What's wrong with my baby rabbit?

Question

I rescued this rabbit who is supposed to be a dwarf. I don't know how old he is but he fits in the palm of my hand just about. He's been having diareah today pretty bad. He gets oxbox 15/20 pellets, fresh water, alfafa hay and a handfull of greens daily. I think this is the second time this has happened in the last two weeks. He seems pretty thin too, I can easily feel his ribs. What am I doing wrong? I know he needs to get to the vet asap but can't take him until friday. Anything I can do to hold him over?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Try cutting out the greens until friday. That is the only thing I can think of. Just make sure he stays hydrated. The smaller they are, the easier dehydration can set in. If you can find a way, please take him before friday! If not, just cut out the greens until then and see if that helps. Check out the links below too. If your rabbit isn't better by tomorrow..I would suggest getting in the vet anyway that you can. Because if it continues, your rabbit may not make it until friday.(I hate to say that!) Good luck. I hope your bunny is ok!

Answer 2

CALL THE ANIMAL HOSPITAL AND TELL THEM IT IS AN EMERGENCY AND THAT THE RABBIT NEEDS TO BE SEEN ON MONDAY. If the veterinary hospital which you would normally go to can not assist you, call other veterinary hospital to see what can be done. For now either greatly limit or totally omit the daily greens for now until consulting with the veterinarian. The reason for this is, if the rabbit was not used to the regular greens in its diet prier to you adopting it this will cause diahrea.

Keep the rabbit warm and indoors away from a drafty area. However, make sure it's not too hot and the rabbit doesn't get over heated otherwise this will result in death. You can supplement the diet with a kitten milk replacer called Just Born and there are also kitten baby bottles you can buy at the pet store to hand feed if the bunny is not adequately drinking on its own.

Great job! your feeding the best food out there which is the Oxbow 15/23, the alfalfa hay is OK for now but you will ultimately want your rabbit on the timothy hay. I hope all goes well for your bunny and that it gets the help it needs and gets better soon.

Answer 3

I've been raising rabbits for going on 25 years and I studied animal nutrition in college. So I'm a little more experienced to answer this question.

First and foremost there are two things you are doing wrong. Don't give your rabbits greens. The greens are most likely the primary reason your rabbit has diahrrea, especially with as small as your rabbit is. Greens contain sugars and rabbits can't process sugars really well. A rabbit can handle a small amount of greens, and normally the amount they can handle depends upon their size. Since you have a small rabbit it will be able to hand very little as far as greens. I recommend keeping greens off the diet for a rabbit altogether. Greens do not help rabbits.

Secondly, quit feeding the alfalfa. Any wide leafed hays such as alfalfa and clover can have the same affect as greens, especially if you give your rabbit too much. A stemmy hay such as timothy or orchard grass will work much better for their system and won't give your rabbit diahrrea.

Now for the steps that you need to do to make sure your rabbit lives.

1. Give it plenty of water. When a rabbit gets diahrrea it loses a bunch of water and electrolytes. That water and electrolytes need replenished. What the one person mentioned as far as putting Pedia Lyte in the water is a good idea. It should help restore some of the electrolytes. You can also restore electrolytes by adding vitamin and mineral supplements to the water. They can be ordered from a place like http://www.klubertanz.com

2. Take your rabbit off any and all feed for 24 hours. Diahrrea is a bacterial disease called bacterial entertitis. That bacteria lives and grows off the food in the rabbit's stomach. So what's one of the best ways to get rid of the bacteria? Get rid of the food in the rabbit's stomach so the bacteria has nothing to live and grow on. After 24 hours put your rabbit on half its normal ration of rabbit pellets. Or give it a small handful of a stemmy hay like timothy hay.

3. As far as medication, the best medicine that I know of for diahrrea in rabbits is Neomycin. That can be picked up at your local Grower's Co-op or feed store most likely. It is a very potent drug and only takes about 1/4 tsp to 1/8 tsp per 2 gallons of drinking water. Read the directions to make sure.

I want to stress again. DON'T give your rabbit greens. Rabbits don't need greens and their rabbit pellets are formulated to give them a balanced nutritional diet. Day after day I see people on Yahoo answers telling others to feed their rabbit greens and that rabbits need greens. And day after day I see a bunch of people say they are feeding their rabbits greens and are wondering why their rabbit has diahrrea. It's the greens that give them diahrrea. Some may respond by saying, "well I give my rabbit greens and I don't have any problems with diahrrea." The reason they don't have problems is more due to the amount they give their rabbit. If you give your rabbit too much as far as greens you are just asking to give your rabbit diahrrea and diahrrea is the #1 disease that kills domesticated rabbits. The larger your rabbit is, the more greens it can handle. The smaller it is, the less it can handle. Greens should never ever consist of over a fourth of what your rabbit eats. That handful that you give a rabbit that small could equal the entire amount or more that that rabbit eats in a day. And normally a rabbit will eat the greens first an fill up on them before the rabbit pellets, so you really have to monitor the amount closely or you can have a large problem on your hands.

Answer 4

well first off you need to find a vet and fast..rabbits have no will to live. they rather die adn then try to live. and they die quickly too and even more when they r babies.

ur rabbit sounds like he should still be on his mother's milk. i'm not sure but ur vet could tell you. it might mean u have to get some kitten replacement milk and feed hiim urself till he's a bit older. i had to do that b4 with my babies.

he could have a disease. and even thought he keeps it's going rite through him. baby rabbits get it often. babies get sick soo easily u have to be careful and no matter how careful u r they still will more then lickly get sick.

you could be feed ur rabbit to much greens. u know the rule to much of anything can be bad for u even if it is good for u in the first place. well it's the same thing for all animals. if u feed the rabit to much greens it will get diareah. so i would cut the amount of greens at the moment.

i know u said ur can't get to ur vet till firday but if i were u i would try and find another vet some where else even if t's not local. it might be the only way to save ur rabbits life.

Answer 5

diarrhea is a serious condition in a rabbit as they could become dehydrated quickly and become seriously ill. If the condition seems to come and go, it could be something she's eating. Don't give her any treats,especially lettuce,and make sure she has plenty of fresh water at all times. If she continues with diarrhea for more than 2 straight days without any treats, then I recommend having her seen by a vet,to check for other causes.

Answer 6

put the pelleted rabbit food into a microwave safe bowl, and add in Pedialyte to it, and heat it up, not too hot though, and then hand/force feed the little guy with a siringe, or spoon, whichevers easier with the bunny. That should help the bunny with his thinness, and diarreah. Also if he's that thin, you should get a heat lamp and hang it over the part of his cage where he sleeps, so he stays warm at night. I hope he gets better.

P.s. You can purchase the Pedialyte at your local grocery store, or walgreens, or Longs Drugs, it's really cheap like $5.99 or something like that.

Answer 7

your rabbit has a disease called WET-TAIL this disease is can be fatal,your best bet is to feed it only timothy hay and give it pedialyte used for infants, do not give the rabbit any pellet or alfalfa hay , only timothy hay and pedialyte for about 2 weeks,try giving your rabbit pedialyte directly to its mouth.you should give it full pedialyte for about the first 4 days then mix it with half of water. good luck. by the way DON'T give it ANY vegetables it will make it worse.

Answer 8

You have to feed him loads of water. Try getting hold of a pippette or a needle without a point and getting him to suck on it. Give him no veggies until riday, just dry food and loads of water. I'm sure he'll be fine, he probably just isn't used to having so many veggies a day, maybe once the vet has checked him out, you could slowly introduce veggies to him over a long period of time.

Answer 9

I think you may be feeding him to much greens. If you are feeding him lettuce, STOP. Lettuce if in large doses cause diareah. Feed him more pellets (to much will make him fat). This is probly the solution the vet will give you.