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Rabbit eaten dishwasher salts :-( please help

L

Lizzie_g

New Kit
Hi all,

I'm wondering if anybody may be able to help or advise me. My house rabbit has been flopping around in the kitchen tonight while I've been cooking tea. I hadn't known that earlier on my boyfriend accidentally spilled some dishwasher salt on the floor (he hadn't realised either), I only noticed when I saw the rabbit having a good sniff, I'm not sure but he may have eaten some! I immediately gave him a big bowl of water, he drank some but when I give him a bowl of water as well as his bottle he does tend to have a good drink, so this isn't necessarily indicative that he had eaten any salts. I also topped up his bowl with fresh food to encourage him to eat, I figured if he has eaten any salts then the food might help to dilute it a bit. He seems ok, he is flopped over on his side snoozing, which he often does at this time of the evening, but I'm soooo worried :-( can anybody give me any advice? It would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks,

Lizzie xx
 
Last edited:
You definitely need to ring a vet and ask for their advice on the matter. Having the ingredients of the salts whilst on the phone would be helpful to them.
 
There was only quite a small pile on the floor, maybe 1 or 2 tablespoons. I guess if he did snaffle any of it then he would only have had time to eat a bit. I've called the vets and they have told me what to look out for such as diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting and if he does seem unwell to take him in and they would put him on fluids. He seems ok at the minute, he is eating at the moment and scrabbling about in his bowl to find his favourite nibbles so hopefully he will be ok, I will keep a close eye on him.

Thank you all for your replies, it's much appreciated :love: xx
 
keep your eye on him, but id be concerned over any vet who said watch out for vomiting as rabbits cannot do this, id look for a rabbit savvy vet
 
mini lop1 said:
keep your eye on him, but id be concerned over any vet who said watch out for vomiting as rabbits cannot do this, id look for a rabbit savvy vet
Click to expand...

That's interesting, thank you for your comment, I didn't know they can't vomit! I spoke to the receptionist who went away to ask the vet and then relayed the information to me, so maybe she got the message back a bit wrong? Hopefully I won't need to contact them again anyway :? I can't stop watching him now, it's like having a new born baby in the room! I really hope he is ok :cry: xx
 
Rabbits definitely can't vomit, and I'd be concerned about the advice of a vet that said that. Is there another emergency vet you can ring in your area? They may say to just monitor him, and that they're not too dangerous, but at least you'd have a decent vets opinion on the matter. The fact that rabbits can't vomit is quite important here - if it's harming him, he won't be able to throw it up so if it's dangerous it needs something done about it.
 
Where abouts are you? Could you ring another vet for advice?

A decent rabbit vet should not have said 'watch out for vomiting', or anything along those lines. Rabbits can't vomit, so I'd be very concerned if my vet said that :?

Of course, your bunny could be absolutely fine in the end but I know if I was you, I'd want a decent opinion for my peace of mind! :)
 
I will look around and see if I can find another out of hours vets, the four local vets practices that I tried previously all directed to the same out of hours. I will see what I can find. I could maybe call ones in a nearby town just for advice. The receptionist did take details of the salts and asked for the ingredients but now I'm not so sure that they would have known if they were poisonous to rabbits anyway.

He does seem ok, been running around the room with his big ribbon (his favourite toy). Do you think he would have shown symptoms by now, the potential incident took place about 2 hours ago.

Poor Claude :( xx
 
I too would be very cautious on taking advise from a vet who thinks rabbits can vomit, that is a pretty important thing for a vet to know!
Is he eating and pooping ok?
If a vet is worried about a rabbit having ingested something toxic then they can administer liquid charcoal.
 
rachylou said:
I too would be very cautious on taking advise from a vet who thinks rabbits can vomit, that is a pretty important thing for a vet to know!
Is he eating and pooping ok?
If a vet is worried about a rabbit having ingested something toxic then they can administer liquid charcoal.
Click to expand...

He seems to be eating and pooping fine, I'm pleased to say. He's been up to his usual tricks like hiding under the bed and generally trying to trip me up! He has had some dry food, a carrot and a rabbit treat so fingers crossed he is ok and maybe didn't eat any of the salts. His toilet tray looks the same as always, normal looking round poos, but I will have a good look in the morning too.

Thank you all for your responses :) xx
 
Good morning all,

I just wanted to let you all know that Claude seems fine again this morning, he ate and drank his usual amount last night so nothing out of the ordinary. Hopefully he just sniffed the salts, or if he did eat any then only a tiny amount.

Thank you all for your help and care xx
 
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