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Question: Not Eating/Vet

Jonny5

New Kit
My Rabbit is 3 years old. He has stayed at my Mums house for around 2 years now and recently moved over to my house about 2 weeks ago.

He seems to have settled in okay so far but he hasn't been eating his dry packet food for around 3/4 days now. He usually goes wild as soon as I bring food out for him but he just walks away from it. I have noticed he still drinks water occasionally. I'm not sure if he's allowed to eat bananas but he has taken a couple of bites from one the past couple of days.

I took him to the vet last night. From the FAQ I read on this forum he did the following:

Examined his abdomen.
Listened to him with a stethescope.
Checked his jaw and cheeks along with his front teeth but not the back.
The vet also didn't check his temperature.

He told us that he wasn't sure what was causing him to stop eating but gave him an antibiotic and another injection (I'm not sure what it's called but he said it would help his appetite).

He got infected with mites or fleas in around February and my mum took him to the vet. I'm not sure if my mum picked the vet up wrong or the vet told the wrong information (which seems crazy because I read that Hay is the most important part of a rabbits diet) but supposedly the vet said he should stop eating hay and I think this might be part of the problem. I gave him lots of hay last night when we got home from the vets. He ate a little of it but hasn't touched anymore.

Another thing that concerns me is he has fallen over about 3 times in a strange way the past few days. Two days ago he walked off and fell unexpectedly on his side (in a way I thought he was dead!) and tonight he did the same. I'm not sure if he's having problems with balance and I read somewhere else (I can't remember where) that this is a warning sign.

I realise a big mistake is that he hasn't been getting hay but we've been told so many different things by different vets on how to feed him that it's confusing. I just want the best for him and I'm really worried.

Should the vet have given me more answers? What questions should I be asking? Should I be taking him back to the vet? Should I be taking him to a different one?
 
Hi - you may want to copy this into Rabbit Care.

I have not experienced your bunnies symptoms but if it was me I would take him back to the vet asap. Is he eating anything and pooping.?
 
Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum.

He certainly isn't going to the toilet as much as he usually does, if going at all!
 
Hi there.

If your bunny's behaviour is different to how he is normally and in particular with regard to eating and pooing then I would certainly take him back to the vets. I would try and tempt him to eat with whatever he normally likes - even banana if it gets him munching. Dandelions is another good one. If he won't eat at all then he is going into gut stasis and this needs urgent attention and drugs.

There are many reasons why a bunny will go into stasis, one of the commonest ones being a sore mouth due to bad teeth. This can change literally overnight with a bunny slowing down eating and then stopping altogether if he has a spur on one of his back teeth. His mouth or tongue could be lacerated and he could be in massive pain as a result. Pain will cause a bunny to stop eating.

If a bunny stops eating for more than an hour or two then it's an emergency and needs immediate vet attention to have drugs (gut stimulants administered together with pain relief).

You mention about your bunny's balance. There are various reasons for this, one of which could be EC which is a parasite. If the parasite gets to the brain it can cause nerve problems, with balance being effected - you will normally see a head tilt though with this. It might also be an infection. Either way, it would be a visit to the vets asap for me. (Some one with more experience with loss of balance might have better information for you).

All I would say is that if you aren't happy with your bunny, I wouldn't take a risk leaving it till the morning.

Hope it's nothing too serious.
 
Agree with The Duchess. My thoughts were similar to yours but I am not that knowledgable about EC.

Try to get him moving around to help stimulate the gut, lots of fluids, try a bit of fresh pineapple juice too, keep bunny warm and tempt him with any food you can - but please see a vet asap.
 
My Rabbit is 3 years old. He has stayed at my Mums house for around 2 years now and recently moved over to my house about 2 weeks ago.

He seems to have settled in okay so far but he hasn't been eating his dry packet food for around 3/4 days now. He usually goes wild as soon as I bring food out for him but he just walks away from it. I have noticed he still drinks water occasionally. I'm not sure if he's allowed to eat bananas but he has taken a couple of bites from one the past couple of days.

I took him to the vet last night. From the FAQ I read on this forum he did the following:

Examined his abdomen.
Listened to him with a stethescope.
Checked his jaw and cheeks along with his front teeth but not the back.
The vet also didn't check his temperature.

He told us that he wasn't sure what was causing him to stop eating but gave him an antibiotic and another injection (I'm not sure what it's called but he said it would help his appetite).

He got infected with mites or fleas in around February and my mum took him to the vet. I'm not sure if my mum picked the vet up wrong or the vet told the wrong information (which seems crazy because I read that Hay is the most important part of a rabbits diet) but supposedly the vet said he should stop eating hay and I think this might be part of the problem. I gave him lots of hay last night when we got home from the vets. He ate a little of it but hasn't touched anymore.

Another thing that concerns me is he has fallen over about 3 times in a strange way the past few days. Two days ago he walked off and fell unexpectedly on his side (in a way I thought he was dead!) and tonight he did the same. I'm not sure if he's having problems with balance and I read somewhere else (I can't remember where) that this is a warning sign.

I realise a big mistake is that he hasn't been getting hay but we've been told so many different things by different vets on how to feed him that it's confusing. I just want the best for him and I'm really worried.

Should the vet have given me more answers? What questions should I be asking? Should I be taking him back to the vet? Should I be taking him to a different one?

Hello

Your Rabbit definately needs to be seen by a Vet experienced with Rabbit Health matters
The lack of hay may mean Bun now has a Dental problem causing him to not be able to eat.
The 'falling over' may indicate a problem in the Central Nervous system or a middle ear infection.

What area are you in. If you can let us know your geographical location we may be able to point you in the direction of a Rabbit Savvy Vet

Janex
 
they do just flip over onto their side sometimes - it's a happy flop - I would be worried if he was wobbly or staggering, but the flip over is normal.

with him going off his food he needs a vet that knows about rabbits - your vet sounds a bit lost really. If he's not been eating hay then it could be his teeth are hurting at the back, and he needs an operation, but not with a vets that's inexperienced.

If it's his guts slowing down due to lack of hay, he still needs expert nursing care, so either way you need a good vet - they only study rabbits for a few weeks in college, so you need to ask around for one that has done further courses in rabbit medicine - you are paying for it, so don't be shy about asking about a vet's expertise.
 
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