Help please I'm so worried

Hi guys, I've read a few posts but can't find anything which seems to match my case. Dillon is approx 5 months old (if shop are correct but given she's turned out to be a he I'm not 100% certain). We were out in the garden Sunday and he had a go in his new run which I had set up carefully in part shade, part sun with just grass and moss under foot. He came in with us and everything was fine, he spent all day yesterday running round the house and playing with my dog and kittens doing rabbit flips by the time I got home he was lying under his favourite chair but didn't come out to greet me for a kiss like he normally does, as the evening wore on and he still didn't come out I started to worry and found your site on google. Downright petrified by things I found on google I sat up all night with him beside me and got him to the vets first thing this morning. Vet says everything is clear, no bloating and no abnormal noises, she gave him 2 jabs as he's not eating or pooping 1 of Metacam and another of Metoclopramide 20ml & 10ml respectively, he has Fibreplex which he's had 2 doses of with another to follow shortly but isn't eating and not really drinking, he's now laying beside me on the sofa and has had a huge piddle (thank heavens it's leather) and pooped a couple of dried out raisin looking tiny poop. I've bought pineapple as that seems to come up a lot but he's not interested. What else can I do? He's only been with me 12 weeks but I'm besotted and as its me he comes to lie with and gives me kisses and grooms my hair I think it's pretty mutual. All assistance gratefully received. Back to vets tomorrow........

I'm sorry Dillon is poorly, it's very scary when you don't know what's going on and you don't know what to do for the best I've asked for this thread to be moved to rabbit chat, as it probably won't get seen here. You have done the right thing getting him to the vet today, at least he has had pain relief and something to keep his gut moving. He needs to eat and drink though, it's very important, so if he isn't doing that by himself you will have to syringe feed him water and keep trying to get him to eat. Offer him things he normally loves, does he eat herbs or anything? Grated carrot? Dandelions? Keep waving them under his nose, he might get annoyed and just eat something so you'll leave him alone. Hopefully some more people will advise you too. X

Hi ripminnie
Thanks for the advice and moving my post, I'll try your advice now and see how I go. Weeks Xxx

ripminnie said:

I'm sorry Dillon is poorly, it's very scary when you don't know what's going on and you don't know what to do for the best I've asked for this thread to be moved to rabbit chat, as it probably won't get seen here. You have done the right thing getting him to the vet today, at least he has had pain relief and something to keep his gut moving. He needs to eat and drink though, it's very important, so if he isn't doing that by himself you will have to syringe feed him water and keep trying to get him to eat. Offer him things he normally loves, does he eat herbs or anything? Grated carrot? Dandelions? Keep waving them under his nose, he might get annoyed and just eat something so you'll leave him alone. Hopefully some more people will advise you too. X

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Hi
Was this the first time he had been out on grass?
Hope thinks have improved
Sending lots of get well vibes.
Nikki

Help

Hi Nikki

Yes it was for any length of time, he's been out on a lead previously. He's now really floppy, I'm feeding him water, really don't want to lose him but don't know what else to do, I'm at my wits end.

ripminnie said:

I'm sorry Dillon is poorly, it's very scary when you don't know what's going on and you don't know what to do for the best I've asked for this thread to be moved to rabbit chat, as it probably won't get seen here. You have done the right thing getting him to the vet today, at least he has had pain relief and something to keep his gut moving. He needs to eat and drink though, it's very important, so if he isn't doing that by himself you will have to syringe feed him water and keep trying to get him to eat. Offer him things he normally loves, does he eat herbs or anything? Grated carrot? Dandelions? Keep waving them under his nose, he might get annoyed and just eat something so you'll leave him alone. Hopefully some more people will advise you too. X

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HappyHop said:

Hi
Was this the first time he had been out on grass?
Hope thinks have improved
Sending lots of get well vibes.
Nikki

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Sorry to hear your bunny isn't well. Is there an emergency vet you could call? If he's going downhill or keeps refusing food I think he should be seen before the morning. Lots of vibes for a speedy recovery.

You need to get him back to the emergency vets tonight by the sounds of it. Some have higher fees after midnight so it's best to do it soon for that reason as well.

He may need to be admitted and it would have been best if you had been given pain relief and motility drugs to take home as they need them more than once every 24 hours, and you should have also been given recovery food to syringe feed him. It sounds as if your vet may not very experienced with current options for treating rabbits.

He needs to be seen now, but if and when you need to take him in again after the emergency vet, find out a better rabbit vet in your area. (Unless you are very lucky and/ or in 2 or 3 particular cities you won't have a rabbit & exotics specialist as an emergency vet practice.) You should be able to find some by searching for your city or county on here and looking through the threads, or you can start a new thread asking for one.

Hi
Keep doing what you are doing and keep trying to tempt him with his favorite herbs / veg.
Try ( I know it's hard) to stay calm. You are doing your best.
Do you think he could have eaten a lot more grass than normal?
It might be worth a quick call to the emergency vets. They would be able to advise further.
Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Nikki
This post overlapped with the two previous posts
Think you should get him to vets tonight.

I agree, he needs to be seen tonight. Rabbits can go downhill very quickly. Ideally you'll want painkillers, subcutaneous fluids and gut stimultants (metaclopromide usually) at a minimum. All of these are vital. Hopefully he should give you some recovery food, if not definitely ask for it. Try syringing that but also mixing it with ellas kitchen baby food (carrot works well) is good too. Smells really good to them so he may start eating that. Leave some of his usual pellets to soak in some boiling water and let them cool. That might tempt him too.

How long was he out on the grass for? The grass this time of year is very rich, that may have caused the upset. Please don't blame yourself though, it's easy not to know these things.

I hope you manage to find a decent vet who is rabbit savvy, or if not will at least give him the things he needs.

Hi I see you're in Herts hopefully in Watford Ring Medivet St. Albans rd they're wonderful with buns will look number up for you

Kipper said:

Hi I see you're in Herts hopefully in Watford Ring Medivet St. Albans rd they're wonderful with buns will look number up for you

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http://www.medivet.co.uk/Watford
And they're also a 24-hour practice!
(I only knew of Edinburgh, Swindon & central London as having rabbit specialists that were also emergency vets)

Hope you can get something sorted out soon for the little bun.

Update on Dillon

Thanks everyone, I've rung the vets. They say that they have given Dillon everything they can for the moment and as I've got him to drink (thanks to ripmillie) the best thing I can do is keep him warm, let him rest and if need be take him back in the morning. He's lying wrapped up in a towel in my arms at the moment, breathing is ok and I think he's asleep. I'm in letchworth unfortunately so too far for Watford. Also blasted car has been in for repair last couple of weeks so reliant on vet coming out although cost is no issue but they don't fel it's necessary. Praying for a happy outcome.

Kipper said:

Hi I see you're in Herts hopefully in Watford Ring Medivet St. Albans rd they're wonderful with buns will look number up for you

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You could try grinding up some of his pelleted food and mix with water, to syringe feed him, if you can't get him to eat willingly.
Stasis is an awful thing to go though, he has to get some food into him to get his system working again.

Hope he picks up soon.

Poor little mite! If you can get him to wake up and move about, moving will encourage gut movement too. Like when horses colic, they need to be kept walking and not lie down. Pile all his favourite things under his nose as well as a nice bowl of water. Gentle tummy rubs sometimes help too.

If it makes you feel any better, we had a rabbit at Rabbit Residence who was in stasis for a month, he has now recovered, so fingers crossed for a speedier recovery! They can be tough little creatures when they want to be.

catxx said:

we had a rabbit at Rabbit Residence who was in stasis for a month, he has now recovered

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:shock: :shock: How stressful, for the bun and for you guys!

Hoping Dillon gets better very soon : )

That sounds horrible you poor thing

As someone else suggested maybe mash up some pellets with water that you maybe able to syringe? I had to do this once before and it worked quite well. Herbs are another good one along with oats in small quantities to tempt them to eat.

Fingers crossed he feels better overnight and that he starts to eat and drink for you.

Sending lots of positive vibes your way.

Hi,

Don't give up hope, when Ludo had this this badly there was no improvement in the first two days at all. He didn't start eating properly until day 3, poops appeared on day 4.

I'm not sure about the painkillers- I think the injected ones work differently to the ones given at home- my vet never gives painkillers to take home for stasis, only injections, although you do need to go back every day until your bunny is better. So don't worry about comments that make it sound like your vet is useless just because of that. Another thing your vet may be able to give by injection to help is antacids- same as us humans have- you could perhaps ask about that?

They should be able to sell you some critical care too.

Now, the food that persuaded Ludo to eat were as follows:

Carrot tops
Dandelion leaves
Kale

I had to sit with him about 18 hours a day, and just pester, pester pester to get him to eat anything at all... I also found that folding the leaves up to be smaller so that actually small mouthfuls had more leaf in worked!

After he started to nibble at leaves he would eat a tiny bit of hay, then when he was finally better he'd eat pellets. He wouldn't touch mashed up pellets, although I suppose it's worth trying!

He sounds like a strong and young bunny so hopefully he should fight it through! Sending lots of vibes

The carrot tops are a great suggestion and you can get bushy top carrots in Tesco for £1.50 for quite a good amount and my two love them, one of the few things Jasmine would eat after being spayed.

I agree with the pestering too, eventually they will take food from you just keep trying

You are being a great bunny mummy keeping my fingers crossed x

Update on Dillon

Thank you all for your kind messages, unfortunately Dillon has gone to the big carrot field. I rang the vet to demand he came out as Dillons back legs seemed to go but whilst I was on the phone he had a fit and passed away, I'm not entirely clear on the details as I am still cuddling Dille and in a state of shock but given his age and previous health the vet said something about a parasite and hay, when I feel better I'll find out more and let you all know but for the time being thank you so much for your help and support. Dillon was my first and will be my only rabbit. Many thanks again and I'll let you know what the vets say.

Louise. Xxxx

queenofendgame said:

The carrot tops are a great suggestion and you can get bushy top carrots in Tesco for £1.50 for quite a good amount and my two love them, one of the few things Jasmine would eat after being spayed.

I agree with the pestering too, eventually they will take food from you just keep trying

You are being a great bunny mummy keeping my fingers crossed x

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sorry for your loss..i thinnk you updated while i was reading this...but your vet gave your rabbit 20ml of metcam? that cant be right? my rabbits bottle is 3ml-THREE ML. and when i have had to give him pain killers it been 0.1 ML. not 1 but 0.1! have you got these figures wrong or has your bunny been overdosed? ..anyway. sorry for you and your bunny but they can be hard to look after once they become ill. do you have any plants that might be toxic to rabbits in your garden? just incase you get another another bunny sometime.