04-03-2005, 08:22 AM
My rabbit, El Diablo, had a fairly critical emergency a few days ago. I must explain what lead up to it.
El Diablo is 2 years old, and I was told he was a Holland lop eared (however now, at 9lbs and 11 oz, that can\'t be right). He is probably a French lop, but I\'m digressing.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that much of El\'s poo-poo was sticking and matting to his fur. I thought it was diahreah, and so I took out the lettuce and other treats from his diet, and would gently wash his bottom with warm water. That was going ok, until I started to notice little red spots on his testicles, and then they started swelling. Swelling to the point that he couldn\'t completely rest on his haunches.
At that point I made an appointment with my Vet, which was to be in a couple of days. I wasn\'t worried too much, but I knew he had to be seen.
The evening before the appointment, I was showing my son why I was taking his rabbit to the vet, when the worst thing happened. Maggots were all over his tail end.
I first washed him again, so that I could get rid of any fecal matter, and drown a few of those suckers, then with tweezers, I manually got rid of more than 20, then I called the Vet, and he was immediately taken in.
At the vet, they shaved and killed even more. El Diablo was given a shot of antibiotics and a topical cream to use at home as well.
Since then (it has been 4 days), he seems fine, though a bit lathargic.
Before I found those horrid maggots, I was researching my rabbit\'s symptoms. I concluded that he either had diahreah, or urine burn. Urine burn being a bacteria. However, I know nothing about the cause. How can I avoid this in the future?
El Diablo is 2 years old, and I was told he was a Holland lop eared (however now, at 9lbs and 11 oz, that can\'t be right). He is probably a French lop, but I\'m digressing.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that much of El\'s poo-poo was sticking and matting to his fur. I thought it was diahreah, and so I took out the lettuce and other treats from his diet, and would gently wash his bottom with warm water. That was going ok, until I started to notice little red spots on his testicles, and then they started swelling. Swelling to the point that he couldn\'t completely rest on his haunches.
At that point I made an appointment with my Vet, which was to be in a couple of days. I wasn\'t worried too much, but I knew he had to be seen.
The evening before the appointment, I was showing my son why I was taking his rabbit to the vet, when the worst thing happened. Maggots were all over his tail end.
I first washed him again, so that I could get rid of any fecal matter, and drown a few of those suckers, then with tweezers, I manually got rid of more than 20, then I called the Vet, and he was immediately taken in.
At the vet, they shaved and killed even more. El Diablo was given a shot of antibiotics and a topical cream to use at home as well.
Since then (it has been 4 days), he seems fine, though a bit lathargic.
Before I found those horrid maggots, I was researching my rabbit\'s symptoms. I concluded that he either had diahreah, or urine burn. Urine burn being a bacteria. However, I know nothing about the cause. How can I avoid this in the future?