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Help with getting her to drink

cloughie

Banned
Bit worried about my new bun...her eating is ok-ish...she will eat tiny amounts for food and hay but I never notice her drinking :erk:.

She has 2 bottles...a classic ball and spout one and and one of then ez ones...she has attempted to drink from the classc bottle but starts biting and pulling at the spout? I haven't noticed her drink at all today so far :(.

Any ideas on how to help her? I would have thought that she would know how to use a bottle. Also how to get some water into her for now? she wont touch soaked pellets or veg :(

EDIT: tried her with a bowl but it was hard for her to drink from it as her chinny chin got in the way also I am not keen on bowls as using it was the cause of Pebbles going bald around his mouth recently
 
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Mittens refuses to drink from a bottle, but will drink loads from a bowl... I was going to say veg... hmmm have you tried cucumber? or just wet dandelions - mine woolf them down.
 
Yeh I have tried a bowl but her dewlap gets in the way and goes in the bowl and gets soaking wet, which in turn scares her. Pebbles had a mysterios case of baldness around his mouth recently...it turned out that drinkin from a bowl was causing it so I want to stay away from bowls but will use one as a temp measure.

She wont touch cucumber :( and can't get hold of dandelions around her too easily so not tried them.

Thank you :)
 
All mine get their dewlaps wet. Mischa has a pronounced one from his head tilt, Mini has a slight one and the others have a lot of fur as they are lionheads. I find filling it right up stop them from having to bend in too far and stops it a bit.
 
Domino starts drinking from his bottle and then pulls at the spout- he has always done it, he gets frustrated, and when he pulls it he gets more water.
 
Really don't want to use a bowl it done Pebbles no good, plus when i have put one it she just tries to pick it up and tips it over. She is used to having a bottle and using it properly...I saw her drinking from one at the rescue with no problems..weird bunny.
 
Have you got any avipro? In the past when I've used it I've noticed the buns drank about ten times as much as uual because it's so delicious.

I wouldn't use it long term because it's full of sugar but it might be useful whilst getting her settled in.

Obvisouly also monitor her to see if she's getting dehydrated/slowing down into stasis....if the little amount she drinks doesn't seem to be detrimental maybe that's just how she is :?
 
Possibly a long shot but could you get a bottle that the same as the one she was used to at the rescue?
You mentioned that she was drinking well there so maybe a familiar bottle would work?
 
Treacle can't use a bottle because of her stitches at the mo, and she kept kicking shaving in the bowl so I've just been and got one that clips on to the wire higher up yesterday which seems to be working a lot better, it's not getting bits in it and she isn't having to bend in to it and she can't throw it because it's fixed. :thumb:
 
Are you giving lots of veg? If you are it will explain why she isn't drinking much, if you aren't, do, it will make up for her not drinking. you can wet leaves, grass etc before you give them and you can make a point of feeding nice juicy fruit like pear or apple or plums - lots of wild ones about at the moment. They are high sugar which isn't ideal, but fluid intake is a more critical issue and should be treated as a priority. Best is a big pile of greens every day. Often lack of fluid leads to digestive trouble or compounds it. Never stop veg if your rab has a bad tummy, although in that case do avoid the sweet stuff and opt for greens.
 
:) I found that when Indiana was settling in she wasnt drinking either...vet recomended a very tiny bit of honey in the water (like 5ml square) - it made the water taste nice & she drank for ages from the bowl....Im sure you could try a bottle with it too....got her drinking again ...also a tiny bit of apple...though as mentioned fruit can be abit high in sugar so dont want to give too much...

hope she picks up & starts drinking ! Is such a worry...:?
 
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