Friends' indoor rabbit lost lots of weight suddenly, help!

[mommaofmany]

Her indoor rabbit lost a lot of weight suddenly.

I suggested that it is likely worms. What do you all think? Have any suggestions?<br /><br />__________ Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:49 pm __________<br /><br />Apparently when they got their rabbit, the person told them just timothy and lots of fruits and veggies.

This is the second rabbit to die on them suddenly. ( She doesn't think the doe will make it through the night)

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oh no!

First off, she needs fluids. They may need to force her to drink them with a syringe placed between her cheek and teeth, as far back as possible so they will trickle down her throat. They can either give her Pedialyte or make their own solution.

homemade-electrolytic-solution-t14844.html

Gatorade is okay too, but that would be my last choice because of the artificial sweeteners and coloring.

I think she is likely underweight because of the diet she is on. Hay and vegis aren't enough. She needs grains and/or pellets as well.

She may eat some old fashioned oatmeal especially if they add a bit of molasses to it.

Do you have any other info? Has she been pooping and peeing normally? Good appetite? Plenty of water?

 

[mommaofmany]

I mentioned that they need to be on pellets and offered to bring some of my mine when we meet up to go ice skating tomorrow.

I also suggested they offer old fashioned oats now if they've got some.

They say she is eating and drinking fine, but is normally litter trained yet peed on the bed. Apparently their first rabbit died the same way, not the same rabbitry.

The more I talked to her, ( the history of this happening, the diet, and the fact that they've had this rabbit for 1 yr +) leads me to believe that it is the feed or something in the enviroment.

 

[Miss M]

I would think the feed, too. Rabbits are not vegetarians; they are herbivores. They can eat some fruits and vegetables, but these cannot be the bulk of the diet. They do not provide enough of the right nutrients to support a rabbit.

It sounds like something got slowly depleted in the rabbit's body, and when it was gone, the rabbit went downhill fast.

I would definitely do the oatmeal and blackstrap molasses, and Gatorade or similar drink. I think that it needs to be started on pellets slowly, though. A little, then a little more.

I hope she can be saved!

 

[ottersatin]

They might want to purchase
or borrow from the Library,
A GOOD book on proper Rabbit care and feeding.
Not the Garbage provided by House Rabbit Society!
They haven't got a clue about the proper care and feeding of a Rabbit.
Most pet rabbit that follow HRS plan are on their way to Rabbit Heaven
before they even get started. Proper housing and feed is a must
if you want to maintain your rabbit for more than a short time.
A good quality Pelleted Rabbit Feed, Water, [and water is the most important part of the diet]
and some grass-hay fed in a hay-rack, not tossed onto the cage floor
is all the Rabbit really requires. Anything else should be considered
a TREAT and only fed occasionally.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Zass]

Plenty of people on here feed their rabbit pellet free (I've been considering it myself), they inevitably replace the pellets with a grain mixture and a mineral supplement, not grocery store veggies, which can be deadly if fed incorrectly! Just one imbalance can cause gas, potentially putting a rabbit off it's feed, possibly leading to gi stasis and death. Seriously, I've almost killed a rabbit with too many carrots before.
(OK, so I actually feed grocery store herbs a lot. cilantro, parsley, dandelions, maybe some celery or fennel tops and kale every now and then) But that's not the same as feeding "bits of fruits and veggies"

What I'm trying to say is that someone feeding pellet-free has to really know how to feed a rabbit.

What does this animals poops look like?

 

[Miss M]

What I'm trying to say is that someone feeding pellet-free has to really know how to feed a rabbit.

Yes. I absolutely recommend them getting this rabbit gently onto a quality pellet diet. If they want to try natural feeding later, long after the bun is past this stage, they can do lots and lots of research.

 

[Dood]

I'd expect a pathogen in the home to show signs before the one year mark.

Worms are a possibility but they cause gradual loss of condition and not sudden.

Parasites like coccidia are faster acting but diarrhea is associated with the weight loss.

If she was a baby when they got her and she and her mother had been on hay, fruits and veggies their whole lives then the rabbit likely never properly developed her internal organs due to chronic protein deficiency. They might be shutting down which would cause a sudden weight loss.

 

[mommaofmany]

She was a baby. But the place I get feed is down the street from where we are going ice skating today and she said she is going to go buy some

 

[DogCatMom]

I'd think electrolyte imbalance, developed over time due to diet deficiencies.

Parsley Graybuns (my 12-lb Am.Chin.) is fed somewhere in between a "pellet-based diet" and a "pellet-free diet." He receives just over 1/4 cup pellets every day, as much orchard grass as he'll eat daily in a small hay rack, and a lot of fresh food. Sometimes this fresh food is foraged from my yard by me (mallow, plantain, blackberry leaves, rose branches, chicory branches/leaves, dandelion leaves, arugula, baby beet leaves, baby chard leaves). Sometimes this fresh food is courtesy of the produce store (off-cuts of parsley, collard/mustard/other greens, some celery for crunchies, romaine). And then there's the fiber/chewy stuff: banana peels, twigs and small branches from a beautiful liquidambar tree my new neighbor had removed from his yard (I scavenged from the tree company), apple-wood sticks, and a small pinecone-based toy he takes no note of. For treats: apple cores with the seeds removed (I get the apple), small pieces of carrot, an occasional piece of canned pineapple (when I remember to share it).

"Lots of fruits and veggies" is, literally, a recipe for disaster. Way too much sugar, not enough protein.

 

[mommaofmany]

They mentioned today that its poop is tiny and dry. I hope that they can save it. It is still eating and drinking, apparently eating like it is starving.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

They mentioned today that its poop is tiny and dry.

That usually indicates dehydration or the onset of GI stasis.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_disease ... Drp_en.htm

I would stress to them to offer it electrolytes.

A thought just occurred to me- did the rabbit have a mineral/salt lick? If there was not enough salt in the diet, water retention would not be good, so no matter how much it drank it wouldn't be absorbed properly.

I hope the poor little bun gets better. :clover:

 

[Zass]

Mommasheepdog was spot on with the dehydration advice.

When a rabbit has small dry poops it needs to eat and drink MORE, even if it's already eating a lot.

Make sure they give oats and pedialyte for sure (old fashioned oatmeal is fine), along with unlimited hay and some of the pellets, and be sure they add a mineral lick to the buns cage in the future if it doesn't already have one
Cooked mashed pumpkin is a good veggie that can also help rehydrate a bun, and maybe some dark leafy greens like the herbs I mentioned (NOT LETTUCE OR CABBAGE), soaked in water.

I always try to give herbs that are gas relieving and tummy settling to humans, fennel tops or dill for example.

 

[ladysown]

lots of house rabbit/pet rabbit folk don't feed pellets or grains at all and only feed hay and veggies, so not sure it's the diet. More likely something the rabbit is getting into or has developed... perhaps a GI problem.

 

[arachyd]

Maybe so but I have not heard of many of them having long-lived rabbits. One of mine just passed away at around 15 years of age. If the sick rabbit was getting only hay and lots of fruits and vegs I'm fairly certain the bulk of what it ate was not the hay. It's like giving a child a bag of candy and a bit of something nutritious - every day, every meal. You know the child isn't going to focus on the nutritious food without some kind of adult intervention. The lack of salt and minerals is something I had not considered because with pelleted feeds it is part of the feed. No wonder the poops are small and dry. Definitely give pedialyte. Mine get pellets and hay daily with some fresh greens or fruit or veg as a treat and so they get a variety of nutrients. In warm weather we go heavier on the fresh greens but the rabbits still get the bulk of their food from the pellets. They LOVE their pellets and will knock the dish out of my hand trying to get to them if I'm not careful.

 

[Dood]

lots of house rabbit/pet rabbit folk don't feed pellets or grains at all and only feed hay and veggies, so not sure it's the diet. More likely something the rabbit is getting into or has developed... perhaps a GI problem.

for an adult rabbit this would likely be alright but not a nursing doe or a baby. I still think chronic protein deficiency.

Any update?

 

[mommaofmany]

They say she is gaining by the minute, every time I ask they say she is looking better then the last time I asked.

 

[Dood]

AWESOME!!

I'm so glad she's getting better

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Yay! Another rabbit saved by RT! :hooray:

 

[Miss M]

:bouncy:

:clover: