he ate a bit of firelighter

hi

i have an 18month old male bunny who decided last night to eat a bit of zip firelighter that had just dropped on the floor as the fire was in the process of being lit. he was stopped almost as soon as he had started eating it but he still managed to eat a bit of it - as evidenced by his kerosene breath. the vets were phoned immediately, but they basically said theyve never heard of a rabbit eating firelighters as it has such an off-putting smell and they couldn't do anything specifically. however, they advised to get him to eat to help push it through and ultimately to watch and wait. i fed him up with lots of greens, parsley, some apple, pellets etc (much more than i'd normally give) and plenty of hay and fresh water. its 14hrs post-ingestion. still feeding him and checking him at regular intervals. he seems his usual self. he's eating and drinking normally, going around and being nosey and is eating his wet droppings and going to the toilet as normal. there is very little on firelighter poisoning. especially in relation to rabbits. from what ive found the implications tend to be with lung problems from fume inhalation, and vomiting is not advised as it may aspirate to the lungs causing a nasty pneumonia (obviously, not an issue for bunnies). otherwise it hints at gastric irritation - which doesnt seem to be an issue so far for him. ive googled and there are non-toxic biomass firelighters made of recycled wood and vegetable oil which ive ordered online to help stop this happening again.

i was wondering if anyone has had experience of rabbits eating firelighters please? is there a delayed onset of symptoms like with rat poison eg of a few days rather than within the first 24hrs? any additional ideas to the vets advice? does my vets advice seem reasonable or does it appear to be rather laid-back and ineffectual?

any help would be gratefully appreciated
thanks

I cannot advise on firelighters but had a rather nutty bun who ate lots of stupid things including some of my sleeping medication. My vet's advice was the same - feed em up and watch the poo output. As buns can't vomit there is very little they can do when they ingest things, you just have to keep an eye on them. I kept a close eye on Oidhche for I think about four days afterward, and kept poo watch for about a week. She had no obvious symptoms either :wave:

Can you see this link? It's for humans, but the advice is that without features of aspiration, adults and children who have ingested small amounts of kerosene firelighters can be observed at home.

thanks you both for your replies

my boy bunny sticks everything in his mouth. he is a really clever rabbit but when it comes to eating things he is a pillock and exasperating to say the least!!! severe bunny pica maybe?

at 19hrs he seems well in himself and his bodily functions seem to be working ok. but its hard to completely monitor as he shares the toilet box with his lady friend. nonetheless his appetite is very healthy and he is very keen to go out into the garden! i tried the link but didnt have the password to enter the site. however, i found a document on kerosene ingestion that featured both human and non-human study results and even though it didnt specifically feature rabbits it had small animals (v.cruel research!) and the results of ingestion, if any, appeared minimal ( https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...zEGPZw&sig=AHIEtbSrYmGc5V4jmOwneO7Fafv3GefJnQ ). so fingers-crossed he'll b ok. i'm gonna watch him like a hawk over the next few days too - just in case the onset is delayed. thanks again.