feeding recovery feed

I've just returned for rushing Oliver rabbit into the vet

We've come away with recovery feed but he's not interested! Any helpful hints in getting him to take it?

I made up te paste and drew it up into a syringe, put molly inbetween my knees and ery slowly squeezed it into te side of er mout.

Sorry about te missing letters! My keyboard as gone a bit mad!

hmmpf, the vet told me to put it in a saucer - which I have - to which he is turning his nose up at!

He has, on the positive side had a couple of bits of hay and a couple of pellets

I would syringe it directly in to the mouth. Few rabbits will eat it off the spoon/plate, particularly if they are anorexic anyway which is really the only time you would need to feed it.

However, if bun is showing willingness to self feed I would encourage this as much as possible and lay out lots of different foods, including greens/herbs/leaves nice and wet and fresh. :wave:

Thanks PL

I have a selection of frezze dried grass, pellets, basil and hay going on!

Where can I get a syringe from? A pharmacy I presume?

the vet should have given you a syringe!! try a pharmacy that sells disabled aids..those smaller chemists often are more helpful than say a well known one.
but you may get one from there anyway.

ring the vets and ask them for a 5ml syringe......then get a fork..insert one prong into the nozzle and turn it around several times..this widens the nozzle and makes it easier to syringe..

never follow the instructions..you just add a bit of the feed and add warm water to make it as runny or as thick as it will pass through the syringe.

if its easier...get some of the normal food pellets...add warm/hot water..not boiling...and let them soak for about 5 mins...then fluff up with a fork and try and mush out any large lumps....ive had a handheld blender for years...and one its main jobs has been to puree pellets and water for syringe feeding. You can also add a little fruit flavoured baby food to give it more flavour. Weve found over the years that the HIPP ORGANIC PEAR AND APPLE PUDDING is the favourite:lol:

wrap bunny in a towel to keep paws in....sit on floor and get on your knees crossing your ankles/shins so bunny cannot reve:lol:rse and escape...gently feel for bunnys mouth...slowly put the syringe nozzle into the corner of the mouth..behind the teeth..and squirt very slowly.

if this fails..enlist another person to help..hold bunny on their lap whilst theyre sitting on settee or chair or even the edge of the bed...head facing you....gently locate the side of the mouth..the gap behind the teeth and try again..be warned you will end up with the mix everywhere...or maybe its just us...bunnies spitting it out and running for it smearing it all over the towel..the clothes the person holding bunny has on...all over the furniture theyre sitting on...you will drip loads on the floor etc..go to push an air bubble out but a minute bit of the feed has stuck..so you press a little harder..its moved..yay..oh dear look at your walls:shock::lol:

my 2nd housebunny used to love licking recovery feed off a saucer..but only if he could be near the cats saucers:lol:

If you work with a 1ml syringe (easier to fit in the side of their mouth) cut the tip off, else you won't be able to draw the recovery into it - it'll just extract the water.

After you've cut the tip off make sure it feels smooth, else file the edges with a nail file, else bun will get a sore mouth.

I don't tend to use recovery as none of my buns ever chose to eat it.

Instead I put some of their pellets in a grinder then mix a scoop of pellets with some critical care formula (made up with water) and a spoon of 100% pure apple (baby food)
Works a treat and much easier to syringe

You can go back to the vet for a syringe or ask a chemist for the syringes you use to give medicine to babies, get the one with the widest tip because smaller ones will just get the water and none of the recovery :wave: I think the easiest way (depending on how laid back the rabbit is) is to cradle them like a baby, not so far back that they're in a trance, but so they're sitting up, secure and you can easily access their mouth, you need to be firm or they'll just wriggle away, and only do a bit at a time otherwise they might spit it out

PS. wear scruffy clothes! and you might want to do it outside, sometimes if there's something trapped in the syringe it'll just burst out all over the walls :roll:

so far have covered me and the bathroom several times in the recovery feed and none of it has gone into oliver :roll:

I got a 10 pack of recovery today for Granite and it came with its own syringe Its ace so much better than the ones ive been given from the vets the end is rather wide and its nicely shaped to get into buns mouth.

As for tips I've just wrapped Granite in a towel and had him in a normal sitting position ish, so that I don't choke him with too much or it going down the wrong way, then just syringed away. remember not too much in each push

My plunger keeps getting stuck :roll:

I've given up for a while until my OH manages to remove himself from the office - will hopefully get him to help

Oliver is nibbling away at the freeze dried grass (or whatever its called)