Unwell bunny

[LoveMyEbony]

Hey im new and couldnt find an answer to my rabbit. 

A little back story. I’ve had my rabbit ebony since she was 3 months, she is now 10 years old. She is a black and white dutch and she has been the most sweetest rabbit I could ask for. So sadly little over a month ago she had a huge lump appear on her back and after tests it turned out to be a tumor .

She was getting worse and worse so I knew I had to do something. Every vet I went to said to operation would be too risky for them to do because of her age. That however didnt stop me, I found a specialist that felt very confident in doing it because they were more trained in small animals and had the right equipment. So after a very stressful day 3 weeks ago she had the operation and pulled through. 

Now sadly when they tested the tumor it came back as aggressive. Now I’m not stupid I know it will come back but soon but if I didn’t do anything she would have died by now If I did nothing (I’ve spent over £1000 So far getting rid of the tumor and on tests, medication and so on). And as long as she can keep getting good quality of life I will keep paying what I need too (I’ve sold some of my things and will keep doing). Obviously when she is in pain thats when I know I cant do no more but until then monwy wont stop me. 

 
Now that back story over I can get to the issue. Now due to the operation she is on antibiotics (Sulfatrim> Trimethoprim+Sulfamethoxazole), painkiller (meloxaid> Meloxacam) and a wet food (oxbow fine grind) but the food is because she won’t eat her normal food however the vet said I can keep giving it too her in the space of pellets its just expensive but I dont care.

 Now she is eating hay which is good but not drinking alot of water. I am however putting water in a syringe and squirting it into her mouth so although she isn’t drinking alot on her own she is getting enough water. 

Now all of a sudden today she kept keeping her bum in the air and hoping weirdly. Now due to the staples holding her wound together (it is a big wound) on her back I havnt been able to turn her over alot but because she was acting weird I knew I had to just do it because something was wrong. With a soft pillow and my mum’s help I got her on her back and was in shock. Her whole moo moo (we’re she poops and wees) was covered in diaherra type poo and was blocking anything coming out! There was a lump feeling thing behind the poo which at first I thought was another tumor or swelling. When I put on some gloves and some wipe I carefully unblocked her moo moo and all this poo came flooding out (I must stress it was like a few hours worth of poop so must have blocked up same day). So luckily the lump was just poo but what concerns me is the type of poo, I’ve never seen it before. It’s very dark and soft and wet but it also has this weird clear like jelly/mucas clumping it all together. 

 
Now she hasn’t got her bum in the air anymore but she still keeps pooping this muscasy type poop. What could cause this type of poo? Could it be her medication or is it a sign something else?
Thank you to anyone who reads this and taking the time to help! 

Natasha
P.s. (if I can I will try get a photo of it)

[jerseygirl]

Poor Love, it sounds like shes going through a lot. {{{Ebony}}}

This sounds like it could be cecal dysbiosis (when the intestinal bacteria is out of balance) and some enteritis (inflammation in the intestine). http://rabbit.org/disorders-of-the-cecum/

The intestine will produce a mucus lining to protect the tissue along the tract. This might be why you are seeing some mucus in her poop.

There are likely a lot of factors contributing to this if that is what she has. Yes, sometimes medication, but also lack of fibre in her diet recently, maybe an inability to reach down to eat her cecatrophs because of her wound (important for maintaining balanced gut). Also stress and pain and age can be contributors.

It would be a good idea to do a medication review with her vet and see if there is anything that needs to be taken iout of her regime or added in. (Zantac) could be a good addition as it helps protect the gut. Some vets will prescribe this alongside meloxicam because intestinal ulcers are a risk with meloxicam. That is why it is given with or after food. An additional antibiotic might be needed to manage the gut condition.

The trouble with a lot of oral meds are the syrup itself can have ingredients that upset balance in the rabbit gut. So the vet might look at injectible options if a rabbit is not doing well on liquid meds. Even with zantac which is a sweet peppermint syrup. I think there is a tablet form.

Injectible meds (antibiotic, pain meds etc) are given in the layer between the skin and muscle. If she were to receive them, they might have to be given in down lower rump area if her back is healing from the surgery.

Now that she is eating hay, this will help for restoring balance. You could try some additional things like fibreplex and some probiotics if the vet thinks they would not hurt.

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