Can I give my sick bunny over the counter treatment for diarrhea?

Question

My bunny has diarrhea and we are experincing very bad weather I am not able to take him to the vet. This is urgent, and I need to know if there is something I can do.

My bunny has diarrhea and we are experincing very bad weather I am not able to take him to the vet. This is urgent, and I need to know if there is something I can do. This is not the clumpy squishy type. this is liquidy and runny. I tried calling vet and they say they cannot give me any advise until i come in. Only bunny vet is 40min away. High-ways are closed.

My bunny has diarrhea and we are experincing very bad weather I am not able to take him to the vet. This is urgent, and I need to know if there is something I can do. This is not the clumpy squishy type. this is liquidy and runny. I tried calling vet and they say they cannot give me any advise until i come in. Only bunny vet is 40min away. High-ways are closed. Bunny refuses to eat anything. Force-fed a bit of banana.

Answer 1

True diarrhea in a rabbit is serious and needs a vet's attention. Are your sure it is diarrhea and not excess cecals? That is serious too, but you can start dealing with that at home before you see the vet. This article should help:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html
and here are some other articles that may help:
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#entero

Please call you vet and discuss the situation and what you can do at home until you can get your rabbit in.
Good luck,

Answer 2

If you've got some oatmeal (the plain old Quaker kind, not the flavored kind in the paper packages) try feeding that. The fiber will help with the diarrhea. If it doesn't clear up soon, give some Pedialyte to help prevent dehydration. A simple case of diarrhea is no reason to go to the vet. Most cases of diarrhea will clear up with some simple home treatment.

I don't know what you're feeding, but if you are feeding any sort of fruits, vegetables, or treats, STOP! This can also be caused by stress or weather changes.

Answer 3

Nix the human diarrhea medicine. This won't help your bunny and might harm him. You definitely don't want to give Pepto or Kaopectate or anything without checking with your vet.

Is your rabbit having watery, smelly diarrhea or just kind of soft, clumpy diarrhea?

If the former, your bunny may have an intestinal bug of some type that will need to be treated with appropriate medicine by a veterinarian. In this case, administering human diarrhea medicine could be especially dangerous because until you get some appropriate medicine, it's better for your bunny to be flushing the bad bacteria/parasites, etc. out of his system rather than plugging his system up with the germs trapped inside. So, if it's watery diarrhea, get your bunny to the vet as soon as weather conditions allow, but in the meantime, focus on keeping your bunny well hydrated to replace the water he's losing from the diarrhea. Normally, juice is a no-no for bunnies because it's lots of sugar and calories with no fiber, but if your bunny is fussy about drinking water because he's sick, you can sometimes give him a mixture of juice and water to entice him to drink it. For sick bunnies who might be dehydrated, my vet also recommends the usually forbidden iceberg lettuce. Although there's no nutrition in iceberg lettuce, it's not poisonous, and it does contain a lot of water, so it's a good way to get some water into your sick bunny. The same goes with cucumber slices (just be sure to remove the seeds).

If you bunny is have the soft, clumpy sort of diarrhea, but it's not watery, the good news is that it's probably not a life-threatening emergency, although it still needs veterinary attention as soon as the roads are clear. In this situation, you should probably remove fresh veggies and fruits, pellets, and treats from your bunny's diet and just feed him hay and water until you can into the vet's office to get it checked out. Often times, this type of diarrhea is just caused by a too rich diet, but the vet should definitely check for more serious problems, just in case. Once your vet gives your bunny the all clear on parasites and such, you can discuss with your vet reintroducing pellets and veggies (maybe in smaller quantities than you've been feeding), and maybe cutting back on other kinds of treats.

Good luck and let us know it goes!

Answer 4

I would call a vet ASAP and explain you and your bunny's situation. If your vet office is closed due to the bad weather, usually their answering machine will suggest a number for an emergency vet or another office that may be able to help you over the phone.

They will tell you what to do. Til then, don't give him anything. Human medications, especially in human-sized doses, can contain ingredients that can be lethal to your pet.

Good luck and give him some snuggles for me!

Answer 5

I agree with everyone else, you should call a vet and ask what to do. But you also need to look around and see if you can find the cause of the problem. My bunny had diarrhea once, and we found out that he had been chewing on a cantaloupe.

Answer 6

Not without calling the vet first. Some human medications, and even foods, are very toxic for animals. Call your vet, they should be able to tell you what to do while you're waiting for the weather to break.

Answer 7

You need to make an appt for a vet as soon as the weather lets up. Is he eating? If not, in the mean time boil some water and get a small scoop of pellets in a bowl. Then pour the water on the pellets and let cool. Try to syringe feed it to the bun if possible. If no syringe make do with a spoon. try to keep him hydrated as much as possible. http://www.rabbit.org

Answer 8

i have had this problem before in my rabbits, it can sometimes come from a lack of fiber, or a parasite infestation. try giving him some hay, and oat meal ( un cooked), that should help, and make sure he is drinking. trust me i have a ton of rabbit experience, vets usually don't know what to do for rabbits. mine never go to the vet, i treat all my rabbits at home.

Answer 9

Call your vet on this one..... if you are able to he'll need a very low dosage due to being so small. You may be able to give him pedialite. My vet said it was okay to give to a puppy.

Answer 10

Call the vet. It should always be the first thing you do.