SICK BUNNY NO VETS, PLEASE HELP ASAP!!!!

[Yossi]

we took our bunnies back to their hutch after they had played outside all day. We got to one which did not move or look alarmed at all. He has diarrhea and has labored breathing. we have brought him in he is eating lettuce and parsley and is now clean. his breathing however is still labored, and we have no 24 hour vets that will help our baby bunny. We have been having rain so the yard was muddy while they played today. all of our bunnies seem to be doing well except for our greygoose. he is not very responsive but is interested in eating a little. any idea? also hydration is an issue he does not seem to want water.

 

[akane]

Don't feed vegetables unless he's at risk of going too long without eating. Rabbits are herbivores but they are not vegetarians and the things humans eat have too much sugar and water. It will make digestive upset worse. Tougher greens like old grasses, some yard forages which you can find lists of in the natural feeding section, leaves from safe trees, and wood from safe trees are better choices of fresh food. For right now pellets, hay, and plain old fashioned oatmeal or feedstore oats would be better to keep him eating if he will eat them. Have they been getting a lot of greens lately or did you put them on the wet grass with no adjustment? It sounds like he got something poisonous but it could just be an excessive amount of short cut grass after a storm. Cooler, wet weather that occurs during a storm causes vegetation to release more sugar for growth and it's not uncommon for livestock to overindulge in the grass and other plants like clover or alfalfa that are growing in a field.

Supportive care is the most you can do without a vet. Try to get those dry, low sugar foods in to him or at least some more fibrous vegetation to keep his digestive tract moving. If he ate the watery vegetables like lettuce I would not worry too much about water. You can soak the pellets or oatmeal (or both) in to a wet mash if you want. A little more water and you can feed it by syringe. Critical care is made by oxbowhay to use as a complete food replacer which mixes easy in water and is flavored. It's good to always have some on hand if you have small herbivores. Simethicone that you can get in liquid form for infants can help move gas along. It's the same ingredient in things like gas x. Gas blockage is common with feed issues. A probiotic can help rebalance the gut flora and stop diarrhea. You can find acidophilus capsules at any store with a vitamin/supplements section and just pop them open with some water or in to a mash you are trying to feed. Bene Bac is sold at feed stores specifically for small herbivorous pets and sometimes come in a premixed paste from a tube which is easier to deal with. Some use yogurt but few adult animals can digest dairy and it may increase health issues instead of help. It's much like the food situation. You want low sugar, higher fiber foods but if they've been refusing food for awhile then most anything is better than nothing.

 

[Miss M]

Akane, do you think it could be heat-related distress, instead?

 

[Yossi]

it wasn't hot here today , the sun wasn't out at all <br /><br /> -- Fri Jun 27, 2014 2:14 am -- <br /><br /> it wasn't hot here today , the sun wasn't out at all

 

[Prisma]

Hot to us and hot to bunnies is not always the same. Was there a steep drop in temp and a sudden rise? We have that here now, been watching and have not had any body suffer from heat issues yet but I'm just waiting for it to happen since I was lucky last year. The night will be about 60 and then shoot up to 80-85+ by 10am once the light is up, its not always sunny either.

Is there a possibility some thing scared them? Where they watched the entire time? Any chance they ate too many greens while out or got a hold of a green that may not of been bunny safe? If they weren't used to being out, and had an all day adventure, it might of just been too stressful. Has he improved any, drink any or any more signs show? I know its been a while since the first post.

-- Fri Jun 27, 2014 3:01 am --

Do not know why but it is wanting to double post things I post lately lol. Deleted double.

 

[MaggieJ]

There are specific plants that can help a rabbit with diarrhea. The leaves of raspberry, blackberry and strawberry are all good, as are the lawn weeds plantain and shepherd's purse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsella_bursa-pastoris

 

[michaels4gardens]

Great posts , Akane and MaggieJ, -- I have nothing more to add, except "I agree"
and -if you buy "critical care from Oxbow " get the fine grind if you want to use a syringe [and not cut the tip off],to force feed.

 

[Yossi]

Sadly , i woke up to see my rabbit dead .... what a sad day for me

 

[MaggieJ]

So sorry you lost your bunny, Yossi. It always hard to lose a pet you love.

 

[Miss M]

Oh, I'm so sorry, Yossi!

 

[Prisma]

:'( Very sorry to hear bunny passed.

 

[Sagebrush]

I am so very sorry that your bun had passed. Cherish the good memories you had with him.

 

[Yossi]

Okay , now i have another one same story .... someone help me please !

 

[Miss M]

Oh, no!

Okay, we need some quick details:
How old are these bunnies (the one that died and the one that's sick)?
Were they out on the same patch of grass?
Had they been out in the grass before?
What do they normally eat?
Were they out there again today, before this second bun got sick?

And anything else you can think of to tell us.

It sounds like something is happening because of them being out in the run. They're getting into some poisonous plant, or their gut is not adjusted to lots of greens.

 

[Yossi]

just got back from the vet , i took it there it had maggots . Died while i was waiting
i took all the rabbits out of the hutch now gave them all a bath one by one and i went to office max and bought tupperware for each one and i now have 11 rabbits 2 died on me in 2 days , i now want to monitor how they poop .

Miss M , my yard is fenced and theres grass all over they run all around on the grass and constantly eat it is this not good ?

 

[Miss M]

I'm so sorry you lost the second one, too!

Maggots? Where? Sounds like maybe fly strike.

i took all the rabbits out of the hutch now gave them all a bath one by one

Baths are often very stressful for rabbits, and are usually reserved for absolute necessity. But maybe it was necessary. One of those calls you have to make.

bought tupperware for each one and i now have 11 rabbits 2 died on me in 2 days , i now want to monitor how they poop .

Monitoring poops is crucial right now. Excellent!

Miss M , my yard is fenced and theres grass all over they run all around on the grass and constantly eat it is this not good ?

If they've been doing it since they were just a couple of weeks old, then it's fine. If they are older, and they recently started eating grass, that may be the problem -- too much grass too quickly. Rabbits have fragile digestive systems, and new foods have to be introduced slowly so the system can adjust.

The other possibility, that Akane brought up, is that they started eating a poisonous plant or weed while they were out there. These are very common. I have to be very careful what areas my rabbits can have the pen set up in, because I've got several varieties of nightshades out in the yard. They range from mildly toxic to deadly. I'm trying to get rid of them, but the birds blessed me with a bumper crop of horse nettle this year. :?

 

[Yossi]

Thanks so much for your replies .... They all seem to be doing very good now . I have picked them up one by one and gently combed them i am noticing a few of them feel kind of boney I'm not sure if this is normal or not . Also having 11 rabbits i don't think i could do the vet thing anymore i will need to learn alternative medicines and treating because i don't see myself spending $400 on treatment I'm just being honest and I'm sure some of you are saying to yourself why have them if you can't take care of them well i sure can ! And thats why I'm here reading all these threads

 

[Marinea]

I feel along the spine of my buns and if they are "spiky", I try to put a little weight on them. I add some oats to their feed (the regular oats you can get at the grocery store, not the instant ones). I just add a bit of the plain, uncooked oats to their pellets. I keep that going until they are not spiky any more.

Another thing to be careful of when letting the buns out on the grass is chemicals- lawn treatments, pesticides, fertilizers, that kind of stuff. Something as simple as a rinsed out container in the area where the buns eat can cause problems. I'm not saying that's the issue here, but just something I think about. We run an organic farm here, but I am still careful about the greens my buns get because of that issue.

I am happy that your rabbits are doing better. There is a lot of information here on natural treatments for all kinds of rabbit problems. Hopefully, you'll never need it, but I know it makes me more comfortable knowing it's there.

 

[Miss M]

Marinea's right on the nose. if you run a couple of fingers slowly down the spine, and you feel gentle, rolling bumps, that's good. If you feel spikes, the bunny is thin.

As for the vet thing, let your mind be at peace. You will find none of that here. There are some members here who will take their rabbits to a vet, but probably most of us don't.

Some members treat their rabbits at home with medications they can buy and herbs and weeds. Some rarely treat, preferring to cull an unhealthy rabbit than have it endanger the rest of their rabbits. All of these approaches are acceptable here. Most of us live on a shoestring, and can ill afford a vet... And most vets don't know much about treating rabbits, anyway.

You have found a unique forum. People who raise rabbits for all sorts of reasons -- meat, wool, show, pets -- come together here and share about rabbits, help each other with rabbits, celebrate baby rabbits, etc.

 

[michaels4gardens]

Parasite protocol ?, coccidiosis, and worms