Sick cottontail bunnies please help

[Walwyn]

I have 3 cottontail bunnies that are 3-4 weeks and one has developed diarrhea. We are currently feeding them kitten formula and heavy cream. Does anyone have advice on what we should do to help with the diarrhea?

[island rehabber]

I suggest you send private messages to Squirlgirl & Milo's Mom about the buns. They are two very busy ladies but they do check their PMs

[Milo's Mom]

Diarrhea in buns is serious and most likely will result in death within 24 hours. Most often it is accompanied by bloat. The way I treat is as follows:

Immediately stop ALL formula - they need to be on a 24 hour fast....they get NOTHING (except for what I list below)

As fast as possible get Gas-X and give the rabbit as much as possible...there is no such thing as too much...I pump it in by several cc's at a time...keeping in mind not to exceed stomach capacity, which is 10% of body weight.

Every hour on the hour you should give a good probiotic. I use Marshall's Digestive Tract Conditioner. At this point since your situation is dire I'd go to a health food store and buy a high quality human probiotic in capsules, break them open, mix with water and feed to rabbit.

The ONLY "food" the rabbit may have is Timothy Hay No greens, no formula, no carrots, no pellets, NOTHING but Timothy Hay. If the rabbit is not old enough to eat Timothy Hay then he gets nothing.

You may place a shallow dish of water in the bin so the rabbit has access to fluids.

Again, NOTHING but the following: Hay, Water, Probiotics, Gas-X

This should be done for 24 hours AND the poopy bun needs to be separated from the other buns...this is for lack of time to explain completely contagious.

The formula....not so good. Kittens are carnivores, bunnies not so much.

The formula I use with great success is as follows:
1/2 cup whole goats milk
1/2 cup KMR
1 - 1.5 TBSP Colostrum
3cc Heavy Whipping Cream
1cc probiotic

If you're using powdered goats milk and KMR (which you should) to get a 1/2 cup you use 3 large scoops of powder and 6 of the same size scoop of water. (make sure the water is hot)

So you would use 3 scoops goats milk, 6 scoops of water, 3 scoops of KMR and 6 scoops of water and then add the rest of the items.

This formula needs to rest for at least 3 hours in order for the Colostrum to fully break down.

A buns gut is based on bacteria and what you are seeing is a major imbalance of bacteria. The fiber in the hay will help to fix this.

Not trying to scare you, but this is serious and you should act quickly.

I have to run out for a few hours but I will check back as soon as I get home.


EDIT: Not sure exactly where you're located but you may want to look up Stormhaven Garden Wildlife Rehabilitation on the MNR website. The lady that runs Stormhaven is a bunny God. She's got a house full and she's busy, but she will get back to you...tell her Betsy told you to call.

[Walwyn]

Thanks a lot for all the info, unfortunately 2 passed away last night, and we still have one who seems to be in good health, will keep an eye on him/her. Thanks again

[Milo's Mom]

Thanks a lot for all the info, unfortunately 2 passed away last night, and we still have one who seems to be in good health, will keep an eye on him/her. Thanks again

I'm sorry 2 of them passed, but to be honest I kind of expected it. When a bunny goes down you have to act super fast and with precision. It's tough.

The instructions I gave you is to treat diarrhea, if the bun has good poops you just need to change your formula.

Think about calling Stormhaven...she will be able to tell you which products are most readily available in your area...she's there too.

AND, not sure how often you're feeding but at 3-4 weeks old they get fed in the morning and in the evening...2 times a day...that's it!

How much does the remaining one weigh?

[Mommaluvy]

I am switching to the formula mentioned above or one similar to it. There is a reason why Goats milk is so much better for Buns.

I unfortunatly just lost 3 to sudden death at 21 days of age. All poops were fine in my case. No bloat and had had mine for 2 weeks doing reasonably well.

Buns require special foods due to the way they digest and they way their gut is so specialized.

Betsy have you seen this ? http://www.nwrawildlife.org/sites/de...il_handout.pdf

[Milo's Mom]

I am switching to the formula mentioned above or one similar to it. There is a reason why Goats milk is so much better for Buns.

I unfortunatly just lost 3 to sudden death at 21 days of age. All poops were fine in my case. No bloat and had had mine for 2 weeks doing reasonably well.

Buns require special foods due to the way they digest and they way their gut is so specialized.

Betsy have you seen this ? http://www.nwrawildlife.org/sites/de...il_handout.pdf

That sounds like they died of GI Stasis...it's super hard to recognize.

I have seen it and there are parts I do not agree with. The distilled water thing is a bunch of BS and the big bunny people will agree. There are a lot of very good points in that article, but there are some not so good ones too. I work fairly closely with the author as well.

The rehabber I work with was following this and WMB this Spring. She took in over 150 bunnies...she released 26. I begged her to change her formula to what I posted, begged her for MONTHS. Overnight one night she lost 14 bunnies...then she was ready to change. Since changing formula and ditching the distilled water she has a 98% success rate with bunnies. The rehabber I work with was trained by the author of the article. Peggy (the author) is a brilliant rehabber with uber experience and I respect her tremendously....I just don't like how she raises bunnies or trains people to raise bunnies.

[Mommaluvy]

I am missing some thing ..

The article said they changed to Goatsmilk as the liquid base with beaver milk and another formula I could not find. I thought they stopped using the water completely.

But I agree.. I am switching to Goats next batch . Maybe I will just yours your formula.

I wa thinking stasis too but they ate and ate. And pooped a lot. But then dead. Boom . Just like that.