Bunny won't eat - just back from vets.

My 7 yr old bunny has regular episodes from every 2 weeks to every 8 weeks where he just won't eat and looks depressed and sits around.( weirdly always when it is grey and wet weather) In the past I have taken him to vet after half a day and he has been fine when I get there so vet said to leave him longer.
This morning he had eaten his night food but was not interested in his day food and just laid in his cage. This is normal when he is like this so left him until I got home later this afternoon and he still hadn't eaten. He had had a wee in his litter tray but no droppings so rushed down to vet.
Vet seemed rabbit savvy which was good and said everything that I have learnt on here. She gave him good check over and said his gut was making lots of noise and very soft and not bloated, temp fine, teeth fine. Good examination all over.
She advised me to shringe feed him watered bunny pellets this evening and gave me some sringes and said if he hasn't eaten him normal food overnight then to bring him back at 9am tomorrow.
He has eaten two dandelion leaves but then refused anything else and went back to sitting with his head down looking depressed.
He was great with the vet and she was obviously smitten!
Is there anything else I can do??

Did the Vet not administer any pain relief. He is obviously in some discomfort from something and a Rabbit in pain wont eat.

He was quite bouncy while he was there and was not bothered when she examined him quite hard so assume she didn't think he was in pain????

Just about to try get some watered down pellets into him in the pouring rain!

Don't suppose there is any human painkiller I could give him tonight?????

Vet gave me two injection sringes and i have managed to get two of them into bunny very liquid pellet mix and I also put some on his front paws in hope he will lick off.

He hated me doing this. I don't know how much I was supposed to give him??

He has used his litter tray pellets and wee.

I am just hoping and praying he eats overnight.

My vet will give pain relief whether bunny looks ill or not. I seem to remember Smudge being his usual get-me-out-of-here self when he was in with stasis. It needs a prescription so you'd need to go back to the vets. It's good that he has eaten something but if all he's had all day is two dandelion leaves I think I'd possibly be off to the vets again esp if he hasn't had pain relief.

If this is reoccuring have you tried to find the cause? Has his teeth been checked and xrays taken to check the roots?

I have only owned bunny for just under 2 years and he is now 7 but in that time he has done this for up to half a day at a time many many times but he has always got back to his old self in less than a day. This is first time it has lasted so long. He has twice before been to vets and they could find nothing wrong - he has perfect teeth they say and no symptoms other than laying around and not eating.

I will be back at vets at 9am tomorrow with him unless he eats all his food overnight and his litter tray looks like normal believe me.

Bunny ate some pellets overnight but not alot but this morning he is his usual bright eyed self and racing round. He has eaten some hay and polished off small cabbage leaf and is now cleaning himself all over so assuming he is now on the mend - he had drunk water overnight as well. He is still not interested in pellets or dried leaves.

It is obviously a gut issue as in his litter tray this morning was only a small amount of small black poo and one mishapen one.

I am ringing vets at 9am to ask advice although I doubt they will want to see him today (they only see emergencies on a Saturday) if he is now eating a bit and is bright in himself but want to know what I can do for him if it happens again.
She mentioned getting critical care food in stock for him.

I am also going to keep a food diary for him as I think he had alot more greens in the day before this started as my gardener was throwing dandelion plants to him before I realised. This is obviously a recurring problem and gut related.

You all have so much knowledge on here, I know I am not one who posts alot so don't get many replies but would really really appreciate your advice.

He may have given himself gut ache from eating too many dandelion leaves, especially if he is not used to them.

Another possibility is a bladder problem causing bouts of cystitis like pain. Has the Vet ruled this out ?

Is he in moult at the moment and if so are you grooming him at least once a day. Whilst ingestion of fur should not generally cause major problems, if a Rabbit already has a reduced gut motility ingesting lots of fur (as can happen during a heavy moult) could potentially cause trouble.

What is his normal daily diet ? Giving quantities would be helpful.

Are his hard poos normally a good shape/size/quantity ?

Does he ever leave uneaten cecotrophs or get a mucky bum ?

Huge thanks for your reply.

The vet asked if I had noticed anything different about his wee ie colour like blood stained but up to him stopping eating all was normal. He is litter tray trained so won't wee/poop anywhere else so can see all he does in tray.

He is not moulting at the moment - he had his big moult late spring and did not have one of these attacks then. I have a rubber hand glove that I stroke him with most days but he will only tolerate one rub over then he is off!

His diet is as follows - 10 science selective pellets morning and night/ large pinch of readigras/ same of dried dandelion and blackcurrant leaves twice a day. Unlimited hay and herbal hay.
Half a cabbage leaf/celery leaves or 1inch of celery/small floret of broccoli/half inch of carrot. parsley once a day. He has 3 fenugreek crunchies a day.

Before i got him he had spent years on nothing but muesli mix with no greenery or hay:evil: - I do not know if he had these attacks before I got him but he has had them fairly regularly right from me getting him. He can go up to 3months between but usually 6-8 weeks between and usually they only last half a day where he won't eat.

His poops are normally large and golden mix from all the hay and plentiful. During the bouts and afterwards they are very small and dark and much reduced quantity but then usually return to normal.

He has never ever had a mucky bum or uneaten whatsits.

I was wondering if he cannot cope with too much greenery due to his first 4 years of life with no greenery at all.

I will be speaking to vet on Monday to ask for advice - what would you advise me to be asking her??? I am going to get some recovery food in and fibroplex but wondering if I should have some pain relief on hand as well. The vet told me to listen for gut noises if nec by pressing ear to side of tummy and if none then its emergency, up to now he has always had noise during these attacks.

I may be wrong but it seems as if he is getting slow gut motility attacks, this is worse one he has had so far.

Once again can't thank you enough for taking time to reply as you are so knowledgable :thumb:

I would try a process of elimination with food.

I'd start by cutting out the 'gassy' Veg- ie the broccoli and the cabbage. I'd also cut out the carrot (sugar content can cause gut issues in some Rabbits)

I would also reduce the amount of readigrass. I have known this to cause bloat in some Rabbits. As the richness of the Readigrass will vary it can be hit and miss as to when/if it causes a problem.

Your Bunny does appear to have rather a lot of food a day and I am wondering if this may be part of the problem

With all the pellets,veg,dried forage,treats I doubt he has as much hay intake as he might do if he were more hungry.

Do you ever notice a paste like creamy coloured staining in his litter tray ?

Thanks. No his ltter tray never has anything like that, his wee seems normal and soaks into the wood shavings under the hay fine.

He was having these attacks long time before I gave him readigrass. I will cut out the broccoli and carrot. He is a small thin rabbit so don't want to reduce his food intake too much. He does eat alot of hay and only eats small amount of his readigrass and dried leaves. I get the hay with herbs in it so he gets them as wll as the hay.

Are the fenugeek crunchies okay, they say they are purely corn and fenugeek but is corn okay or should he only have one or two a day??? He has 3-4 over day as they are a good way of getting him back into his cage at night.

I am def going to keep a bunny diary every day and see if anything jumps out at me if/when he has his next attack.
I will also question vet on what might be underlying it like bladder or teeth although she could find nothing wrong with either.

I hope your bunny improves soon.

Sending healthy wishes your way.:thumb:

Thank you. He is now almost back to his normal self in that he is behaving normally and eating again but his poops are small and dark but they will hopefully improve over a few days - they normally do after one of these attacks.

WE have another wet horrible day forecast tomorrow so I am keeping fingers crossed he does not go backwards!