# BeneBac with antibiotics?



## LuvMyRabbits (Jun 11, 2009)

Hello again everyone...I have been reading a few threads on here about rabbits and URI's and have been reading that sometimes when the rabbit is on antibiotics that it can mess up their digestive system and that taking benebac along with the antibiotics is a good thing ( I hope I read it right ). Spirit was diagnosed with a URI and was given the antibiotic tetracyc and has been taking 100ml twice a day since Sunday. I want to make sure that the antibiotics arent going to mess up her digestive track so I went and bought some benebac today from the petstore. There are 4 tubes with some type of gel in them. Reading the back lable it is talking about baby bunnies and to give them a whole tube at birth and another 3days later etc..but I'm not seeing anything about how to give it toan older rabbitto prevent issues from antibiotics ( Spirit is 7mths old )..So for all you rabbit owners out there that have used this before what amount am I supposed to give her? and how often?? Should I wait till the antibiotics are finished before I give her the benebac?? At the moment she is eating and drinking normally and her poops are all normal and I havent seen an issue thus far with her digestion in any way..I guess I'm just wanting to use this as a preventative measure..Thanks for your help

KoReY

p.s Spirit is feeling much better and I havent heard her sneeze in 2 days woohoo!arty:


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## Maureen Las (Jun 11, 2009)

If she is eating and having normal poops you don't have to give it
If you do give it just give a full little tube.; mine absolutely despise it so I don't give it unless I feel they need it 

You do not have to give it if everything looks normal but it is great to have it on hand


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## LuvMyRabbits (Jun 12, 2009)

*angieluv wrote: *


> If she is eating and having normal poops you don't have to give it
> If you do give it just give a full little tube.; mine absolutely despise it so I don't give it unless I feel they need it
> 
> You do not have to give it if everything looks normal but it is great to have it on hand


Ok so its more of an "as needed" type of thing and not something I use to prevent her from having issues with the antibiotics? Since all of her eating/drinking/bathroom habits are the same I guess I wont give it to her afterall ( she already dreads the antibiotics why torture her with another foreign substance ) I was just under the impression that it helped prevent issues with the medicine..So let me see if I have this right and I apologize if I sound clueless...it is basicallya bacteria (the good kind)in thebene bac that she already has in her stomach?? that I would only need to use if she did start having stool issues to help her get her digestive track tostart functioning normally again? I feel like I have soooo much to learn lol but it's all so very interesting to me and totally worth it to be educated about my babies


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## ra7751 (Jun 12, 2009)

Well....not exactly my first choice of a drug...but anyway. I always use probiotics anytime I have to use an oral antibiotic....which fortunately for me isn't very often. It isn't the bacteria that is the benefit. We don't have any real way to "replace" the beneficial bacteria in the GI. The probiotics work by stabilizing the pH in the gut. The beneficial bacteria in a rabbit's gut needs a very acidic climate....a pH of 1-2 (battery acid is 0). If the pH crashes, it stresses the population of bacteria and they start to die off....and that starts a chain reaction of sorts....none of it particularly desirable events. Basically, probiotics increase the content of acid in the GI. 

I tend to use Bene-Bac but I am exploring other options as well. Bene-Bac is usually found in a paste....but it is available in a powder. We use it in formulas for baby cottontails to help with the pH conversion prior to and during weaning. I have found small jars of Bene-Bac powder at Petco. It can be ordered online from Chirs' Squirrels and More at www.squirrelsandmore.com at a very reasonable price.

If you use paste, about a gram per day should do it for a normal size rabbit. The powder can be sprinkled on pellets or greens....and you can be generous as you can't really give too much of a probiotic.

Randy


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## tonyshuman (Jun 12, 2009)

If you're worried, I'd give a dime-sized or nickel sized amount daily. It is preventative, and some bunnies like it (Tony does). You can see if it they hate it, and if so, don't push it. Bene-Bac contains good bacteria and helps other good bacteria grow in the GI tract. This is good when a bunny's on antibiotics because the antibiotics can kill these bacteria. It's like eating yogurt when you're on antibiotics. I think you can do it as a preventative, but if they hate it and it's too stressful to give it to him, don't give it unless abnormal poos develop.


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## LuvMyRabbits (Jun 12, 2009)

Thanks you guys..I appreciate your help I'm going to try and give her a little bit in the morning when I give her the morning dose of the antibiotics..shes not struggling with me to much now when I give them to her ( thanks to the bunny burrito!) so I will have my son help me have everything ready so it will only take a few extra seconds to sneak in a little of the bene bac...Thanks again I really appreciate all the help and all the new things I am learning from this site..all of it isvery much needed for this new lagamorph owner ( I didnt even knowrabbitswere called that until I went to the vet, I feel so educated now using that big word lol :biggrin2 Well I'm off to bed ..you guys have a great night! Until my next question.....



KoReY


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## ra7751 (Jun 12, 2009)

This is a bit off topic....but educational anyway. Since you mentioned you learned that rabbits are lagomorphs. Just a few years agorabbits were classified as rodents. Anyone have any idea ofthe differentials in a rodent and a lagomorph? Just a little educational trivia question.

Randy


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## Maureen Las (Jun 12, 2009)

A lagomorph has 2 sets of incisors in the upper jaw only and a rodent has a single set of incisors in the upper and lower jaw
Is this the answer or do you want more ex.lagomorphs eat their own feces and is closer to a hoofed mammal than to a rodent. ?


Maureen


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## anneq (Jun 12, 2009)

Hehe, pretty good Maureen.
And thank-you again Randy for all the wonderful help you offer us here - I'm going to check out powder Bene-bac, since so far, my bunnies detest the paste, lol.


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## gale (Jun 17, 2009)

We have baby bunnies and have been giving the bene bac gel about every other day just to prevent problems with the transition (we've had them about 10 days now). We just squirt a tube of it into their pellets and mix it around. We have two bunnies so hopefully they both get enough of it to help. They eat grass (they're in an outside enclosure that is on the ground) which is another reason we give it (because they only had pellets before we got them) and haven't had any problems.


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## Maureen Las (Jun 17, 2009)

It sounds like you are taking good care of them but I would be a little concened bout a lot of fresh grass for tiny babies. it would be better if you gave them alfalfa and timothy hays ..also other dried hays rather than something fresh and green like grass which can cause bloat.

benebac is great to give though butI would still be concerned about a lot of grass...


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