Losing rabbits

[chinbunny]

Anything I have read about that treatment says its best to cull the animal instead. that treatment only masks the symptoms. I am going with worming first to see what happens. I read on the merick vet manual that they die within a few hours if they have it. These guys are taking a week to go. I have only had a few die suddenly.

Yeah I know about feed labels. this feed has copper sulfate in it. Its supposed to prevent ME. But it did the exact opposite.

And apparently i was wrong about the Sulfaquinoxaline. I was told it was taken off the market, but I guess not. Now I just need to find a place online that carries it.

 

[chinbunny]

Also, there was a huge difference in fiber in bot feeds. The manna pro pro has about 21%. The show is about 23%. I was on the show before. The kent about 18-19%. Don't know if that caused it. But I still don't think I should have been seeing that.

 

[ksalvagno]

There is a super coccidia out there called eimeria macusaniensis or Emac for short. It is being seen in alpacas. The fecal test to test for this must be done over a longer period of time. You could have the state lab run it. Most vets don't leave the fecal long enough. The drug used to treat Emac in alpacas is Marquis. Something you may want to look into or at least have some fecals tested for Emac.

 

[chinbunny]

I don't have the cash to do a state test.

Are they seeing the same problems in the alpacas?

I would think they can get different coccidia then rabbits?

 

[ksalvagno]

Coccidia is different for different animals but just to know that there is a "super" coccidia out there. If your vet could do the longer fecal test or knows how to check for the Emac, then that should be fine. Most vets just do the quick fecal float and that isn't long enough for the Emac to be seen.

 

[chinbunny]

She di a full ten minute float as far as I know.

 

[gypsy2621]

I wish I had seen this earlier,
I had a friend who went through this this past winter, and it was also when she went from Manna Gro to Manna Pro.
It devistated her baby herd. I think total loss was 30 babies before she could get it under control.
One baby that was effected was saved but holy wow did it wreck the rabbit.

Another friend also switched from Manna Gro to a different Brand and the same thing loss of 54 rabbits both babies and Sr animals.

Both went through the whole vetting and necropsy to find the cause, the best the vets could come up with was the babies were blocked by what looked like huge grain balls. meaning they were not passing the digested feed and it just got hung up.
every one of them had the same symptoms, bloating, seveere diahreah constipated dead, usually with in a 24 to 48 hour window.

All my guys are on Manna Gro and I wouldnt dare switch them off to something else, I have to wonder if there is something in the Manna Grow that actually keeps things flowing correctly and the other grains dont?
Or
there is something in the grain that when switched to a different brand kills the rabbits forcing a return to the grain.

Janell your not the only one this year with the same problem Everyone I know who switched off the Manna Products has lost rabbits to the same issue.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
Trust me it is not coccidia, its a mimmic of it, you can treat for cocci but it is a waste of time and effort. it wont help.
If you can get some sort of blockage meds down there throats to help break up or loosen the mass it has helped the others who have this issue.

 

[gypsy2621]

This is one Necropsy that was done I dont have access to the others but this one was forwarded to me for review.


In reference to the rabbit losses incurred by Susan and Andrew .


On 12-15-08 the Woods came to me for advice and recommendations about losses in their colony of rabbits over the last several weeks. The issue began with a gradual change in their feed, from ___________ to ________diet a month and a half ago. Primarily young rabbits between 2-4 months of age have been affected, although there have been a couple of stillborn\\abortion deaths and an occasional older rabbit death. Symptoms are consistent in all the deaths. The rabbits’ abdomens become very distended, they stop eating, experience shaking and usually die within 24 - 48 hrs. Diarrhea is not a prominent symptom.

The Woods contacted_____ after becoming suspicious that the food might be causing the problem and were instructed to bring a couple of rabbits in for evaluation and a gross necropsy. They were told specifically that a gross necropsy of the stomach and intestines would be sufficient.

On 12-15-08 I examined two bunnies, one post mortem and one ante mortem. Both bunnies had thin body condition and obvious distended abdomens. The ante mortem bunny was quiet and “hunched up”. No other gross abnormalities were noted.

The live bunny was euthanized with isoflurane anesthesia and an intracardiac injection of somlethal. Two necropsies were performed and the following findings were consistent between the two rabbits.

Gross Necropsy… There is moderate gas distention of the entire gi tract. The stomachs are distended with gas and a homogeneous “slurry” of ingesta. There are no impactions of either pellets or hair. Milder gas distention and fluidy contents extend through the small intestines, but becomes much more pronounced in the cecum and large intestines, looking more like the ingesta from the stomach. The entire cecum and most of the large bowel is affected.

The stomach of the first post mortem bunny had three small serosal hemorrhages.

No other gross abnormalities were noted on any other organs.

Fecal/ingesta material was obtained for an in house fecal flotation (no parasites seen) and gram stain, fecal culture and clostridium toxin testing at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell. Results were positive for some clostridium-like organisms on the gram stain and positive for C. perfringens enterotoxin.

 

[chinbunny]

Gypsy you have pretty much described what is going on. The babies I have lost within 24 hours. Fine one day, dead the next. But the others are taking a wee to go down. Ive given sithemethicone and laxatives. Doesn't seem to be working. I fed manna pro show. I did lose rabits on it every now and then. But not like what I am seeing now. Maybe the manna pro has the correct diet and fiber amounts they need, and the other doesn't? But its really odd for kent feeds to do somethuing like this because I know people who have my rabbits on kent feeds and they are fine. Ive never had problems switching between the three manna pro feeds. I like the show and the pro. But i always mix them together.

Some of the rabbits I am going to stop the albon on. I know they don't have it. Its prety obvious since two 'healthy' rabbits came own with it after starting treatment.

The rest that are gaining weight on it, I will keep on it.

Now here is another odd thing. The farm store I sell pets to feeds theirs just your average rabbit food, and they aren't seeing any problems. Its weird.

I did lose a few healthy adults, and almost an entire litter earlier this year. Same thing. Fine one day, dead a few hours later. No signs of anything. Not even bloat.