# Jelly-like poo and bloated belly, please help!



## Jordan (Feb 18, 2010)

I took my bunny to the vet last week because she wasn't eating as much as she was before, he trimmed her teeth and gave me an antibiotic because he said she had a bit of a fever. A couple days ago while I was trying to give her the antibiotic I picked her up for the first time (she is a new bunny) and I noticed that she was bloated. She seemed to be acting and eating fine otherwise so I just gave her some simethicone to see if that would help at all and have been monitoring her since. The bloating seemed to be going down a little bit, but today when I let herout of her cage I noticed that there was a clear jelly-like substance around her poo. This is the first day I have seen anything like this from her. I'm going to call a vet first thing in the morning, but is there anything I can give her now to help her? She doesn't seem to be in pain at all, she's acting normal, maybe a little less energetic but not lethargic by any means. She is about 12 weeks old and I've only had her for about 2 1/2 weeks. Any advice would be very much appreciated!


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## ra7751 (Feb 18, 2010)

What antibiotic was given? And what was the body temp?


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## Jordan (Feb 18, 2010)

Her temperature was 102.8 or so, I came home and looked up normal temperature and that was in the range, so I don't know lol. He gave me Albon, but I told him I haven't had albon work for me in the past at all so he gave me azithromycin instead.


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## ra7751 (Feb 18, 2010)

Thatbody temp isin the normal range especially when they are stressed. Azithromycin does cause some slight GI upset in the first few days or so. Make sure she is properly hydrated and eating lots of hay. Limit pellets. No treats. It would help to offer a probiotic like Bene Bac in order to stabilize the pH in the GI tract. The mucus is the body's response to an irritation in the gut. Most likely it is caused by a bacteria known as Clostridium. It is a nasty bacteria that makes itself known when the population of beneficial bacteria is stressed. I use a product called BioSponge to filter and bind the enterotoxins caused by this harmful bacteria.

Albon is a sulfanomide. This is an old drug that has very little value in today's world. This family of drugs has been linked to a GI condition known as Tyzzer's Disease. Albon is still used against Coccidia but again is mostly ineffective.

I do have two concerns. First, it is quite unusual for such a young rabbit to have already developed dental issues....not unheard of, but unusual. What was the vet's comments on the dental work and what teeth were trimmed. And I am also concerned about "shot gunning" antibiotics especially in such a young rabbit. The trend to to step away from antibiotics unless there is a confirmed bacterial infection that is sensitive to that particular drug (this is a quickly growing trend in human medicine). In the case of Azithromycin, it is highly effective against Pasteurella and several other common pathogens found in rabbits. We need to make sure we are using this drug only when medically indicated in order to maintain that effectiveness.

I would urge you to contact your vet and find out why the drugs were prescribed. In the meantime, keep a very basic diet of hay with proper hydration. Get the probiotic in her as soon as you can get some. It is available at most large pet stores...usually found in the cat section. Comes in either a powder or a paste.

Randy


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## Maureen Las (Feb 18, 2010)

If the antibiotic was given solely because your vet thought the rabbit had a fever then you can discontinue the antibiotic. You are correct 102 F isin the normal temp range for a rabbit.
In the meantime I would give your rabbit a probiotic like benebac which can be bought at pet stores in either powder form or small get tubes. 

I would also talk to your vet tomorrow.; 
sounds like he is not the most knowledgeable about rabbits. 

Continue to watch for jelly poops. 

if they continue the best treatment probably would be the biosponge which absorbs toxins from the GI tract. or even oral metronidazole (Flagyl) which has anti -inflammatory properties. 


Hopefully stopping the antibiotic and giving a probiotic will be all that is needed.


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## Jordan (Feb 18, 2010)

Yeah I'm not going to take her back to that vet ever again...he didn't even handle her correctly, but at the same time he kept telling me that he's treated hundreds of rabbits. I found a new vet online that is only about half an hour away from me that I'm going to try tomorrow. In his biography it said he had a pet rabbit so I'm hoping he will know a lot about them. I stopped giving the antibiotic when I found out about the normal temperature range. I have some Benebac here, I'll give that to her asap. Thanks so much for all of your help


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## Jordan (Feb 18, 2010)

Oh and there was something weird with her teeth. I made him show me the problem before I let him trim them. The incisors weren't lined up at all. The trim did seem to help her appetite so I'm hoping it didn't do any harm.


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## mistyjr (Feb 18, 2010)

Is she eating veggies???

My Buck had jelly poo stuff like. And i was feeding him veggies celery and he had it then i stopped giving it to him and it stopped


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## tonyshuman (Feb 18, 2010)

Jelly poo is due to mucus in the intestines, a sign of intestinal distress. It can be from stress, bacterial overgrowth, the wrong antibiotic, a veggie their body can't handle, etc. Clear jelly is better than colored, so if you keep up what others have mentioned in the thread already, that should help out. Hydration is the #1 thing to do here.

Colored jelly (brown, yellow, green) is a sign of mucoid enteritis, meaning that there's a serious bacterial overgrowth of bad bacteria in the intestines. I would get a good rabbit vet to look at her if that happens.


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## Jordan (Feb 18, 2010)

It was clear when it happened, I left some of it to take with me to the vet incase they asked for it and it was brownish this morning. I took her in right away this morning just to be safe. She said it was just the intestinal distress, probably from some lettuce she got into a few days ago. She gave me metacam for the pain and some baytril. She also said I should reduce pellets and increase hay so hopefully she will be better soon


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## ra7751 (Feb 18, 2010)

Any reason why you were given Baytril? If anything, that will upset the GI even more especially if it's oral. I suspect the idea is to make an attempt at controlling any harmful bacteria inducing the mucus....but the harmful bacteria that is usually found is an anaerobic called Clostridium and Baytril is not effective against that bacteria. We generally use Metronidazole (Flagyl) in these situations since this drug is effective against anaerobic bacteria but more important, it is also anti-inflammatory. Recently we have been using a horse product called BioSponge. It binds and filters almost all the enterotoxins produced by Clostridium. We have had major successes with it in both squirrels and wild rabbits. I would suggest talking to the vet and find out the thinking behind using Baytril. And I highly suggest that you make very sure of hydration since using Metacam in a dehydrated animal is stressful to the liver and kidneys and I would expect some level of dehydration here.

Randy


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## Jordan (Feb 19, 2010)

Okay, I will check with her on the Baytril. Thank you.  She is still drinking her water just like she always has so hopefully dehydration won't be a issue.


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## jamesedwardwaller (Feb 19, 2010)

*Jordan wrote: *


> It was clear when it happened, I left some of it to take with me to the vet incase they asked for it and it was brownish this morning. I took her in right away this morning just to be safe. She said it was just the intestinal distress, probably from some lettuce she got into a few days ago. She gave me metacam for the pain and some baytril. She also said I should reduce pellets and increase hay so hopefully she will be better soon


is this dvm a rabbit specialist//...did your vet do a poop culture,??-physical exam,ears eyes,teeth,gut,/-temp./,,if so,-what bacteria are we fighting,,the rabbit will not suddenly get better,,-(as thought above-),..-mucus in the poops is definite sign of agi-tract problem,-the clock has started and without full knowledge of the problem,-to fight the problem,,the clock will wind down,,,i went through this with a vet long ago-- it is the hard way to learn,...please lets us know how it goes...sincerely james waller:wave::rose::run:when giving antibiotics.-it is a good idea to offer a probiotic-(benebac?)-with the hay and water.


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## Jordan (Feb 19, 2010)

She is the best rabbit vet I have been able to find in my area. I haven't had any big problems with her so far. She did do a physical exam and looked at ears, eyes, and teeth. She felt her around her belly, that's why she gave me the metacam, when she was examining her stomach she could tell it was hurting her. She did not do a poop culture. She wanted me to give the meds as prescribed and call her back in a week to let her know how my bunny's doing.


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## tonyshuman (Feb 19, 2010)

Metacam makes sense, as long as the bunny has food and water in her belly. I agree that Baytril is not going to work well on these bacteria--Flagyl (metronidazole) is a much better option. Some people's bunnies have GI issues when they're on Baytril for some other reason (upper respiratory infection, etc) so giving it to a bunny that already has GI issues doesn't make sense.


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## Jordan (Feb 19, 2010)

Hmm... I don't know. I will have to call and ask. I did try to give her some benebac earlier, but all I had was the powder kind and she wouldn't take it. I'll have to buy the gel I guess.


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## Jordan (Feb 19, 2010)

Does it matter what kind of gel I get? I've been looking around online and there seem to be two different kinds that people are using on rabbits...
Here are the two I've found:
http://www.petguys.com/-020279995220.html
http://www.petco.com/product/14786/...Beneficial-Bacteria.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

I know this probably seems like a dumb question considering one of them has a picture of a rabbit on the box, but I guess I just don't understand why you would give the same kind to rabbits, cats, and dogs, but then a different kind to guinea pigs...lol maybe I'm just overthinking it?


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## tonyshuman (Feb 19, 2010)

I have only seen two types of gel: the tiny tubes like you posted, and a big tube. I get the big tube because it's cheaper that way. I think the difference between the two you posted was a packaging change. Many bunnies will eat the powder if sprinkled on wet veggies, too.


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## Jordan (Feb 19, 2010)

Hmm...I compared the ingredients on the ones I posted and they were a little different, but not too much so I'll just pick one and go with it haha. I'm not supposed to be giving her any greens right now, the vet said strictly hay and a little bit of pellets, so I had to put it on pellets mixed with water and she didn't want anything to do with that lol. I'll just order the gel and get express shipping. Thanks


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## tonyshuman (Feb 19, 2010)

Oh really? Sorry, I'll take another look.

edit: I have used the first one on my bunnies, and the second one seems to have the same ingredients from what I read. Either is fine.


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