How long it takes to grow back the good Bacteria after using antibiotics?

[Jean Pierre]

Hello,

My baby Muneca is been with antibiotics for a long period of time, the reason was teeth problems, plus a surgery removing some abscess, she is good she finish her treatment and 2 days ago and is recovering really well, my problem is because of a strong surgery, I have to separate Muneca from my other bunnies while she recovered and now she lost her bond with dahlia the other female, she is good with Marcus the male there are 3 bunnies Total. The question will be how long I will have to wait to bond her with dahlia again, I know bonding is stressful and I don’t want her to get diarrhea because of stress and also she is been on antibiotics for a month and I want the good bacteria grow back again before  I bond them back.

[Bam]

Hi and welcome to Binky Bunny!

It’s highly individual how long it takes to restore the gut microbial balance after antibiotics. You will have to go by the amount, size and consistency of the poop. If there is sticky poop, there is still an imbalance.

The main question here as I see it is how soon it’s wise to start rebonding after a prolonged period of illness and medications. I will alert our bonding-expert Dana to this thread.

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you, I really appreciate

[DanaNM]

Hi there,

So I think once she appears healthy, you can start bonding! Before then, you might actually start swapping litter trays (when they are a bit dirty). The bacteria from the other bunnies can actually help get her gut flora healthier again. But if she doesn’t currently have weird poops or GI symptoms, then she probably is well on her way to being back to normal.

I had a dental abscess bun that was on a long course of penicillin injections, and his gut seemed to handle it better than I expected. Encouraging as much hay as possible is really the best way to establish healthy gut flora. You can even crush up some of the other bunnies’ poops on her hay as an extra …. seems gross but my vet recommended it!

Once you start bonding, just be on the look out for signs she is getting overly stressed and go at her pace. You can work with all three together, or just focus on the two females at first since that seems like it will need the most work.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you so much, a really appreciate,

she is doing well, in the morning her poop is soft and a little strange but then at night she is very active and happy and her poop looks solid but a little small, today she looks much better, she use to have some gas but that stop 2 days ago, the other problem that I have is that she is not eating hay,  she had the teeth trim at the same time she got abbesses remove, in the beginning she eat a little bit of hay but she doesn’t wanted anymore, she is been eating lettuce, parsley cilantro and a little bit of pellets , she nibble hay sometimes but I have not seen her eating it.

 

[DanaNM]

Oh I see. Was her hay consumption good before all the abscess and dental issues happened? I wonder if it’s mainly the lack of hay that is making her poop still a bit off.

You might check in with your vet if you’ve noticed her hay consumption get worse again since the treatments, because I would expect it to continue to improve.

My dental abscess bun ate more hay when he had metacam. It seemed like even when we thought his teeth were fine, they must have still been bothering him a little.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you for you answer,

today she is acting really good sh eating hay she start to eat hay again 🥳 that is such great news for me, I think been with antibiotics for a long period of time it make her appetite weak, I bond Them today for 10 minute I did not want to stress Muneca too much but they did really well in the bonding session 👍🏻

[DanaNM]

That’s great 🙂

Sometimes when rabbits have to be separated for illness they come right back together without issue. Sometimes they even seem like “OMG I missed you so much!”

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you everybody for the answers, is soo good to see so many bunny lovers helpeing each other 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Author]

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