how did she get ecoli??

[Coco and Louis]

i took my bunny to the vet shr has terrible diarrhea and he said its due to ecoli we did many tests andgot medications but how did she get it can it be from the brocolli we feed her??

[LoveChaCha]

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

It says it can be caused by your rabbit being weaned too early from its mother (mother’s milk is magic), or from human to rabbit. I’m not sure if broccoli is the cause.. how old is your rabbit?

 

Unlike most mammals, baby rabbits have a sterile lower intestine until they begin to eat solid food at the age of 3-4 weeks. It is during this time that their intestines are at their most vulnerable: the babies need their mother’s milk, which changes pH and provides vital antibodies that help the baby gradually adjust to his changing intestinal environment, to protect them against newly introduced microorganisms. Without mother’s milk, a baby starting to eat solid food is highly susceptible to bacterial enteritis (inflammation of the intestinal lining), which can cause fatal diarrhea. Runny stool in a baby rabbit should be considered a life-threatening emergency, and anyone seeing this should contact a rabbit-savvy veterinarian immediately, and consult the Emergency Treatment Protocol for Diarrhea in Infant and Juvenile Rabbits to be well-informed about questions to ask the vet.

[Coco and Louis]

im sure my husband and i do not have ecoli and shes been with us for a month now and when we got her she was  around six weeks i think and all this happened the day we bought  that bag of brocolli and my vet told me it mightbe from her food but he was not polite friendly or helpful at all, i was given a total of three medications to give her but now idk what to feed her until she gets better. i was already told to give her yogurt as a probiotic

[Coco and Louis]

i already lost one bunny last week and i dont want to lose her too :/ we are thinking the other bunny had the same problem

[Sam and Lady's Human]

She is too young for fresh vegetables, she should be on a limited diet of rabbit pellets and timothy hay/orchard grass. No treats, no veggies, etc. It’s sad, but their little digestive systems are not even remotely ready for the “good stuff”.

[Sarita]

I’m sorry to hear this. I think she came this way to you. It’s not anything you did.

Normally the reason that you give rabbits this young only pellets and hay is because you are trying at this age to mimic what their mom probably had which is normally pellets and hay only if they came from a pet store or a breeder.

Vibes to your sweet Coco. I think you are correct about Louis.

No yogurt either – that is not natural in a rabbit’s diet. Just the meds that the vet prescribed.

[Coco and Louis]

the vet told me to give her five ml of plain natural yogurt as a probiotic for a week because of the antibiotic. wow i had no idea she cant eat veggies, at what age can i introduce them to her? and also her bottom side is very filthy due to the diarrhea but baby wipes won’t get the job done and her white fur is now dark yellow how do i clean it up ?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#babies

“What quantities of food should I feed babies and “teenagers”?

Birth to 3 weeks–mother’s milk
3 to 4 weeks–mother’s milk, nibbles of alfalfa and pellets
4 to 7 weeks–mother’s milk, access to alfalfa and pellets
7 weeks to 7 months–unlimited pellets, unlimited hay (plus see 12 weeks below)
12 weeks–introduce vegetables (one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz.)”

So in about 2-4 weeks, unless you know her exact birth date for sure, you’d want to slowly introduce veggies. I’ve also read wait until 6 months, so I’m aiming for 5 LOL.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

I’ve heard of butt baths, put about an inch of luke-warm water in the sink/tub, make sure her head stays away from the water, and kinda work on the fur with your fingers while it’s in the water. They can get sick if they have wet fur I think, so try to just get the bum and then dry it best you can.

[Tate]

I don’t think your vet is “rabbit-savvy”. I had been misled as well in giving small animals yogurt. It’s common to do it for cats and dogs because they are able to process the yogurt.
Are you able to go to the pet store tomorrow? Look for a product called Bene-Bac (http://www.petco.com/product/14786/PetAg-Small-Animal-Bene-Bac-Beneficial-Bacteria.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch). This is similar to yogurt in that it will build beneficial bacteria back up in the gut.
May I ask how dedicated you are to using this vet? You may want to find one with more experience with rabbits because small mistakes like that do add up.

[LoveChaCha]

Yogurt will make the belly worse.. they do not have the same digestive system as humans do.

I agree with Tate – bene-bac will help create ‘good bacteria’ in the stomach. You sprinkle a little bit over the food you give bunny.

OneTwoThree, you are correct with veggies. It took me 5 months to get Chacha to get a veggie.. some snub it at first

[Beka27]

I am sorry your other bunny passed. Was the bun from the same litter, breeder, or pet store? Did the other bunny have the same symptoms? I doubt it is anything you did. Rabbits who are kept in cramped conditions, weaned too early (before 8 weeks), or don’t receive fantastic early care can very easily get sick, and it’s not usually detectable until later on. You did the right thing by seeking vet care, I just don’t know how rabbit savvy that particular vet is…

Have you called around for other exotic vets in your area? It’s very important that the person you go to is experienced with the current needs of house rabbits. Vets who specialize in livestock or breeding rabbits, although not physiologically different from house rabbits, will have very different ideas of what is beneficial. It’s unfortunate that you have to search during a time of illness, but once you have a really good vet you are comfortable with, you won’t need to worry next time vet care is needed.

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