At 8 weeks old he is very vulnerable and fragile, I recommend getting him to the vet ASAP. When was the last time he ate and how long have you had him?

Does he feel cold? If his ears feel cold you should try to warm him up. Pain can cause rabbit’s temp to drop and send them into shock. You can hold him on your lap with a blanket over him, or place a warm water bottle wrapped in a blanket near him to snuggle with.

You can give him a little bit of critical care, I think you should. Here’s a link to Oxbow Critical Care info on dosage per the bun’s weight and frequency of feedings (the website is from Oxbow Australia, but the info applies even if youre not in Australia):

https://www.oxbowaustralia.com/critical-care-information-for-pet-owners/

As Dana says, it’s crucial that you keep him warm. Since he’s a baby he might like to sit inside your t-shirt or bath robe of what ever you have on, so he has contact with your skin and gets to benefit from your body warmth. Baby rabbits snuggle up to their siblings in the nest, so physical contact is natural and comforting for a baby bun.

If he doesnt perk up soon, or if he gets runny poop, you should contact a vet. Any vet can give sub q fluids, which can be of great help. Young rabbits can get dehydrated quickly.

It’s very good that he’s moving around and grooming himself! Keep feeding him small amounts of CC at suitable intervals, hopefully he’ll perk up and start to eat on his own soon. Have you (your friends) seen any poop from him?

It can take a long time if the bun hasn’t eaten properly. Hopefully you’ll see some after a few hours since you’ve started him on CC. You can try to massage his tummy very lightly with a finger, in small circular movents, mimicking how a mother bun would lick the baby’s tummy. It is very important that he poops.

He is adorable! Hello, Buster!

Is this picture from around now? It’s a relaxed position, which is good.

Yes, encourage him to move around! Not by chasing him so he gets super stressed, but its good if he moves, it sets the intestines in motion.

The gurgling sounds mean his tummy is working. Its a lot, lot better than no sounds at all. It can mean that he has some gas (a common conseqence of any tummy disturbance). You can give simethicone baby gas drops to help relieve the gas, gas ispainful for rabbits and can cause them to go off their food. .You give 0.5 ml of any brand (20-40 mg/ml strenght) once per hour for a few hours, but it often works within half an hour.

Fingers crossed for Buster! Hopefully you’ll soon see some poop. They might be a bit irregular in shape, size and/or color, but that is very common after a gut disturbance and it will right itself if he starts eating properly, esp hay, again.

I’d take him in if he hasn’t started to eat and poop by the time of the appointment. He’s probably a bit dehydrated, and could perhaps need his gut started with a motility drug.

Going to the vet can be stressful for a bun, but there are things you can do to make it less stressful. You can f ex ask f you can wait in the car with him, and not in a busy waiting room with (barking) dogs. Bring a towel that you can put on the exam table -exam tables tend to be slippery and scary. If you get to wait for the vet in an exam room, its good if you can put the carrier on the floor and open it so Buster can go out if he likes and do some exploring. Bring a fleece blanket for the floor.

I can understand how the vet doesn’t regard this as a rush-him-in-this-minute- emergency, since you have gotten some food in him, he isn’t lethargic but he seems relaxed and not in acute pain, and you hear stomach sounds. He’s still a very young bun though, and young buns are fragile.

Thank you for the update!

Great that you took him in! It’s good that he pooped a little. You couldn’t have done more for him at home. The supportive care you gave was most likely very important, since rabbits dont do well at all on an empty stomach. You’ve kept him in good enough condition for the vet to be hopeful of his recovery, and that’s very well done of you.

It seems you have a good rabbit vet. The fluids could help soften a blockage/impaction. Sometimes sub q fluids are enough, in more severe cases, a vet will give iv fluids. They might also give an enema to soften the stools and stimulate the “poop reflex”. They might give a pain killer, because rabbits are so sensitive to pain.

Make sure he’s kept warm between vet visits.

Overgrowth of bad bacteria could cause this, and its treatable with the appropriate antibiotics. It’s not very rare in baby buns, but it often manifests as watery/mucosy stools. This is very often fatal due to rapid and severe  dehydration Luckily, Buster doesnt seem to suffer from what is known as true diarrhoea.

Your vet is correct that overgrowth of the wrong gut bacteria is “easier” to treat than for example congenital intestinal malformation. If there’s sth wrong with the microbiota (the bacteria and yeasts) of the gut there’s a good chance you can right it with meds, fluids and proper diet. If the intestines havent formed properly during development (in mama bun’s uterus) which is sometimes the case with human babies as well, the patient might need surgical intervention, which is, sadly, not always successful.

The motility + gas meds (cisapride, metoclopramide and simethicone) you’ve been given are all good. Simethicone helps with gas, it’s inert, stays in the GI canal and gets pooped out eventually without being absorbed into the blood stream. Cisapride and metoclopramide are gut motility drugs that target somewhat different parts of the gut. Sub q fluids replenish the bun with water and electrolytes, necessary for the proper function of the cells and in effect the whole organism.

Fecal impaction pretty much means constipation. Buster couldve eaten sth he shouldnt have before you ever got him. Another cause, or contributing cause, could be the “stress” of getting a new home,  away from his siblings. Stress in this context doesnt mean that he came to a bad place -it just refers to the fact that he came to a new place. The new place could be a vast improvement on his old environment, but it’s still a new place with new scents and sounds.

Gas will accumulate if there’s a blockage or partial blockage. It doesnt say where the blockage is, but in general, the further downstream from the stomach its located, the better.

Your vet seems to be rabbit savvy. That is great. They will do what they can.

I agree with Bam on possible causes. I also think you are doing all the right things in this situation. Keep it up!

Coccidia are common in rabbits. They can get it from greens that have grown where wild rabbits graze. It’s good that you told the breeder.

Young rabbits are particularly vulnerable to coccidiosis. They typically present with acute watery diarrhoea, and in those cases, the prognosis is very poor. We have had members here whose very, very poorly baby buns have pulled through though. Good vet care and supportive care are key.

It’s great that your vet specifies what each med is for, and that they also give benebac to help reestablish a healthy gut microbiome.

The clrar poop is a consequence of the coccidiosis and bacterial imbalance in the gut. You should tell your vet about this, especially if the amount of goo is ample, they might want to give more fluids. Some vets are willing to instruct the bun carecgiver on how to give fluids yourself, at home, but that depends on your vet and their willingness can vary between countries/states as well.

I’m very happy you took him in and it sounds like the vet is doing everything they can! Agree that coccidea is very common in young rabbits especially. The fecal impaction could be either a cause or a consequence of stasis. When the gut slows down the mass of food and hair can get dehydrated and hard to pass, which is why giving lots of fluids is very important.

Rooting for little Buster!

I hope your vet gets back to you soon. Make sure he keeps warm, for example by placing a bottle with warm tap water or a microwaved sock filled with rice (put a glass of water in the microwave when you heat the sock) rolled into a towel near him, so he can snuggle up to the warmth if he wants too. He must have space enough to move away from the heat source if he doesnt want it.

Mucus just means there is inflammation in the intestines. Not a surprise considering the diagnosis. The vet is correct in that in means the gut is moving. His body is trying to expel what is causing the inflammation.

It is good that the gut is moving, I was worried that it moved too much (true diarrhoea) so that he’d lose a lot of fluids rapidly.

It’s wonderful that he ate a little hay 🥰

Maybe you could leave out a very shallow water bowl/bowls with only a little water in them? It is important that he can drink if he wants to. Hopefully he’s feeling better now and is less disoriented.

Asfor how much fluids to give him by mouth, its a bit difficult to say. A healthy rabbit needs about 100 ml water per day and kilo body weight. A bun will only drink this much water if it’s diet is all dry food (hay and pellets). Since Buster gets a lot of water in his Emeraid, he isnt on dry food only. You could try and calculate how much water he gets in the recovery formula and then add on some more. Don’t give really cold water, it can make him cold (well, obviously!)

I cant see how often you are told to give him the Emeraid or in how big servings. Its generally considered better to give smaller amounts of syringed food (and water by mouth) more often than a larger amount once or twice per day. This must be weighed against how stressful the feeding sessions seem to be for the bun.

I have never had to use Emeraid, just Oxbow Critical Care. (Emeraid is better for a bun in Buster’s predicament). With CC, the poop will become firm “coco puffs” again once the tummy starts to get back in shape. The poops can still keep being irregular in shape, size, color and frequency for quite some time though, 2 weeks is not uncommon and it can take even longer.

It’s always a bit difficult to decide when to cut back on the support food. Since Buster is tiny, I’d keep the syringe feeding up for some time. Rabbits prefer to eat on their own if they can, so its not like they get lazy and spoilt by being syringe fed. I would assume that he has lost some weight during this ordeal.

The best thing for making sure that a bun gets enough food is to weigh him daily. Vets weigh their in-patients more than once daily. You can weigh him in a bowl on kitchen scales. Make the bowl comfy with a towel or similar. Keep a weight diary, note down date and time of day. Make allowance for the weight of stomach-and bladder content. It’s the quickest way to notice changes that are too subtle for the naked eye.

Hugs to you and yours.  What a journey, you all are great bunny people.  Bink free, Buster.

Oh no 🙁 I’m so sorry to hear this. 🙁 An 8 week old bunny really is so fragile… they did everything they could to give him a fighting chance.

Sending hugs to Buster’s humans. And it was very kind of you OP to help them out by coming to the forum.

(((Binky free sweet Buster)))

I am so, so sorry to hear this.

You truly did absolutely everything you could. Thank you for trying so hard.

Binky free, sweet little Buster.

I’m sorry you lost Buster. You and his parents did everything you could. As the others said, 8 week old bunnies are so fragile.