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sick holland lop

22 10:03:45

Question
I have had my holland lop (lars) for about 3 weeks now, he was 6  weeks old when we got him from the local pet store. I couple days ago before going to bed my boyfriend and I noticed that he was very lethargic, we figured he was just tired, re filled his water and food and went to bed. The next day we saw that he had not touched any of his food and had drank all of his water. He continued to be very lethargic and when I picked him up he had mushy dropping and a clear gel like substance coming out of his backside. Naturally we panicked and rushed him to an emergency vet 1  hour away because my silly town has a dozen vets but none that deal with small animals. The vet assumed ( I say that because no tests were done) that he had a parasitic infection and kept him there over night on iv and to force feed him. The next day she sent us home with anti-parasitic, critical care herbivore mix to make into a paste and force feed him and a product called revolution because he also has mites (we have no other animals and don't know how this happened!) now, a couple days later, the diarreha appears to be gone but he doesn't seem to be pooping at all, he will eat, but only a little bit and we are having a very hard time getting him to eat the critical care and infa-col( we were told he looked and felt bloated so we are trying to ease the pain with that to have him eat) out of a medicine dropper, I'm just worried sick over this and have already missed a few days including today from work. I just have too big of a heart not to do all that I can to safe him and make him happy and healthy again. do you have any suggestions? do you think the vet made an accurate diagnosis without any tests? and how can I get all that junk that is stuck in his fur out now? any help would be appreciated, I really love this guy even if I've only had him for a short period of time thank you in advance.

Answer
Hi Sarah,

The only thing I am surprised about is that they did not do an Xray of his stomach before force feeding him.  Everything else sounds pretty much right on.  Some young rabbits can get a condition called mucoid enteritis.  Some of them come around on their own and others need more aggressive care like you are doing.  I know it is hard for you to get there but if the bunny is still not pooping I would strongly suggest that you take him back to the vet.  If they have the capability you may want to ask if they could take an Xray to make sure there is not a blockage.  At the very least if you cant get him to eat the critical care they may need to put him back on an IV.  They should have an emergency number that you can call to ask questions.  Knowing the bunnies history they would be able to advice you better.

As for the mites he either got them  from the pet shop being housed with other animals or he came from a breeder that does not understand these things.  Mites are a simple and easy to cure problem.  The GI problems are much more serious.

Please give them a call right away.

I hope little Lars will be ok.

Pam