Rabbit is loosing weight.

Question
Hi,

I have seen a lot of questions related to rabbits on this site and I really hope u can help me. I have this baby rabbit (guess 45 days old) who has stopped eating for the last couple of days and is loosing weight rapidly. All he does is lies down and sleep, does not move at all and does NOT even clean his shit. His poop seems to fine however his urine is too smelly and dark yellow in color.He eats little when I feed him personally.

He has lost weight in last couple days and has grown weak. Since rabbit is not a common pet in my city hence I do not have pet clinic where I can take him to. I gave him 'Normet' after I did some research on the web and found worms could be reason for this. However he does not seem to benefit from it and his health is deteriorating.Could you please suggest of  some medicine/treatment for his recovery. I came accross the following medicines as per one of your articles. Do you suggest giving these to the baby ?

Antibiotics:
1. ciprofloxacin at 20 mg/kg Q 12 hours
2. metronidazole at 20mg/kg Q 12 hours
Anticoccidial:
1. Ponazuril (20mg/kg Q 24 hours) or Toltrazuril (UK and Europe)
2. Trimethoprim sulfa or Albon

Answer
Hi,

I would suspect that your rabbit is suffering from a condition known as cecal dysbiosis. This condition is many times caused by something in the diet.  In reality, if your rabbit is the age you stated it is not fully weaned and should still be with it's mother.  Domestic rabbits do not fully wean until about 8 weeks old and in many states it is illegal for a pet store or breeder to offer them for sale.  The condition you bring up is consistant with a bacterial imbalance in the cecum.  It is vitally important for weaning kits to receive the cecals and pH changes in the milk from the mother.  Many wildlife rehabbers lose cottontails during this type event.  This is a life threatening situation and will take a skilled rabbit savvy vet.  

If this rabbit were with me, I would start by rehydrating.  I use either sub-q or IV....but if you don't have that capability, use unflavored Pedialyte given by mouth.  This is challenging since rabbits don't usually have a good sucking reflex and can easily aspirate the formula into the lungs which can also cause serious problems.  I would use a probiotic, which introduces bacteria into the gut....I like a product called Bene-Bac which is available at most vets and pet stores.  The true advantage of these products is that they will acidify and stabilize the pH in the gut to allow good bacteria to grow.  There is another product called Critical Care that is available at exotics clinics and on-line that could help but I doubt you have time to get that.  So you can make a "formula" by crushing pellets into a powder and mixing it with the Pedialyte.  Again, force feeding a rabbit is challenging.  Putting him on supplemental heat (a heating pad on lowest setting) may be helpful.  I would not use any drugs at this point since they all can be stressful to even a healthy gut.

I don't like being gloom and doom but in all honestly, most baby rabbits do not survive this situation.  The only real thing you can do is to do your best to stabilize that gut by using fluids and force feeding in small amounts.   If you can find a vet willing to work this problem, I would be willing to consult with them regarding emergency treatment.  Good luck.