• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

My rabbit is struggling to eat, help!

L

lola bunny

Young Bun
Lola is a 4 and a half year old mini lop. A month ago she started getting weepy eyes and was acting strangely, like facing a corner of her cage, she has never done that. She then stopped eating, so no poos but was still drinking water thankfully. I took her to a vet and they looked at her teeth, said that they couldn't see any serious problems and gave me some cream to put on her weepy eyes as he thought she had an infection and was just feeling a little under the weather. Well, two days later she did eventually perk up, she still had weepy eyes but was eating normally, bouncing around normally and pooing and weeing. Then all of a sudden yesterday this all started again, she stopped eating, had a wet chin from dribble and was acting odd again, making odd noises I haven't heard before and scratching at her cage a lot as if she was frustrated about something or in pain. I took her back to the same vet practice, got a new vet and I was appalled at how little she cared. She checked her teeth and again the opinion was that they were ok. She injected her with an eating stimulant and told me to be on my way. That night and this morning I have watch my poor bunny struggle to eat, it breaks my heart. She managed a few bits of a carrot and then just gives up. She hasn't pooed but is drinking. I decided to get another opinion from another vets practice today, much more rabbit friendly but again she wasn't overly concerned about her teeth. She was given 5 injections this time including an antibiotic, an antacid, painkillers etc to help her feel a little better and we were given the supreme recovery satchets to syringe feed her. She's have regular syringes but she look like she has something stuck in her mouth everytime she tries to swallow. The vet has said if she doesn't start to eat properly and poo by tomorrow we may need to think about getting her put down. I'm so upset, can anyone else relate to this or give me some helpful advice as 3 vets don't think its her teeth that are the real problem??!
 
sounds a similar problem to my Earl, he was not as bad a that but he had stopped eating, seemed depressed and was drooling a bit. Vet said he had slightly over-grown molars which were uncomfortable for him and stopping him from eating. Vet said they drool a bit if teeth are over-grown. They filed his teeth down on thurs, and as you can see by my thread he is now having to be syringe fed! He has definately perked up tho, and i am sure he just a bit sore and feeling sorry for himself now after the op. - i guess like if we have dentistry work done we dont feel much like eating hard food.

i have also heard of rabbits having a mild allergy to straw/hay causing weepy eyes - have you changed the type you normally use?
 
vet also said to me that it is hard for them to assess teeth properly while they are awake as they tend to keep mouths shut or get their tongues in the way!
 
Thanks for your message. Still using 'Comfey' hay. I'm just at a loss, the vet today said she wanted her to start eating again before they would give her an anesthetic to look at her teeth properly. But if she's struggling to eat in the first place because of her teeth then how can she get past this? :cry:

Hope Earl feels much better soon
 
Your vet may be able to do try and do a conscious x-ray, but there is no reason to put her to sleep. She should definitely have her teeth thoroughly checked as all symptoms point to dental issues. It may be that she is finding just the smallest of problem irritating, but without being under the vet will not be able to fully assess the state of her mouth. An x-ray would identify any elongated tooth roots which may by the cause of her weepy eyes.

One of mine who has dentals often makes a strange sound when swallowing when he is due a dental, it's due to his tongue being irritated. He only has one small spur but that is enough to cause him a little bit of discomfort.
 
lola bunny said:
Thanks for your message. Still using 'Comfey' hay. I'm just at a loss, the vet today said she wanted her to start eating again before they would give her an anesthetic to look at her teeth properly. But if she's struggling to eat in the first place because of her teeth then how can she get past this? :cry:

Hope Earl feels much better soon
Click to expand...

she just needs lots of your love, care and attention - seems you are giving her all of that and more at the moment. try hand picked grass and keep using that sachets, if you can get anything into her then it will give her strength and it is better than nothing at all.
 
Thanks Charlie! I just don't understand why 3 vets now haven't put her under to check. I guess todays vet was too concerned about her health and was worried she's be too weak. They all used one of those things that looks like the instrument that doctors used to go in your ears at school. She also suggested if it wasn't her teeth then it would be wrong with her internal organs. Whatever it is its distressing and I feel useless :cry:
 
swamp-rabbit said:
she just needs lots of your love, care and attention - seems you are giving her all of that and more at the moment. try hand picked grass and keep using that sachets, if you can get anything into her then it will give her strength and it is better than nothing at all.
Click to expand...

She's certainly getting lots of cuddles and attention, fingers crossed.
 
What an awful stress :(

If she isn't strong enough to undergo an anaesthetic then a good rabbit vet would surely have admitted her to build her up and also do tests to find out what's wrong. It's far too early to talk about putting to sleep if they haven't investigated properly :? I would think the weepy eyes could be linked to teeth issues, it certainly warrants an x-ray.

If you want any recommendations of vets in your area let us know where you are as I'm sure someone in your area will be able to advise of a vet that can help.

Hope you poor bunny manages to stay strong and recover.
 
Last edited:
Bunny Buddy said:
What an awful stress :(

If she isn't strong enough to undergo an anaesthetic then a good rabbit vet would surely have admitted her to build her up and also do tests to find out what's wrong. It's far to early to talk about putting to sleep if they haven't investigated properly :? I would think the weepy eyes could be linked to teeth issues, it certainly warrants an x-ray.

If you want any recommendations of vets in your area let us know where you are as I'm sure someone in your area will be able to advise of a vet that can help.

Hope you poor bunny manages to stay strong and recover.
Click to expand...

I'm in Hexham, Northumberland. Took her to Hadrian Vets first, who weren't interested then Blythmans today in Newcastle. They were 100% more helpful than the first but didn't offer an x-ray.

If you can recommend anyone I'd really appreciate it!
 
I may be wrong but I think that Judith Brown, the RWA Veterinary Advisor, works here

FIRSTVETS FOREST HALL
81 Station Road
Forest Hall
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE12 8AQ
 
clearly it's a dental problem. Most likely this is what you are dealing with:

teethovergrow2.jpg


the photo should explain everything. Your bun feels the pain when the hay impact her teeth, you need a rabbit specialist to fix this teeth problem.
 
lola bunny said:
Lola is a 4 and a half year old mini lop. A month ago she started getting weepy eyes and was acting strangely, like facing a corner of her cage, she has never done that. She then stopped eating, so no poos but was still drinking water thankfully. I took her to a vet and they looked at her teeth, said that they couldn't see any serious problems and gave me some cream to put on her weepy eyes as he thought she had an infection and was just feeling a little under the weather. Well, two days later she did eventually perk up, she still had weepy eyes but was eating normally, bouncing around normally and pooing and weeing. Then all of a sudden yesterday this all started again, she stopped eating, had a wet chin from dribble and was acting odd again, making odd noises I haven't heard before and scratching at her cage a lot as if she was frustrated about something or in pain. I took her back to the same vet practice, got a new vet and I was appalled at how little she cared. She checked her teeth and again the opinion was that they were ok. She injected her with an eating stimulant and told me to be on my way. That night and this morning I have watch my poor bunny struggle to eat, it breaks my heart. She managed a few bits of a carrot and then just gives up. She hasn't pooed but is drinking. I decided to get another opinion from another vets practice today, much more rabbit friendly but again she wasn't overly concerned about her teeth. She was given 5 injections this time including an antibiotic, an antacid, painkillers etc to help her feel a little better and we were given the supreme recovery satchets to syringe feed her. She's have regular syringes but she look like she has something stuck in her mouth everytime she tries to swallow. The vet has said if she doesn't start to eat properly and poo by tomorrow we may need to think about getting her put down. I'm so upset, can anyone else relate to this or give me some helpful advice as 3 vets don't think its her teeth that are the real problem??!
Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind, but I asked my vet about your bun while I was there with one of mine this morning. He said while he obviously can't diagnose without seeing the bun, that it sounds to him very much like a teeth problem, and he was quite shocked that the other vets haven't already done x-rays. I asked what he'd tell me to do, if Lola were my bun and he said if after the first round of treatment the problem recurred he would recommend me to investigate further and would have suggested x-rays at the very least.

He went on to say that buns are fragile and "pissfarting around doing nothing while shoving drugs into them" is not an option, lol. (Disclaimer: We've been going to this vet since I was 4 years old (well over 30 years now!:?) so he doesn't see the need for the pomp and ceremony with our family, :lol:).

Happy Hopping has advised a few people about syringe feeding with blackberry juice and hay - click on his username and go through his posts, I've seen a couple quite recently so it shouldn't take long to find. That would build her up enough for the GA.

I would be very surprised if this is not a tooth problem.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
aussiebun said:
I hope you don't mind, but I asked my vet about your bun while I was there with one of mine this morning. He said while he obviously can't diagnose without seeing the bun, that it sounds to him very much like a teeth problem, and he was quite shocked that the other vets haven't already done x-rays. I asked what he'd tell me to do, if Lola were my bun and he said if after the first round of treatment the problem recurred he would recommend me to investigate further and would have suggested x-rays at the very least.

He went on to say that buns are fragile and "pissfarting around doing nothing while shoving drugs into them" is not an option, lol. (Disclaimer: We've been going to this vet since I was 4 years old (well over 30 years now!:?) so he doesn't see the need for the pomp and ceremony with our family, :lol:).

Happy Hopping has advised a few people about syringe feeding with blackberry juice and hay - click on his username and go through his posts, I've seen a couple quite recently so it shouldn't take long to find. That would build her up enough for the GA.

I would be very surprised if this is not a tooth problem.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your message. She still isn't really eating on her own and so no pooing happening either. She is quite lively in herself though, which I find hard to believe if she isn't eating?!

With the x-ray you showed me, is it the root that is causing the problem rather than the teeth in her mouth?

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to your vet about her, I really appreciate it! He sounds fantastic!
 
The root of her upper teeth is growing upwards, that's why your bun is having weepy eye. The root is puncturing her nasolacrimal duct. This is a common teeth problem, no rabbit need to PTS for something this simple.

Get a rabbit specialist, take the x-ray to confirm and they know what to do
 
swamp-rabbit said:
any more news on Lola?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your concern!! She's still the same but not really eating on her own and syringe feeding the supreme recovery. What amazes me is that she isn't just lying down in the cage from lack of food. She's still hopping around, ok a little less than normal. I have to see some work clients now but my mum is taking great care of her. Just wish I didn't have to see these people today.

How is Earl today?
 
I hope you get to the bottom of it , at least my vets did the xrays on my lop but they found nothing wrong with his teeth or roots but he is still not back to eating anything hard . What mix do you use ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

a reader of books
Could Sophie get some vibes? Another dental
6 7 8
Replies
148
Views
2K
Babsie
B
L
Gi stasis, no vets available
Replies
9
Views
199
ERCD
E
L
**UPDATE***Cleo's fluctuating weight :(
Replies
10
Views
272
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Back
Top