Tooth extraction and spay in one op.

Hi, I'm new to this forum and was just looking for a bit of advice.

I've got two rabbits called Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie is a female dwarf lop around 8 months and Clyde is a male netherland dwarf now closer to 10 months. My boy Clyde is in perfect condition,has been neutered, he's got great teeth, he's active, social and loving. Unfortunately Bonnie isn't quite so fortunate as she suffers from malocclusion of her front teeth and has had spurs develop on her back teeth also.

Usually I would just visit the vet when they were starting to get overgrown (her teeth are misaligned and unfortunately no change of diet could help) and have them burred but the last time I took her the vet recommended that they should just be removed as this was always going to be a reoccuring problem.

As she was starting to show signs of sexual maturity (mounting, marking territory etc) I has booked her in to get spayed yesterday and while I was dropping her off the vet commented on how she would be happy to get her both spayed and her teeth extracted in the one go whilst under anethesia. I was apprehensive about this, asking the vet if it wouldn't be too traumatic to go through both but I was assured otherwise and after some more chatting I agreed.

When I came to pick her up after the op there were obvious signs that they had been syringe feeding her and I was given some recovery food, some pain meds etc to take home and was advised to syringe feed her till she was eating normally.

And now we come to the problem, she's obviously not wanting to feed. I've tried to coax her, tried to make the mushy food mix more appealing by adding mushed banana and apple etc. I've wrapped her in a towel to hold her securely while feeding but she struggles so violently that I'm afraid she might damage her insides or the stitching from her spay. And for all my efforts she's barely had more than a few mouthfuls in the past 24 hrs. The food mostly ends up on her chest or my legs. I'm getting worried that she hasn't had enough food and that force feeding will be stressing her out too much to recover.

Was it stupid of me to agree to both proceedures? It seems clear to me now that have one done at a time is bad enough but has the pain and stress from getting both done now putting her life at greater danger?

Luckly she has done a few poo's though not nearly as many as usual and she is taking water by herself and seems to be using her litter tray to pee. Should I just leave it another 24hrs before calling the vet, just to see if it'll take a while longer to recover? Any foods that you can suggest that may tempt her more?

Sorry for the long post and all the questions but I am very worried.

I know

Could you try making a mash out of her normal pellets by soaking them in boiled water.

Gratted carrot and apple may tempt her

Is Bonnie having pain relief at the moment? :wave:

and how much?

To be honest, if she's not eaten much in the last 24 hours at all and had all that surgery I think I would want her to see a vet tonight for some opiate pain relief perhaps if the stuff you've been sent home with is not working... but perhaps just some sub-cut fluids as well to keep her hydrated.

Have you tried offering oral fluids at all by syringe? When our nervous rescue bun refused to eat (syringe feeding - she just held it in her mouth and dribbled it back out - completely refused to swallow at all and i've had lots of experience syringe feeding!) and it was getting on for 24 hours... we found that brewed and cooled herbal tea (camomile and spearmint/fennel and nettle) offered by syringe was just the ticket.... she was very dehydrated and her mouth felt so dry that she didn't want to eat. After she took 30ml in one go, she started to accept the syringe feeding.

I always find strongly scented herbs - basil, coriander, parsley, mint and thyme work a treat for my buns when off their food.
You may also find that some gut motility meds will empty her stomach and push things along in her gut giving her more of an appetite than she has now.