2-week-old w/ diarrhea - cocci?

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bantambunnies

bantambunnies

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Roughly 4 or 5 days ago, one of my Holland Lop kits came down with a very mild case of diarrhea. I thought very little of it at the time and just washed the bottom off, but in a day or two the bunny was very sick. Two days ago I brought the kit inside and began feeding it water mixed with sugar and a little salt, following the recipe posted on the Nature Trail website. Until last night it refused - or was unable - to nurse. Last night I had removed its siblings from the doe's cage and later put the doe in with all the bunnies. (I knew the doe would nurse them because this is how we raised her last litter for a long time. She's a good doe.) I did it this morning, and I'll do it again in about an hour or so.

This kit has always been smaller than its siblings, but it looks much smaller now. It spends most of its time huddled up in the bowl we gave it, eyes closed. Every hour or so it will get up, hop around the box, scratch vigorously at the sides and try to jump out.

Is there anything else I can do for it? Anything I can feed it? I've read lots of things about older bunnies - at least 4 weeks - but nothing for a kit this young. Would it be safe to feed pumpkin, banana, oatmeal, etc.?

And am I correct in suspecting coccidiosis? If so, should I be giving it any medicine?
 
I think when kits get diarrhea the usual suspects are other common bugs besides cocci, like e. coli. But that doesn't mean it isn't cocci.

I'm not sure what advice I can give but you could read through this emergency protocol for diarrhea in kits for info that might help you. Hopefully, someone else on here will have more advice.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

Some probiotics like Bene-bac could help and are very safe.

If the kit is only 2 weeks old not sure pumpkin is a good idea, you should give it hay though because thats one of the first things they nibble when they are that young and would be safe.

Also, without other kits to keep it warm it probably needs a hot water bottle to snuggle against, but set up so that it can get away from the heat source if it gets too hot.
 
Yep that's the one, Bene-bac. That one is safe for even really tiny kits. I read a post by someone who treated 100s of bunnies in a rescue and they always gave it to the hand reared kits and said it really helped with enteritis. I have lots of it, and when ever anyone gets a poopy but I give them some.
 
Just ordered it through Amazon Prime, so it should get here by Thursday. Hopefully this baby can hang on until then.
I was just making sure that it was the right product, since a search for Bene-Bac brings up several different gels and powders. This one has four tubes of it, so I'll have some extra on hand. :)

-- Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:44 pm --

Bunny has nursed for the night and has been put to bed with water, hay, and a soda bottle full of warm water. :)

-- Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:58 pm --

I am very distressed and confused. Tonight I went to let the bunny nurse with his siblings. When I put my hand into his box he practically jumped into my hand. He was active and lively. After the bunnies nursed we brought them back inside. My sister picked him up and his head rolled around. At first I thought he was just sleepy, but when I held him it was clear that something was very wrong. He was limp all over. When we put him down he remained limp, but began to kick and thrash about. He squealed several times and seemed to be gasping a bit for air. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped squealing and was still.

None of us knows how he could have died. The only thing we can guess is that perhaps he was stepped on while he was nursing, or maybe his organs got twisted while he was flipping around trying to find a nipple.

I am so disappointed. He seemed happy ten minutes before he died, and he looked like he might actually recover. And then, all of a sudden, he was limp and squealing. I'm just so confused. :(
 
sometimes smaller kits are not formed correctly, and have some GI troubles that resist all of our efforts, weaker kits are more susceptible to all problems, germ and protozoan. --- I would keep an eye on everyone else, just in case you have the beginning of a Cocci or bacterial enteritis problem developing. and-- make sure there is no soiled bedding or anything else in with the other kits , that could infect the other kits.
 
Thank you all. I just hadn't been expecting him to go so suddenly.

My mom had also suggested that he might not have been made correctly from the beginning. I figure it must have been that or an injury. My sister pointed out that if he was very full inside - if he had eaten a lot and perhaps his intestines were also backed up - it would have been easy for something to bust if he had been stepped on. :cry:

I have removed the nestbox and so far the other two are doing fine. One of them already has both ears lopped (just 3 weeks!). Hopefully they will stay well. :)
 

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