School me on Mucoid Enteritis

[PulpFaction]

A friend of mine just dropped the bomb shell that she loses at least one or two from every litter with what, by all symptoms, is weaning enteritis. This shocked me, I have never had a single case of this.

What causes it? We have found lots of remedies that she's employing to try to save this latest batch, but not seeing as much on how to PREVENT it. Why would one person experience this so frequently and another never see a single case? Could it be feed related, management, or is this viral/bacterial that could be on the cages, or even genetic? (I don't think it's genetic, she has two breeds and is seeing the same symptoms in both.)

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

This is a common problem caused by diet!!!A litter's first solid food should be hay-- or even fresh food, in small quantities. That is why so many of us use hay in the nest boxes-- it helps condition the kits digestive system to solid food. If plenty of good hay, and fresh foods are available to the kits as they start exploring-- they will alternate between nursing and nibbling whatever their mother is nibbling. This permits their gut to develop the flora it needs to transition properly to an adult diet. Then, when separated from the dam, hopefully in a cage next to hers to minimize stress, and eating the food they have been eating since their eyes opened, and using pellets as a supplement-- the gut handles things nicely. I never had enteritis in litters that the dam weaned of her own accord, and the litters also had access to the same fresh food and hay as their dam. I am not paying that expensive vet more than once to tell me "pellets are supplement only"
The sad thing about weanling enteritis, or mucoid enteritis, is that once the gut gets inflamed, and starts shedding, the lack of food absorption and dehydration works faster than the resulting diarrhea does. In many cases, the diarrhea isn't even noticed.

 

[MaggieJ]

Good explanation, Terry. I've never had a case of weaning enteritis either. I credit the natural foods, particularly hay. Like you, Rachel, I was shocked to learn the people routinely lose young rabbits in this way.

 

[ottersatin]

This is turning or has turned into a very opinionated thread.
I have to disagree with a few of the thoughts put forth as:
What should be done/fed to prevent weanling Enteropathy.
The disease is no longer known as Mucoid Enteritis but rather Mucoid Enteropathy.
I rarely have any problems with it and I feed very little fruits and or greens.
My rabbits are feed a diet of Pelleted rabbit feed grass-hay and water.
Water being the most important part of the diet. The treats/additives
I give with/in the feed are: Black oils, Whole Oats, Barley and whole wheat.
The mainstay of the diet is the Pelleted feed and grass-hay.
I realize that what works for one does not always work for another.
What I do works for me and my herd and has since 1989 with little
change or variation. I find it odd to make a blanket statement about one
feed system over another. We all must do what works best for ourselves
and our herd/charges. Not wanting to create a problem, just wanting
to make the statement that there is more than only one way to do things
correctly.
Ottersatin. ldtimer: :bunnyhop:

 

[MaggieJ]

Dennis, that is exactly what we are doing... sharing our opinions based on our own experiences. I notice we all agree that grass hay is vital to help kits make the transition from milk to solids safely. Water is also necessary, of course... Can't imagine anyone not providing water!

 

[Miss M]

Like Dennis, pellets and grass hay are the main foods of our herd. They get treats of weeds, melon rinds, banana peels, and garden clippings. The kits stay with the does until they are at least 6 weeks old.

I remember reading on here somewhere that there is a greater and greater chance of mucoid enteropathy the earlier the kits are removed from the doe. It isn't universal, but the chances of losing kits to it are much greater when they are removed at 4 weeks than at 5 or 6. By 8 weeks, it's not usually an issue at all.

 

[MaggieJ]

That's a good point, Miss M., about the weaning age. Those extra couple of weeks seem to make a big difference in the kits ability to handle solid feed alone.

Rachel, what does your friend feed her rabbits and at what age does she wean them?

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Dennis, that is exactly what we are doing... sharing our opinions based on our own experiences. I notice we all agree that grass hay is vital to help kits make the transition from milk to solids safely. Water is also necessary, of course... Can't imagine anyone not providing water!

Dennis, as Maggie states-- you are a proponent of grass hay-- FIBER seems to be the factor, I believe-- LONG, unprocessed fiber! Hay and fresh foods are full of long, unprocessed fibers. The other grains and seeds you list in your post contain UNPROCESSED fibers-- The FIBER is probably the key management point. Fiber provides bulk, helps regulate the speed in which food passes through the system- affecting nutritional uptake. Fiber helps trap 'nasties' that are later expelled from the digestive tract-- In human nutrition studies-- the more natural a fiber is when ingested, the more benefit is derived. Frankly, I prefer oatmeal that has texture to the stuff one just pours hot water on before eating-- that stuff is more like slime than grain!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Dennis, that is exactly what we are doing... sharing our opinions based on our own experiences. I notice we all agree that grass hay is vital to help kits make the transition from milk to solids safely. Water is also necessary, of course... Can't imagine anyone not providing water!

Dennis, as Maggie states-- you are a proponent of grass hay-- FIBER seems to be the factor, I believe-- LONG, unprocessed fiber! Hay and fresh foods are full of long, unprocessed fibers. The other grains and seeds you list in your post contain UNPROCESSED fibers-- The FIBER is probably the key management point. Fiber provides bulk, helps regulate the speed in which food passes through the system- affecting nutritional uptake. Fiber helps trap 'nasties' that are later expelled from the digestive tract-- In human nutrition studies-- the more natural a fiber is when ingested, the more benefit is derived. Frankly, I prefer oatmeal that has texture to the stuff one just pours hot water on before eating-- that stuff is more like slime than grain!

 

[ladysown]

what I learned in my battle with entropathic illnesses in rabbits is.

1. DO NOT BREED ANYTHING that even has the slightest hint of digestive issues. No poopy butt, no going off feed for a day, no nothing. You have a digestive illness GOOD BYE. I went from losing entire litters to now losing maybe one or possibly two per year -- and usually only majorly stress induced at this point.

2. you get a rabbit with entropathic illnesses get them drink but whatever means you can. Dehydration will kill them quicker than the disease will. swimming works wonders for rabbits you can't get to drink.

3. feed Lots of hay, toss the pellets for at least three days. feed oats. if you have probiotics use them EARLY or simply don't bother.

4. feed high long fibre whether it is hay or not... the choice is yours. I find that quite honestly breeding is the entire key. IF you strike it tough with digestive issues...the problem goes is greatly lessened. That said. I do feed hay regularly (every other day) and if I do a major change in the rabbitry or cage switches or weaning or whatever I'll give more hay.

5. generally speaking I find that entropathic illnesses are mostly stress induced, with a strong genetic component. Whether that genetic component is a stronger immune system OR a rabbit more capable by breeding to tolerate stress better. Feed hay, reduce the protein levels (aka no pellets), and don't breed anything that has any type of digestive issue. within one-two years the problems will be greatly lessened.

6. should mention another successful part of my battle against this disease... exercise and lots of it. not sure why it works. BUT forced exercise seems to help entropathic bunnies who I find tend to want to huddle in a corner and do nothing (which makes sense due to excessive gas in their bodies). but having learned from myself that when I'm gassy that exercise helps to move it around, I learned with bunnies that it can help them too.

7. you cannot and will not save them all, and sometimes it's better to cull then to try. They never quite bounce back the same and takes them longer to reach growout. So if they are near to butcher size...just butcher them and don't bother fighting with them. If they are show type rabbits... raise 'em up if you'd like and sell them ONLY as pets with the caveat that hay be a regular part of their diet.

 

[fuzzy9]

About 3 weeks ago I had a litter of 7 lose their mom just as they were starting to open eyes, and come out of the nest box. I use hay in the nest box, and they were just starting to nibble. I supplemented them with a home made formula, just to get them fluids, and I set them up in a cat carrier, something more enclosed for the warmth. I kept the floor of the carrier padded with a bunch of hay so they could at least keep eating. I picked grasses, dandelions, and raspberry leaves for them. I kept a handful of pellets mixed in with that so they would get used to a little bit of everything. At least to keep them eating. I started to put a small dish of water in a tub, and they would walk through it, and then all started to drink on their own. It was a slow transition, but I gave them a bottle in their carrier that was really easy to drink from. When I felt comfortable they had transitioned to eating pellets, I gave them a dish, and when they were readily eating the pellets, they got moved to a cage where they are now on free feed pellets.

I only lost one kit in that bunch, but it had issues from the start. I believe it was the slow transition for them that helped, and the fiber. All of mine get a generous handful of hay every morning, and it keeps them occupied for pretty much the whole day. Hay, pellets, and water are pretty much our main sources here as well.

 

[Miss M]

Wow, Geri, Kudos on saving that litter so thoroughly! :up:

 

[PulpFaction]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I've sent the link to this thread over to her.

Maybe the reason I don't see it, even though I have been weaning fairly early (5-ish weeks so far this year,) and feed pellets is because I am very liberal with fresh greens from day one and always remove the dam from the litter, instead of the other way around. MAYBE! Who knows.

I do have one doe set to kindle in the next couple of days that is prone to stress-induced poo butt. It will be interesting to see if her litter weans as well as the others have. (If all goes well, this will be her first litter with me.)

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks Miss M.......I got really lucky with these little ones.

 

[uksparky]

Mucoid Enteritis
(My rabbit has clear like jelly on his behind)

This can lead to the death of a rabbit very fast if untreated. Many rabbit sites say that this can not be cured but this is very untrue as we have baby rabbit that have survived this very dangerous illness.

It is a form of diarrhoea this means that the rabbit stomach is empty and is just passing a clear jelly like substance if the stomach was full it would be the normal diarrhoea area on his or hers rear.

Symptoms to look out for

1. Diarrhoea from the rabbit and food lose the 1st stage can be seen very early on in this stage about 24hrs later you will see jelly like on the rabbits behind. This is now in the dangerous stage and if left untreated will result in your bunny dying.

2. Rabbit is not eating and drinking as much as they used to and have stopped eating hay.

3. They don’t move as much or they stare at there hutch walls a lot and refuse to play.

Treatment

Isolate your sick rabbit in doors and keep in a warm room

1. Go to your vet and buy the following from them.
2. 2 sachets of Recovery and fiberplex
3. 1 syringe
4. If rabbit shows no sign of recovery, or you are worried before stage 2, then make an appointment at the vets straight away, do not delay, as this delay could put your rabbits health in danger

Go to any store and purchase a small bottle or carton of 100% goat’s milk

When you get home boil a kettle of water and let it cool down to room temperature

Open the sachet of Recovery and mix 1 third of the contents in to the pre boiled water you need this fairly runny as for it to be used in the syringe.

Give your bunny 1 shot of the fiberplex this is a measured dose via the screw measuring device built into the syringe.

Now fill your syringe normally 5mm but leave a small air gap as you need to keep mixing the recovery in the syringe. And feed this to your rabbit until the syringe is empty. REPEAT THIS STEP EVEY 3 HOURS even throughout the night this is very important for the 1st 24 hours.

After feeding your rabbit with the recovery you still have to keep the rabbit energy way up. So fill the syringe with 5mm of the goats milk at room temperature and feed this to your rabbit REPEAT THIS STEP EVEY 40 MINS even throughout the night this is very important for the 1st 24 hours. Stop feeding your rabbit if they pull there head back to many times but give as much as the rabbit needs.
After 24 hours feed the rabbit recovery every 4 hours and feed goats milk every hour. This is very critical that this is followed as if the rabbit can get their stomach working again or they will die.

If all is well you will see your rabbit starting to pass normal rabbit pellets in there poo again give them hay and encourage them to feed as it is very important that they get back to hay as fast as possible.

We know this works as we had a 8 week baby rabbit which now has pulled through this is a very dangerous illness. So if any website says this can not be cured please believe us it can and it is treatable.

www.essexrabbits.com