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Furby is a poorly bun

Rhianna

Wise Old Thumper
I've just got back from my vet with Furby. I noticed he wasn't eating much yesterday and this morning found last night's supper was untouched. I tried to tempt him with mint, strawberry leaves and bread (my standard 'if a bun ignores this we are in trouble' treat) and he wasn't interested at all.

My vet isn't open on a Sunday so I had to go in as an emergency. They are decorating and it was chaos there. He checked Furby's teeth which looked OK. It's only about a month since his dental. He tried to give Furby some paste but he flatly refused to swallow it.

He's had an antibiotic injection and some fluids under the skin. I've got some critical care to syringe feed him once an hour and some paste to try and get into him too. I asked about pain relief but the vet doesn't think he is in any pain - just very fed-up.

I've got some pineapple juice and left it in a bowl. If he doesn't drink it I will syringe feed some.

I have to take him back before surgery tomorrow. I'm not working today fortunately but am tomorrow so they may have to keep him in and put him on a drip but didn't want to stress him out today and I was happy to bring him home and I've cancelled my plans so I can stay with him all day and night.

I would like to bring him indoors - as feeding him every hour tonight will be a nightmare as he is an outdoor bun - and I want him to have some company as he is deaf which must make him feel more isolated. I don't have any heating on and my house is very cold but I am worried about the difference in temperature.

My overdraft now has an overdraft:( Wish I'd insured Furby but with eight buns and nine cats the monthly premium would be unbelievable. I just hope that my vet will let me pay some next month if the bill gets much higher as I had to pay nearly £70 on Friday for Pippa and she is booked in for a spay this Friday.

Any spare vibes for Furby would be really appreciated. He is one of the Lymington buns and so has had a tough life so far. He's been neutered and I am starting to look for a wifebun for him. I so want him to be OK and have lots of time with me just being a bunny and doing bunny things. He is an adorable fur child.

He will hate me syringe feeding him but it has to be done:(
 
Sorry to hear Furby is poorly :cry:

I really can't understand vets that say that a bun isn't in pain... how on earth can they tell that, i'm sorry, I would have insisted on pain relief if he's not eating.

However, i'm sure the fluids and syringe foods will help. Hope he feels better soon, he's had a tough life so far x
 
I'm so very sorry to see that Furby is poorly.:( My Spenser had stasis last month and the emergency vet advised me to keep him in overnight although he was an outdoor bun. I'm no expert myself, but being in overnight didn't do Spenser any harm - we put him back out to the hutch at 7.30am having had him indoors since 11pm. Our heating wasn't on of course and our house isn't the warmest of places.

Good luck with the syringe feed - Spenser spat most of his out, but he licked a lot off my fleece.

Sending extra special vibes for Furby.
 
Have just been out to Furby. He flatly refused the paste but I did get some pineapple juice down him which I am hoping will stimulate his appetite. He did kick me too which is a great sign as he was very compliant at the vet this morning - most unFurbylike.

I'd like to bring him in but wonder if the stress of a change of environment will do more harm than good. He got very agitated when I carried him into the kitchen to syringe feed him. I have left him with some fresh dandelion leaf and mint. He was sniffing it so I will check shortly to see if any has disappeared. He did seem a bit brighter - but maybe that's wishful thinking.

I think the vet may have given him a steroid injection too - I can't remember as I was quite stressed - and having a decorator in the room was a bit bizarre. He was washing his roller out:? I suppose they were trying to get it done over the weekend as they only open for a couple of hours on a Saturday.
 
I suppose a little pineapple juice is better than nothing, and the kick does sound promising. It was Spenser submitting to being picked up and cuddled that alerted me to the fact he was ill! I too was concerned about the change to environment upsetting Spenser, and it has to be said he didn't eat/poo until he was back in the hutch. He did perk up considerably though, and took the odd nibble. I think there's a thread in chat just now that is discussing bunnies in cold weather, and a couple of folk mentioned that they would be wary of leaving a poorly bunny outside. As with most things there's things to be said on both sides!
 
I can't really give any advice, just let you know that I'm also going through this at the moment.

I've been syringe feeding critical care every 2-4 hours, tempting with lots of treats (have never given bread before, might try that), syringing meta...(something or other) to get his gut moving every 5-6 hours. 'Luckily' this happened at the weekend otherwise I would have just have to have him admitted. I'm knackered though. Still, he's worth every second, every yawn and penny. He's just had some curly kale without me hand feeding him and I nearly wet myself with excitement!

Good luck and come on Furby!
 
Oh hun, my heart sank when i saw this :( maybe if you put this in the rabbit chat people you'll get some more replys, im not experienced with poorly buns. Big hugs xxxx
 
Some deaf buns stress out very easily. Any form of stress slows down the gut so they are at high risk of these issues.
You may find that Furby will eat a few blackthorn leaves if you can find them, failing that hawthorn leaves.
Donnamt's Alvin is deaf & was having frequent stasis episodes until she changed his diet, to more very little veg & more "weeds" & hawthorn/bramble leaves in his hay.
If it's what Furby needs he'll go for it.

Good luck.
Please keep us updated.
 
Hiya

Just caught up with this - poor Furby. I do wonder if the bunnies from Lymington are all starting to relax and by doing so are laying themselves open to some illnesses.

Kind of the reverse of the stress idea. They let themselves feel comfortable and by doing so have less adrenaline rushing around and possibly become less able to manage pain/illness as a result.

Netty has gone downhill in the last couple of days too and is now on Zantac and pain relief. Her poos have deteriorated to very little dots and is going to have to go for a dental as soon as she is able. She's dropped weight since her spay (400gs). This could of course be because she's not on such a high calorie diet and also has more space = uses more calories, but she has a full tummy which is sluggish, on top of cold ears so we are looking a little deeper than just dental.

I do hope that he perks up and that you're able to get to the bottom of his lack of wellness.

I shall be thinking of you.

Helen
 
Thanks guys. I don't know what a hawthorn leaf or a blackthorn leaf looks like :oops:

I've just been out to put the other buns to bed and give them their supper. Furby didn't seem very interested but I kept going back to check on him and he ate a small piece of pear, a spring leaf and is currently nomming some dandelion leaves. There are a few fresh poops in his litter tray so I am not going to syringe feed him at the moment as it stresses him out so much. His gut is clearly moving, albeit slowly, so I will leave him for a while and go out later and check if he's eaten anything else. If not, I'll give him a feed then.

He is moving around a bit more too. He hasn't been down the ramp into his run but he isn't staying in the same part of the hutch as he was earlier.

I just hope he will be OK. Will see what the vet says tomorrow. I don't want him to stay in if he doesn't have to as I know how stressed he will get. I can come home for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to spend some time with him and then for another couple of hours at the end of the day before I go to my evening job.

My poor little man.

More vibes would be welcome:wave:

I am sending vibes for Netty, Helen. She has been through a lot too, poor love. I just wonder if these buns would have had vet care if they hadn't been rehomed or if they would have been left to get on with it. Doesn't bear thinking about :(
 
I'm still thinking of you and Furby and hope he keeps picking up and heading in the right direction.

I also wonder the same as Helen. It seems to happen quite a lot that a rabbit gets into a home or out of a neglectful situation and finally feels safe enough and is not driven by adrenalin and the real problems going on start to show.

I'm just glad he is with you (and all the other Lymington bunnies are somewhere safe). They got a lucky break.
 
Thanks guys. I don't know what a hawthorn leaf or a blackthorn leaf looks like :oops:

I've just been out to put the other buns to bed and give them their supper. Furby didn't seem very interested but I kept going back to check on him and he ate a small piece of pear, a spring leaf and is currently nomming some dandelion leaves. There are a few fresh poops in his litter tray so I am not going to syringe feed him at the moment as it stresses him out so much. His gut is clearly moving, albeit slowly, so I will leave him for a while and go out later and check if he's eaten anything else. If not, I'll give him a feed then.

He is moving around a bit more too. He hasn't been down the ramp into his run but he isn't staying in the same part of the hutch as he was earlier.

I just hope he will be OK. Will see what the vet says tomorrow. I don't want him to stay in if he doesn't have to as I know how stressed he will get. I can come home for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to spend some time with him and then for another couple of hours at the end of the day before I go to my evening job.

My poor little man.

More vibes would be welcome:wave:

I am sending vibes for Netty, Helen. She has been through a lot too, poor love. I just wonder if these buns would have had vet care if they hadn't been rehomed or if they would have been left to get on with it. Doesn't bear thinking about :(

Do you know what Karen, having spoken about this recently to some other rescuers, we have come to the conclusion that maybe some of the bunnies that were at Lymington may have had similar issues and that they would just have been left (or conceivably killed). We can't believe that only some of the rabbits have just started to have some problems - there must have been some prior to us taking them away. Like you say, it doesn't bear thinking about it.

For both of my buns here with poor motility at the moment, we are using Zantac to help so it may be worth asking your vet if this is something they think might be worth trying. It's not a gut stimulant but does seem to help in cases of stasis type symptoms.

Hoping for a happy, eating Furby real soon.
 
Continuing to send vibes, and thinking of you at this worrying time. Furby may be a poorly bunny at the moment, but he is lucky to be with such a caring owner.
 
Do you know what Karen, having spoken about this recently to some other rescuers, we have come to the conclusion that maybe some of the bunnies that were at Lymington may have had similar issues and that they would just have been left (or conceivably killed). We can't believe that only some of the rabbits have just started to have some problems - there must have been some prior to us taking them away. Like you say, it doesn't bear thinking about it.

For both of my buns here with poor motility at the moment, we are using Zantac to help so it may be worth asking your vet if this is something they think might be worth trying. It's not a gut stimulant but does seem to help in cases of stasis type symptoms.


Hoping for a happy, eating Furby real soon.

As far as i'm aware Zantac (ranitidine) although primarily an H2 receptor antagonist, it is a prokinetic drug also and stimulates gut motility but acts only on the lower gut, and helps with caecal emptying. For this reason it could certainly be helpful for Furby. I would stress again the importance of pain relief if he is still anorexic.
 
As far as i'm aware Zantac (ranitidine) although primarily an H2 receptor antagonist, it is a prokinetic drug also and stimulates gut motility but acts only on the lower gut, and helps with caecal emptying. For this reason it could certainly be helpful for Furby. I would stress again the importance of pain relief if he is still anorexic.

Thanks - that does make perfect sense when well written. This is exactly what it's being used for in both our cases. The rabbits are still eating well but just not emptying the lower gut - full up but not blocked, just very, very sluggish. It does seem to be working and in both cases we are also administering Meloxidyl for pain relief (as directed by the vet).
 
Thank you lots everyone. I so appreciate your support. I live on my own and nursing a sick fur baby can sometimes seem overwhelming. A friend has just 'phoned to see how Furby is doing which was great - but he knows nothing about bunnies so can't give me any advice or suggestions.

I am just leaving Furby for now and will check on him later. He isn't a cuddle bun so I don't want to stress him out. I am just hoping he will have eaten some more when I go outside later.

I will mention the Zantac to my vet and also pain relief. He was sitting hunched up this morning but isn't any longer. He did seem brighter after seeing the vet - don't know if it was one of the injections or the fluids he was given.

I've only just decided it is time to look for a wife for Furby but am now worried in case bonding him causes him to stop eating again. I'd hate him to spend the rest of his life on his own but once he gets over this (as I pray he will) I will be wary of doing anything to unsettle him.
 
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