Nova
Young Bun
***EDIT: I have written here that Boon was diagnosed and treated with / for a C. diff (Clostridium Difficile) infection - while he was treated for a Clostridium infection, it was **NOT** C. difficile. C. Difficile can kill a rabbit in a matter of hours because it produces toxins. Dogs, cats, humans are much more likely to get C. difficile and they usually get it after taking broad spectrum antibiotics like Penicillins and Cephalorsporins. Boon was effectively treated with Flagyl for a different kind of Clostridial infection; one more common to rabbits and less invasive than C. diff.
Hi everyone,
Sorry for not making a proper introduction first. I am from the US and am really impressed with the knowledge on this forum!! I need help so badly! I have a little dwarf hotot mixed rabbit that I rescued as a baby, his name is Boon. He is a year and a few months old and has suffered from recurrent bouts of GI stasis (about 3 in this whole year). He's very sensitive to diet, and lives mostly on hay, with very little pellets, and some green leafy veggies. He is also on daily BeneBac.
In October this year he had a very severe bout of GI stasis during a molt. He eventually passed the mass, and was on his usual motility meds (CIsapride and Reglan) but afterward he had really malformed poops so his old vet put him on Bactrim for 14 days. During the last 3 days of his Bactrim course, his night poops (cecals) turned to water. We weaned him off his motility meds. This was sometime in November this year.
Basically, ever since then - I wake up to a watery mess on his bed, with normal looking poops in his litterbox. I was told not to worry about it, but his appetite has gone down to nothing, I have to force feed him a lot, give him subcutaneous fluids, and his belly constantly feels doughey and gassy (no blockages, xrays fine). He does poop. He slows down during the day, seems to be in a lot of pain and refuses to eat all morning but usually by evening he does poop, eat some hay and his greens, a teaspoon of pellets, and drinks water. His appetite is just so... gone, though, for every day, and I can't stand seeing him in pain for most of the day too. The lethargy is scary, makes me think he is dying.
The vet shrugged it off and suggested an oral exam. His oral exam was great! His molars were slightly overgrown but they were trimmed down. This was 2 weeks ago, no change, vet stumped, now Boon acts like he is in constant "tummy ache" mode and passes a lot of foul smelling gas. His poops are okay when he does go at night, but his night cecals continue to be water.
Switched back to our local vet here.... she doesn't know what to do for him...
so....
I got fed up and took some of his regular poops to this local rabbit experienced vet and she said she found "moderate" overgrowth of Clostridium bacteria!!!! - in his normal poops - his cecals are too watery for me to collect a sample.
at first she wanted to prescribe Bactrim for this, but I told her that he developed watery cecals while on Bactrim and I am wondering if perhaps this may even be why he is having this problem in the first place.
I know in humans, a lot of common antibiotics can cause Clostridium infections, (e.g., C. Diff) so why not a bun? I asked if maybe it'd be better to treat him for the Clostridium. She agreed, and said that she will likely prescribe Flagyl (metronidazole) but she needs to find out what the dosage is and how often.
Since he is on the proper diet, has had bloodwork, xrays and dental works, which all comes out normal, this Clostridium stuff is new and I am betting it happened when his cecals turned to water while on the Bactrim in November.
After almost a whole month of not needing motility meds his anorexia has caused me to reinstate his Cisapride. (He never really responded well to Reglan, so we usually use Cisapride during Stasis episodes, and for no more than a few weeks and we wean him off when he gets back to normal)...... but this isn't a really typical stasis episode, this is more like chronic gas and cecal problems with no appetite, tummy ache, and runny cecals.
I am aware that no one is giving me medical advice I just really need some help with info on Clostridium in rabbits and water cecal diarrhea and just whether or not it sounds like this could be his problem, or if he is just "one of those bunnies" with chronic GI stasis and he is just shutting down completely and will have to be put to sleep? I don't want to resort to that but he has pretty much been in pain and needing to be force fed ever since that Bactrim.
am I on the right track here? My worst fear is making his current problem even worse. Please help.
Last edited: