I just went through the exact same thing with one of our bunnies.
If there's a blockage I don't know if you can safely syringe feed the rabbit. Here's some advice I've give for somebody who hasn't been through it before and what helped me the most.
- Everybody will give you different advice, and almost all of them will act like their way is the only possible way and many will treat you like you're inferior or stupid if you haven't done things their way. Remember that the most important thing is finding out what works for your bunny and you and seeing it through.
- Find experts, and listen carefully, stick to the facts that are agreed on, and keep an open mind. Remember that sometimes vets aren't experts, and sometimes people who've kept rabbits for years also aren't experts.
The facts I've found that seem to correlate are these;
- If a rabbit stops eating, it dies very quickly.
- Pain releif is important, even if the vet says that it isn't.
- Syringe feeding a rabbit is horrible, hard, stressful work and they will fight you long and hard. If you have to syringe feed, persevere and find a routine that works best. You can do lots of small feeds or a couple of bigger ones.
- Assess your rabbits diet and find out what could be causing or contributing to the stasis - if there's a blockage it could be a hairball or it could be something else. You need to find out.
Here are the things I would recommend (having tried every remedy in a list of over 50 ideas)
- Go to the chemist, buy some electrolyte replacer and some medicine for gas in babies.
- Go to the vet and buy a critical care powder or pellets. If you can't get this (it's hard to find in new zealand), get hay (timothy hay in america, meadow hay over here), plus pumpkin high quality rabbit pellets (no seeds or corn or grains).
- Get a syringe you can easily work with one hand - I found about 20mls is a good start though this will vary.
- Go to the supermarket, buy pineapple and kiwifruit, and jam if you haven't got it at home.
Your rabbit needs several things foodwise right now -
- Fluids
- Electrolytes
- High fibre food (if there's no blockage)
- Energy
- Something to break up the blockage and get the gut moving
Pineapple juice is thought to be good for breaking up hairballs and acting as a laxative, kiwifruit is lesser known but has similar properties in humans and the vets I've spoken to said it wasn't harmful to try it. Just make sure you squeeze the juice yourself, canned or bottled is often not fresh enough or has added sugar.
If you can't get the critical care, grab the pellets, the pumpkin and the hay, crush and blend it up till it's as fine as you can get it. The finer it is the easier it is to feed.
Mix up the kiwifruit and pineapple juice with the electrolyte replacer and a little water.
To begin with since there's a blockage I'd recommend feeding the juices and electrolyte replacer seperately. If the blockage can be shifted then mix up the hay and pellets with water and syringe feed them also. My vet told me I needed to get a minimum of 100mls a day into my rabbit (that's food based stuff though), so I'd talk to yours about quantity of liquids, if you could get 50mls of that liquid into your bunny you'd be making a start.
There's some good articles around on syringe feeding a rabbit, but the goal is to keep their system going until the gut starts moving on it's own. Basically, aim for just behind their front teeth, not down their throat. Holding onto an unwilling rabbit is a mission and a half, it helps to have somebody else there, try to wrap the bunny up in a towel and stop them from thrashing, they can hurt themselves. Never squirt more than a half ml at a time onto their tongue and let them swallow each time.
Something I find helps is to give them a tummy rub, the vets probably know more about this than me but I just started with gentle circular movements with my hand under him and gradually massaged his stomach more firmly, not too hard though, and ease up if they show signs of pain.
It would also be a good idea to put some electrolyte replacer into the bunny's water in case she drinks on her own, I'd also add the pineapple and kiwi fruit juice to it as well.
Also, offer her a bowl of water and some pellets mushed up with water, sometimes it's easier for them to just lap at something liquid than reaching for a bottle.
The ordeal with our bunny lasted about five days, so be prepared for the long haul. Expect feeds to take about half an hour each, and expect to be very tired, get as much help as you can.
I also found jam is a good way of giving them medicines, it suspends the crushed up pills nicely and some bunnies seem to like the taste.
The others here can give you much more information and advice than I can, these have just been my experiences.
