Probiotics,yay or nay?

[Dface]

… Okay first of all I’m sorry, even I’m beginning to think I’ll never stop asking questions here..!
I’m away from my buns at the moment, but my family are banding together to help care for them in my absence.
My mom noticed my boy sneezing a bit, and decided to make a vet appointment for the morning, where he’ll probably be prescribed baytril and it’ll clear for a while.
But the thing is, he’s always getting sick.

He has chronic runny eyes, but when he was young he spent over a month on antibiotics, which I feel may have permanently damaged his immune system.

What do people think of probiotics? And has anyone had any success with them?

As well as that I’d rather feed something that he’s willing to eat himself, as force feeding him will only result in him despising me (I don’t think I’ve ever really been fully forgiven for the last time I syringe fed him something!)

He also lives with a jealous belly bun, who takes great pride in stealing food/treats/medicine from him…so it’d be for her too I guess XD

[Bam]

Don’t be sorry – ask as many questions as you ever want to/need to, because that’s what these forums are about 

As you seem aware of, antibiotics can wreak havoc with any young mammal’s gastrointestinal microbiota, and the GI microbiota has a big impact on the immune defense and other health-aspects in the individual. The interplay between the various microbes in the gut is complicated and not yet fully understood, but what seems clear is that a highly diverse GI microbiota is really important for good overall health, not just gut health. 

To my knowledge there are currently two types of probiotics that have been shown useful for rabbits. The best tested one is live brewer’s yeast (saccaromyces cerevisiae), the other one is enterococcus faecium. e. faecium is the most prevalent gut bacteria of healthy rabbits. Lactobacillus like acidophilus and other lactic acid microbes that we find in yoghurt and other fermented dairy-products are less effective, they seem not to be able to survive the very strong stomach acid of the rabbit. 

Benebac is a type of probiotics that several members here are using with their bunnies. It’s a powder that you sprinkle over food (wet greens). It’d not be bad to give to both your rabbits. The British rabbit vet Molly Varga, author of the 2nd edition of the Textbook Of Rabbit Medicine says yes to giving probiotics to rabbits, they can’t harm.

There are other brands of probiotics as well, depending on where in the world you are (Benebac is found more or less world wide from what I understand). 

Here’s an article about brewer’s yeast in farmed rabbits. This forum of course doesn’t approve of rabbit farming, but these are scientific findings that can benefit our house bunnies and improve their health and happiness. 

rabbit yeast

[Dface]

Thanks Bam! Really helpful answer ^.^

My mam talked to the vet, who said”good food and hay is best” (because I’ve been feeding him ‘what’ this whole time?)
and then stuck him on precautionary antibiotics …. So I’m just going to go order some online !

[vanessa]

I love using benebac. My little guy is very delicate. His belly gets off balance if I just look at it. Beneback gets him back on track overnight. He has had a troubling medical history with an eye ulcer, stasis, dehydration, (being fed chocolate by his previous owners), Terrible teeth problems, and now possibly E.Cuniculi. He is currently incontinent, in a diaper, and can’t walk/hop/use his legs. He also has chronic runny eyes which are easier to control if his pal Guinivere is paying attention to him and grooming him. As long as she is licking is eyes, his fur is ok. At the moment he is sick and she hasn’t been grooming him, so his eyes are a mess. I use a warm wet cloth, but by the time I get home from work, the goo is caked and dried. He can’t get his front feet up high enough to wipe his eyes like he use to. The fur around his eyes is quite a mess by now. Anyway – he also sneezes periodically. So does Guin, but she has ever been sick. So when she sneezes, I chalk it down to animal dander, dust, etc. As long as his drippy eyes are clear – I just keep using the warm wet cloths. They really help while Guin is grooming him. Warm wet cloths on their own aren’t enough. guin grooming him on her own isn’t enough either. It takes her, and the cloth. I wouldn’t give him antibiotics just because he is sneezing. I’d need more proof that it is a bacterial infection, before I mess with antibiotics.

[Dface]

I’d normally be against just throwing anti biotics at a problem, but im currently not in the country, so I’m not able to make an educated assessment of his condition.
He’s a few weeks post operation, and his healing has been slower than my other rabbits (she went in to get neutered and they started to preform the neuter on him so similar wounds.) Her wounds have healed well, but his are taking a bit more time. So I think the vet decided to err on caution due to his already compromised condition?

[vanessa]

Wow… it’s hard to make a desicion when you are not there. I would add the benebac to food you know he will eat, or mix it in a small amount of water (2-4 tablespoons, throw in a teaspoon or 2 of apple juice to make sure he will drink it all, and do that once or twice a week. Based on my experience, I’m not convinced that antibiotics will fix a chronically runny eye. I think that good grooming alleviates it. I’m sorry you are in such a dillemma. I wish I could help.

[Bam]

I do think the vet wants to give antibiotics as a precaution.
With runny eyes you should suspect dental issues, with tooth rooths protruding upwards, possibly causing inflammation or blockage of the tear ducts. But you might have ruled that out already, and the runny eyes could very well be caused by chronic pasteurella or other bacterial infection. Bacteria can hide deep in the sinuses and only the active ones get killed off by the baytril, that’s why you see improvement for the duration of the course of abx, but a return of the problem once the treatment is over and the dormant, hidden bacteria start to multiply. Some vets put the bunny on a very long course of abx or a combo of antibiotics.

I sprinkle a probiotic over my bun’s wet favorite leafy greens. I use a UK brand that’s not available in the USA. I also use a probiotic pellet from the same UK company. I have seen a lot of improvement in that rabbit (Bam), he’s always had troubles with sticky poop (ISC).

[Dface]

As far as my vet knows his runny eyes are caused by scar tissue narrowing his tear ducts so they can’t drain adequately.
Fortunately his cage mate Yumi is obsessive about keeping his face clean!
We did get teeth checked and he’s also had teeth removed so I’m hoping that rules out dental discomfort
Oh could you give me the name of the UK brand? I’m based in Ireland,but will probably be moving to the north soon, but might still be able to get it here?

[Author]

Messages