odds of coming back from mold poisoning

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PSFAngoras

PSFAngoras

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This is a first for me, my little chin buck I just got is showing clear signs of mold poisoning though I have gone through all of his feed and can't find a hint of mold, though there were a few pellets that were wet.

He was fine and his normal self this morning. Just found him about 30 min ago when I got off work. Now He's got partial paralysis, diarrhea, tinged with blood, and is severely dehydrated. Still breathing, struggling to stand on his own. I've been syringe feeding him some honey water for some liquid and electrolytes, he's only half accepting it. I had big plans for this buck. Guess Murphy knew that.

I'm only thinking of his best interest at the moment. Does he sound too far gone or does he sound like there's a chance of pulling him through. I've never dealt with this before so I really need some help here. I don't want him to suffer for no reason.

Thanks

-- Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:01 pm --

He just died in my arms, just too late.
 
So sorry you lost him, PSFAngoras. :( It must have been heartbreaking to see a rabbit go through that. (((HUGS)))

Are your other rabbits okay? Are they eating the same feed? It's scary how fast something like that can happen.
 
Thanks all for the support.

I've scoured the rest of the pellets, and all other buns seem to be 100% normal so far, not saying it can't happen though with how quick this little guy went under. I still haven't seen any cause, excepting the few wet pellets, but since some were wet I guess I have to assume some were moldy, though I check feeders once a day minimum. I must have missed it somehow. We're building a gutter system on that stack as soon as weather permits (looks like we have a long string of crappy weather ahead) and until then I'm going to throw out anything that looks like it's even gotten a drop of water on it, whether it has or not. That stack has always had a drop of two land on the feeders, but in three years I haven't ever had any pellets go bad until now.

Just more proof I need a proper rabbit barn vs. my little stack shelter system that I have now.
 
Toxic molds are often invisible and may not produce enough smell so there is no way to know. That's why anything that gets wet needs tossed unless you know it just happened and can use it up immediately.

We had a guinea pig sedated and cut open after eating peed on hay once. It was obvious there is no saving them. The intestines swell, bloat, and sections become necrotic within 24hrs causing death. There's not really anything that can be done to stop or reverse the effects. If they only got a very very tiny amount of mold shoving a lot of fiber and anti inflammatories down them early enough might work. If you can keep the digestive tract healthy the body might fight off a small amount of poison. By the time they have symptoms though it's too late. An animal has to die to alert you to the stuff before you know to do anything.
 
We fed moldy feed once... we lost one kit and almost lost our house bunny, who we had just brought back from the brink from wry neck. We finally had him stabilized, eating and drinking, and then that. He almost died. We just kept forcing soft food and fluids on him, and he did recover.

Still has a turned neck, but he's spoiled as he can be.

But yeah, coming back from mold poisoning... not easy at all. Very, very hard, and probably slim chances. We worked so hard to save him because he's Bunny-Wan Kenobi's pet, and his other pet bunny had already died a couple of years earlier from wool block.

I am so surprised we didn't lose more rabbits.
 
Anything wet causes mold. If they pee on hay and it gets shoved under a feeder/hay rack or buried under more hay so it stays wet it can mold in a couple days depending on temp. If they eat that they are likely to die. Hay and straw should be regularly checked for wet sections and scooped off the floor so it does not build layers of peed on hay. In colony it can be mixed in to very absorbent bedding to dry it out if it can't be easily removed. It's good to stir up colonies and solid bottom cages.
 
geesh.... I've been piling the hay in a section of our rabbit cages. I guess I'll clean it all out today. :shock:
 
Please do. I've always been very diligent about removing wet hay and pellets if I found any, and I have lidded feeders, but apparently that wasn't enough. Those pellets couldn't have sat for very long, and I lost a buck that I drove 3 hours one way and paid $75 dollars for. That buck had wonderful conformation and a good coat, and would have been a great boost genetically for the herd. And his temperament was better than most people's lap dogs.

More than any of that, he'd already been around long enough to whittle his way into pet status, so to have him die in such a terrible way is heartbreaking, certainly when I know that since (and if, I hope no one else comes down with anything... Though I'm defiantely going to be paranoid until this batch of pellets is gone, though there has been no other Water exposure) it's an isolated incident, it was something that had to have been my fault. Accident aside, that makes it hurt all the worse.
 
How terrible. I guess this doesn't help much, but maybe it was something else that took him down? I know it's heartbreaking and my heart goes out to you. :cry:
 
No, it was most definately poisoning of some kind with his symptoms, and with a few wet pellets and no other probable cause it had to have been mold. With all the other feed apparently good, it must have been an error on my part. While it hurts to know this, it is definately the best case scenario because if all the feed were bad I would have potentially lost the whole herd.

Part of raising rabbits is recognizing when we make mistakes, unfortunately, in animals with such delicate systems that typically means a dire outcome for the rabbit. I believe the difference in good breeders and bad breeders is being able to own up to and correct those mistakes, to learn from them and make sure it doesn't happen again. Failure to do so only sets the stage for a failed rabbitry and poor health or death for the rabbits.
 

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