Hepatic Coccidiosis Please help

Question
I have a Dutch bunny who is about 8 weeks old and I noticed he was releasing a very Jelly like substance from his rectum. I i read online that this is a very dangerous situation so I took him to the Vet right away and they said that my bunny named Bugs has a very low chance of living even with treatment...which really upset me because they did not give me any hope. So they took a feces sample and found coccidia present in his feces..They gave me this formula from Oxbow called Critical Care I am feeding him that every 3 1/2 hours plus i am feeding him extra water because I do not see him drinking i only hand feed him water about 5mm with a syringe. They also gave me an antibiotic called SMZ-TMP and i have to give him .3ml every 12 hours PLEASE tell me how I can save my bunny. Is the medication they are giving good or is there something better please help.

Thank you
Shawn

Answer
Hi Shawn,

Call them back and ask them if they can get Ponazuril.  It works very well on coccidiosis in fact it can actually kill it where the medication you are using only helps to control it while the rabbit develops immunity.  Even with Ponazuril there is still a chance the bunny wont make it.  I don't know why they did not keep him.  Do you have a 24 hour animal hospital near you?  If they can get fluids in him while treating him for the coccidiosis he has a better chance of survival.  He also needs something called Questran.  This helps to bind the mucous so that it passes through him without causing diarrhea.  Questran is a human medication but it is perfectly safe for rabbits.

If they don't want to listen to you tell them to read this:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

I really do hope that your bunny recovers.  

Pam