English Lop Ear Bleeding *BLOOD*

Hey, so this English lop doe has blood all over her ear and feet, but I can’t find a single cut or injury. My dad said it could be a vein she nicked on her ear making it bleed so much…. And she is very lethargic…. What should I do?

Clean it up. From the picture not seeing a cut is no surprise. Lethargic can mean bloodloss and shock, so hydration and warmth. There must be a wound somewhere given the visible blood and you need to know it stopped bleeding or there won't be enough blood in the bunny.

I cleaned it all completely up, and I only found one spot where her skin was kinda rolling but, no obvious cut. I’m gonna keep her in the house until I feel comfortable putting her back outside. What would you put on it? Antibiotic Ointment? She is just staying in one spot, moving every so often, but very shaky when she does.

tambayo said:

Clean it up. From the picture not seeing a cut is no surprise. Lethargic can mean bloodloss and shock, so hydration and warmth. There must be a wound somewhere given the visible blood and you need to know it stopped bleeding or there won't be enough blood in the bunny.

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Graceful Rabbitry said:

I cleaned it all completely up, and I only found one spot where her skin was kinda rolling but, no obvious cut. I’m gonna keep her in the house until I feel comfortable putting her back outside. What would you put on it? Antibiotic Ointment? She is just staying in one spot, moving every so often, but very shaky when she does.

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Make sure she is drinking. You don't have to insist on her eating just yet, but keeping her from becoming dehydrated is really important. With the blood loss, giving her some electrolytes like Agri-Labs Electrolytes Plus, Aqua-Lyte Blue, or Aqua-Vite probably wouldn't hurt, but mostly make sure she has hay and water within reach so she doesn't have to move to get them.

@tambayo 's suggestion of a little extra heat for a while is good (not hot, just give her body a break so it can use its energy to heal rather than maintain its temperature).

Watch her when she moves or you gently handle her, and be alert for other injuries. It could be that a predator (rat, weasel, etc.) attacked her, or that she got her ear stuck somehow and thrashed around trying to get free.

She sounds like whatever made her bleed also traumatized her pretty thoroughly. I'd agree with keeping her inside for a while in a calm, quiet place. I wouldn't bother with any ointment even if you find the wound. Rabbits just lick ointment off. If her body rallies, she'll heal. A treat, like greens or a little apple or banana, might tempt her to keep hanging in there. Talking to her in a calm voice, and petting her if she likes being pet, can also do wonders. Watch for comfort movements - it's a good sign when a rabbit is willing to groom itself.

Graceful Rabbitry said:

I cleaned it all completely up, and I only found one spot where her skin was kinda rolling but, no obvious cut. I’m gonna keep her in the house until I feel comfortable putting her back outside. What would you put on it? Antibiotic Ointment?

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Alaska Satin said:

Make sure she is drinking. You don't have to insist on her eating just yet, but keeping her from becoming dehydrated is really important. With the blood loss, giving her some electrolytes like Agri-Labs Electrolytes Plus, Aqua-Lyte Blue, or Aqua-Vite probably wouldn't hurt, but mostly make sure she has hay and water within reach so she doesn't have to move to get them.

@tambayo 's suggestion of a little extra heat for a while is good (not hot, just give her body a break so it can use its energy to heal rather than maintain its temperature).

Watch her when she moves or you gently handle her, and be alert for other injuries. It could be that a predator (rat, weasel, etc.) attacked her, or that she got her ear stuck somehow and thrashed around trying to get free.

She sounds like whatever made her bleed also traumatized her pretty thoroughly. I'd agree with keeping her inside for a while in a calm, quiet place. I wouldn't bother with any ointment even if you find the wound. Rabbits just lick ointment off. If her body rallies, she'll heal. A treat, like greens or a little apple or banana, might tempt her to keep hanging in there. Talking to her in a calm voice, and petting her if she likes being pet, can also do wonders. Watch for comfort movements - it's a good sign when a rabbit is willing to groom itself.

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Thank you for all this information! Unfortunately, she did end up passing. I went outside for a couple minutes for finished caring for the rabbits in the barn and came inside to her on her side kicking, and breathing heavily, I pet her and tryed to snap her out of it, but sadly she did pass. Unfortunately, she was my last female English lop! I lost her mom a month or two ago, and sold all her sisters, planning to keep her. I’m at a loss with my Rabbitry, but I know things will work out.

Graceful Rabbitry said:

Thank you for all this information! Unfortunately, she did end up passing. I went outside for a couple minutes for finished caring for the rabbits in the barn and came inside to her on her side kicking, and breathing heavily, I pet her and tryed to snap her out of it, but sadly she did pass. Unfortunately, she was my last female English lop! I lost her mom a month or two ago, and sold all her sisters, planning to keep her. I’m at a loss with my Rabbitry, but I know things will work out.

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I'm so sorry to hear it! So sad and frustrating.

If you can stand it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to open her up carefully and look for internal damage. It seems to me that she might have been attacked by something. The lethargy and shaking could have been from blood loss, but I'd investigate further if it was me. I'd also examine the rabbitry closely for evidence of predator(s). Was there an actual puddle of blood under her cage? If she scratched herself, it might have bled a lot, but I've never had a rabbit bleed out from a scratch. Those ears are an unusual situation, though.

Maybe one of your buyers would sell one of the sisters back to you...?

What did the dam die of?

Alaska Satin said:

I'm so sorry to hear it! So sad and frustrating.

If you can stand it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to open her up carefully and look for internal damage. It seems to me that she might have been attacked by something. The lethargy and shaking could have been from blood loss, but I'd investigate further if it was me. I'd also examine the rabbitry closely for evidence of predator(s). Was there an actual puddle of blood under her cage? If she scratched herself, it might have bled a lot, but I've never had a rabbit bleed out from a scratch. Those ears are an unusual situation, though.

Maybe one of your buyers would sell one of the sisters back to you...?

What did the dam die of?

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I could’ve have stood to do that, but didn’t think about it. There wasn’t a big puddle under the cage. There could have been a predator and got it her first before anyone else, because the blood was fresh when I got to her. And I couldve scared it away when I went in the barn. But I didn’t see any tracks. There wasn’t only one other solid in the litter besides her, and both my bucks are brokens. I am messaging someone who I’ve gotten her mom from and my new buck and she has some older solids available for me, so I can hopefully still stay on my breeding schedule!

I left her mom in with her daughters for a litter longer than I should have, after I separated the boys. And she wasn’t getting as much food as she should’ve been, and wasn't really too interested. So I moved her out by herself and she started eating a lot more, a LOT more. but still not gaining weight back. She eventually stopped cleaning herself, somehow even broke her tail…. Still eating though. I was thinking GI statis but she never completely stopped eating from what I noticed. I ended up putting her down, from being extremely skinny and just cleaning herself at all, and she started not caring abut stepping on her ears and hurting them. Some may have not put her down but in my opinion it was what felt right. If you could help identify what was wrong with her as well that would help thank you!

Are you in an area where RHDV is present?
Outward signs of haemorrhage aren't as common with RHDV2 but can still occur. Lethargy is a symptom, also seizures when they pass.

I am in southeast Missouri, I haven’t seen or heard anyone with it in their barns around here, but I could be missing something..

MsTemeraire said:

Are you in an area where RHDV is present?
Outward signs of haemorrhage aren't as common with RHDV2 but can still occur. Lethargy is a symptom, also seizures when they pass.

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Graceful Rabbitry said:

I am in southeast Missouri, I haven’t seen or heard anyone with it in their barns around here, but I could be missing something..

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In theory you should be good, as they don't have Missouri on the map, but there are domestic cases in Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee which are right next door, and domestic and wild cases in Kansas.

kusanar314 said:

In theory you should be good, as they don't have Missouri on the map, but there are domestic cases in Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee which are right next door, and domestic and wild cases in Kansas.

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Okay! I haven’t got any new rabbits from those others states, but I did go to a show in Illinois, I didn’t bring her tho, and the rabbits I brought are doing good.

You said a part of her ear looked rolled? Maybe it got crushed somehow and bled before closing up?

Graceful Rabbitry said:

I could’ve have stood to do that, but didn’t think about it. There wasn’t a big puddle under the cage. There could have been a predator and got it her first before anyone else, because the blood was fresh when I got to her. And I couldve scared it away when I went in the barn. But I didn’t see any tracks. There wasn’t only one other solid in the litter besides her, and both my bucks are brokens. I am messaging someone who I’ve gotten her mom from and my new buck and she has some older solids available for me, so I can hopefully still stay on my breeding schedule!

I left her mom in with her daughters for a litter longer than I should have, after I separated the boys. And she wasn’t getting as much food as she should’ve been, and wasn't really too interested. So I moved her out by herself and she started eating a lot more, a LOT more. but still not gaining weight back. She eventually stopped cleaning herself, somehow even broke her tail…. Still eating though. I was thinking GI statis but she never completely stopped eating from what I noticed. I ended up putting her down, from being extremely skinny and just cleaning herself at all, and she started not caring abut stepping on her ears and hurting them. Some may have not put her down but in my opinion it was what felt right. If you could help identify what was wrong with her as well that would help thank you!

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It's hard to say with confidence what went wrong after the fact, since so many rabbit illnesses have similar symptoms. Usually leaving doe bunnies with the dam isn't too much of a problem, though it's not great for show rabbits since they tend to mount each other and sometimes barber each other, which ruins their show coats.

If they were running out of food, that would of course be an issue, but that doesn't usually result in rabbits eating less; they usually act really hungry! If she lost interest in food she probably had a belly ache of some kind. Sometimes rabbits will quit eating when they have tooth problems, but that shouldn't have caused diarrhea, and she wouldn't have started eating a lot again if her mouth hurt.

GI stasis, as well as diarrhea, are both a result of something else going wrong, so figuring out what made her lose interest in food and end up so skinny would be what you want to find out. Given the whole picture it sounds like coccidiosis might have been an issue. Coccidiosis, which is an illness caused by overgrowth of protozoan Eimeria in the intestines, will give the rabbit a terrible gut ache. Oftentimes it produces diarrhea, sometimes including jelly-like mucous in the poo; the irritated intestines produce mucous, called mucoid enteritis. Rabbits with diarrhea and especially mucoid enteritis usually don't want to clean themselves (understandable!).

Coccidiosis tends to be hygiene-related, so keeping things clean and not allowing overcrowded conditions is the best way to avoid it. Sometimes when multiple rabbits are living together it's harder to keep things as clean and dry as you'd like. Since the older doe was already stressed from raising a litter and maybe not getting enough to eat, she would be at higher risk of suffering from symptoms. Also, some rabbits are just naturally more susceptible (in my barn, those are culled). Giving extra roughage and probiotics like BeneBac can help right an upset stomach, but once the rabbit gets to the state in which you describe your doe, that won't fix the problem. I don't like using meds in my meat rabbits and prefer to just avoid the situation, but you can treat coccidiosis with amprolium (Corid) or toltrazuril (BayCox) or both, especially if you catch it early.

Here's a study on those two drugs used in rabbits - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5674438/

The broken tail would give me pause, though, and make me further wonder about predator problems. A rabbit can hurt its back, or wrench a leg in the wire, especially if there are other rabbits in the cage that might be harassing it, but a broken tail is a little harder to imagine happening without outside interference.