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Please help, my 2 year old bunny won't poop

Gucci koochi

Gucci koochi

New Kit
I have a male rabbit, who's almost 2 years old
I have him since he opened his eyes.
I recently noticed that he's not pooping, and it's been 2 days since he last pooped.
His eating habits have reduced but he's drinking a lot of water.
He is looking dull and thin.
I live in India and there's no vet over here who looks after bunnies. Please help me, I can't see him in this state.

bf63633a4e1af45042cd5216a5e9a744.jpg

Here's Gucci and Sultan
 
Oh bless them.

I'm afraid this sounds serious. You need some gut motility drugs (assuming the rabbit doesn't have a blockage) and some painkiller. Ideally, he needs to be examined by a vet but, at the very least, I'd have thought you need a vet to prescribe the drugs.

Is he still eating a reasonable amount?
 
Hello

Is there any Vet at all that you could contact ? Even one who only usually treats farm animals

It sounds as though your Rabbit has Gut Stasis, possibly secondary to another health problem. Gut Stasis always requires some medication only available from a Vet.

There is some information about Gut Stasis here. After reading it you will see why it really is necessary to try to obtain help from a Vet who will hopefully have access to at least some of the medication needed

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It must be extremely stressful to have a sick Rabbit and limited access to Veterinary Care.
 
You might find a normal vet will have some of the drugs available as they are used to treat other animals.

What you'd usually get are painkillers for example metacam (meloxicam) and a drug to encourage gut mobility either cisapride (Propulsid) or metoclopramide (Reglan). If you can get hold of those from a vet we can give you the dose rate (they come in different strengths so you'll need to tell us what the bottle says to calculate the dose).

What you can do is encourage him to eat and drink as much as possible. So try tempting him with different foods that he usually likes, you could also try a little bit of fresh grass or fresh vegetables. Make sure he has a bowl of water and if you can get hold of it a little unsweetened apple juice or similar (something bunny safe and not citrus) can encourage drinking.

You could also try gently massaging his stomach in a circle to encourage gut movement, see how he feels about that - don't do it if he's uncomfortable with it.

Empty/clean out his tray so you can monitor how much he's pooping and if he starts again.

Have a look in his mouth - do his teeth look normal?

What is his normal diet?
 
Tamsin said:
You might find a normal vet will have some of the drugs available as they are used to treat other animals.

What you'd usually get are painkillers for example metacam (meloxicam) and a drug to encourage gut mobility either cisapride (Propulsid) or metoclopramide (Reglan). If you can get hold of those from a vet we can give you the dose rate (they come in different strengths so you'll need to tell us what the bottle says to calculate the dose).

What you can do is encourage him to eat and drink as much as possible. So try tempting him with different foods that he usually likes, you could also try a little bit of fresh grass or fresh vegetables. Make sure he has a bowl of water and if you can get hold of it a little unsweetened apple juice or similar (something bunny safe and not citrus) can encourage drinking.

You could also try gently massaging his stomach in a circle to encourage gut movement, see how he feels about that - don't do it if he's uncomfortable with it.

Empty/clean out his tray so you can monitor how much he's pooping and if he starts again.

Have a look in his mouth - do his teeth look normal?

What is his normal diet?
Click to expand...
He's eating very little, he is eating basil and cilantro, he also eats rose bush leaves and grape leaves and is having water but a small amount every hour not eating grass or hay.<br/>
 
Keep offering the foods he will eat - when they aren't eating the important thing is to get them to eat as much as possible so normal rules about what is best don't matter so much. If those are the foods he'll eat then make sure he's got them available.

It's good he's at least eating something.
 
Tamsin said:
Keep offering the foods he will eat - when they aren't eating the important thing is to get them to eat as much as possible so normal rules about what is best don't matter so much. If those are the foods he'll eat then make sure he's got them available.

It's good he's at least eating something.
Click to expand...
Will feeding him and massaging him make things normal? He feels good when I massage him(between the ribs and the hind legs).
And whenever I visit him he comes running for food but when I give him something he just eats a little, also when offered water he just licks a small amount ends up dipping his nose in the water (idky) .
 
If he seems eager to eat food when offered, but then won't eat much and/or has difficulty eating it, it sounds like he may have a dental problem, and this really is only something a vet would be able to sort out. Is there any possible way you can find a vet that would know how to check his teeth for infection, molar spurs, or malocclusion?
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/D_problems1.htm

In the meantime, you can try offering soft food. If you feed pelleted rabbit food, you can soak it in warm water to make it mushy, then see if he will eat that on his own. If he won't eat it, you could try carefully syringe feeding it to him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGZVYVm5Bg
 
Last edited:
Gucci koochi said:
Will feeding him and massaging him make things normal? He feels good when I massage him(between the ribs and the hind legs).
And whenever I visit him he comes running for food but when I give him something he just eats a little, also when offered water he just licks a small amount ends up dipping his nose in the water (idky) .
Click to expand...

Lots of things can make a rabbit stop eating, I think you really need a vet - even one not experienced with rabbits can prescribe pain meds and check his teeth (they use a scope like for looking in ears).

Feeding and massage is really just nursing care to help keep him as well as possible whilst you work on fixing the problem. If he's running about, active and coming for food that implies it's not his stomach hurting but something stopping him eating like his teeth.
 
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