Sick Rabbit not Eating!! Help!

My Netherland dwarf, age 10 female, just got sick recently. She had diarrhea a week ago, then we put her outside so we could clean the cage and she could eat grass. Unfortunately, since then she has stopped eating, drinking, and pooping. That was 3 days ago. Yesterday we brought her to the vet, she told us that bunny's gums are swollen as her molars are growing and she hasn't been able to file them and her tummy hurts as well. She gave us tablets for her stomach and a liquid medicine for her gums. Then she told us not to give her anything fresh, like fruits, vegetables, etc. and that she should only eat dry bread which would help file her molars. We've been force feeding her to drink sugary water and some honey with her tummy medication but other than that she doesn't eat anything. She remains very active and alert but the vet did say she is quite thin (1,6 kg). Is there anything we could give her, through a syringe, that would restore her energy without hurting her stomach? Help please! We know she's old but we don't want her to go like this.

Just bumping this up for you so someone can help you - I'm not really sure what to advise. Does her stomach feel hard and bloated? or is it still soft?

Have you tried Science Recovery? Lots of pet shops sell this, it's a liquid feed for rabbits but you need a large syringe because it clogs up smaller ones.

Are you in the UK?

Your vet doesn't sound rabbit savvy. Why can't he deal with the bunny's teeth? Try to syringe-feed your bunny using Science Recovery or Oxbow Critical Care; alternatively use a vegetarian baby food. Your rabbit will die if she does not eat or if she gets dehydrated. Make an appointment with another vet and make sure that your bunny gets pain relief.

i'm in France, I'll try to find an alternative to Science Recovery in France, hopefully they sell it somewhere near my house. and no, the vet is not a rodent expert but i think she has quite a bit of experience i was just surprised she didnt give us any powdered food or liquid food or something to feed the rabbit because she can't get better if she doesn't eat. I think the rabbit's tummy is feeling better but she's now scared to eat because it hurts her gums. We are force feeding her to drink water every few hours with a syringe so she doesn't dehydrate, I saw a little puddle of pee this morning. I will try some vegetarian baby food if I cant find anything else. Thank you!

you can soak rabbit pellets to soften them which should encouerage her but she needs pain relief. this problem isn't going to be resolved until her teeth are sorted out. i'd get a second opinion from another vet. im not convinced that the recomendation that feeding her bread to wear her teeth is a valid one bearing in mind she wont eat because her mouth hurts

maxxev said:

you can soak rabbit pellets to soften them which should encouerage her but she needs pain relief. this problem isn't going to be resolved until her teeth are sorted out. i'd get a second opinion from another vet. im not convinced that the recomendation that feeding her bread to wear her teeth is a valid one bearing in mind she wont eat because her mouth hurts

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I agree - I think she needs her teeth sorted out. I would just be trying to get her to eat anything that's suitable for rabbits (as long as her tummy isn't bloated).

her tummy is bloated. can i give her aspirin and if so how much? she weighs 1.6 kg. we're going to call the vet this afternoon to see if there is something we can give her.

papillotes said:

her tummy isn't bloated. can i give her aspirin and if so how much? she weighs 1.6 kg. we're going to call the vet this afternoon to see if there is something we can give her.

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No don't give her aspirin - I think she needs her teeth sorted. The vet should be able to give pain-relief that's suitable for bunnies.

Just keep trying to get her to eat something - vegetables, or herbs like parsley or coriander, or hay, or grass or dandelion leaves, or pellets mushed up with water, or apple or pear, tomato....
Keep going with the syringing water

Okay, we put her pellets in the mixer and ground them up, then we took her hay and put it in hot water to make an infusion. We mixed these two up and fed it to her with a syringe. She had about 20mL. Before feeding her, she kept moving around in her cage trying to get comfortable. Now she's stopped moving so much and has fallen asleep, she still grinds her teeth occasionally. I'm wondering if the fact that she's stopped moving means she's in a lot of pain and doesn't want to move around to make it worse or does it mean she feels better and she's just trying to get some rest? Still an hour to go before we can call the vet (as she's in surgery now). Hopefully, the bunny feels better and not worse.

The fact that your poor bunster is not moving around much and is grinding her teeth means that she is in pain. Are you near the vet? I'd take her up immediately and wait for the vet so she can be seen as soon as the vet is free, rather than talk to the vet and then take her along. Don't waste time if you can help it. Your bunny does need to be seen.Her teeth need to be dealt with so that she can eat. Keep her warm too.

I would ask the vet to test for coccidia as well

we werent able to reach the vet so we were thinking of just going to see another vet tomorrow. we went out to dinner this afternoon as we had plans and when we got home the rabbit was very awake and alert, almost normal. she put her nose in the bowl which was by now filled with most of the foods she doesnt really care for and she started instead to eat some of the hay. she doesnt eat alot but at least she's started eating again and so we're hoping that by tomorrow... though we will continue the medication and some force feeding just to make sure she gets enough nutrients.. she'll be back to normal again. i'll post again when she makes more progress or otherwise. Thank you so much for your help!

1) Your bun's diet must compose of 90% hay. They need a huge amount of fiber. The remaining 10% is pellet, green, fruits and some treats.

The hay is also necessary as it helps them wear off the on growing molars in their mouth. If your bun doesn't have hay stem daily, eventually his molar will overgrow, then you need to have teeth surgery. Hay stem greatly reduce the growing of molar (teeth)

we don't give bread to rabbit to break down the teeth, that's absurd.

If there is more than say 7% pellet, then your bun will eat the pellet, not the hay. As they love pellets. So you need to control and downsize the pellet and focus primarily on hay, especially hay stem. You always give an unlimited amount of hay at all time, far more than enough that should last for days, then refill them when they run low.

2) You don't forcefeed your bun if he has bloat. To fix bloat, get infacol or Ovol, give 2 ml every few hr. to break down the gas inside him.

If there is still bloat, it is a very dangerous situation, they can die in 12 hr. if bloat persist, there are rabbit specialist vet who uses a tube to suck out the gas inside by feeding it in the mouth.

keep us posted