It started when I noticed that one of my three colony does was a little thinner then the rest, which I figured was from the others eating faster, so I just gave them all a little more food. They are my retired breeders, so I figured if the extra made the others get a bit pudgy, it would be fine if it got her back up to the right weight. Next I noticed one of my new bucks was a little thinner then I wanted, but I didn't make the connection and assumed since he was newer, I just needed to tweak how much I was feeding him, and I hadn't been giving him enough. A week or so later two of my original does seemed to be suddenly a lot thinner as well. One of them seemed just a bit underweight, like my colony doe and my newer buck were, so I thought since she was one my fiance feeds because shes indoors, maybe she wasn't getting enough, and asked he up her feed. But the other one, I couldn't figure out why she was suddenly so thin, and she was definitely more underweight then the others. I upped her feed from half a cup a day (shes a five pound rabbit and normally that's enough) to a cup and a half to two cups a day, and it hasn't seemed to help (though its only been a few days). With her it clicked in my head that it might all be connected. I checked their poop for worms, since that was my first thought, but I didn't see anything. I don't know if that means they don't have them though, never dealt with anything like this before. Today I got to the bottom of the feed bag and I saw a small hole chewed and realized we had mice coming and eating the feed. I don't know if they could have gotten something from the mice, or what. I'm not even sure the first three aren't because of not being fed enough and the fourth one is the only one with the problem, or if they are all ill. I feel like five kinds of idiot for not realizing it could be connected or worrying more early on. Could anyone help me figure out what could cause them to lose weight, and if there is anything that might have been carried by the mice that could have done this or what is going on??? No other signs of illness at all, but this is really worrying me. Thank you for any help.
Uh oh, Rabbits losing weight, please help?
- Thread starter DarayTala
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If they are eating enough but not absorbing the nutrients and losing weight then there is something going wrong in their intestines, worms or other parasites are the most likely cause.
You can have a vet do a fecal float to look for which species, if any, of eggs are being shed, cull one and look for the adult worms in the intestines or just de-worm them. Doing a necropsy will let you inspect other organs, specifically the liver, to see if you are dealing with a coccidia or flukes which often need different treatments than nematodes.
Since you have a colony you may need to treat for several months or just breed for resistance.
You can have a vet do a fecal float to look for which species, if any, of eggs are being shed, cull one and look for the adult worms in the intestines or just de-worm them. Doing a necropsy will let you inspect other organs, specifically the liver, to see if you are dealing with a coccidia or flukes which often need different treatments than nematodes.
Since you have a colony you may need to treat for several months or just breed for resistance.
I guess I should have specified that culling is not an option unless they are in a lot of pain and it's the humane thing to do. All of the ones with issues are either family pets as well as past breeders, or absolutely essential to my breeding program. I do have two grow outs that were housed nearby that I can process and check, though they aren't showing any symptoms right now. Can I treat for worms and cocci? What are the treatments for worms and cocci? What are flukes?
bucknercrestfarm
Well-known member
I give mine pig swig (pyperzine sp?) I fallow the chicken instructions on the bottle
Diamond
Well-known member
the two most common culprits for skinny rabbits are coccidiosis and whipworms. Especially in a colony setting, where the environment can not be sanitized.
Coccidosis is well-tolerated by mature rabbits but will encyst in the liver and cause gradual loss of wight and health. "Corid" for cattle (Amprolium) added to the water at 5 to 7 cc per gallon of water and given for a minimum of 2 weeks will help control coccidiosis; a 21-day treatment cycle is recommended for adult rabbits who have lost condition, because the coccidia are hard to kill in the liver and also encyst in the environment with 4 to 14 day hatch cycles once ingested and activated by digestive enzymes of the rabbit gut.
The white worms that affect rabbits, as well as e. cuniculi, are sensitive to fenbendazole. This can be purchased as SafeGuard liquid goat dewormer. Bolus the rabbits at 20mg/ kg, the solution is in 100mg/ mL concentration so a 10-pound rabbit (just over 4 kg) would need about 0.8 to 1.0 cc bolus, while a 5 pound rabbit would need about 0.2 to 0.3 cc. Treatment must be repeated for 3 consecutive days and then repeated again 2 weeks later for another 3 day cycle; I find I can oral bolus every rabbit with the correct dose then add 3cc of the SafeGaurd per quart of water for the next 2 to 3 days, to provide a continuous therapeutic level of the fenbendazole.
Rolled oats and black oil sunflower seed are great feed additives for adding condition to rabbits recovering from stress or illness.<br /><br />__________ Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:16 pm __________<br /><br />
piperazine only kills roundowrms (ascarids). Rabbits are most commonly affected by the "white" whipworms, wireworms, pinworms and taperworms. piperazine and ivermactin do not treat these types of worms. fenbendazole (SafeGuard, Panacur) effectively treats the "white" worms, as well as e. cuniculi in its active form.
Coccidosis is well-tolerated by mature rabbits but will encyst in the liver and cause gradual loss of wight and health. "Corid" for cattle (Amprolium) added to the water at 5 to 7 cc per gallon of water and given for a minimum of 2 weeks will help control coccidiosis; a 21-day treatment cycle is recommended for adult rabbits who have lost condition, because the coccidia are hard to kill in the liver and also encyst in the environment with 4 to 14 day hatch cycles once ingested and activated by digestive enzymes of the rabbit gut.
The white worms that affect rabbits, as well as e. cuniculi, are sensitive to fenbendazole. This can be purchased as SafeGuard liquid goat dewormer. Bolus the rabbits at 20mg/ kg, the solution is in 100mg/ mL concentration so a 10-pound rabbit (just over 4 kg) would need about 0.8 to 1.0 cc bolus, while a 5 pound rabbit would need about 0.2 to 0.3 cc. Treatment must be repeated for 3 consecutive days and then repeated again 2 weeks later for another 3 day cycle; I find I can oral bolus every rabbit with the correct dose then add 3cc of the SafeGaurd per quart of water for the next 2 to 3 days, to provide a continuous therapeutic level of the fenbendazole.
Rolled oats and black oil sunflower seed are great feed additives for adding condition to rabbits recovering from stress or illness.<br /><br />__________ Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:16 pm __________<br /><br />
bucknercrestfarm":1mt3cxua said:
piperazine only kills roundowrms (ascarids). Rabbits are most commonly affected by the "white" whipworms, wireworms, pinworms and taperworms. piperazine and ivermactin do not treat these types of worms. fenbendazole (SafeGuard, Panacur) effectively treats the "white" worms, as well as e. cuniculi in its active form.
Diamond
Well-known member
DarayTala":1w0wzyvl said:
If you oral bolus the SafeGuard for three consecutive days, I would do them both at the same time, but if you are going to mix the SafeGuard in their water after the first treatment, then start the Corid after that, since I am not sure if, chemically, both medications can be mixed together in water without altering their effect.
btw I would lean towards 7 cc per gallon with the Corid, I found that I had better results with reducing coccidiosis symptoms using the stronger concentration
CochinBrahmaLover
Well-known member
Experiencing rabbits losing weight as well.
Does it matter if the water freezes? Just redose when I refill?
Does it matter if the water freezes? Just redose when I refill?
I was actually thinking, I know water intake is important. This is the first time I've had a lot of issues with bottles freezing and while I switch them out as soon as possible, could having less access to water be causing the weight loss?
