Bunbun2011
Young Bun
My poor 7 yr old bunny hasn't had a very good year so far. Over xmas he developed head tilt, as he's a house bunny we noticed very quickly his behaviour wasn't normal so we caught it in good time and he made pretty much a full recovery. The only difference being he no longer does his bunny flops or goes up the stairs. We were of course very relieved he got better.
However, over Easter (it's always the holidays!) his left ear suddenly flopped down and he started having trouble eating. It's like he wanted to eat but had trouble picking food up so had to be hand fed. After a couple of days we managed to get him to the vet who kept him in overnight to check his teeth under GA. They were fine and he said he thought the problem was stasis, I'm sure it's not though. Something caused the stasis and when I asked about his ear he just shrugged!
Anyway, he gave me some food to syringe feed him with which he just wouldn't take and some gut motility meds which helped alot. He seemed to be well on the way to recovery but after being scared witless by a cat in the garden on 2 occassions (we now watch like hawks if he's outdoors) the stasis has started again. He lost loads of weight, it's awful seeing him so skinny as he was such a healthy strapping bun. We've got more meds which have helped, he's lots happier, but he still has trouble eating. He finds it hard to pick up food and it takes him ages to chew. He had a small carrot stick yesterday and it took him 5 mins to eat 1/2 of it!
Could he have had a stroke, or banged his head jumping off something? I know he's an old bun now but I'm not ready to give up on him. He's not in pain (least doesn't appear to be) and seems content. I just want him to be able to feed himself and put on weight. He won't eat hay, never has, he'd rather starve! And I tried him on oats as I read they're good for increasing weight but he won't eat those. Any advice?!?!? I love my bunny and worry about him all the time just now.
However, over Easter (it's always the holidays!) his left ear suddenly flopped down and he started having trouble eating. It's like he wanted to eat but had trouble picking food up so had to be hand fed. After a couple of days we managed to get him to the vet who kept him in overnight to check his teeth under GA. They were fine and he said he thought the problem was stasis, I'm sure it's not though. Something caused the stasis and when I asked about his ear he just shrugged!
Anyway, he gave me some food to syringe feed him with which he just wouldn't take and some gut motility meds which helped alot. He seemed to be well on the way to recovery but after being scared witless by a cat in the garden on 2 occassions (we now watch like hawks if he's outdoors) the stasis has started again. He lost loads of weight, it's awful seeing him so skinny as he was such a healthy strapping bun. We've got more meds which have helped, he's lots happier, but he still has trouble eating. He finds it hard to pick up food and it takes him ages to chew. He had a small carrot stick yesterday and it took him 5 mins to eat 1/2 of it!
Could he have had a stroke, or banged his head jumping off something? I know he's an old bun now but I'm not ready to give up on him. He's not in pain (least doesn't appear to be) and seems content. I just want him to be able to feed himself and put on weight. He won't eat hay, never has, he'd rather starve! And I tried him on oats as I read they're good for increasing weight but he won't eat those. Any advice?!?!? I love my bunny and worry about him all the time just now.