Poorly Bunnie

Question
He is seven years old and has not eaten for two days.
His head is tilted back slightly and a there is a white mucus in his droppings .
Please help as I would rather not distress him any more with a visit to the Vet.
Thank You
Sue

Answer
Dear Susan,

It sounds like your rabbit might have some sort of enteritis problem. I have had several rabbits with similar problems--not eating, mucus in stool--that I believe had what is called mucoid enteritis. There is not a whole lot that I know to do about this problem, but there are a few things you could try. If you can, give him a few strands of hay (timothy or grass hay are good)which may be easier for him to eat than the pellets. Provide plenty of fresh water, and you could even put in a clean ceramic (or something sturdy) bowl of water, which could make it easier for him to drink if he is getting weak. Just make sure he does not lay with his face on the edge--just in case. Also, he might like some dry rolled oats--just dried oatmeal, such as Quaker Oats. This is a popular treat among the rabbits I know, and when they are sick and not eating their pellets, they often still manage to eat their oats!

There is a powder medicine called Terramycin that is for animals (it probably will not say anything on the package about it being for rabbits)and comes in a yellow bag. At least it did last time I bought it. I have not done this for a while, so if you find the stuff, and want to use it, you might want to double check my instructions before using it. Mix about 1/4 teaspoon of it into the water bottle with fresh water. It will need to be changed once every 24 hours. I think you do this for about 3 or 4 days in a row.

Something else I have tried, is feeding the rabbit some clear Pedialyte with a needle-less syringe. I have read that this keeps them hydrated, and might be helpful towards their recovery. Just tip the bunny over on your lap, fill the syringe with Pedialyte, and slowly drip the liquid into the bunny's mouth. It usually works best to stick the tip in the corner of the mouth, where the teeth are not in the way! If you cannot get the bunny to stay upside down on your lap, just try holding him upright, and sticking the syringe in the corner of his mouth and driping it in that way. Give him as much as he will drink, which may not even be the whole syringe full, but it will hopefully help.

I also read that putting a little salt in the rabbit's food will encourage them to drink more water, which might help their innards start getting back in shape.

I think you are right to try to prevent any more stress in your poor sick bunny by taking him to the vet. The kids in rabbit 4-H in my area actually know more about rabbits than the vets in my area! Hopefully you have a good vet that knows about rabbits near you just in case--though even more hopefully, it won't be necessary!

Even though it sounds like your rabbit has enteritis, I could be wrong. It might be helpful for you to look up rabbit info sites on the internet or something, to look into this more. You might even check with your local rabbit 4-H group, if you have one.
This site:          www.rabbit.org   
has a lot of information about rabbits--from breeds to health to housing. They focus mainly on house rabbits, but I have found several of the articles helpful when faced with new rabbit challenges. Click on "Health" and try searching for such things as "mucus in stool" and "enteritis" and "lack of appitite" and whatever other symptoms you have noticed.

I hope your rabbit gets better soon. Sounds like you are very observant of your rabbit and notice when something is amiss. Good job.
God Bless, and I'll be praying for you.
AEJ