Help please regarding drinking when recovering from status UD: Block??

Hi all,

My rabbit is recovering from gut status following his neuter. I am really happy with his progress, but he still isn't drinking.
He was admitted at the vets all weekend and was told he did not drink then so they gave fluids under the skin followed by syringed water and syringed critical care. He only started to eat bits on sunday night.
On monday they were still syringing him critical care and he came home monday afternoon with the instructions to feed critical care if not eating.
On monday evening he tucked straight into pellets and i continued through the night encouraging him with veg dripping in water, forage etc, basically trying everything. You could tell he was trying so hard. I continued this through tuesday and gradually he started showing interest and seeking food for himself. By tuesday evening/through the night.. he started eating hay!
Yesterday he was much more active and more like himself and his appetite is nearing normal and this has continued in to today. He is munching hay, pellets, dried forage, parsley. I am still offering veg soaked in water as im concerned about his fluids and he is eating this.
He is pooping well now.

The last hurdle i need to overcome is drinking. I have offered a bowl and a bottle. He keeps looking at them both but not drinking. He is eating hay so i thought he would be thirsty. He is also weeing so he must be getting fluids from somewhere!
I haven't needed to feed critical care since he has been home and if possible would like to avoid syringing water, because he gets so so stressed being syringed and he already is still having to be syringed his medication which he can't stand.

Does anyone have any suggestions please? I have tried actually giving him and holding the bottle and he just 'scents' it. I have tried giving him the bowl and he positively pushes it away (he is normally a bottle bunny).

Is there anything safe I can add to the water to make it more appealing??

Thanks in advance, sorry for the essay x

It's just an idea, but having been in the same situation, in desperation I added a tiny drop of pineapple juice to the water bowl. Because it is so strong smelling, you don't need much for bun to get a whiff of it, and that worked for me.

With another bun, adding an ice cube to his bowl, for some reason fascinated him, and he just played with it for ages pushing it around with his nose, and that seemed to get more fluids into him, or something else that has just occurred to me, is maybe try luke warm water, just in case he doesn't like the coldness if he had any pain in his tummy.

Could he be getting all the fluid he needs from his veg if you are still soaking it in water?

Amy104 said:

Could he be getting all the fluid he needs from his veg if you are still soaking it in water?

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This. If he is eating plenty of wet stuff i wouldn't worry too much :wave:

RogerRabbit999 said:

It's just an idea, but having been in the same situation, in desperation I added a tiny drop of pineapple juice to the water bowl. Because it is so strong smelling, you don't need much for bun to get a whiff of it, and that worked for me.

With another bun, adding an ice cube to his bowl, for some reason fascinated him, and he just played with it for ages pushing it around with his nose, and that seemed to get more fluids into him, or something else that has just occurred to me, is maybe try luke warm water, just in case he doesn't like the coldness if he had any pain in his tummy.

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Thank you for your suggestions. I will try luke warm water. Then monitor overnight and tomorrow to see if he has had any, and if not try a drop of fresh pineapple juice in his water x

Amy104 said:

Could he be getting all the fluid he needs from his veg if you are still soaking it in water?

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Yes you are probably right. The thing is he has been having more veg than he normally would because at first he wouldn't eat hay but he would eat veg. But now i am unsure what to do as perhaps i should cut down his veg and see if he drinks.. but then i am worried if i do this and he doesn't drink he may get dehydrated ? x

I have tried everything now. I bought some fresh pineapple juice and put a tiny drop in his bowl and he is not interested in a bowl. He never really has liked a bowl of water, too used to a bottle.

I am gradually cutting down his veg as this is where he must be getting his liquid from, but he is confusing me if he is thirsty or not as he keeps going up to his bottle but doesn't actually drink ?

Thing is he is weeing.

He is still having to have medication syringed.. will this add to his fluids?

I spoke to the vet yesterday about gradually cutting down his meds now, and he asked how he was. I told him he was good, and eating fine now and eating hay well. Aswell as pooping and weeing. The only thing he isn't doing is physically getting a drink. He only suggested to try cutting down his veg. He then said that if he isn't drinking he would like to check him at some point for a block ???
Is it really possible for him to have a block, even if he is weeing and pooping fine?
I don't really want to take him to the vet if not neccessary as i don't want the stresses to put him off course with his recovery. He has been back and forth so many times and has just got in a good hay eating pattern again. He is also now back to his normal bouncy self.

Any thoughts please? x

Hi sorry I don't think I can help but bumping this up for you.

How is he doing now? X

Hi katie, thanks very much! He is doing good. We had abit of a panic on saturday as he didn't poop for a while and seemed to need abit of encouraging to eat. But then by the evening he had completely perked up and was eating and pooping so im not sure what that was about.. I don't think he has fully recovered but then i guess it takes abit of time to return to completely normal.

Because he still hadn't drank, I took him back to the vets yesterday so they could check for a blockage. They felt his tummy and said it was nice and soft. Because he is weeing they weren't too worried and thought he must be getting the fluid through his wet veg. They did say we could syringe some water if we were worried but when we got back he tentatively took the smallest few sips from his bottle so i would rather he did it himself if he can.

How is misfit? And marbles? x

2Angels said:

Hi katie, thanks very much! He is doing good. We had abit of a panic on saturday as he didn't poop for a while and seemed to need abit of encouraging to eat. But then by the evening he had completely perked up and was eating and pooping so im not sure what that was about.. I don't think he has fully recovered but then i guess it takes abit of time to return to completely normal.

Because he still hadn't drank, I took him back to the vets yesterday so they could check for a blockage. They felt his tummy and said it was nice and soft. Because he is weeing they weren't too worried and thought he must be getting the fluid through his wet veg. They did say we could syringe some water if we were worried but when we got back he tentatively took the smallest few sips from his bottle so i would rather he did it himself if he can.

How is misfit? And marbles? x

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I do think with their tummies they can sometimes go backwards then forwards, then back a bit more then eventually back to normal! I suppose when it comes to a complete standstill it must cause all sorts of upsets in there and I imagine it might take a few weeks before they feel normal again? That is totally unscientific and based entirely on what I imagine it would be like to have a tummy in stasis :lol:

That's good news that they don't think he has a blockage. Have you tried him with a water bowl? Is his appetite completely normal now?

Misfit is doing well thanks, her appetite is back on track now and she did some lovely golden poops this morning But it's still early days, I'm hoping if I can get her til the end of this week then hopefully I can put the episode behind us. Marbles is much the same, doing well in herself which is the main thing but her ear infection is being bloomin stubborn! x

Hehe sounds scientific enough for me! :lol: I think you are probably right, it's a pretty major thing to happen for them when you think about it and must cause havoc with their tummies for a while after. I guess no 2 recoveries or bunnies will be the same either. Although sometimes i think they just like to make us panic too :lol:

Yes I have tried a water bowl, and left it in there (changing water everyday), but he really doesn't seem to like a bowl. He has shown more interest in the bottle than bowl. His appetite has improved greatly. I wouldn't say it is perfect, but definately getting there. Before this he was a massive foodie. He is showing steady improvement and the vet thought so too. The vet kept referring to him as a 'very sensitive rabbit'. I explained he wasn't eating as much hay as he used to and the vet was saying it would take time for him to be completely back to normal. He is eating way more hay than last week, but still not as much as i would like.. but he's getting there!

Oh excellent, well done misfit! it's amazing how excited you can get about a rabbits poop isn't it? :lol: Is she on medication? Are you any further forward with what is causing marbles ear problems? I saw your thread and it seemed a very frustrating situation x

I remember the last time misfit had stasis it took several weeks to get fully back to normal so I think it can definitely take a while, just as long as you're moving in the right direction. Re the drinking another thubg to think about is if he's not eating much hay then he probably won't be as thirsty? I notice quite a marked correlation between hay and water consumption. It must be pretty dry to eat. I think patience is the key but as long as he's peeing and the vet's happy I'm sure he's fine.

Thankfully this episode for misfit hasn't been anywhere near as bad as the last time, probably because her diet is much better now than it was back then. I'm very worried about going away this weekend but will just have to hope she'll be ok. Re marbles - the specialist was going to request the swab results from my usual vet so I assume he'll phone me, hopefully this week. To be honest I hope they'll suggest a change of antibiotic, although it would be good if he could check her ear again with an otoscope as it's hard for me to tell if it's any better. She has been loads better in herself the last week or so but don't know if that's because the infection is clearing or she's just getting used to it. I'm reluctant to change her meds before I go away though in case she reacts badly to it. Sigh. Bloomin rabbits :lol:

Hi katie, just wondered how your two little ones are getting on? Is misfit recovered? How is marbles ear doing now?

I think your right with eating more hay they need more fluids. When I last posted, pudding wasn't eating anywhere near as much as hay as he did before his op. Before his op he had a mostly hay diet with a few pellets and some veg.
Anyway it must of just taken him a little while to get back to normal as he has made steady progress and now im so pleased he is pretty much back to normal! He has finished all his medication, and is eating loads more hay.. and in the last few days is drinking frequently! I need to work on cutting down his veg futher as i was so worried about the fluid intake I didn't want to give him too little but i am much more confident he will get his water now. He is peeing frequently, and now because he is back to normal hay eating his poops are frequent and big. I couldn't be happier. Its amazing how 'proud' you feel when they keep on improving, and especially now he is back to normal eating without persuasion - inface the opposite, back to his begging :lol: This is the first time i have had a bun in status so i had no idea how long the total recovery time would be, so thank you for all your reassurance x

2Angels said:

Hi katie, just wondered how your two little ones are getting on? Is misfit recovered? How is marbles ear doing now?

I think your right with eating more hay they need more fluids. When I last posted, pudding wasn't eating anywhere near as much as hay as he did before his op. Before his op he had a mostly hay diet with a few pellets and some veg.
Anyway it must of just taken him a little while to get back to normal as he has made steady progress and now im so pleased he is pretty much back to normal! He has finished all his medication, and is eating loads more hay.. and in the last few days is drinking frequently! I need to work on cutting down his veg futher as i was so worried about the fluid intake I didn't want to give him too little but i am much more confident he will get his water now. He is peeing frequently, and now because he is back to normal hay eating his poops are frequent and big. I couldn't be happier. Its amazing how 'proud' you feel when they keep on improving, and especially now he is back to normal eating without persuasion - inface the opposite, back to his begging :lol: This is the first time i have had a bun in status so i had no idea how long the total recovery time would be, so thank you for all your reassurance x

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They're ok thank you, Misfit has fully recovered now thankfully. Marbles' ear is still showing signs of infection but she is doing very well in herself, so we are just trying to manage it as best we can for the moment to keep her comfortable, and we will just have to play it by ear (excuse the pun!) in the upcoming weeks/months.

So glad to hear that pudding is doing better! Definitely agree about the feeling proud - who knew that big round bunny poops could make you feel proud It is very scary when they don't eat and can obviously be very dangerous, so well done on nursing him through it. Out of curiosity, how old is pudding? Have you managed to find any potential cause for his stasis? I know some buns are just prone to it but it is always worth considering their pellets/other aspects of their diet in case something triggered it. For Misfit I'm convinced her gut just slows down when she's moulting so I know I need to pay really good attention to brushing her daily when she's in a moult.