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My rabbit has stopped eating - U/D back home!

Bess&George

Bess&George

Warren Scout
My usually greedy rabbit Bess has completely stopped eating. :(

She was eating as usual until late last evening when I gave them some pellets and she seemed disinterested, very unusual for her. She also grunted at me when I tried to tempt her with some veg. She was still the same this morning so took her to vets'. There's nothing visibly wrong with her, no bloat, no temperature etc. Just a couple of small spurs on the left side of her mouth.
The vet gave her an injection of antibiotic and something else, think pain killer and then some gut stimulant.

Have to give her some more Fibreplex today and have another appointment booked for tomorrow. I can take her in any time today if she gets worse but the vet thought it would be better if she stayed at home for now.
Anything else I could do? So worried, she's always been such a happy healthy bun. :cry::cry::(
 
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Sounds to me like the spurs are stopping her from eating - your vet should have picked this up immediately. If I was you, I would find another vet who is rabbit-savvy, as a matter of extreme urgency. You cannot leave her not eating, bunnies need to continually graze to keep their systems moving. I would post your location on here, as I'm sure someone will know of a good vet in or near your area who can help.
 
Thanks for your response. The vet didn't seem to think it was the spurs that caused this, not sure why, maybe because she has stopped so suddenly. She also had a health check a month ago when her mouth was also checked and there wasn't anything then that required immediate action.
I don't have a car so don't really have the option to go too far to see a vet, she's a NZ white weighing >5kg so the walk with her to our local vet's is a lot of effort already. :(
 
I know that some bunnies only have to have the smallest of spurs and it's enough to stop them eating completely. Also, if she's grunted at you when you offered her food, it would suggest to me that she's in pain. Is she wet under the chin? Another giveaway that it's teeth. Just because she was checked a month ago does not rule out that the spurs may now be causing the problem. I would strongly suggest finding another vet as quickly as possible, rather than adopting a wait and see approach and hoping that she starts eating again.
 
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ninny40 said:
I know that some bunnies only have to have the smallest of spurs and it's enough to stop them eating completely. Also, if she's grunted at you when you offered her food, it would suggest to me that she's in pain. Is she wet under the chin? Another giveaway that it's teeth. Just because she was checked a month ago does not rule out that the spurs may now being causing the problem. I would strongly suggest finding another vet as quickly as possible, rather than adopting a wait and see approach and hoping that she starts eating again.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
I also have a very greedy NZW and around a year and a half ago he stopped eating and was refusing everything. Nothing was seen in his conscious dental exam but after 24 hrs of not eating (or eating very little) they looked at his mouth under anaesthetic and he had the tiniest spurs and those were the cause of him not eating. He woke up and began eating immediately, and hasn't stopped since!!

I would say the spurs are probably the problem here and they need seeing too ASAP.

Sending lots of vibes!
 
Thank you everyone for your responses.

Bess ate a bit of carrot and cauliflower yesterday afternoon, and in the evening I managed to get her to eat some pellets mashed up with banana and water, she also had a few crunchy treats. She wouldn't touch her hay.

I managed to find a vet that isn't too far from us and was able to see her this morning. This vet seemed a lot more competent than the one yesterday, and also thought straight away it was her teeth causing her trouble. She actually had a lesion on one side in her mouth, can't believe the vet yesterday missed that, surely it can't have developed overnight? Anyway, she's now been admitted and they are gonna keep her in for the weekend. Today they are gonna give her some fluids and then treat her teeth tomorrow if she's well enough. They are gonna have a vet in tomorrow who is a rabbit expert so hopefully she will be well enough for her dental.

Hopefully this now means she's getting the right kind of treatment. I am definitely not gonna take my rabbits back to my other vet anymore, not happy with them at all! :censored:

Thanks once more everyone, fingers crossed Bess will make a full recovery.
 
Glad you got a second opinion from a better vet. Hopefully she'll feel much better after her dental. Sending lots of vibes for Bess xx
 
Often when you can see small spurs you only see the tip of the iceberg, as vets can't see the whole mouth other than by X-ray, so there may be larger ones further back. Good idea getting a second opinion, although the lesion could have formed whilst she's been taking the food from you?

Sending vibes for Bess xxx
 
Thanks for the vibes, really hope they can sort her out! She's such a lovable gentle bunny and really a part of the family now.

Her son George seems a bit lost without her, he's usually a proper little thug always causing trouble and up to no good but he seems a bit quiet today, a typical mummy's boy! :lol:
 
Bestest of luck with bunny :) and I so agree not all vets are good with bunnies, well done on the second opinion :thumb:
 
Thanks!:wave:

Just got a call from the vet's, they've given her some fluids and she has perked up and has eaten some banana and kale. No poops yet though. She'll have her dental tomorrow or on Monday depending how she's doing.
I so hope she'll pull through, not much else I can do now..
 
Thanks for the vibes. :)

Bess had started eating again but there had been no poop action yet when the vet called earlier today.
They asked if I wanted to take her home as she was better and take her to my usual vet next week for her dental, she's not classified as an emergency anymore. They also thought that bringing her home might get her to poop again. I told them I'd prefer if they kept her in if there was still space and treat her teeth there, don't really trust my usual vet at the moment. Also, tomorrow is Monday so I have to go to work so there would not be anyone to look after her in case she had a relapse.
I told them to call me if another emergency came up and they needed the space but otherwise keep her in and give her the dental when they can.
Hope I made the right choice. If it all goes well I should be able to bring her home tomorrow after work.
 
Thanks again for the vibes.
Bess is having her dental at this very moment, I so hope everything goes ok, finding it very hard to focus at work. The vet warned that with rabbits things can go wrong very easily with GA. :(

I'm already dreading the vet's bill, think it will be enormous due to all the medication and weekend hospitalisation.. I have an insurance for her (PaH one) and I understand it doesn't cover dental, does anyone know whether any of the other costs might be covered? Just wondering whether it is worth filling in the claims form.
 
Hope all goes ok for Bess!

I'd fill in the forms and see what happens. When polo had his not eating dental episode I didn't think the insurance would cover it, but they did! That was with pet plan though.
 
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