Advice please. Bunny dehydration questions... Update: Tues

Sorry please bare with this, I only heard about this literally now and there's just a few things I'd like advice on, I'm retelling this second hand so I hope I make vague sense.

My younger brother's friend has a bunny called Perry, they seem to take good care of him usually, he has an amazingly large hutch with run, good diet etc.

However Perry hadn't been eating very much at all for this past week, gradually eating less and less, apparently they phoned the vet last week and the vet said that as long as he was eating something he was still healthy.

However today he ceased to eat completely but they found that his water bottle's ball keeps jamming and therefore he may not have drunk for a few days at all

They cleaned his bottle and they said that he's drunk quite a bit since then he's been eating, not loads but alot more than what he had been. However he hasn't been pooing at all yet (this only happened a couple of hours ago), however I asked if he had been producing and/or eating his caecotrophs and they said that they think he has, they've seen him with head between legs etc. They said they're not taking him to the vets as all seems to be ok now.

I just don't have enough experience with poorly Buns so hopefully somebody can help.
Should he be ok now? Will his regular poos follow now he's eating and producing caecotrophs? Does he need to see a vet? I hate being in this position, I can't believe they never realised his bottle was blocked I just want the little bun to be ok

Thanks so much.

TBH I would take to vet - in humans dehydration can lead to kidney damage & allsorts.

Also - get a new bottle. Buns often prefer to drink from bowls, so I usually use a bottle and a bowl in caged buns.

My buns usually drink consistantly the same amount every day, so any change wouldmean a problem.

Hope bunny is ok.

Rabbits often stop eating if they are deprived of water. Hopefully now the Bun can drink again and has started to eat his guts will return to normal over the next 24 hours.

*However* I would strongly advise that the Bun is given access to a water BOWL aswell as a bottle so that the problem with accessing water never happens again

Janex

Thanks for your replies, some people may think I'm overeacting by getting worried over a bun that isn't mine but as soon as I hear about something like this it becomes my business.

That's how I understood it Jane, that the dehydration was probably the cause of the lack of eating. That's such a good idea about the bowl too, I'll hope that maybe they thought of it, I'll definately suggest. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks Angie, I think they are planning to get a new bottle in the morning, I'll discuss the whole kidney/liver issues and they may decide it's best to get the vet to check over him.

Thanks for the advice.

I wouldn't think there's much point in taking a rabbit to that particualar vet as he didn't seem to realise when a rabbit was in serious trouble - is there a more rabbit savvy vet in the area, who has attended small animal conferences?

I always give Buster a bowl and he drinks it everyday. I don't trust a bottle because he has knocked them off or the drip on him and get him wet which I don't like.

Update:

Had a call his morning saying they had found a few poos in Perry's cage, however he is still not eating very much, like a few bits of hay, some pellets and a few bits of greens that they put in to tempt him. They haven't seen him drink but it does look like some of his water has gone.

Any advice welcome, they seem reluctant to take him to the vet to be sure as they seem sure that he will start to eat more soon, he's only a small rabbit (nethie cross lionhead) so I'm not sure if he's as good as they think, however I could be just a worrier.

Any input?

Glad their is a few poo's that is a good sign, ive not managed to read all post as away to head to work,
Have they tried syringe feeling him mushy food with water in it, to help him get fibre and hydrate himself? if they feel hes still not eating i would syringe him food and water.
xx

Pringle said:

Glad their is a few poo's that is a good sign, ive not managed to read all post as away to head to work,
Have they tried syringe feeling him mushy food with water in it, to help him get fibre and hydrate himself? if they feel hes still not eating i would syringe him food and water.
xx

Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. I'm heading over their house now, so may take a syringe over, I think I have a couple in medi pack.

I've offered to take him to my vet, who claims to specialise in small exotics (although perhaps not the best, after missexing Daphne, but guess that human). So I'll update later.