Upper respiratory infection?

[Rose]

Hi, I’m new to this website (and having a bunny).
I’ve searched page after page after page to find a situation similar to mine, but haven’t had much luck.
A little over a month ago, I got a 4 m/o Holland Lop. He’s the cutest and sweetest thing I’ve ever seen and I already love him so much. Bunnies have so much personality.
I noticed that he was itching his ears and tried to look inside, noticing some dried blood.
I searched online for an exotic pet vet near me and the closest was a little over an hour away, so I took him in today.
The vet looked in his ears and saw fluids and also noticed some discharge near his nose. She told me that he had an upper respiratory infection and recommended two different antibiotics and some drops for his ears, which I agreed to and got for him.
He has unlimited timothy hay and I always give him more when it starts to look low. I give him few timothy based pellets everyday. The woman that I bought him from told me to wait until he was 6 months old to introduce fruits and vegetables, so I’ve been waiting.
His poop has recently gotten very small and dark. He drinks a lot of water.
As I’m sure you know, when you look up small, dark poop in rabbits, GI stasis immediately appears. The vet told me that an upper respiratory infection can cause that, but I’m still concerned? He eats a lot (and like I said, drinks a lot) and is very active.
I guess that I’m here to ask if I should get a second opinion, or if anyone else has heard of these symptoms together? I’m not trying, in any way, to discredit the vet and staff who helped us today. I’m new and worried.
Thank you in advance for any answers

[Bam]

Your vet is right, tummy problems can result from any other health-problem a bunny has. It’s because illness is stressful and stress impacts the signal substances in the gut. (There is actually a special nervous system in the gut – the enteric nervous system.) The bunny can get a gut slowdown, gas can build up. It can be painful for the bunny. He might not want to eat as much or move around as much as he normally does – that contributes to poop irregularites. Antibiotics kill off good gut bacteria, that also effects poop size and amount.

It’s great that he’s eating and drinking water. Water helps hydrate the intestinal contents. A bunny in gut stasis looses its appetite.

Small poop is an observandum, so keep a close eye. There are bunny probiotics you can give during or immediately after a course of antibiotics to help restore gut microbiota. If he shows signs of gas (also generally manifests itself as refusal to eat), you can give baby gas drops (simethicone).

Normally we recommend wet greens for “pepper-corn” poop – but this is obviously not the right time to introduce any new food. 

[LittlePuffyTail]

Is he done his antibiotics? Those can be hard on a bunny tummy.

[Author]

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