gut issues & toiletting!

Question
Thanks Lee - that advice was helpful - the problem I have is that Dora (the explorer) is going to the toilet in her bedroom!!  So, I will create a new bedroom I guess!!

I bought a hay rack today so hopefully she will eat from that and not her litter pan!

She has responded well to syringe feeding and is now eating and drinking well.  She is on baytril(?) I think that's what its called and the vet also gave her a pain relief.  We kept her inside last night and wrapped her up in a towel to bring her temp up and she seems a lot happier. We are heading into summer so she shouldn't be getting cold. Will keep an eye on her tho.  I think she needs a mate too so we will invest in another lop as a companion!

Thanks for your help
Becki
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Followup To

Question-
Hi, a we have a 5 month old lop and she has a big run with a seperate covered feeding and sleeping area.  I cleaned her bed out yesterday and noticed it was saturated with urine and full of poo.  How can I train her to go outside and not in her bed? Is she confused with the hay in her bed - should I have a towel or something instead for her to sleep on?

She has also been to the vet today as she has stopped eating and has a gut issue.  I am preparing some food to syringe feed her.  How much would you reccomend she should have?

Answer -
Hi Becky,

bathroom issue:  she isn't confused, she's just going where she wants to.  Often people use hay for eating but also to line a litterpan - which can lead to problems.

You need to get her several litterpans (so you can swap out clean ones for soiled ones), and use litter that is different from hay.  I would recommend Yesterdays News, a recycled paper pellet, or even wood stove fuel pellets (plain, no scents or anything else added).  Put the litterpan where she seems to go to the bathroom, and she will start using it.  Swap it out daily, and remove the soiled litter.  You can clean the areas underneath the bedding with a water/vinegar mix (50/50).  Then add some new litter and you'll be ready for the next swap.

The gut issue is much more serious.  You don't mention what the vet gave you for this.  They should have given you a gut motility drug, to get her bowels moving so she could produce fecal pellets.  Also the vet might have given you a pain med like metacam if she is in pain (gas or something).  When rabbits are in pain they stop eating and moving and just sit tight and sometimes shake and hard-crunch their teeth.

If she is in pain, you have to get pain meds from the vet and something to get her gut moving.  You can syringe feed but if nothing is moving she won't eat much.  I'd try to get 10 cc down if she can tolerate it, but I'd also try to get 10 cc of water down several times a day because dehydration will shut their gut down (needs water to work right, when dehydrated water is pulled from the gut causing gut stasis).  So push water and be careful not to give it to her so fast, as she may choke on it.

Write back anytime.  Lee

Answer
Hi Becki,

baytril is an antibiotic well-tolerated by rabbits.  you will need to give her probiotics as baytril does kill off all bacteria, good and bad.  Acidophilus is good and if you can get some papaya tablets that will help (digestive enzymes in papaya).  It is good she has some pain meds too so that she feels like doing things like eating and moving a bit.

I never asked/you didn't mention whether Dora is spayed or not.  At five months you may not have done this yet.  I would suggest that you consider doing it if she is not spayed, as this 'bathroom' behavior would have a hormonal component to it (she is heavily marking territory that is hers).  It probably began around the time she hit sexual maturity.  

Getting her spayed will cut down on this kind of behavior that is mostly caused by her sexual hormones.  She also will live a much longer life if you spay her, as 80-85 percent of females by age 5 or 6 get uterine cancer and premature death.

Lee