Not eating again

:shock: Well Nummy isn't eating again. It has been 3 weeks since his teeth surgery, 2 weeks since his bladder stone, and last week he was compleatly normal, eating on his own and everything. Yesterday all was well too, he ate all his food up until late last night, I brought the hamster out for a run while Nummy was out. I put Nummy back into his pen for the evening and tried to offer him greens and he refused to touch it. I left out a variety of greens for him overnight including some carrot and when I came to check on him this morning, not one thing was eaten. I of course gave him some critical care for breakfeast. I am getting so frusterated!!!! This month has already cost me a fortune and I am all maxed out for money. This last month has cost me $2000.00. I can't afford any more trips to the vet and I simply don't know what to do. This rabbit is prone to bouts of stasis, he has never had a blockage of any kind. His teeth have never been so severe that he could not eat so I am just at a loss as to why this keeps happening. I have been trying to adjust his diet this last week because of the bladder stone problem, but he is never without greens. I am just so tired of all this heartache and I don't know what to do!!! Please help!!

If he is prone to stasis I would talk with your vet about having medication at home so that you can treat at the earliest signs.

Of my buns 3 of them are prone to have tummy probs, but luckily so far I've spotted each incident really early and medicated early and managed to avoid it progressing.

having the meds at home have saved me a fortune with Alvin too... instead of £350 emergency vets treatment i can now treat at home ant spend just £25 on a check up when hes eating again. took two weeks to get his gut working properly again last time but i only went the vets once in that time to get his teeth and tum checked. must less stressful for the bun

I have mentioned it to the vet, and they are the only exotics vet around! They always think I should just give critical care and I usually go with out everything else. I have had the 2 weeks stasis before too, and it is so hard to wait it out. I have some metoclopramide and metacam at home but I have not given him either because I am still waiting on the vet to call me back. If you don't mind me asking.... what do you all do for your rabbit when you notice these things? Do you give metacam,mobility drugs or gas meds? I usually just syringe feed and wait for the vet to tell me to come in and spend lotsa money!:shock:

Oh and I have noticed that Nummy is sitting all hunched up, his tummy is not making any noises at all, his ears are cold and he refuses to eat anything at all. He is drinking a normal amount of water and has had a pee but there is no poos and he had no cecal poos last night or this morning.

as soon as i saw Alvin was uncomfortable i gave him Gripe water and metacam and made him run about.. im a bit scared of the gut stimulant tbh even though im allowed to give it so i gave him an hour or two on metacam and gripe water first then when he started to munch little bits a few hours later i hid the gut stimulant on food, i kept him on the drugs until he seemed normal again and then a few days after too.

ive only properly home treated from the start of stasis twice and was really nervous so still went to the vets when he was eating again the 2nd time 1st time he was fine again within two hours and no sign of stasis, i think more than anything its the metacam that works the best and it takes about an hour and a half of hunching before he shows any interest in little bits of food. i use the gut stimulant just to keep him flowing rather than the way to get him eating if that makes sense.

any time before i would use infacol or gripe water and the running about but i always paniced after a couple of hours and went the vets, which always lead to emergency costs.

The vet called me back and said to feed critical care! They said I could give him the mobility drug but said it wasn't nessesary. I also asked about gas meds and they said try orval for babies but they have never used it themselves... have any of you heard of Orval? If so, how much do you give to a fancy rabbit? He has eaten abit of greens but won't eat pellets still, I gave him a critical care lunch too. He had a big cecal poo that seemed a bit harder than usual, and has normal poo size still from the looks of it. I did give him the mobility drug with lunch, but I still haven't given him any Orval yet for any possible gas. I have metacam but I have not given any as he seems to be laying streatched out at points.

now that hes started nibbling i would keep giving stuff he loves, very wet veg (yup i totally ignored all the rules to get alvin eating ) even if its treats and give the gut stuff for a couple of days to keep the gut moving, eating will gradually increase then .

i personally stop any attempts at syringing the second Alvin eats something because i think the stress just creates a backward step for recovery.

because Alvin is prone :roll:.... i kept him on the gut stimulant for 4 days after he seemed to be eating/pooping normal again, just incase of a relapse.

Nummy seems to be eating a little bit more tonight, he ate a few leaves of lettuce, a leaf of kale (since he isn't eating pellets), a few spinich leaves, a small bite of apple and a slice of banana. I guess it is a start. I gave him some gas meds just in case and he seems okay so far. He still won't touch the pellets though so I have given him some more critical care but much less since he is eating a bit on his own. The good thing is I don't have to hold him down for syringe feedings, he kind of just lays there while I give it to him and takes it willingly for the most part. The critical care smells kinda minty and I know Nummy likes to eat the ocasional mint leaf this makes the feedings much easier for s both. I hope he comes around a bit more though tomorrow.

Still Not Eating

Hello everyone :wave: Nummy is still not eating good again. He was getting better yesterday and then he went back to being not interested in eating at all again. I have been trying all the tricks I know but he just is not into it. He is drinking and weeing too, but not eating and little or no poo at all. Is this common for rabbits to go up and down like this with stasis recovery? After his dental surgery on the 5th he stopped eating. Then he started a little then had a bladder stone blockage, obviously he stopped eating then too. After he literally passed the stone himself:shock: he would not eat at all at the vets he was syringe fed, then when he came home he ate very little food just a few leaves and no pellets. Then by the 23rd or so he started eating again some pellets, I had him on a reduced amount to a 1/4 cup from his usual 1/2 cup. He had lots of greens though. Then on on Thurday night he went back down to not eating again. Over the weekend he started to seem to get progressivly better with wanting to eat more, and now he is not eating again all together. Is this a normal thing? I am getting worried because he looks like he has lost some weight now since it has been so long without eating a normal diet.

Please can anyone tell me if this up an down thing is a normal prosess. I just want to know if anyone else has had this problem with their bun.

My boy Ling Jai also had dental treatment again at the begining of the month, but he has always eaten in bits and pieces, to get his weight up I've started to give him porridge oats which he loves and shows little interest in his regular food, maybe Nummy would be enticed to eat if it's new delicious stuff like porridge oats, I give a table spoon mixed with a little warm water and then allowed to cool before being offered

I never thought to give hime oats, I will give it a try. H e eating bits of stuff, but not enough to avoid a syringe feeding. I just hope this stops soon.

Nope, Oats didn't work :roll: He is sooooo fussy I can't seem to make him want anything. All he has chosen to eat is 1 leaf of lettuce early this morning, followed by a syringe feed, he took a couple of bites of a kale leaf, and ate another small bite of romaine leaf. I gave him another syringe feed, he is almost due for another feeding in a hour or so. It is so frustrating trying to wake up his gut! I worry too about him losing weight. He is not his usual happy self, he just sits/lays around and cleans himself. But he is not running about investigating or playing with his toys. I hate it when he is like this. This round of stasis has lasted a month now. It is like one minuet he is starting to eat more, then he suddenly reverts back to not wanting anything. Nummy has stasis a few times a year but only this time has he ever suffered from it for so long. What should I do??? This is taking so long...

Has he had any pain relief? Have you got any pain relief to administer at home?

A rabbit won't eat if it is in pain, so if he hasn't had any pain relief, I would get some for him ASAP.

Other than that, keep syringe feeding if he won't eat and you are sure there is not blockage. Also, keep him relatively warm and try to get him to move about a bit.

Lots of vibes

FCx

I do have pain meds here at home I can give to him. I am not sure that he is in any pain but I guess I could try to test that by giving him a bit and see if he will eat. :?

Nummy said:

I do have pain meds here at home I can give to him. I am not sure that he is in any pain but I guess I could try to test that by giving him a bit and see if he will eat. :?

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It's got to be worth a try, you may well find that once he has had pain relief he picks up.

FC x

Maybe he was in a bit of pain, I gave him some pain meds after my last post and went to the grocery store to get him some more greens while his meds kicked in. When I came back I offered him a huge variets of foods, some fresh romain, endive, escoarol, spinich, a black berry, a couple squished grapes, carrot sticks and even timothy hay. To my surprise he sampled everything except the black berry and timothy hay. He even nibbled on a few pellets. I wonder what it is that could be causing him any pain in the first place. But at least he is feeling a bit better for the moment. Maybe he had a bit of gas, I know that is painful. Thank-you for the suggestion.

Ling Jai didn't eat the porridge straight away either, I gave him some on my finger and he gradually licked it, now he comes running to his bowl when he suspects a refill is coming:wave: