Been to vet and still need help urgently

Question
QUESTION: I have a domestic 12 or 13 week old bunny who was growing and doing well.  She eats everything we give her including salad twice a day, Oxbow young pellets and Oxbow Timothy hay.  Her 2 litter mates are doing very well and keep growing. She has been separated from them so I know exacty what she is eating.  She is pooping normal and they are normally developed.  She is suddenly experiencing a stunted growth and is losing mass.  She still has the "baby belly" underneath her but you can feel her hip bones and now every vertebrea when you pet her.  She was the larger of the litter and now is the smaller over the past week. It is as if she is not absorbing what she is eating.  I have had her to the vet and he is perplexed and is looking into it further as he has never heard of rabbits having a malabsorption problem. We did treat her in case she has a parasite but that has not changed anything.  She is still eating all the above and I have added probiocin once a day and Oxbow critical care twice a day.  Have you every heard of rabbits having malabsorption issues and if so is it treatable?

ANSWER: Dear Michele,

This is puzzling, all right.  You say she has normally formed poops, but what about her cecotropes?  Are they mushy?  Do you ever see them before she eats them?  It's possible that her cecal flora is out of whack, and needs a "tune up".

I also have seen "baby belly" in little rabbits who are suffering an overgrowth of E. coli.  Not all show obvious signs (many bloat up and get severe runny cecotropes). This is going to sound radical, especially to your vet.  But we have been able to reverse some of these bloat cases by putting the baby on 3-4 days of ciprofloxacin (20mg/kg, twice a day for the first day, then once a day thereafter) to kill off the E. coli.  At the same time, we introduce cecotropes from a healthy rabbit (you'll need a source), administering this (sometimes as a "sh*t smoothie", since once a rabbit is inoculated with cecotropes at about the age of 10 days, they no longer find them appealing!), continuing for 3-4 days *after* the ciprofloxacin is stopped.  This seems to help.

You might also add powdered Lactobacillus to the mix.  While this is not a normal denizen of the rabbit GI tract, the bacteria do seem to alter the GI environment to make it more hospitable to the natural cecotrope flora trying to set up shop.

While you're working on this, ask your vet about getting some Emeraid.

http://emeraid.com/emeraid-herbivore/

Unfortunately, it's sold only to veterinarians.  So you'll have to get your vet to order it ASAP:

http://emeraid.com/where-to-buy-emeraid/

This is a powdered emergency feed formula consisting of essential amino acids, short-chain carbohydrates, short-chain lipids, etc. that doesn't need to be digested, and can be absorbed directly from the gut.  (It's basically pre-digested herbivore food.)  It can be lifesaving for a beastie with a compromised intestine, buying time while the GI tract heals and the flora re-balances.  Just hydrate well and feed with a large-bore syringe.

I hope some of this helps!

Dana



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for responding!  I have not seen any cecotropes, she is eating them directly.  It sounds like we are doing the right things.  The Probiocin we are giving her is lactobacillus and we are giving her herbivore critical care formula. I may try the sh*t smoothie just to see if it helps. I am the manager of a domestic rabbit shelter (BunnyPeople) so getting healthy cecotropes is not an issue.  She was recently on Tresaderm ear drops for an ear infection and this seems to have started in the middle of the 10 day treatment.  She was on the Probiocin the whole time she was receiving the Tresaderm ear drops.  This is not the first time I have had a rabbit become ill after using Tresaderm but the others have gone into respiratory and heart failure.
Thank you again for your time and information!

Answer
Hi, Michele,

I would not use Tresaderm on a rabbit.  It contains corticosteroids, which are contraindicated for rabbits except in the most extreme cases.  They often have bad reactions to corticosteroids, and some rabbit vets will simply never use them for bunnies.

Herbivore Critical Care is good stuff, but it is not the same as Emeraid.  I used to think it was until the product was explained to me at a vet conference (NAVC) a couple of years ago.  The difference is that the nutrients in Emeraid are absorbable directly, without being digested.  So if an animal is having problems digesting the complex carbs (cellulose!) in regular food (including Critical Care), then Emeraid can be a life-saver while the healing process is going on.

I hope you'll discuss getting some Emeraid with your vet, because it truly could make a huge difference.

Good luck!

Dana