Saggy skin after Sub-q fluids

[lulu_ryan87]

My bunny (named Bunny) has been through hell. We got a male companion neutered and eventually got them together (They share a cage wall and sleep side by side).  He ended up biting her on the bum so badly. The vet said her plumbing was ok but she needed antibiotics. Amoxicillin, and after only a few days she suddenly was dying. We stopped the Amoxicillin but she has extreme diarrhea, will barely eat or drink. Some how over 4 days of this she is still alive ( bath her bum and feed and offer water to her constantly, trying my best for her.) Took her back to the vet, he cleaned up the bite on her bum and kept her for the day to give her Sub-q fluids. I was prepared to put her down today and out of her misery but then I had hope. Now she is home and… All her skin drooped to the ground. Her small dewlap dropped between her legs she has bat wings that drag on the ground. Vet said she must have needed it because her body was sucking it up so fast, but did he go to far? Is her skin causing her pain? I can’t find anything on google about this. Please someone help. My baby is suffering and I don’t know what to do.

[Rookie]

the fluids will expand the skin and as it is absorbed by the body the skin remains a bit. She also must have lost a lot weight that may only be noticeable now with the excess skin. Whenever in doubt though take her to an ER. better be safe than sorry. after IV fluids though keep the bun warm as the fluids are cold under the skin and they can get cold very quick. Make sure your bun is drinking and eating or make sure to feed water and food every hour to keep her system going

[tobyluv]

Oral Amoxicillin should not be given to rabbits. 

If Bunny is not eating or is only eating very little, it would be good to give her Critical Care. Some rabbits will eat the mixture from a dish, especially if you mix in a little bit of baby food or plain canned pumpkin, but you usually have to syringe feed it to them. To get Bunny’s intestinal flora back as it was, you can give her a probiotic, such as Bene-Bac. Antibiotics will often affect the normal intestinal flora.

I hope that Bunny will start eating and recover soon.

[lulu_ryan87]

Thank you so much for replying to my post. I felt around her skin more and there are bubbles of fluid left under her arms so hopefully it will absorb. She will only eat a hand full of greens a day even though I do offer at least 5 times a day. Same with water, she will only have a drink once or twice a day and only have a small amount. I also dip her bum in water every time too because of the constant diarrhea and her bum is where she got bit so I have to keep it clean. They told us to give her Imodium. I’m sure it was the Amoxicillin that did this to her, and I don’t know how she’s still alive. She will get up now and then and move a few inches but other than that she has been out of it and weak since Friday. I’ve been covering her up but she usually comes out from underneath but I will keep trying. I am on the edge of my seat with worry. At this point I just want her pain to stop. I gave in and gave her Tramadol (from the vet) just a tiny bit tonight to ease her pain. Do you know if Imodium is ok? She needs the diarrhea to stop.

[lulu_ryan87]

 Tobyluv

   These are our first bunny’s. We changed our vet because they did not care for buns, our new vet supposedly does. I can’t believe he gave that to her. I’m pretty horrified. We live far out in the country and they are the only ones near us that care for buns.

  When you say mixture do you mean pellets or is their a special mix to buy? And thank you for recommending a type of probiotic, I didn’t know which to choose, the vet had nothing to say about it. And I don’t trust just anything now, but she is still hanging on, I gotta do something.

Bunny and Clyde are a strange pair perhaps? We did the bonding over months, and they share a cage wall in the house. They insist on sleeping together, on either side of the wall. But he nips her if they are together. Vet told us she is around a year and he is around .. 5 months old now. We had to wait for him to grow before we could get him neutered.  We have not got her fixed yet though, maybe that was the problem. At this point I’ll be surprised if she pulls though, but I’m already surprised she has thus far, so I’m gonna keep fight for her. On my bf’s birthday in April his father told him a spotted tame skinny bunny was in his wood shed and fed him carrots. I took one look and new she was a pet. But she must have been out a while because he basically has no neighbors. Then our life turned upside down in bunny world.

[Rookie]

she meant the critical care mix… that can be substituted with mashed up pellets with water as a puree and syringe fed to keep their tummy going. this way they get food and some water.

Make sure you keep her eating and drinking even if you have to force feed her both. also keep her warm. microwave some pillows and blankets etc. bunnies can go into hypothermia very quickly and it can be fatal. so keep her as warm as possible especially if her bum is washed and wet.

[tobyluv]

Critical Care is a powder that you mix with water and feed to rabbits who are not eating or who need extra nutrition for whatever reason. It’s an Oxbow product. A lot of us use Oxbow pellets or Oxbow hay. Some vets will sell it, you can also buy it online. You can substitute mashed up wet pellets, but they don’t have quite as much nutrition as the Critical Care.

Clyde may be nipping Bunny since she isn’t spayed. He is reacting to her hormones. It’s always best to have both rabbits spayed or neutered before starting bonding.

Ive read that Imodium can be given to rabbits. I just found a thread from last year that mentioned it. It’s from Bam, a forum leader.  She said Imodium slows the gut and is used for true diarrhea in rabbits.  The Imodium should be stopped if the rabbit starts making formed poops, even if they aren’t normal poops, since you don’t want to slow the gut down too much in rabbits.

[cianoy]

Hello — so is the saggy skin going to normalize after a while?

[Rookie]

Yes. As you are putting water under the skin that is already loose on the back. Once the water is absorbed the skin will go back down

[Scampobun]

Yes the loose skin is normal and will disappear after a few hours as their body absorbs the fluid. I had to give my bun sub q fluids 3 times a week as he was a bladder sludge bun and the loose skin happened every time with the injections.

[Author]

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