Kidney Infection

Question
My dutch rabbit buck is 9 years old and, up until recently, has been an incredibly healthy rabbit. After finding a lump, which thankfully turned out to be a harmless cyst (which I continue to monitor for growth), I noticed a darkening in the colour of my rabbits urine and a reduction in the amount of urine. The vets gave him antibiotics which were ineffective, as his urine became very bloody and he began straining to urinate, so he went back to the vets for an ultrasound and x-ray.

The vets found no tumours or bladder stones and decided to remove the urine directly from his bladder. The extracts were incredibly worrying so the vet contacted an expert who suggested a kidney infection was the likely cause and he was given antibiotics that have been used on rabbits, though they are not licesned for rabbits.

After his anaesthetic, I have been struggling to get him to eat and I am currently feeding him dandelions, as it is the only food he will eat, and a liquid rabbit food supplement from the vet. I have also bought some pineapple juice, as it was suggested this would help his digestion.

As far as I am aware, the antibiotics are his only and final option. Do you know of any others? Is there anything I can be doing to encourage him to eat?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Answer
Hi Chantelle,

Rabbit's digestive systems do not tolerate antibiotics well, even if it was given in shot form instead of orally.  The anitbiotics will often kill off the delicate balance of good bacteria that rabbits must have in order to stay healthy, and this will often cause them to go off of their feed.  There is a product called BeneBac that you should be giving him to replace the lost bacteria, use this during the antibiotic treatment and for several weeks after since the medicine stays in their system for quite a while.  Pineapple juice is effective if a fur blockage is the problem, but it doesn't sound like that so I would discontinue the juice for now (it's very acidic and hard on their gut too).  When our rabbits won't eat, they can most often be enticed by old fashioned rolled oats from the cereal aisle, and very leafy alfalfa or Timothy hay.  Rabbits often do not handle anesthetic well especially when they are older, but with some extra TLC he should hopefully pick back up again soon.  Unfortunately he needs the antibiotics as this is the only way to treat a bacterial infection, even if they are hard on his system.  The BeneBac will be the best option for getting him back on track, check your local farm supply store or you can order it online.  Best wishes!