Post Neutering Male not eating seems to be in severe pain.

- Moderators please move this to care i just read the post about it and realised im in the wrong section - just having an awful moring

This is my first rabbit ever so i am very inexperienced and i apolagise if this has come up before. Reading all the faqs and books all say how males should normally bounce back and be fine the next and talks of females having the particular bad problems.

My rabbit who is male (5 - 6 months) old was neutered yesterday. When i went to pick him up they told me his heart was beating really fast the whole way through the operation and he looked so different from normal his fur was all scragly and he looked so upset. I asked about if he needs any pain medication for after but the question sort of got ignored, and they talked about syringe feeding him and then forgot to give us a syringe. He hadnt eaten from when he woke up.

So all last night he sat in one spot in his cage, grinded his teeth, didnt groom and showed all the signs that he was in alot of pain. Refused to eat absolutely everything i tried to give him and even bit my finger really hard and hes never done that before. I know puting food has probably stressed him more and i did stop trying to put it as near him.


Called the vet first thing in the morning and cos the vets is 10 miles away she suggested getting a syringe from a chemist and to try him with baby food.

I knew it wasnt gona be easy to try ang get a towel round him but we managed to get only about 2mls of this apple and banana baby food into him before he started wriggling alot and then he got his claw stuck in the towel which freaked him out even more then he jumped down about 1ft off the sofa which cudnt be good for his wound.

He is a house rabbit and normally has the run of the house so we let him stay out during this time he ran about abit, seemed like he was perking up, drank water from a bowl but still not eating. We tried to get him wrapped in a towel again for syringe feeding but that made him hide again. I am really torn cos i dont kno if i am just making it worse i kno its really important that he eats but he is such a nervous rabbit.

Rang the vet again (at 12) and shes in surgery so i explained everything to the receptionist and she went and asked the vet and she said to just leave him out for an hour and leave him to see if he eats then ring her again if he doesnt.

Could his non eating be stress related? Or should he have painkillers? Are the Painkillers dangerous? I dont want to tell a vet how to do their job but i dont want my bun to go into gi stasis and i am really worried about him.

Unfortunately I can't say anything useful as my little boy has yet to go in for his op, just wanted to say I hope he feels better soon x

he should have painkillers - my Cookie bun was sent home with enough pain relief to cover him until his check up. I think that you should have him seen by a vet as soon as you can. (your vet doesn't sound to rabbit savvy)

Your bunny should have been given painkillers. Have you got your receipt from the vet yesterday? Does it list what he was given? The usual painkiller is called Metacam. When I've had bunnies neutered it's always been given as an injection and last c. 24 hours.

Other than the baby food has your boy eaten anything? It's good that he's had a drink tho

see thats the thing this vet was recommended by other people and she even says she has 2 rabbits herself :/ like hes booked in for a check up in a weeks time and everything and she does seem nice. I will ask her for painkillers when i call in an half an hour.

Oh and no receipt i dont think our vets are that technology savy. (Im in northern ireland)

Hes eaten a bite of lettuce and 2 bites of carrot but that was only cos he was trying to bite them to throw them away So i stopped doing that cos it seemed like i was agrivating him.

Oh also he has no stitches apparently, so maybe thats why the think he doesnt need painkillers?

They could have glued the hole together than stitch it up. If he doesn't eat for a few hours, he needs to go back to the vets to get his gut going again.

My bun was neautered yesterday too. I'm sorry your oing through this, you must be so worried *hugs*

My bunny isn't too interested in food but he's obviously eating as he's pooing lots. Is your bun pooing normally?

Also i heard that micing warm water into his pellets and squirting a bit of apple juice in there is a good way to get them to eat. It's easy to eat and also tastey. I'm not an expert so i'd ask other people too if this is right.

Personally i'd take him back and ask for painkillers if he had none and maybe a boost if he has..if thats safe And i'd also have a good old shoutin at the vet if he had no painkillers lol. But that's me.. please don't do that as you'll probably be kicked out of the vets haha.

good luck

hes ate about a square inch of lettuce really slowly in the past hour, but if he doesnt start eating normally soon we have to bring him in to the vets stay over night so they can feed him.

i will try warm water in his food now to see if that can tempt him. But i have tried soooo many foods already and normally he loves everything

Like i think he defenitely had them for the operation and everything but i meant for after.

He is really gona hate that but its for his own good I hope he is not too traumatised. Right now hes just been sitting in the same spot staring for hours i doubt hes asleep cos hes sittin up.

Is he indoors?

yes he is indoors, we are just in a small flat. All wooden floors, i put towels and stuff in his cage but he just attacks them So he lies on the plastic. Hes sittin out on the wood floor atm in a spot where its difficult to get to him, thats what worries me most like dont animals want to hide when they think their dying?

Kellichu said:

yes he is indoors, we are just in a small flat. All wooden floors, i put towels and stuff in his cage but he just attacks them So he lies on the plastic. Hes sittin out on the wood floor atm in a spot where its difficult to get to him, thats what worries me most like dont animals want to hide when they think their dying?

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oh i'm sure he isn't dying, don't worry. *hug* He's probably feeling in pain and a little worse for wear. How'd the mushy food go? No luck?

He's clearly not happy he will be hiding so that you can't force food down him they know where to go to keep a low profile. He's probably hoping you don't see him so he doesn't have to have that syringe near him.

I wouldn't worry too much on him attacking the towels etc. Fiver does this sometimes and yesterday he was attacking the cardboard chippings in his litter box which was unual behaviour. He'll be confused and unhappy. i'd deffo take him back to the vets, if only to put your mind at rest.

tried the mushy food (it smells really like green tea ^^) but hes not having it at all. (I let it cool down b4 putting it near him)Gona take him back to vets to stay over night because i cant risk more unsucessfull syringings. I will demand he has something for the pain tbh i think i will cry if she says no il be like what the hes in pain.

Like i dont think he has peed at all and hes only done a few uneven sized poos. Thanks for all the help everyone. If i had just left him to sulk things wud prob be a lot worse.

Hi hun its not iceberg lettuce you are givin him is it cos they not supposed to have that , if you can get hold of some fresh herbs such as basil or coriander thats all my 2 ate for the first day then i kept syringin mushed up pellets they didnt like it and only took small amounts at a time same as the water but every little bit helps hun hope everything goes ok

the only reason they may say no to painkillers is if he has already had aone for 24 hours and next dosage isnt due. however i personally would keep him warm adn syringe fluids into him have you treid critical care? baby food? dandilion leaves?

nah the only ever lettuce i gave him is romane ^.^ i am 20 i probably sound like im 12 the way i type ^.^ stupid msn has ruined my grammar.

Kirby is now at the vets to stay overnight. She was much better at explaining stuff on the phone and said shes gona give him an injection to try give him an appetite and then theyre gona feed him like some special high nutrient food cos its been like 24 hours since he ate properly now.

She said that he had painkillers for his operation and they last long enough for him not to be in too much pain. I guess he was just sulking.

So gotta wait and hope for the best now.

When my adult male was neutered, he sat in the carrier for a good few hours, well from 5pm till about 11.30pm. He did not eat anything in this time although there was food and water there. He was not showing any signs of pain or I would of called the vet. He was still very quite the next day also. But he's fine now and back to his normal self.

When I had the younger males done they bounced back quicker, one was out the door as soon as I turned my back and the other sat in the carrier for half an hour or so.

The younger males were 5 months and the older was around 2 1/2 at the time. Obviously it must have something to do with the age.

Rabbiting on said:

When my adult male was neutered, he sat in the carrier for a good few hours, well from 5pm till about 11.30pm. He did not eat anything in this time although there was food and water there. He was not showing any signs of pain or I would of called the vet. He was still very quite the next day also. But he's fine now and back to his normal self.

When I had the younger males done they bounced back quicker, one was out the door as soon as I turned my back and the other sat in the carrier for half an hour or so.

The younger males were 5 months and the older was around 2 1/2 at the time. Obviously it must have something to do with the age.

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I don't know like my 5 month old bun sulked for a few hours and only ate a few pellets and sulked some more. He's a bit better now but still growls at me. Moody buggar.

rang the vet there and she said hes eaten hay but not his dry food yet so shes keeping him til 5 to give him another injection.
but she said hes perked up now and hes one of the livelyest bunnies shes ever seen ^^ "fearless" and "full of beans" he liked being fussed over by the nurse all night i think. :lol:

aw thats a releif i'm glad he's ok

Sounds like he is on the mend

Rabswood