Not eating 3 days after dental!! Please please help

Little Pixie was admitted for a dental on Friday and all went really well although the vet said her teeth were extreamly sharp and long. She was 'nibbling' quite a bit and very perky when she came home but by lunch time on Sat she wasn't eating anything so we started critical care (which she hates and really stresses her out). We got a half a suringe in her and about an hour later, oh my goodness she has the loudest noise coming from her gut! Sounded like she was 'fermenting' and popping it was so loud. I did panic and then phoned the emergency vet, we took her in and they have been force feeding her critical care since Sat afternoon! She is still not eating on her own but is extreamlly perky in herself, no tempreture at all and no signs of pain. Is there anything else I can ask the vet to try as I'm so worried. I have dropped off food to tempt her; basil, thyme, favoirte pellets, cabbage, over ripe apple so nice and juicy, ready grass, plaintain. All of these she will just take very small nibbles then leave which is most unlike her as she usually eats for England! She does happily go up to the food and looks like she really wants to tuck in then just doesnt. I've spoken to the vet who is given her antibiotics and pain relief and she is saying the force feeding is now becoming an issue as she is getting extreamly very stressed - what do I do, bring her home and hope she will start eating or leave her at the vets for more stress with force feeding?? I'm really so very worried as she is so very perky I can't work out what is wrong. Please please help as if she doesnt start eating soon I've a feeling i know a desision will have to be made which I really don't want to make. It was also her 3rd birthday on Friday too, poor sweet darling.

Give her a chance.Tempt her with her faves.
Its not unusual for a bun not to eat after a dental.At least she has pain relief.She may start to eat if in her own surroundings.Soaked pellets,plenty of her faves with water drops on to encourage fluids.
Hope she starts to eat soon.

That's good to know it's not unusal for a bun to start eating this long after a dental. Many thanks for your reply, I packed up her favorite things this morning so I'm really hoping she'll start to eat soon. Hubby and I re turfed their runs at the weekend so she can come home to some really lovely fresh long grass - i have made sure it was washing throughly too. :thumb:

I find that my dental buns usually do better in their familiar surroundings (ie at home). Gut stimulants (is she getting any????) and pain relief will eventually turn things round. One of mine takes about 10-14 days to get used to his 'new' teeth. With the added complication of bloat / stasis, it may take a week or 2 to be fully back to normal. If she is otherwise OK, perky and interested in things, just keep up with the meds (can syringe by mouth at home), offer lots of interesting bits and pieces to eat in small quantities, a saucer of the critical care so she can eat without the stress, and make sure she is drinking (again, a bowl may work better). Dandelion leaves are always popular here post-op. Exercise also helps to keep the guts moving. Is she weeing / pooing? Poo is always a good sign - but she needs input to make the output.

I certainly wouldn't be giving up at this point.

I think her mouth is probably still very sore. If her teeth were very bad they will have cut into the cheeks and tongue which will take a few days to heal.
Can you put down soft food like pellets soaked in water, mashed banana or porridge oats soaked in water? Even just putting the critical care in a bowl to see if she'll eat it on her own.

Have you had the antibiotics and pain killers to take and give at home?

Phew these comments have really put my mind at rest, many thanks guys :wave: She is getting paing relief etc and I've spoken to the vet this morning, she has double checked inside her mouth and can find nothing wrong or sore but she's still not eating, they are going to try and seperate her from her boyfriend in ajoining cages and keep an even closer eye on her and her habbits etc to see what she does and to check the poop amount too. They have a very strong bond so I'm hoping all will be well with this and hope it works. They are only going to try this for a couple of hours this morning so fingers crossed she will start to eat.

Is she being given any gut stimulants eg metoclopramide?

Shimmer said:

Is she being given any gut stimulants eg metoclopramide?

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Yep, she has been given all of the above so a real puzzle as to why she isn't eating. Poor darling, I'm going to pop and see her later today.

Bobak had an emergency dental back in October and he stayed at the vets for 10 days without eating more than a few pellets. His teeth had started to poke into his cheeks and he has ulsers He was on pain relief and gut stimulants and an IV but just wouldn't eat despite the vets saying he looked really interested in his food. We decided in the end to bring him home. As soon as he got back into our apartment he started chowing down on everything I put in front of him! Later that day he started pooping again and each day he improved until he was back to normal. The vet sent him home without any medication as they thought these might be preventing him from eating. Not sure how true this is but it definitely worked for him.

Since then he's had another routine dental rather than emergency and it took him 48 hours to start eating again much to my relief!! :thumb:

I hope all goes well for Pixie, sending lots of vibes x

clarebasham2208 said:

Bobak had an emergency dental back in October and he stayed at the vets for 10 days without eating more than a few pellets. His teeth had started to poke into his cheeks and he has ulsers He was on pain relief and gut stimulants and an IV but just wouldn't eat despite the vets saying he looked really interested in his food. We decided in the end to bring him home. As soon as he got back into our apartment he started chowing down on everything I put in front of him! Later that day he started pooping again and each day he improved until he was back to normal. The vet sent him home without any medication as they thought these might be preventing him from eating. Not sure how true this is but it definitely worked for him.

Since then he's had another routine dental rather than emergency and it took him 48 hours to start eating again much to my relief!! :thumb:

I hope all goes well for Pixie, sending lots of vibes x

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Bless your hart for this reply, I was thinking of brining her home just to see how she goes : )) I'm going to have a chat to the vet tonight and see what she thinks, the worst case is that she'll have to be admitted again but you never know being home just might work - I'll keep you posted :wave:

Definitely have a chat with your vet. They might think that it's too soon. If they think it'll be OK and as long as you're in easy reach of your vet and they will let you readmit her at any time then it could be worth a go. Both times Bobak has been under GA he's been reluctant to eat at the vets but perks up when he comes home. He particularly hates being force fed so I tried to do it as little as possible and just make sure he ate little and often. For him the smell of mint is irresistable!! :lol:

Keep us updated with her progress please :thumb:

Good advice from everyone else so don't have much to add except to buy lots of different herbs to tempt too and maybe some grated carrots or carrot tops too.

One of my buns didn't start eating properly for about 5 days once after a dental.

Cant thank you all enough for your comments, they have helped a great deal :thumb: The vet is doing his 'rounds' about 10ish so I'll have more news then, we're going to ask if she can come home for an afternoon (perhaps tomorrow) and I'll keep a very close eye on her and if she still hasn't eaten then I can easily pop her back to the vet in good time. I'm also going to pop in with some greated carrot and baby food too later (to add to the massive bag of goodies I took in yesterday). I'll keep you all updated :wave:

I hope the vet calls with some good news, but don't be discouraged if they say she's the same as before because I got the same feedback from our vet everyday... still not eating but looks like he wants to and still no pooping. He turned into a pooping machine when he came home! :lol: I think some buns are extremely sensitive to the vet environment. My little boy flirts outrageously with our vet but won't eat after GA, think he just loves the attention :roll:

I hope you're OK and not worrying too much, I remember how stressful it was after Bobak's emergency dental and how much I cried every night when I went home and he wasn't there. Stay positive and I'm sending lots of <<vibes>> for Pixie's recovery :thumb:

I also agree that some buns prefer to be in their own environment, could you leave her there of a day and then bring her home at night? I did this once with one of my poorly bunnies.

I've just spoken to the vet and Pixie is now taking the critical care a bit better which is a very big surprise as she really really hates being force fed!! She has eaten a tiny bit of grass too so although it's small it's progress. The vet would like to take xrays and blood tests to see if there is anything else going on that may be the cause but Pixie is just so bright in herself they are reluctant to put her through any more stress unless we decide to go ahead. I'm bringing her home this afternoon and see how she goes - I'm praying she just starts eating If she's not eating I'll pop her back to the vet and go from there. I know this sounds silly but the garden is so quiet without them (Parsnip has kept Pixie company thoughout), I can't wait to get them home even though it may be for a few hours

My vet suggested exactly the same thing, blood tests and xray. I let them do the blood test which came back OK but not the xray as I didn't want him to go through anymore stress as (same with your bun) he was bright and bouncing around but just not eating/pooping!

I really hope she comes home and starts eating, she might be quiet in the afternoon and perk up in the evening so try not to panic.

Best of luck, bet you can't wait to have them home

It's good news as we picked up Pixie last night and she was really bright and was even pleased to see me which was so very sweet, nearly made me cry Popped her in the run and she started to eat the grass!! I then cut up some cabbage fairly small and she tucked into that and really enjoyed it too. We had a few poops over night and a couple of runny ones too but I really don't mind that so long as what's going in comes out in the end. Her stomach was really noisy last night and I'm hoping that was a good sign. They gave me all the meds to give her inclucing pain killers and a gut stimulant too. When I opened the door this morning she was sound asleep then all of a sudden jumped up and ploughed into her herb breakfast!! Such a lovely sight. I have to be at work today but when I left she was sitting in the sun in her favourite spot looking like a very contented bunny!! I'll continue to keep a very close eye on her later and I've also sprayed more fly repellant on their house too just to be on the safe side. Many thanks again guys for all your good wishes and advice - :wave::wave:

Fantastic news!! So glad that bringing her home has perked her up

One thing that I forgot to mention that you might find is that she won't use her water bottle much (I have no idea why :roll. Bobak won't use his after a dental so he has a water bowl now as well as the bottle.

<<Vibes>> for her continued recovery :thumb:

clarebasham2208 said:

Fantastic news!! So glad that bringing her home has perked her up

One thing that I forgot to mention that you might find is that she won't use her water bottle much (I have no idea why :roll. Bobak won't use his after a dental so he has a water bowl now as well as the bottle.

<<Vibes>> for her continued recovery :thumb:

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I'm just so pleased she is eating ok and really does look like she has been well looked after You're right as she hasn't drunk from the bottle. They always have a bowl and bottle as I'm paranoid as once their bottle didn't work all day and I came home to very thristy bunnies indeed so ever since then they have both :wave: