# Can sickness be caused by rabbit droppings?



## Gil W (Nov 11, 2009)

Hi All,


I'm new here and the reason I found the forum was because I was searching for some answers about my sick dog. I have 2 dogs, a 10 year old Golden and a 7 year old mixed breed. The 7 year old has been sick most of the time for the past month or more. She's been to the vet 3 times durring this period. Hopefully I can get her in again tomorrow. The vet gave her antibiotics the last time she was there and she seemed to get a little better for a short time. 

Her symptoms are that she has little or no appetite, doesn't drink very much water, has dierea much of the time, and throws up ocasionally. Today she threw up a yellow mucas. 
When I got home today and let them out, I found the Golden was eating something in the yard. I ran over to stop her and found some roundish pellets (almost looks like dog food). I think they might be rabbit droppings. I live in the country and there are a lot of rabbits around. The dogs are in a fenced yard, but I've had rabbits get inside. Could this be causing the illness in my mixed?


----------



## animalcraker (Nov 9, 2006)

They could potentialy get an internal parasite for rabbit dropings, but they don't usually have the symptoms you've described. Have you talked to yor vet about the rabbits and have they run a fecal or any other tests on yor dog(s)?


----------



## Ayanla (Jun 11, 2009)

Gil W said:


> Hi All,
> 
> 
> I'm new here and the reason I found the forum was because I was searching for some answers about my sick dog. I have 2 dogs, a 10 year old Golden and a 7 year old mixed breed. The 7 year old has been sick most of the time for the past month or more. She's been to the vet 3 times durring this period. Hopefully I can get her in again tomorrow. The vet gave her antibiotics the last time she was there and she seemed to get a little better for a short time.
> ...


I'd collect the pellets and take them to the vet as well, just to see if he knows what they are.


----------



## Gil W (Nov 11, 2009)

Hi Animalcraker and Ayanla,

We went to the vet today. I brought some of the the pellets and the vet thinks they are rabbit droppings. She didn't seem to be too concerned about them. 

As far as tests go, she's had a hema CBC, and 2 Chem profiles done. The tests today showed pancreatitus (spelling?). We got some antibiotics, some sort of medicine to settle her stomach, and a pain reliever for treatment. My dog hasn't shown any intrest in eating yet. I'm hoping tomorrow she'll feel a little better from the meds. 


Thanks,
Gil


----------



## Kay Weber (Oct 21, 2009)

How's your dog doing? Is she feeling better after taking the meds a few days?


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Pancreatitis is usualy a result of a dog that doesn't tolerate a lot of fat in the diet or who's diet is too high in fat. You'll need to put her on a low fat food once she's feeling better. You might try giving her a bland diet of boiled (white meat) chicken, brown rice and a little Pumpkin, which her stomach (and pancreas) will be able to better tolerate.


----------



## Gil W (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks to all that replied to my posts. I'm very sorry to say she didn't have Pancreatitis either. The meds didn't work and I brought her back to the vet. They took some x-rays and the vet needed to do an exploritory surgery. She found a large growth around part of my dogs small intestine. It couldn't be removed. It was totally closing it off. I got 3 days with her after the surgery and I took off from work to be with her. When I took her outside yesterday morning, she tried to go and what came out was blood. I felt there wasn't any other choice but to put her down. I'm trying to write this in between the tears. I really didn't want to do that. She was a great dog. Here's one of my favorite pictures of her:


----------



## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

I'm so sorry, Gil. You must be devastated. Many prayers for you.


----------



## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Sooo sorry that you had to go thru all this. You truly are a devoted owner. There needs to be more like you in the world. RIP poor baby... pain free now running over that bridge. 

In addition rabbit poo will not generally make a dog sick. they can carry coccidia but that is about the worst you can get from rabbit pellets. Rabbits actually produce 2 different types of poo... one called cecal poo they actually eat themselves (it's designed to be eaten) the other is simply waste poo which is just undigested fiber like grass and the sort. So unless the rabbit had coccidia then the liklihood that there is anything else that could make a dog sick is slim to none. Rabbit poo is actually a great fertalizer. Doesn't burn the plants or roots at all. Much better than horse or cow manuer. That's where the poo from our rabbitry goes.. straight into the garden.


----------



## Leroy&Lucy'sMom (Mar 2, 2009)

I am so sorry for your loss... {{{hugs}}}
Run free sweetie


----------

