Concerned About My Holland Lop :/

[Peach]

So I was really excited about this Holland Lop my boyfriend got me for my birthday...problem is... I think something in wrong internally. He poops normal sometimes and other times it is this mush that he steps in a it smells AWFUL. His butt ( It will never smell the roses,but I can smell it when I'm handling him) and his mouth sometimes smells ( I know they eat their night poops but this happens I think more frequently than that) and I don't own one rabbit that is this way. I know he was taken away from his mom at a young age ( I know at least 6 weeks) and it could have been younger than I think. My boyfriend works at a pet store and let me know what happen behind the scenes and told me at one point they did have to give him anti biotics. I can't cull this little guy, so I've kept him on a bland diet of oatmeal and timothy hay. He drinks water, he plays around, and acts normal...I don't know if it was because he was taken from his mom too early that he doesn't know how to care for himself. I put him the other young kits around his age to spend some time in his cage so we won't be alone and to enjoy the company, but could they eventually teach him to be less of a mess? He's good about cleaning himself up and everything...it's just the smell. I was cleaning cages and I didn't know where the crap smell was coming from until I cleaned up his cage. Is there something else I should be feeding him to help with tummy issues?

 

[Random Rabbit]

Some times... and please note i am Not a vet... but sometimes i Have noticed a distinct 'stinky' oder when animals ( not just rabbits) are dealing with Coccidiosis ( and i cannot spell that word !) Perhaps treating him for that... then giving him some probiotics would help..... ( fingers crossed)

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Peach,

Please don't take offense, but I think your heart may be trumping logic here. If he does have coccidia, or something contagious, the last thing you should do is expose your other rabbits. When he has normal poo, he wont be getting "dirty" hopefully, so the good example of your other bunnies wont make any difference in the long run.

Can you afford to have a fecal exam done? If you have a regular vet they might be willing to do it w/out an office call. I found a great vet hospital that knows we have a zillion barn cats, and they are good about that type of thing. Make sure to ask for enough meds to treat the whole herd as needed.

I second RR on the probiotics... and I do believe "coccidiosis" is spelled correctly!

Good luck with the little guy! I hope he gets better soon.

 

[HendricksHearth]

I agree with Mama. It is a risk to have him around to your others, so I'd suggest a fecal also if you don't want to treat without having a diagnosis. It is possible that he has unbalanced flora in his gut (aka yeast and/or bacteria outgrowing the good stuff) also and that can be dangerous to any rabbit, but especially a youngster weaned early. My understanding is that it can lead to continued gut problems as well like enteritis. I'd make sure he has hay available at all times. Why did they give him antibiotics?

Also I mean this in the kindest way possible, but you said repeatedly that you are wanting to raise and show quality stock.. and it doesn't sound like the pet store is a very good source, you know? Like Mama said, your heart may be trumping logic.

Best of luck,

Lauren

 

[ladysown]

weaning has nothing to do with his digestive system... Kits can and are successfully weaned at three weeks of age (usually by necessity not preference)...

Some bunnies.. I find have poor digestive systems. Sometimes time cures it, but generally speaking...it is something they will always struggle with.

Trim the butt hair, really closely... do this VERY carefully.
Keep him clean.
Feed him normally so that his system can adjust to the food that he is on.

Keep him by himself since he's brand new. The others won't train him to be better if the issue is a digestive one.
Treat him for coccidia.
Give him probiotics on the odd occasion to see if added support helps him.
Give him until he's hit puberty for his digestive system to settle.

I would recommend not breeding from him.

 

[Peach]

Thank you all for this helpful information. I would NEVER buy from a store. This was just happened to be a birthday present my boyfriend that felt I would absolutely love and I do. I was not and am not even considering him as a buck for show stock . Maybe try him at a show to learn more about showing, but just a pet. Eventually I do plan to neuter the him and the other buck I have as a pet. I have treated him for coccidiosis and scrubbed down every last bit of all my cages with bleach and letting them sit in the sunshine. Putting the babies with him was a stupid idea. I kicked my self a little bit for being naive about that. Thank you guys though. I hate pet stores so much. SO MANY PROBLEMS DX I try to stress so much to my boyfriend that pet store rabbits are no nos but he just does what guys do best. Up side, since I've treated him, he's doing much better with his poop. I'm seeing improvement. I'm going to try some probiotics tomorrow if I can get my hands on some.Thanks again <br /><br />__________ Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:04 am __________<br /><br />Do you guys also think that his internal clock might be a little off? He has been in the back of a pet store where no sunlight filters in and the lights probably stays on in the back rooms for about 2-3 weeks....(I'm not saying like within the pet store either. I'm talking like the back rooms where only the employees go) I notice his poos are perfect normal around late after noon to night time...then in the morning through after noon he has Cecotrope type poos. Since he has been with me he gets to see the sun and all....do you think he adjusting to the fact that now he can actually enjoy/see the sun? I just happen to think about it this morning when I was woken up by the sun in my face xD

 

[ladysown]

how long exactly have you had him?

Is he still in the first month of adjustment to a new locale?

Rabbits and their bodies can do weird things until they completely adjust to a new location. Have a polish doe here...took her a full three weeks for her system to adjust to a new location. Treated her for coccidia too even though the other rabbits she came with from the same place had a quick adjustment period. I will be monitoring her and her eventual kits very closely for stress related issues.

 

[Peach]

I've had him about a week now so it could be stress. He's treated but case we will see what he does in time