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Syringe feeding...how often?

alio71

Mama Doe
Could someone please tell me how much and how often I should be doing this?

Archie again just doesn't seem right. He is fully dosed up on metacam so shouldn't be in pain. His tum feels quiet soft and is not making any noises but I've not seen him eat for a while. The food is disappearing but his wifebun has been previously starved so is munching for England at the moment!

Do you think it would be a good idea to separate them or is this just likely to cause him even more stress?

Any thoughts really appreciated

Ali and Archie xx
 
:wave: i wouldnt separate them as this will make him stressed and will make the eating side worse....i syringe feed mine about 5 times a day and about 2-3 times a night....little and often is best i think as you dont want to choke them or have it end up in the lungs and cause pneumonia!!!:shock:
have you got critical care? or are you making a mash of pellets?
before you try syringe feeding ,try feeding by hand. ours love it when you are on the floor pushing parsley into their mouths:roll: sometimes this works better than the syringing as they are less stressed.tapping them on the face gently with greens/ herbs/ hay annoys them and makes them eat!
when harry stopped eating i made sure that every couple of hours if i hadnt seen her eat, i would get on the floor and offer her something new..
if you have to syringe feed, i would say as much as they will take at that time..
good luck;)
 
Thanks, I syringe fed him about an hour ago with critical care about 4ml before I gave him the metacam. Just been in and put some mashed pellets with oats down for them. Aby was doing her usual scoffing and Archie just joined her at the bowl so perhaps he was just in pain again. Phew fostering poorly buns is stressful!!!
 
No don't separate them - this will cause undue stress and stress must be kept to a minimum.

For syringe feeding I do 10-20ml every 2-4 hours (4 being the longest I will leave it) and I also combine this with fluids at a rate of 5-10ml every 2-4 hours - basically syringe fluids before food or alternately. Sometimes it is a question of getting in as much as you can but it needs to be done quite often to keep the gut moving and for some buns little and often works better. I prefer to get it in and then give my bun a 2 hour rest before starting again. I also encourage bunny to hop around if it is uncomplicated GI stasis.
 
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