Please please help. U/D Twinkle has died.

Hi

As some of you may remember, I posted a few weeks back about the vet thinking Twinkle had Ecuniculi. She was catching her hind legs when jumping in the litter tray. Anyway, she was treated for 21 days with panacur, just as she finished this she stopped eating and we were having to encourage her to eat, she needed a dental. She had the dental. Ever since she came home, about two weeks she has not wanted to eat pellets, we have had to be nearly forcing her to get any kind of fresh veg into her. (We have also been having to pick her up twice a day to put cream on the bottom of her feet because she has a sore on the bottom of each of her back feet, she hates this and she tries to hide from us). Today all her favourite treats are not working, we dont appear to be able to get her to eat anything.

She lives with Dobbin in abig converted shed. Hubby is in the process of setting up an indoor run so we can monitor her, we are going to put a fence between them, so they can see each other but so that we can see what she has eaten, pooed etc.

Why do you think she is off her food, she has recently had a dental, i am so so so worried, what do i do?

All advice is hugely appreciated. If we have to call a vet we will, its just that it costs us £100 before we even see the vet for emergency call out, we judt dont have the money for that. If we have to we obvioulsy will, we are so worried about her, i am in tears as i write this, she has had so many problems in last few weeks.

Please help.

I love her so much

Thank you
sue
xxxxx

Post-operative gastric slow-down I see as the main possibility and if you really can not get her to eat tonight she will need to see the emergency vet for some pain relief and fluids, and if you still can not get her to eat tonight you will need to start syringe feeding. But first off, it sounds like she needs to be seen and examined by a vet tonight.

It could perhaps be the stress, my rabbit went off food and water for 2 or 3 days after his neuter because he was in pain, stressed and recovering from GA, and the stress of moving (i had just rehomed him then had him neutered). do you have anything to syringe feed her with?

Can I just say it does happen, and I know how scary it is when bun won't eat... and I appreciate the cost too, we've had a fair few midnight trips of our own recently.

How long since she last ate and is she passing any droppings?

Whilst you think about the vet here are some things to try:
Warmth - warm her up with a cuddle or put a heat pad/water bottle in with her (make sure not too hot) - bring her inside to warm her up, but somewhere quiet and dark to keep stress levels down
Try tempting her with some fresh herbs, greens, grass, grated carrot, pellets softened with water, fruit etc.

Because she lives with Dobbin it is hard to know the last time she ate, pooed etc, so we are bringing her in to see if she can be tempted and put them seperate so we know what goes on, could be be stress from op even thoguh it was 2 weeks ago.

Sorry to be a pain, i appreciate all your help and support.

All her favourite foods are in with her.

Sue
xx

I found with mine that when I put him in a quiet room by himself and gave him a few minutes alone he would have a little nibble, they can probably feel the stress and pressure from us hovering over! obviously you need to keep checking on her but if you leave her to her own devices for a little bit it might help.

just eaten one tiny bit of grated carrot and there is one poo.

Sorry, i bet you all think i am very silly

Sue
xxxx

I suspect she is in pain.

Maybe from her sore hocks, maybe Dental related (even though she's just had a Dental), maybe spinal pain ( if her hind leg issues were not infact EC but arthritis).

I think you do at least need to speak with a Vet for advice tonight.

I know how much £100 seems /is - but really she sounds like she will need fluids (sub cut fluids) and pain relief if she is to get through the night without getting worse. The longer she doesn't eat the worse it will get and the more difficult to turn her round.

But I AM NOT A VET!

Thank you everyone, she has just eaten a bit of Hay, and a bit more grated carrot, i agree i think she is in pain and i am not convinced she had EC as she had no other symtoms, but as you say i am NOT a vet at all and to be honest dont really know what i am talking about.

Dobbin does not like being seperated from her, he is sat looking at her!

Sue
xx

Nobody here thinks you are silly. Most of us have had bunnies off their food from time to time and we know what a worry they are. I would always regard a bunny not eating as a serious symptom.
Has your bunny had any pain relief since the dental?
does her tummy feel soft and relaxed? (don't press too hard)
I can only repeat what others have said that she really needs to see a vet, but otherwise keep trying her with herbs, grass, dandelions, blackberry or raspberry leaves.
I hope she is ok xx

spoken to nurse who spoke to vet, she says to keep doing what we are doing. Will see her tommorrow, says we are doing al they would do bar pain relief but she thinks the stress of taking her down may outweigh it. However she is very happy for us to phone back at any point and she will see us.

Twinkle has eaten grated carrot, some hay, mini roll in treat and had a drink, we also have a few poos. I am so so worried.

I cannot that you all enough, gosh i need a hug. Bunnies are so worrying.

Not sure what else to do.

Sue
xxxxxx

Keep on going as you are & keep reporting in on here. You've had some good advice.
The more your buns eats, the more she'll want to eat, little bits at a time, but slowly increasing.
Yes keep your pair where they can see each other. If you need to visit the vet, take them both if you can.

You'll get to know us in time, the "tummy bunny mummies" get to know each other & our buns on here, & stick together, because it is serious & worrying. I've had a "tummy bunny for 5 years & I'm worried out of my mind too at present.

Thank you - its horrid.

I dont know whether to out them back together or keep them seperate over night, if i leave food in there and they are together he will eat it all!!

But i know they want to be together, please help me, what do i do?

Sue
xx

Dobbin said:

Thank you - its horrid.

I dont know whether to out them back together or keep them seperate over night, if i leave food in there and they are together he will eat it all!!

But i know they want to be together, please help me, what do i do?

Sue
xx

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It's a difficult question, depends how she's doing really. If you are happy that she is eating, drinking, pooing and weeing a bit I would be tempted to put them together as they will comfort each other but if you want to monitor intake and output I'm sure they'll be fine so long as they can still see and smell each other through a wire barrier xx

I agree, she may be more stressed and unwilling to eat if she is separated from her bunny friend, and sometimes watching the other bun eat can encourage a bun not eating to do so... they like to copy one another and graze together. If you think she is definitely eating then put them back together - as important as droppings are, if she is eating this is a good enough sign for now. You can always get up in the night and check every couple of hours to make sure she is still eating and tempt her again, or bring her inside to munch a bit more on her own, and then pop them back together again. We always keep our bonded pair together when one is poorly (but we are fortunate in that we know who's droppings are who's). I would aim to keep them together as much as possible, separation can cause undue stress and stress makes these problems in rabbits so much worse. I hope it all goes ok tonight

BUT it is important that if she is not well and not eating much that she stays warm, buns not eating lose body temperature very quickly, so she may need to come back indoors... perhaps they could come in together if you can set up a temporary sick room/pen? :wave:

How is Twinkle today?

Glad she is improving. Sounds as if she needed some pain relief.

Did the vet find anything wrong with her teeth or, did they just do a dental because she had stopped eating? When was the dental?

Did they say why her feet are sore? What cream have they given you for this? Is she dry around her bottom?

Whenever I had this problem (frequently!), I used to put one inside a pen with food, water and a litter tray, so I could monitor what was going in and out. The other bun was on the other side of the pen, so they could sniff and groom each other.