Is the vet right?

[Cardi Bunny]

So my bunny has runny stools on Friday, and she was looking sick and lethargic, and had not pooped in at least 6 hrs, and before that her droppings were I normally yellow, not even a little green in them.so I took her to the Emergency Care, and they gave her some pain meds and fluids, and sent her home since I was going to have her seen with her regular vet the next day. She started pooping right after. She looked much better too. Next day I took her to her vet and said since she was weened off too early ( she was the tinest thing being sold at the flea market) that she probably didn’t get enough nutrients from her mom and didn’t build up her bacterias (or something along those lines) and that she had a problem the week before with not pooping, she said she would find a healthy rabbit’s poop and have me give it to my bun with critical care for a few days. I thought she would have given me the soft, nightly poop of the healthy rabbit but it looked just like the normal droppings. My question is, that is this safe!? I tried looking it up to see if someone had done this to a young rabbit? I’ve been giving her for the past 2 days and her poop does seem normal. But she also gave me meds for her diarrhea. P.s. she strictly just eating tons of Timothy hay, and critical care twice a day, and of course water. I was giving her a mix of alfalfa hay too but I Opted out because I think she needed for fiber than what it contains. Safe to say I’m spreading the word to not buy any animals from flea markets and places were they just seem to have tons of these animals. Although I’m happy that I got to save her from a family that would have given up on her because these vet bills are no joke!

[Bam]

It is safe to give a rabbit poop from a healthy rabbit, but I too thought it was only done with the cecals. Fecal transplants can be done in humans though, for persistent clostridium difficile infections.

Your vet sounds knowledgeable. Rabbits are highly dependent on their gut microbiota, and a bunny that gets weaned too soon often doesn’t develop a sturdy gut flora. The gut bacteria are very important for the nutritional uptake. In short, the gut bacteria renders food digestible and the nutrients available for use in the body. They can for example turn cellulose into starch, something that our human bodies can’t do.

If her poop seems normal now, it seems like the vet was right. I think it’s very wise to have her on a diet very high in hay until her gut has stabilized itself.

I’m happy too that you saved this little one. She seems to be in excellent hands with you.

Vet bills are expensive, especially ER vet bills, of course. You could look into rabbit insurance. It’s not available in all countries (for example Canada), but it is in the USA and several EU countries. I have insurance for my Bam, it feels safer.

[Bunny House]

Bam, what company do you get your insurance from? I can’t find a company that sells it for bunnies in the USA

[MountainBuns]

Omg, I need that insurance, ditto to Bunny House

[Bam]

I’m not in the USA so I hope other members know and are willing to share their knowledge and experiences. From a quick googling I can only find that Nationwide insures exotic animals (rabbits are exotics) in the USA.

It’s important that the bun is perfectly healthy when you buy an insurance for it. Preexisting conditions are never covered in any pet insurance policy.

[Sirius&Luna]

I was once advised to give a bun regular poops, not ceco poops after gut problems. Now this was about 15 years ago, but he was a pretty bunny savvy vet. I also think it’s pretty difficult to get cecatropes, unless you have more than one rabbit and are constantly vigilant. Anyway, it definitely won’t do any harm.

I think I did mention in your previous post that rabbits that are weaned too young might need poop from a healthy rabbit to ensure they have the correct gut bacteria, so it’s definitely not a weird suggestion from the vet. I wonder whether it’s also worth talking to the vet about probiotics, which can help build up good bacteria after something like antibiotics.

[Bunny House]

Bam, yeah only 2 of my buns would qualify haha, yay to preexisting conditions.

[Cardi Bunny]

I have noticed that she sometimes during the day still has a bit of a softer fecal droppings, but within a couple hours she goes back to her normal healthier droppings. I feel that maybe I’m giving her too much critical care? It says to give her a tablespoon of the critical care but I finds that she gets really fat when she eats it. Also is it safe for her to eat it fast? Or could this be causing the soft droppings? The vet prescribed metronidazole for her diarrhea, twice daily. Maybe it still need time to go away? I still have a few more days to give the bunny this med. But she seems happy and normal all the time. I stay with my brother on the weekdays and I just found out my nephew was giving her cilantro before school when I wasn’t looking when I had told him she can’t eat anymore veggies. But I scared him and told him she’d die if he gave her more, I know mean but he’s a 10 year old and rarely listens to me lol. So hopefully this week she won’t have any soft droppings. And I think I will look up that insurance, I have a feeling I’ll need it later on.

[Bam]

If she gets really fat when she eats the CC, give her 1/2 tablespoon with time in betwen instead. (I assume you mean her belly gets big after feeding time). To keep track of her weight, I’d weigh at least every other day, and write down the result. That enables you to monitor her growth curve and adjust amount of food as you go along. I weigh my bun in a bowl on digital kitchen scales. I put the scales on the floor so there won’t be accidents if my bun decides to jump out of the bowl.

It seems like she’s getting better. It takes time for a good sturdy gut flora to form. She’s still on antibiotics (metronidazole), and antibiotics of course act on both some of the good gut bacteria as well as the bad bacteria that you want to get rid of. To build up a good GI microbiota, a probiotic could be worth discussing with your vet, as S&L says. Most probiotics don’t survive the rabbit’s very acidic stomach acid, but there are some that have been shown to do.

[MountainBuns]

How is little Cardi doing,now?

[Cardi Bunny]

I think she doing better, slowly but good. I’ve noticed that her poop has not been as soft. I think it’s because I’ve given her less critical care. Today is the second day I don’t see any soft droppings! I give her half a tbsp of critical care. But now I hope it’s enough for her. I’m also not syringe feeding her anymore, I give it to her in a small bowl and she licks the bow clean. Shes getting so big too, almost a month since I’ve had her. And she’s super good at pooping in her litter box.

[MountainBuns]

That’s Great News, Looks like she will be ok!

[Bam]

It sounds like you’ve been making quite some progress ?Great to hear she’s gaining and doesn’t need syringing!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear

[Cardi Bunny]

I weighed her her yesterday and she’s gained 6 oz, she’s 2oz away from 1lb!? I also saw that she’s getting more interest in chewing on stuff, saw her chewing on her little hay hideout. And no more soft stools, hopefully it stays this way ??

[MountainBuns]

That’s Great!

[Author]

Messages