Off food

Hi Can someone help.

Our male rabbit of one year managed to eat a tea spoon of rat poison about two and a half weeks ago. We took him to the vet who kept him for 12 hours on a drip of VIT K I believe and sent him home with VIT K tablets which we placed into apples to get it down. This continued for a about a week and he seemed fine. Over the last three days he has gone off food and drinks very little. He will only eat little bits of hay and dead leaves in the garden. He wont eat any rabbit food or his favourite rockett. He is passing urine and poo but obviously not in the quantity he normally does, what is passing seems to be normal in color.
We have brought him in the house for the last three days, and when we let him out, he does run around.
I believe this could be an upset stomach issue now rather than the effect of the poison? we also placed a plant in the garden last week a chamaerops humillis ( Palm plant basically) which he has had a go at, I have googled this and doesnt appear to be poiseness, unless its only started to take effect now but thought we would have seen this a lot earlier?

should I have a go with the pineapple juice and infacol and see how I get on? and how much and when should I give it

any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Kev

Hi Kev,

Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry it's not under happier circuumstances.

I think that given his history of eating rat poison it is vital that he is gotten to the emergency vets ASAP. Even without that history the best recommendation is to get him to a vets as an emergency. There are so many things that could be wrong that we could make suggestions that could make his problem worse and make him iller.

Please let us know how you get on.

Hi Many thanks

We did take him to the vets after he had eaten the posion, we are now two and a half weeks down the line following his medication.
Funny enough he has this morning eaten a bit more hay and a bit of apple ? he contiunes also to drink water.

He has been constantly gooming himself this morning... after reading some other sites is it right they can go off food whem moulting? as he has been moulting a lot over the last two days. We have just groomed him with a brush

A rabbit not eating is a critical problem because if their gut stops moving for even a short period of time (some say as little as 5 hours) a condition called stasis can be brought on which means the gut shuts down and stops moving. This means that the harmful bacteria in the gut can start to grow out of control, causing other problems as well. This condition can be fatal.

There are many signs and problems that cause a rabbit to stop eating (such as dental issues, pain, gas, blockage and stress, among the more common, but there are many other reasons too- all though, common or uncommon, require veterinary attention).

It might be worth reading When Seek Vet Attention for your Rabbit

It's good he is nibbling a tiny bit, and also that you have groomed him. He still does need to see a vet though. Grooming is a preventative but he already has something going on inside that needs to be addressed, whatever the reason is. If he does have a hair blockage or issue in his gut then it is important to brush them to remove excess hair, but it won't remove the hair he has already ingested.

I hope you are able to get him seen today

Hi Kev, welcome to the forum.
I would strongly recommend you get bunny to the vets today, if his digestive flow is slowing down he could well be heading in to statis.
I would tend to agree with you that this is probably unrelated to the poison after this amount of time, but this is still potentially very serious and does need adressing.
The vet needs to check his overall health, check for any blockages in the stomach, check his teeth and if all this checks out then he should be administered the following:

Metaclopramide- Gut stimulant
Ketofen/Metacam- Pain relief
Fibreplex (Which you should be continuing at home)
Bio Lapis- Balance the gut flora and aid in getting rid of harmful bacteria (Again this is something that you should continue at home)
Recovery food (If he is not eating much he will need to be syringe fed every 3 hours)

I hope bunny is ok and you manage to get him seen.

Good luck!

Hi Thank you for the feed back. Is it common though for them to be so active if feeling poorly. When we let him out into the garden he seems really happy and content

Kev Mc said:

Hi Thank you for the feed back. Is it common though for them to be so active if feeling poorly. When we let him out into the garden he seems really happy and content

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Yes it can be that a Rabbit remains reasonably active until their condition gets much worse. By which time it may be too late to obtain treatment

A Rabbit needs an almost constant input and output in order to survive. 8+ Hours of not eating can lead to a serious problem.

Reduced or no fecal production is also potentially very serious.

Did the Vet check your Rabbits Liver Function after the ingestion of poison ?

As a prey species they are programmed not to show signs of illness that may make them appear more vulnerable to a predator. They will often therefore hide that they are feeling unwell. Hope your bun gets better soon.

Jack's-Jane said:

Yes it can be that a Rabbit remains reasonably active until their condition gets much worse. By which time it may be too late to obtain treatment

A Rabbit needs an almost constant input and output in order to survive. 8+ Hours of not eating can lead to a serious problem.

Reduced or no fecal production is also potentially very serious.

Did the Vet check your Rabbits Liver Function after the ingestion of poison ?

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Hi Thanks... He has eaten, for example he has just consumed 3 leaves from the cauliflower, he has also nbbled on a little bit of rockett earlier today, and a bit of fresh hay. He also poo's and passes urines but not a great deal?

No I dont believe they checked the liver, but then again I wouldnt know that

thanks
Kev

RedFraggle said:

As a prey species they are programmed not to show signs of illness that may make them appear more vulnerable to a predator. They will often therefore hide that they are feeling unwell. Hope your bun gets better soon.

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thanks ever so much that is really useful information and wouldnt have even thought of that

thanks
Kev

I hope the vet can help and he starts eating normally again soon. Sending lots of vibes xx

Captain Helen said:

I hope the vet can help and he starts eating normally again soon. Sending lots of vibes xx

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thanks, its wrecking my head. I sat up till all hours the other night worrying

What did the vet think?

Hi

I have had rabbits on Vit K as a precautionary preventattive and they did not go through those symptoms - so I suspect that the slowing is not related to the meds themselves (although a liver function test would be comforting to ensure no damage was done by the poison ).


Am I right in understanding that today he is actually eating and active, but there is reduced faecal and urine output and slightly pickier with food?

The palm plant would be something I would actually be concerned about as plants like this do not beak down in the same way in the stomach as the normal rabbit diet - they have specifically developed (in evolution) to be tough and unpalatable - and if he has ingested some of this then it may be slowing his gut down and even creating an area of undigested food in the gut that could be causing issues.

I would defnitely take him to a vet as soon as you can and take with you both the notes concerning the Vit K etc AND some of the palm plant as a sample.

Also take some of his poos to show them - Good luck!

Hi Many thanks.

Yes he has eaten periodically throughout the day, and drank water. He has poos and passes urine, but not a great deal