Rabbit diarrhoea (acute onset)

Question
QUESTION: My one and a half year old doe had an acute onset of diarrhoea about 3 hours ago. At the moment she is just sitting in her cage, not moving. I can't get her to drink or eat anything. I have tried to find information on the internet as to how it might have been caused and what to do, but I don't know how to get it to stop or how to get her to drink. My main concern is that I live in South Korea, in a small town and finding a rabbit savvy vet is almost impossible, nevermind one who can speak English.
I have one coming to my house a little later (once the sun is actually up) and I was just wondering if you could give me any pointers as to what the vet should be doing so that I can know what to expect.

I am so very concerned about my little girl, I've read that often diarrhoea can be fatal.

Please help!

ANSWER: Dear Bernice,

True diarrhea in an adult rabbit is pretty rare, but can be caused by intestinal parasites or acute onset of infection/fever.  Please read this to find out how to take her body temperature, which is critical in a case like this:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

She will very likely need subcutaneous fluids and other supportive care.  I'm not sure what medications are available where you are, but if you can get some immodium, it will help.  We administer 1mg/kg to get things stopped up, but then be *sure* she gets fluids.  The main danger of diarrhea is dehydration.

Without knowing the cause of the diarrhea, it's difficult to know what to do, but this is what we do for *baby* rabbits with true diarrhea (runny stool, not runny cecotropes):

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

It could at least help stabilize your girl until other medications take effect.  If this is a case of acute cecal dysbiosis/enteritis, then these articles should help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

I hope she will be okay.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana

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

QUESTION: Thank you for replying to my question. I had a vet come out to see her yesterday morning, he gave her a few shots and some rehydration. Unfortunately my little girl died last night. I am absolutely devasted as she was fine the previous evening when I let her out for a run. I have nother female, aged 2 and a half and I'm so worried that the same thing is going to happen to her. I monitored her all through the night, last night and she seems to be okay. I left her sister's body in the cage for a while last night, but I don't know how she is going to handle losing her buddy. My two little girls are like children to me and the very sudden loss of the little one has left me feeling helpless!
What extra measures can I take to prevent something like this happening to my older doe and is there anything that I can do to help her deal with her loss?

Thanks again,
Bernice

Answer
Dear Bernice,

Oh, no!  I am so sorry.  What a terrible loss.

I know this sounds hard, but if you can emotionally withstand a post mortem exam with histopathology of major organs, that would be the only way to confidently establish a cause of death.  And *that* is the only way to know just what you are trying to prevent.

As I mentioned, there are multiple possible causes for acute onset of diarrhea in an adult rabbit, with the most likely being systemic infection/toxemia and high fever.  If this is what happened, then take heart that bacterial pathogens do not pass readily between rabbits, and even though the sister has already been exposed, she will not necessarily get sick if she is otherwise in good spirits and healthy.

It was good that you let her say goodbye to her sister.  So sad.  But to keep her well, it would be a good idea--once you are both healing from the grief of this terrible loss--to contact your local rabbit rescuer and set up some "blind dates" for her to choose a companion so she will not grieve herself to death.  

How long this should be will depend on her personality, and you'll have to watch her closely to see if she's eating normally, acting okay, etc.  Some rabbits deal with loss better than others, but some are very sensitive, and can get sick just from the trigger of the grief.

You can contact a rabbit rescuer here:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

when/if you are ready.  But for now, give your surviving girl lots of love, extra special care, and be vigilant for any sign of trouble.  

I am so very sorry.

Dana