night. Thye have strictly oats right now. I will get the other feed end of this week, I am not inclined to purchase the stuff I have right now.

One reason I switched, was the old feed had corn in it...

That sounds encouraging, CH! That is fast improvement for sure. Maybe she just overindulged and her immature digestive system just couldn't cope. Yes, Keep them on oats and not huge quantities, lots of hay. When you get the old feed back, introduce it to them slowly and hopefully all will be well.

I can understand you preferring a feed without corn, but if the protein levels are adequate it will likely not be a problem. You were getting good results with it, weren't you?

Do you have an ingredients list for the feed that caused the problem? Just curious.

Hi Maggie,
I don't see a list on the bag--strange eh?

The other feeds have had a listing and yes, the results were good. The problem pellets are much larger and actually waste is higher. I won't be back to it.

Probably a good decision. Fibre is good for rabbits, but not all fibre is of equal value. I'm not saying the products they are using are harmful per se... but certain things - soybean products and cottonseed meal come to mind - can be very hard for some rabbits to digest except perhaps in very small quantities. And that goes double for weanlings.

Maggie

Not sure its enteritis. the kit is moving, eating hay and its poops are more solid. please pass on your thoughts.

Feeding oats and grass hay to the litter....

my thanks@!
CH

my guess is something in the new feed is causing problems.

if you have removed the feed and have the rabbits on grass and oats, do this a minimum of three days and then slowly reintroduce pellets.

In the past when I've had poor litters I've mostly filled a j-feeder with oats, and than one scoop of pellets on top. ALL the hay they can eat (as in stuff a corner full).

Whether it was enteritis or just a digestive upset due to the feed and/or overingulgence, the treatment is the same. Lots of fluid and hay, some oatmeal and hold the pellets for a few days and then reintroduce them slowly. It won't hurt the rest of the litter to be on this diet until you get a supply of your old feed back.

poops are starting to have a more natural consistancy. Still bright brown, but round and normal sized.

I found corn kernals in the bag tonight...

the odd bit of corn is not going to hurt the bunnies you know.

and corn in feed doesn't necessarily indicate bad feed. just means you need to be alert to health issues. if your bunnies are doing well on it, then feed it. but if you start having issues, look to the feed.