This is really interesting, & most helpful. Thank you.
Some of you may know that Thumper won't drink anything like enough.
The 1st. thing I noticed about him was that he gulped when he swallowed water, but not solids. He went 3 1/2 years getting all his fluids from fresh foods (& recycling some of his wee
)
As our buns are direct descendants from European wild buns, & our wild buns can get enough fluid from their feed & dew, I wasn't unduely worried as long as he didn't have chalky wee. I also wondered whether they weren't "designed" to drink water & had to learn how to do so, or had poor co ordination unless they chewed to start off the swallowing reflex. [I'd like to know what you think of my theory]
18 months ago Thumper was admitted for ileus, & met other bunnies on the ward. He also had his 1st. dental. The 1st. thing he did back home was to drink silently but he'd started to chew his water!!
I know he's brewing up to a dental, cos he stops chewing his water & gulps again - in fact he stops drinking altogether!!!! This is a disaster for a stasis prone bun!!!!
Because he has a rare problem with nerves to his gut, I wondered whether his difficulty swallowing might be partly due to a poor nerve supply to his oesophagus.
I'm very relieved that obviously it's not the nerve disease because many other buns are exactly the same.
I've had to top up his fluids recently by syringe. SS pellets mushed in water are preferable to critical care which he hates with a vengeance. Being a bright boy, he got the message today & drank fairly well.
Please feel free to chat away on this thread, you folk always teach me something.