Very Worried about Bella, advice please update 29/5

Not been able to get her tum right for about a week now, only thing I can think of is that she had too much fresh grass one day but I had been weaning them both on it over a couple of weeks before they went on the lawn. She has had a squitty botty a couple of times, I leave her on hay and water and tempt her with a very tiny piece of bread/treat just to make sure she wants to eat and then we are back to square one again. The last few days she has been producing very little poo, some very small black near solids yesterday and some linked with some undigested hay, and I had a bunch of grapes this morning. She was her usual active nosey self last night on the patio as I sat with both of them late last night just to watch her behaviour. I could tell that she wasn't 100% although she was still bobbing around the run and generally being nosey. I waited and waited and watched and watched but she barely ate anything. Tried her with 3-4 pellets and she did eat them but not with much interest. Her ears were upright and she was grooming herself and also cleaning around her botty and I think eating her poo

I did take them to my vets yesterday anyway for their VHD as they had their myxi a couple of weeks ago. I asked my vet to check her tummy and she couldn't feel anything and said from what I told her it sounded like her digestive system/gut wall was obviously out of sync so she has given me a 5 day course of Bio-Lapis to put in the water which I have done but she won't drink it. I try her with a plain bowl of water and she laps it up :idea:

I asked my vet as to whether she should have her VHD jab until I got her tum better but she didn't seem to think it would be a problem and I know on occasion the jab can upset some buns. They both get very very stressed when I take them to the vet and I have to spend time calming them down as these visits normally set Cookie's tummy off.

Left the usual shed loads of fresh hay in last night (no pellets) but I don't know what she had if anything. Got up this morning and offered her the water but she wouldn't have it. Tried just a bowl of plain water and she had a good drink. Offered her half dozen pellets and she has eaten them, but again with not much interest.

Am at my wit's end, just sitting there watching and waiting for hours a day, not sure what to do at the moment At what point, if we get there, do I need to rush her back to the vet?

Help anyone?

dinklepip said:

Not been able to get her tum right for about a week now, only thing I can think of is that she had too much fresh grass one day but I had been weaning them both on it over a couple of weeks before they went on the lawn. She has had a squitty botty a couple of times, I leave her on hay and water and tempt her with a very tiny piece of bread/treat just to make sure she wants to eat and then we are back to square one again. The last few days she has been producing very little poo, some very small black near solids yesterday and some linked with some undigested hay, and I had a bunch of grapes this morning. She was her usual active nosey self last night on the patio as I sat with both of them late last night just to watch her behaviour. I could tell that she wasn't 100% although she was still bobbing around the run and generally being nosey. I waited and waited and watched and watched but she barely ate anything. Tried her with 3-4 pellets and she did eat them but not with much interest. Her ears were upright and she was grooming herself and also cleaning around her botty and I think eating her poo

I did take them to my vets yesterday anyway for their VHD as they had their myxi a couple of weeks ago. I asked my vet to check her tummy and she couldn't feel anything and said from what I told her it sounded like her digestive system/gut wall was obviously out of sync so she has given me a 5 day course of Bio-Lapis to put in the water which I have done but she won't drink it. I try her with a plain bowl of water and she laps it up :idea:

I asked my vet as to whether she should have her VHD jab until I got her tum better but she didn't seem to think it would be a problem and I know on occasion the jab can upset some buns. They both get very very stressed when I take them to the vet and I have to spend time calming them down as these visits normally set Cookie's tummy off.

Left the usual shed loads of fresh hay in last night (no pellets) but I don't know what she had if anything. Got up this morning and offered her the water but she wouldn't have it. Tried just a bowl of plain water and she had a good drink. Offered her half dozen pellets and she has eaten them, but again with not much interest.

Am at my wit's end, just sitting there watching and waiting for hours a day, not sure what to do at the moment At what point, if we get there, do I need to rush her back to the vet?

Help anyone?

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Now if she is not eating or drinking.

Why on earth she was given the VHD vaccine I dont know. On ALL makes of the vaccine it clearly states that only *HEALTHY* Rabbits should be vaccinated. A Rabbit with gut dysbiosis is not a healthy Rabbit.

Personally I'd seek advice from a DIFFERENT Vet today

Good luck

omg I did question it and my vet is normally very very good. I don't know what to do now, she clearly isn't happy this morning

she has had some water and a tiny piece of bread

Bread is likely to upset her guts more.

IMO you do need to get her back to a Vet as she is clearly unwell and will require pain relief at the very least.

If the Vaccine given was the CYLAP brand then she is also likely to be feeling rotten from that. Out of the three VHD Vaccines available CYLAP is by far the worst for unpleasant side effects.

she doesn't appear to be in pain, I generally know the signs

vet mentioned an antibiotic but didn't want to give it to her at the same time as the VHD for some reason

I had to try a tiny piece of bread to make sure she still wanted to eat something,

Stress, vaccinations, bread, pellets, grass - all will trigger and keep re-triggering her dysbiosis until you can get this under control. It may be pain related, it is very hard to identify pain in a rabbit, even if you think you know your rabbit very well. The general rule is - if a rabbit is not eating or has loss of appetite at all then there is VERY likely pain present and for this reason as Jane says pain relief is important. It's also been very warm and I suspect she may need some fluids also.

My rabbits do not touch biolapis either, even though it is the best probiotic. So an alternative such as fibreplex or profibre pellets would be a good idea at this point. Other than that, a good thorough vet examination to check for any other possible pain causes - including teeth, and then she really just needs hay, hay and more hay and you will need to supervise her eating more closely. If she is not eating at all she will need to be forcefed by syringe.
Good luck x

Hi, I have been purposely offering her water which she has been taking and she has just had around 3 pellets, she is nibbling at the hay but doesn't seem to be eating it though. She is in her bed with Cookie at the moment grooming him. I have been trying to get this under control now for about a week, one day she seems OK but I don't give her any treats just in case, then she seems off again. She is eating a little and drinking but obviously not enough so I shall ring my vet. Would a pain inject help boost her appetite?

I can't supervise her feeding any closer than I am at the moment, and have been watching her like a hawk:lol:

I am offering her water about every 10mins and she is having a good drink

arrrrrrrrrr I know why she didn't want to give her antibiotics now, just read up on it it can make it worse

do most pet shops sell fibreplex pellets, I have never heard of them. Just spotted that they do it in a paste too. She would probably take it if I smeared it onto her paws.

just an update on Bella. After a worrying few days after her dental I took her back for a check-up as I wasn't 100% happy as she still wasn't touching her hay and her poos were still quite small with the odd day of soft ones. I did give her one daily dose of Fibreplex too. Apart from that she was her usual bouncy nutty self

Vet said her teeth were absolutely fine and for me to stop worrying (yeah right:lol. Anyway, she shocked me last week and completely out of the blue started tucking into her hay again INCLUDING a willow stick that she has had in the hutch for about 2 months and just chucks around rather than chews on it. OMG I cried with relief.

Anyway she is eating absolutely fine with no probs and is 100% her usual self EXCEPT that her poos are still a little small. They are noticeably darker due to the fresh grass they munch on and sometimes lighter due to the hay she has been eating, but I can't work out why they are still small. Any ideas?

Hey Sky, I am a very happy mummy, Bella has just done me some lovely larger poos, all full of hay

dinklepip said:

Hey Sky, I am a very happy mummy, Bella has just done me some lovely larger poos, all full of hay

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Hey that's good news hope Bella continues to improve.x

think that additional new hay I bought (Timothy with Bark) has helped, both seem to love it. She is busy with Cookie bunny hopping around the run on the lawn

Has been over a month now and I am still not 100% happy with Bella. She is eating well, am giving them 3 diff types of hay now. Most of the time she behaves 100% normal, lots of exercise time in the 18ft run on the lawn and lots of binkies and running around. I have moved them both onto Science Selective now because of the Excel pellet scare with Cookie and Bella has taken to the Protexin pellets well on Sky's recommendation, I give her two small amounts per day.

Still.........I feel something is not right. Her poos are still not the right size and mostly small. Some days black due to the fresh grass and some days golden cus of all the hay she has been eating. I have pretty much steered clear of treats except the odd very very small thing as it has caused her to produce some very soft poos on a couple of occasions. They are both pretty much on fresh grass, hay and some pellets.

She is passing a creamy coloured wee wee which later darkens to a dark orange colour. I can't understand why I am still getting smaller than normal poos when she seems 100% most of the time.


Any ideas