scratch on rabbits eye and mucus in stool

Question
Hi Sarah,

Two days ago my 16 week old Holland lop received a cut around the eye area from another rabbit we have. The upper and lower eyelids appear to have been cut and the eye looks like it has a cut as well. The eye swelled up and closed up with blood and a pus-like substance. He has been acting lethargic and like he is in pain (I would be, too). Naturally, I was very concerned. Since this happened on Sunday, all the vets were closed and were also closed Monday. I took him to an emergency vet clinic where they prescribed eye drops and told me to take him to a rabbit savvy vet asap. Mao (the lop) has eaten some since then but is not interested in drinking. Last night (Monday night) I found a huge amount of what looked like mucus mixed in with his stool. Now, I had been planning on taking him to a rabbit vet b/c I had been a little worried about his intestinal health prior to his cut. He has always had soft stool and I have noticed a small amount of mucus susbtance before, but nothing like this. I called the emergency vet and they said they would call the doctor to come in and look at Mao. Needless to say, they did not and we took Mao back to the clinic at 2 am for nothing. We brought some mucus and a stool sample, but they were not interested. After waiting forever, they said they did not know anything about rabbits and couldn't get a hold of the rabbit vet. The vet tech did say that all the mucus was caused by stress and probably nothing, and that I basically caused it by taking him the vet. I am very upset, as everything that I have read has said to take rabbits to the vet if there is mucus in the stool. On top of that, he also has a hurt eye. I live in Orlando, and I called today to make an appt. with Dr. Diaz, who was recommended by the House Rabbit Society and the emergency vet people. They cannot see Mao until tomorrow afternoon. I am so upset and don't know what to do. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to help him or make him feel better? What causes mucus in the stool? Did I cause it by taking him to the vet? Also, for what it's worth, Mao has been acting lethargic and I have been hearing his stomach making loud gurgling noises for the past few days. Last night he kinda freaked out and want all tense and then spastic, shaking. His cute lops ears went straight back and his eyes bulged out, it was kinda scary. I don't know if these things are correlated, though. Sorry this is so long, but I am so worried and upset that no one can help. Thank you in advance for your time and information!

Sincerely,
Hillary Fields

Answer
The gurgling and the mucous are very classic signs of Mucoid Enteritis.

This is usually accompanied by a gas build up that causes pain, and therefore causes the rabbit to stop eating/drinking normally. This furthers the problem, as without anything in the gut, it stops moving, leading to gastrointestinal stasis.

The first thing to do is get some Simethicone infant drops from a drug store to give to him. This will help the pain from the gas.

Switch to all hay (grass, timothy, or oat hay) and rolled oats rather than pellets. A lot of fibre is very important. Get some Pedialyte from the grocery store (infant isle) to put in the water. It contains essential electrolytes that your rabbit will be very low on. Fill half of his water bottle or dish with the Pedialyte and half with water. If he is not drinking, you will have to use a syringe to make him drink. If you can locate it, a produce called Nutrical is a great boost of energy and nutrients for the immediate problems.

Mucoid Enteritis is caused by a overgrowth of harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract, so this has to be dealt with as soon as possible. The vet can give him some antibiotics, but from the sound of it, you cannot get him in as soon as he needs to be in. A product called Dri-Tail (AKA Neomycin Sulfate or Biosol) can help with the bacteria in the mean time. If you can get it, feed plain (unsweetened and flavoured) yogurt or Bene-Bac along with the Dri-Tail to help encourage the growth of good bacteria.