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Help - rabbit not eating or drinking.

T

TheoBailey

Young Bun
I came home from work around 6pm and fed both rabbits. One, as usual, was super excited for the feed however the other was not.

It's now 3 hours later and the rabbit still hasn't ate anything, or drank anything. He is pooping, but only in small numbers.

I have read up about it and the general advice is to contact Vet after 12 hours if no change, which I will do. Anyone had any similar situations, or know of most likely causes?? My rabbits always have timothy hay available to eat

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi :wave:

A number of things may stop a rabbit eating and it's a serious issue as they go downhill so quickly. Ideally your rabbit needs to see a vet tonight; some vets are more rabbit-savvy than others, though. He may have dental pain or an obstruction; there's a whole range of possible causes. Try to tempt him with his favourite foods - herbs are good or blackberry leaves. Hopefully someone else will be along to advise more soon :wave:
 
When my bunny Sprocket get's like this then it's an urgent trip to the vet that's required I'm afraid. It could be bloat and the bunny could really go down hill fast if not seen. Hope you can get your bun seen and that he gets some treatment. x
 
Is he eating anything? Will he eat treats, veg etc? If he isn't eating anything I would take him to the emergency vets tonight, bunnies can go downhill VERY quickly.
 
Rabbits can go downhill very quickly. I would advise seeking emergency vet attention tonight. I am surprised at the advice to wait 12 hours before seeing a vet if a rabbit isn't eating.
 
Definitely agree with the others, especially the fact that it's unknown how long he hasn't been eating for while you were out. With rabbits the sooner treatment starts the better the prognosis as the guts can take a while to get functioning again properly so the sooner treatment starts the better.


Babsie said:
Rabbits can go downhill very quickly. I would advise seeking emergency vet attention tonight. I am surprised at the advice to wait 12 hours before seeing a vet if a rabbit isn't eating.
Click to expand...

The above is advice I mistakenly followed four year ago with dire consequences. I read that it becomes an emergency at 12 hours - I mistakenly believed that meant I didn't have to seek vet consultation before then, but that isn't what it meant. I got that from 'Rabbit Health in the 21st Century' but mis-interpreted what it meant.
 
Vets now!!

Fluffy was like that a few weeks ago I took her in straight away, she stayed there for 2 days whilst the staff worked on getting rid of stasis, it then took me a couple of days to treat her followed by a relapse a week later. The relapse was a quick visit to the vets on the same morning I noticed her been ill again and 3 injections later we were home again.
 
On way back from vets hosp. Theos guts had stopped moving and has been given an injection
- thanks for all the replies !
 
:D So glad to hear Theo's getting back to normal. Did the vet suggest why it happened? It may be dietary and if so you'll need to be careful.
 
bunslave said:
:D So glad to hear Theo's getting back to normal. Did the vet suggest why it happened? It may be dietary and if so you'll need to be careful.
Click to expand...

No the vet didn't say what would have caused it. To be honest the vet wasn't that clued up as she had to take it round back to another vet to find out what was wrong. Just told us to feed him alot to get his guts moving again. Arranging another appt with local vet anyway for a follow up
 
TheoBailey said:
Yeah, definitely worked quickly! Already some carrot, banana, spinach and hay down !
Click to expand...

So pleased you went to the vet last night.

It might be an idea to review your bunny's diet: carrot is very sweet and can affect the gut (and teeth); spinach is very high in calcium and banana is high in potassium. They are all better kept as 'treats'.

I would suggest concentrating on getting lots of a good variety of hay into him.

You could add herbs and very gradually introduce a small amount of some other veg (such as spring greens).

Hope things continue to go well.
 
TheoBailey said:
No the vet didn't say what would have caused it. To be honest the vet wasn't that clued up as she had to take it round back to another vet to find out what was wrong. Just told us to feed him alot to get his guts moving again. Arranging another appt with local vet anyway for a follow up
Click to expand...

It's good that the vet you saw got hold of another vet. :)
In the follow up ask them to check his teeth as well. Sometimes teeth issues cause pain and stop the rabbit eating which causes the gut to stop. But he's eating hay which is a good sign. Get as much hay down him as you can. :wave:
 
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