help!! rabbit has diarrhea from antiobiotics

[maxmo]

this is a repost of mine from Reddit:
my rabbit has a breathing problem (snuffles?), e cuniculi and the vet says he probably has Pasteurella. i’m treating it with an antibiotic called Azithromycin Suspension (50 mg/ml, 20 ml(4 ea), give 1cc by mouth once daily for 14 days.

this is the third day i’m administering and a few minutes later, i checked on him and there was diarrhea all over the carpet and on his butt. i started panicking and crying but after calming down i gave him a quick rinse. he still has the poop residue all over, but a little less after the rinse. i’m very worried and don’t know what to do, my vet is closed tomorrow so i can’t ask his advice or send him there until Monday. so, is feeding him hay all i can really do or is there something else i should be doing? and should i stop pellets for the time being? i would appreciate any advice and help thank you.

[Bam]

First of all try to dry him and keep him warm. Wrap him in a blanket, give him a warm water bottle or sit him in your lap. It is adamant that you keep him warm. A sick bun that gets cold can go into irreversible medical chock.

If your bun has true diarrhea, i e ample amounts of very loose stools and no formed fecal poops, the condition is very serious. Antibiotics can cause diarrhea in some rabbits and what it means is that the antibiotics has killed off the good gut bacteria, and bad bacteria have been able to take over.

If your bun is in a poor condition ER vet care is definitely needed. Vetlexicon says this:

This means he will need fluids, warming up, an antibiotics that can kill bad gut bacteria (metronidazole), probiotics to help restore a healthy gut microbiota and a drug to neutralize the toxins the bad gut bacteria produce (cholestyramine).

 

Of course stop the azithromycin. Don’t cut out pellets.

[maxmo]

thank you for the response. i did try to warm him up last night, although he was still eating hay (more than i would expect). i think his poop became a little less soft and right now he’s sleeping. the only thing i have on hand right now is a probiotic treat https://wellkeptrabbit.com/products/prebiotic-biscuits-n-jam-16831

do you think this is a good idea to feed him right now? and okay, i’ll stop the antibiotic and continue to feed him hay and pellets. also, i have infant simethicone on hand, should i give him that or will that make his stool even softeR?

[LBJ10]

I wouldn’t give simethicone in this case.

[maxmo]

okay, what about the probiotic treat?

[Bam]

How is he doing now?

The probiotic treat seems ok, as far as I can see it doesn’t contain sugar – but don’t give a lot and dont give anything else that has sugar in it (sugar is the favorite food for bad bacteria). I’d not give simethicone at this point, I agree with LBJ.

It’s great that he’s been eating hay!

ETA: The fact that he ate a lot of hay obv. makes the prognosis a great deal better. You should still contact your vet as soon as they open.

[maxmo]

he’s doing better thanks for asking! he’s eating hay and his poop is much firmer. i haven’t had the time to call the vet but i will asap.

[Bam]

That’s great news! Thanks for the update!

He’ll still need treatment for his pasteurella though, but azithromycin is probably not the best choice for him if he reacted with diarrhea. You will of course need to discuss this with your vet.

[maxmo]

hi! so i called the vet and explained the situation, he asked me to continue the antibiotic and then he would prescribe me another one (?). i told him i didn’t feel comfortable continuing azithromycin as he didn’t react well to it, so he recommended Baytril (which he had before, but my bun really hates the taste of it). if i decide not to do Baytril, he recommended, i think, chloramphenicol. i’ve never tried chloramphenicol, so please let me know if you or other rabbit owners here have had experience w/ it.

honestly, i’m scared of continuing any sort of antibiotic b/c of his reaction to it. i’ve heard stories (including a review from a bunny owner that goes to my exact vet) of rabbits dying from antibiotics so i’m pretty hesitant. also if i were to give him antibiotics again, do i still do the entire duration (14 days) or leave out the 3 days that i was giving him azithromycin (so 11 days)?

[Bam]

This is a bit tricky. Your vet dlesnt seem too worried about the “diarrhoea” – probably due the fact that your bun did recover swiftly. A rabbit that has what is known as “true diarrhoea” is very very sick and will need vet care. So your bun probably had what is known as “gut dysbiosis”, which is a non-life threatening condition due to a disruption of the gut microbiota.

Is your vet rabbit-savvy?

We’re not vets here and can’t give veterinary advice. I’m thinking you need to weigh the pros and cons here. Baytril is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that’s often prescribed to rabbits for pasteurella and other common bacteria known to cause rabbit URI, and it is considered rabbit safe. Rabbits with a sensitive tummy could still react badly to it. Rabbits that eat a lot of hay are as a rule not as likely to have bad GI  reactions to antibiotics though.

Rabbit URIs need antibiotic treatment. An untreated rabbit URI can become a middle ear infection or cause pneumonia, or both.

For rabbits that do have a sensitive stomach, injectable antibiotics can  sometimes be an option.

 

 

[LBJ10]

If he was on Baytril before and it didn’t clear up the URI, then it’s probably best to try something else. Azithromycin is prescribed for stubborn URIs. Honestly, it was the only thing that worked with my bunny that had chronic problems. But it is one of the antibiotics known to cause more issues. Chloramphenicol is often prescribed for difficult to penetrate infections like pneumonia. However, Medirabbit cautions about a exceptional decrease in appetite when using this antibiotic. Unfortunately, we are not vets so we have no way of knowing what will or will not work for you bunny. Sometimes vets don’t know either and this is often just a process of trial and error.

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