Candiflare
Mama Doe
how's merlin this morning?
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Ralph's got diarrhea again... :(/ UD Now he looks bloated :(
- Thread starter Candiflare
- Start date
how's merlin this morning?
hurricanhoney
Wise Old Thumper
Just got back from the vets. He's had an antiflammatory and gut stimulant. I'm waiting an hour or so before I start syringe feeding him to see if he will eat on his own.
I would try and see if it is something Ralph is eating causing the diarrhoea. Carrots cause Daisy to have diarrhoea and some vegetables. You will need to watch him in the garden to ensure he doesn't eat something he shouldn't or too much grass. I would feed things individually and see if you can exclude something that is upsetting him. How much pellet is he on and what type? Is his hay input good?
Candiflare
Mama Doe
Hi Raine, thanks for replying. He's on about an eggcup of Science Selevtive although he eats faster than Ruby and sometimes steals her food so he could possibly be eating some of hers too. His hay input is great and he eats a lot of it. He basically just eats anything that's put in front of him, so I wouldn't be surprised if he eats beyond being "full" or needlessly, just because he's food dominant and doesn't want Ruby to have it.
Emma and I thought perhaps I should keep him on hay and nothing else and then gradually introduce new foods and see when it happens again? He will hate me for it, but it's for his own good.
Is it common that rabbits with tummy problems go between bloat and diarrhea..? It was so bizarre... one day there's too much poo, the next day he's blown up like a balloon. He has variants of it most days -in the mornings he pushes his tummy to the ground before he moves from where he sleeps and in the evenings his poos are on the wet side (but never been as bad as these last couple of weeks)
Hes not on much pellet and is eating lots of hay. Before looking for a medical reason, I would just leave him on hay and his pellet, which is only half a eggcup, and see if this settles him down. Then I would reintroduce veg one at a time and see if there is any reaction. Its great he eats lots of hay.
If you haven't changed anything in the last couple of weeks, could he be eating something in the garden that has disagreed with him, or maybe too much grass? Hes not on readigrass is he?
If you haven't changed anything in the last couple of weeks, could he be eating something in the garden that has disagreed with him, or maybe too much grass? Hes not on readigrass is he?
Candiflare
Mama Doe
Hi..no, not on readigrass. And I supervise him constantly when he's in the garden, so if he shows interest in anything that could be remotely foreign to him, I shoo him away. Also Buzz and Ruby freerange in the garden and go to the same patches as Ralph and neither of them have any tummy problems.
Our lawn was awful over winter but it has suddenly become very lush, and it could be that he has eaten too much of this too quickly. I'm slightly guilty in that sense because I encouraged him to eat a lot of grass, because I thought it was good for him, like hay. I was picking it for him and putting it in his cage for him and Ruby. But my picking it was after his diarrhea (although he had been freeranging and eating it before then...)
Does grass cause stuff like this to happen?
My only other thoughts are pesticides or bacteria on veg I haven't managed to wash off. Also, like I said before I've had a terrible tooth infection for the past couple of weeks and was holding my mouth/tooth constantly with lots of pus coming out.. and I'm just worried that I forgot to wash my hands at one point and ended up transferring the bacteria to him...
Candiflare
Mama Doe
Hi Thumps! Yes, he has some dry ordinary pellets and then some very runny ones. When it goes watery I find it really hard to tell whether it's ALL his pellets that are watery or just his caecals. But it goes (and stains) like brown paint... very disturbing. And he gets it all over his nose and face and legs etc. Poor Ralphy.
That seems to me to be a bit unusually runny, for the usual dietary problems, but I've known 1 other bun as runny as that.
Bloat would be common in this situation.
I agree with the other advice, that hydration is very important indeed when a bun is that runny.
Also a diet of hay ONLY not a morsal of anything else, for 2 days then add in pellets which seem to be OK.
Next very slowly adding back veg./herbs. My own bun cannot tolerate any fruits/veg with starch (red part of carrots)
If some buns have been off grass for the winter, they have to start back on it really slowly - 1 pinch twice a day, like a new food.
I'm a bit confused why your vet gave Ralph antibiotics.
Perhaps if he doesn't settle quickly, a specialist opinion may help?
Bloat would be common in this situation.
I agree with the other advice, that hydration is very important indeed when a bun is that runny.
Also a diet of hay ONLY not a morsal of anything else, for 2 days then add in pellets which seem to be OK.
Next very slowly adding back veg./herbs. My own bun cannot tolerate any fruits/veg with starch (red part of carrots)
If some buns have been off grass for the winter, they have to start back on it really slowly - 1 pinch twice a day, like a new food.
I'm a bit confused why your vet gave Ralph antibiotics.
Perhaps if he doesn't settle quickly, a specialist opinion may help?
Grass is very good for rabbits and like hay is the most natural food for them, however in the spring the grass is particuarly lush, it is advaisable to treat grass the same as any other item of food that you feed your rabbit on by introducing slowly.
Every spring there is always a rush of people whose rabbits develope a GI problem when they put them out and leave them on the grass for long periods of time when they are not used to it.
I would definately advise if your rabbit is not used to being out on the grass to build the time they are on it up slowly by 5 minutes at a time, partucuarly if they are GI sensitive.
Another thing to remember about grass is that it needs to be eaten when given to them. Grass ferments if left for periods. It also has to be hand picked and not given if cut with a mower.
I would work on being Miss Marple this week and letting his stomach recover, then introducing things one at a time, waiting a few days between each, and watching his poos.
When we talk about what veg etc we can feed, there is often no mention of quantities. When I look at some of the mounds of veg some bunnies eat on RU, I am amazed. I think some bunnies can tolerate large quantities. Mine cannot and they can only have one leaf of spring greens or a floret of brocolli as veg, more bringing on runny poos. At the moment, mine are getting half a handful a grass and three dandelions in place of their veg. They do eat piles of hay.
I would work on being Miss Marple this week and letting his stomach recover, then introducing things one at a time, waiting a few days between each, and watching his poos.
When we talk about what veg etc we can feed, there is often no mention of quantities. When I look at some of the mounds of veg some bunnies eat on RU, I am amazed. I think some bunnies can tolerate large quantities. Mine cannot and they can only have one leaf of spring greens or a floret of brocolli as veg, more bringing on runny poos. At the moment, mine are getting half a handful a grass and three dandelions in place of their veg. They do eat piles of hay.
Candiflare
Mama Doe
Been at work today and this evening so had OH checking on him all day. OH said he was fine, eating etc. I just went to see him and he has stasis-like poos. They're a bit hard, small and black and I remember what they're like from when Buzz had stasis when he came to me and hadn't been neutered and was preoccupied with mating and not eating.
They're not as small as the stasis poos though, but I can see they're going that way. He's still eating lots of hay though, which is good. I'm getting up at 6am tomorrow to prepare to be at the vets for 8am when they open, to address the stasis and perhaps get him an abdominal x-ray. I then might ask Marie at Great Western to give a second opinion on it.
I'm not happy with the state he's in as he seems to be swinging from diarrhea to bloat/stasis. His tail has new stains from the diarrhea on it today, yet he is doing hard, dry poos - I just don't get it! He hasn't had any veg/pellets for two days now.
They're not as small as the stasis poos though, but I can see they're going that way. He's still eating lots of hay though, which is good. I'm getting up at 6am tomorrow to prepare to be at the vets for 8am when they open, to address the stasis and perhaps get him an abdominal x-ray. I then might ask Marie at Great Western to give a second opinion on it.
I'm not happy with the state he's in as he seems to be swinging from diarrhea to bloat/stasis. His tail has new stains from the diarrhea on it today, yet he is doing hard, dry poos - I just don't get it! He hasn't had any veg/pellets for two days now.
On a positive note, the fact he is eating lots of hay is good. After diarrhoea and medication, I would think the poo will not go back to normal immediately. The diarrhoea has improved and the poos are small, albeit dark. Hopefully he is well in the morning and you won't need to take him back to the vet and can start trying to exclude what causes his diarrhoea. Is he drinking well?
hurricanhoney
Wise Old Thumper
Poor Ralph sending more vibes for him and hope he improves soon.
Michelleox
Mama Doe
Lots of vibes for Ralph xx
Candiflare
Mama Doe
Well hmmm... the vet has decided it's grass and Ralph has the rabbit equivalent of IBS :roll: can't say I'm 100% convinced...
She gave him more metoclopramide, some biolapis and told me to keep fibreplexing. She said he smelt too, which obviously I didn't notice because I'm very used to the way he smells.
Now I'm at work and can't see him, but OH is making up the biolapis and administering the fibreplex and we'll see what happens.
She gave him more metoclopramide, some biolapis and told me to keep fibreplexing. She said he smelt too, which obviously I didn't notice because I'm very used to the way he smells.
Now I'm at work and can't see him, but OH is making up the biolapis and administering the fibreplex and we'll see what happens.
