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A question about rabbit health

22 11:37:19

Question
I am worried about my 4 year old rabbit Tinsel.  He doesn't seem
to be urinating as much as usual and he has had some diarrhea.  
As soon as I noticed this I took him to our vet (on Wednesday, it
is now Sunday morning) because I thought he could have a
urinary track infection.  They palpitated his abdomen but didn't
feel an enlarged bladder.  Just in case, they gave me an
antibiotic to give to him.  Yesterday, after two days on the
medication, the diarrhea returned (it had gone away after I gave
him a bath two days prior) and I discontinued the medication- as
they suggested if he developed diarrhea. There is also regular
stool in his cage.  He is still eating and drinking, though I don't
think its as much as usual, and he still enjoys being held and
running around.  But I just feel something isn't right and I am
worried about the diarrhea.  He has always had a tempermental
digestive system- much of the time fresh vegetables seem to
give him diarrhea, and he needs to be fed the same time each
day or the diarrhea seems to develop.  I always give him fresh
Timothy but he doesn't eat a lot of it, he mostly likes sitting/
resting in it.  Any advice?

Answer
Dear Julie,

If he's not urinating enough, he might be dehydrated.  This could be confirmed with blood analysis and urinalysis, but it's simpler to just make sure he's getting plenty of liquid, either via a heavy ceramic crock filled with clean water, or via lots of fresh greens served wet.

If he's not drinking/eating enough, it is quite likely that he has undetected dental problems that are not only causing him to avoid drinking and eating because of the pain (molar spurs are very common!), but also be causing enough stress to elicit a slowdown of his GI tract, and the resulting runny stool problem.  This might sound counterintuitive, but it's all explained in detail here:

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

I would find a good *rabbit* vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and make sure the vet is very familiar with how to diagnose and treat molar problems.  Please also read:

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

for more information on dental problems and their treatment in rabbits.

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana