mini rex rabbitt

Question
QUESTION: Thank you for your advise the vet did give her liquid baytril.  How long should it take for her to respond well to the medication and is there something we should add to the water like Gatorade?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
My Mini Rex rabbit just gave birth 10 days ago she had three one died.  Sunday she was just laying around Monday she had blood in her urine and was just laying around called local vet got antibiotic for her today is Wednesday she had a little blood on the paper she is moving around more but she is not drinking very much it there more we can do for her?
-----Answer-----
STOPPPPPPP -- do not give your rabbit oral anti-biotic, do not give your rabbit any anti-biotic that are from the amoxycillian family.

First of all what antibiotic did the vet give you?  Is this a vet that knows about rabbits?  If they are given the wrong antibiotic it can kill your rabbit.  If it is any oral antibiotic I would be very concerned that your vet might not being fully educated in rabbit care.  Most vets won't just give people medicine that can be injected without making sure they are properly trained.  If it is an injectable Penicillin or Baytril then your vet did the right thing.  I am attaching a website that I find useful when I have a sick animal.  

http://www.thebunnybunch.org/rabbitcare2.html

There are many things that can be causing her to be acting this way.  Are you sure it is blood in her urine?  Some rabbits will have red urine due to diet and that is normal.  You should try to make sure she is eating and drinking.  You can can "force" feed her water with a 10 cc syringe.  If you don't have a syringe then use a turkey baster.  Or you can buy a syringe at any tractor supply store.  Make sure she has plenty of fresh hay, if she won't eat the hay or the pellets she is in severe risk of having her complete digestive system shut down.  Is she feeding her 2 remaining kits daily?  Do the kits act healthy and are they moving around, at 10 days they should be very active.

I have no doubt that you have a sick bunny on your hands here.  My best advice to you is to find a vet that deals with and specializes in rabbits and exotic animals.  You might have to drive a few hours to find one but your rabbit needs an exam.  If you are a farmer and this is just a brood doe that is expendable then it is your own choice.  She might get better on her own as long as you keep her hydrated and if she isn't drinking then force her to drink.

If you care about your rabbit and she is a pet or an expensive rabbit PLEASE take her to a qualified vet.  If you need help finding one you can go to

http://www.rabbits.org

They have a list of "rabbit" approved vets in your area.

I am sorry I can't be more help.  If you decide not to take her to the vet and need instructions on how to syringe feed her let me know.  There are many people in this forum that don't understand that farmers can have 2 or 3 hundred rabbits and if we took them to the vet every time one of them got sick, we would all have to file bankruptcy.

Goodluck to you and I hope she gets better.  I am really so sorry I couldn't be more help.

Sincerely,

Pam




ANSWER: Whew!!! At least your vet seems to know at least the basics of rabbit care.  Yes since she is taking anti-biotics you are going to have to watch her closely.  Even safe anti-biotics can cause gut problems, because they kill the good bacteria also and the bunny need's these bacteria's to stay healthy.

If she is drinking on her own it doesn't hurt to add a little bit of Pedialyte.  You don't want her to notice the difference in taste because then she may be turned off to drinking at all.  I use 20 oz water feeders and put about 1/4 inch Pedialyte in first then put the regular water in.  If you use water bottles make sure she is drinking.  If you use crocks you can do the same thing but sometimes with crocks its hard to tell exactly how much of the water she drank.  I have noticed with mine (mostly the bucks) that they like to play in their water.  Because of this I only use crocks in the winter time since the water bottles will actually freeze and break.

I wanted to tell you a few things that could have been wrong with her.  Sometimes doe's can get a stuck kit or retained afterbirth.  It is really uncommon for them to show symptoms after 10 days though, if this is what was wrong you would have usually known within a day or 2.  I am only telling you from my own personal experience, but I have had does go into a major depression after they lose kits.  Generally its when they lose the whole litter though.  I have had them stay depressed for up to a week.  As long as they are eating even if its just a little bit they usually pull themselves out of it.  I will give certain one's that I know are prone to it a natural supplement called Calm Supplement from this web-site

http://www.petmedicinechest.com/rabbit/showrabbits.asp

I use it more for my show bunnies to calm them down before the shows, but I do use it for other things as well.  You will find a lot of useful all natural treatments at that site.

Don't forget to give your rabbit a papaya pill or fresh papaya once a week.  Mini rex aren't as prone to hairballs as the longer haired breeds but they do get them from time to time.  Dried pineapple treats also work well and the bunnies think they are getting a special treat.

If you feel her body and all you feel are bones, or she becomes lethargic please take her to the vet.

Would you mind telling me if you are a breeder? or is she just a pet?  I am just curious and it won't make a difference as to the treatments, I guess I am just curious.

I hope some of these remedies work for you.

Thank you

Pam

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

QUESTION: Thank you again for all you help it makes us feel good to have someone to talk with.  No we are not a breeder Cassidy is my niece and she is in 4H her rabbit name is Baby and she shows in the the local county fair.  This past year was her last year she got very upset about being away from us she sure is spoiled.  Cassidy is in hope of being able to train one of the babies to show in the fair.  this is our first experience with rabbits and we sure do appreciate all your help and advise.  Thank you
ANSWER: That is great, as much as I go off on my "soap-box" about how all breeder's are not bad, I still love caring for animals.  I can give you a little advice to help with the babies.  As long as the mom is doing better and is feeding them regularly, you can start handling the babies regularly when they have a full body of hair and their eyes are open.  Since your doe seems to have some problems of her own I wouldn't want you to handle them frequently until you know she is ok.  Putting anymore stress on her than she already has will definitely not help her current health problems.

If you can't handle them now because of stress on the doe make sure that as soon as they are weaned you handle them every day.  Start in little steps.  Get them used to being held by humans.  Then as they get a little bit older she can practice posing with them and start to teach them "show" manners.  Cassidy is lucky because starting to train early is so much easier than getting a 3 or 4 year old rabbit and trying to train them then.

If you order the Calm Supplement now you will have it in time to use on your doe before weaning.  I really think it would be a good idea since she seems like the kind of doe who is going to have undue stress when you do take her babies away.  If you go to that website I gave you before, the rabbit medicine chest, they will take phone calls.  They are really good at helping you decide which natural supplements would be best.  They are quite pricey but since you only have this 1 doe and not 100's then you can buy the smaller amount.  It should last you a long time.  It will also be handy around show time when Cassidy takes one of the babies to the fair.  Rabbits that are used to being with their human parents hate going to the fair.  They feel abandoned.  Sometimes when you bring them home they will be mad at you for weeks.  I am a 4-H leader and my niece has a house rabbit that is spoiled rotten.  I will let her take him to ARBA shows but because he is used to being held and loved every day and he is potty trained, I won't let her take him to the fair shows where they make him stay there a whole week.  4-H makes you participate in the fair shows if you are in the rabbit club (at least ours does).  I usually give her one of my own bucks to work with a few months before the fair and she can take that one.  Not only would she be devastated, but so would I if our little house bunny who watches TV with us daily went to the fair and something happened to him.  He is the best show rabbit we have, he has won so many BOB at ARBA shows.  But at the fair people are in and out of that building, kids are poking at them.. It is just a very stressful situation.  That is why I recommend the Calm Supplement.

I am closing this question out but if you need any help when it comes to training please let me know.  That is really my specialty and my passion.  So I do have many resources that may help you with training your show quality bunny.

Thanks so much and good luck to you.  Please keep an eye on that mommy bunny and if she still isn't getting better let me know.

Pam

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

QUESTION: Can you tell us how long before Baby stops feeding her kits?  She still does not want us to touch them they are jumping around and their eyes are opened.  Can we put them on the floor to hop around we just don't know what we can or cant do with them.
Also can you tell us what kind of fresh veggie we can give Baby and what kind not to give her.  

Answer
Hi..

She will keep feeding them right up until you take them away at 8 weeks.  They should be jumping out of the box and eating nibbles of food and drinking water.  She will be very protective of them.  Most mother's are but once you pick them up and get them away from her she should be ok and she won't hurt them when you put them back.  As long as she is feeling better from the medicine then you should be ok.  Give them plenty of fresh hay to nibble on.  Baby rabbits shouldn't be given fresh vegetables until they are 6 months old.  By then they will be full grown.  Once they are 6 month old you can give them a whole list of veggies.  Start them a little bit at a time to get their digestive systems use to it.  I will give you a site with "approved" veggies and treats.  I once had a friend who fed her rabbit nothing but french fries and pizza.  She couldn't figure out why her fat little rabbit died when it was only 3 years old.  So I don't recommend any of that.

Here is the website and if you need anything else just let me know.  Also you might have to start a new thread, once they get really long the site rejects them.

http://www.geocities.com/jdcrabbitry/safefood

Thank you again

Pam