worried about my rabbit (first post)

lucycat

Hello all, I am a long time lurker on this forum and a first time poster, so be gentle I was hoping that someone might have some advice for me about my rabbit, I was grooming her last night (which I do every second day as she does not like to be handled too much) and I noticed that she had a huge matt of fur and sticky, smelly poo right at her bum. Naturally, i freaked out altogether and tried to rinse it out (no joy) before having to cut it out with a scissors BUT I only went and nicked the skin. I immediately put Savlon on it and gave her only hay and water for her dinner to try to stop the runny poo, but this morning she looks to have had more runny poop.

Not only do I feel like the worst mammy in the entire universe right now, Im really worried about the poop situation. I made an appointment with a vet who specialises in rabbits for tomorrow morning but I am almost having kittens here at work because all the internet sites I am looking at are telling me that diarhhea (sp) is very bad news indeed for rabbits.

I would LOVE if someone else has had experience of that and would be so grateful if they could let me know what they did. Sitting here at work watching the clock until 5.30 when I can belt home to her

Btw, I have two kitties and a dog but I havent let them play with the rabbit today in case they annoy her when she isnt feeling well already, I have the rabbit (Binky) in her indoor cage with clean straw, hay and fresh water.

Sorry for the essay guys for my first post, but I am in the horrors here!

tk123

The best advice I can give you is to try not to worry too much and don't look up her symptoms online as you'll nearly always come to the worse case senario. You've taken the best course of action here - you saw there was a problem with your pet and have booked her into the vets. DON'T STRESS OUT!!

lucycat

Thanks tk123, I am a blubbering mess here at work :rolleyes: I rang my vet (not the rabbit specialist, my usual vet for the cats and dog) and she told me not to worry as it is most likely diet-related and she also told me to stay off the internet too!

I feel so bad for nicking her skin, I think that is whats killing me - as if she wasn't feeling bad enough I have to come along and cut the poor little divil. Ah well, hopefully I can leave work a bit earlier tonight and get home to see if she is ok. Thanks for the advice anyway, you are dead right.

Waterfordlass

Good luck at the vets, please let us know how things go.
And with all the neglect and abuse poor rabbits suffer, you little one is a lucky girl to have you. You sound like a great bunny Mommy!

lucycat

Thanks so much waterdfordlass, you are so sweet I will definitely let you know how I get on tomorrow, I have the first appointment so I will most likely be sitting outside in the car for ages beforehand waiting for the vets to open! They are my babies and I love them with all my heart, but sometimes I just WISH they had voices to tell you whats wrong/where it hurts...

Sigma Force

What types of food do you feed her in general? Has she had lettuce or access to plants etc.? Is she vaccinated? Has she ever been wormed?

It's good you are taking her to the vet soon, but really when a rabbit becomes ill or there is anything out of the ordinary you need to treat it as an emergency, rabbits tend to go downhill quicker than other pets because they hide their illness as best they can.

Good idea to keep the bun on just hay and water for now as you're doing.

Once the vet figures out what's up and esp. if the bun has to be put on antibiotics it's a good idea to put the bun on a pro biotic or avi pro to help support the recover. Antibiotics can be harsh on rabbits if you can't get avi pro a capsule of Acidopholis will work by squeezing the contents on to a bit of food or squeeze it in to the buns mouth a while before giving the antibiotic.

There's a whole load of various thing you can use but obviously get the vets diagnosis first these things are just there to help support the bun.
Check out this site https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/%25252B+The+Medicine+Chest+%25252B.161/

lucycat

The appointment tomorrow was the first one I could get, my usual vet doesn't do rabbits, so I had to try to get the specialist vet, so I am taking her illness seriously!!

Checked her the second I got in & she seems to be no worse, she ate her hay & drank her water & her poop isn't as runny thank god.

I give her soluble vitamins (two months on, two months off) which were recommended by the rabbit vet & she normally eats a Timothy hay pellet mix, normal hay & some cucumber or apple as a treat the odd time.

She is fully vaccinated, wormed & spayed.

Just praying that the vet will have good news tomorrow

lucycat

Christ, I never even said thanks Sigma Force, I'm all over the place with worry. Thanks for the link, I'm going to have a look now.

anniehoo

First of all....breathe and welcome to the forum!!

Ok...so

Diarrhoea freaks all of us pet owners out, but with rabbits(buns) its probably taken a bit more seriously, because, as above, they sometimes (like cats) dont show us that they're unwell until its quite advanced.You sound like a very caring owner so dont berate yourself, especially for this:

lucycat wrote: »

I feel so bad for nicking her skin, I think that is whats killing me - as if she wasn't feeling bad enough

The amount of cats and dogs ive seen with random hair mats,with owners who "wont go there",because they're afraid it will hurt them is amazing.Ive sent many of my petsitting animals home "matless" and the owners have gone "what did you do?".

Basically,grooming,with any companion animal isnt a game, end of. Its a chore,its boring but should never be painful. This is where most people go wrong.They hear a squeal, think it means pain,comfort the animal,they learn they get comfort from it and react as per se...it can be a vicious cycle.

Rabbits are very expressionless so i dont blame you for being cautious. Have you many wild birds around your house? Have you changed feed?Changed bedding supplier etc?

+ for what SigmaForce said too

Have we any rabbit owners here who can give more advice?

lucycat

Ok I'm back from the vet & hanging my head in shame because the vet told me that Binky's only problem is that she is too fat & lazy! I have to put her on a strict diet of only hay & water, have to cut out the pellets immediately & only give her a quarter of an apple as a treat once a week. How stupid do I feel??

Vet was lovely, says she sees it all the time and it's a problem that can be easily sorted, gave her a shot for the little cut I gave her & told me to bring her back in three weeks for a check up.

Thanks to all you guys for helping me out & talking me down so to speak, you are all brilliant & Binky sends you a big (fat) bunny kiss

Waterfordlass

Aahh that's great news. I know how relieved you are.
There's nothing worse than having the fur babies sick, especially when they can't tell you what is wrong.
Lots of hugs to bunny Binky...and yourself.

Zapperzy

Brilliant news! Great that you were able to find a vet that specialises in rabbits, most haven't a clue about smallies. And don't kick yourself too much about cutting the skin, it's very easy to do especially when you've matts.

Sigma Force

That's great news, you never mentioned she was a porker lol.

Timothy hay is the gourmet of all gourmets for rabbits sounds like she is very well looked after.

Veg as a treat would be better than apple but you can also feed her herbs as a treat as well esp. if you grow a few in pots oregano, applemint, thyme, rosemary was a big hit here when I had rabbits and nasturtium flowers.
At this time of year rosemary does well in a pot. That way she can still have her treats but less calories.

I used to fill a plain brown paper bag with hay and fresh herbs my lot used to love that. Kept them busy and moving around as well.

Groom!

Just be careful with the veg until the poohs are really solid again!