Bruised Gums/ Not Eating/ He's Gone

Barney & Chloe were in their run when a cat came over the fence, we often get cats in the garden but generally not during the day. Anyway this clearly took the buns by surprise and they both started thumping, so I decided to go out and attempt to calm them down. The cat saw me, ran and jumped up and over the fence causing the buns to manically panic and they both darted into the side of the run meaning Barney took a massive shunt to his face. Chloe was fine so I put her back in the shed and then bought Barney into the house. He looked dreadful and his head appeared titled, he just sort of collapsed underneath the table.

I contacted my Dad as I haven't got a car at the mo and he left work straight away. Whilst I was waiting for him Barney seemed to be perking up a bit, his head looked normal again and he had a run around the living room. I offered him food which he seemed really interested in but he kept spitting it out. It was obvious something was wrong with his mouth so I rang the vets and told them I’d be bringing him in straight away.

The vet felt all around Barneys jaw – luckily she couldn't feel any breaks. She then looked in his mouth, no missing teeth but bad bruising on his gums He was administered pain relief and now I have to wait and see if he eats or if not take him back in the morning. I’ve been trying to think of soft foods I can offer him, I’ve tried grated carrot and dandelion leaves but he’s not interested. I will try again in a couple of hours as I imagine he’s still quite drowsy. I’ve got a packet of recovery food if all else fails which I’m hoping I won’t need to use... Anyone have any other ideas?

Oh I'm so sorry, poor Barney, good job nothing's broken though, bless him. Maybe you could try putting some liquid onto his pellets to soften them ? I did that with Treacle after her dental, for a day or two, they found that she had a really sore spot on her tongue, from the spurs rubbing. Hope he heals quickly, sending him noserubs xxxxx

Sounds like Barney got a bit of concussion. If you've got a liquidiser or grinder, you could put some pellets in it with some veggies, apple and sultanas, add some water and wizz it up. Anything he usually likes wizz it to a pulp and offer it on a saucer. Hope he soon recovers and starts eating.

Oh poor man!!!

I know it's not great for tummies but Banana? Or anything liquidised as has been said.

Lots of gentle nose rubs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Poor little man!

My buns aren't ones for soaked pellets, but they will eat them if they've been softened by sitting in grated (juicy) pear or apple for a few mins.

I would always give Arnica after a shock, and also to speed up healing of bruised tissues.

Good luck xx

I went to feed them both dinner as normal and Barney got really excited, took a pellet but just couldn't eat it

I decided on mushing up some pellets, grated carrot and some of the recovery food which he seems happy to eat in small amounts. I'm going to add a little apple juice to make it more palatable for him once I've been to the shop. He really is trying bless him, even managing the odd piece of hay.


SJH I may try him with banana, he's normally anti-fruit (apart from apples) but he may like the texture

Thank you for your suggestions. Mushing everything up seems to be getting him eating :thumb: I bet his mouth is so tender and swelled, I'm sure tomorrow it will be much better for him.

Bless him, at least he's trying, and eating something. I'm sure he'll be ok in a day or two xxx

This morning the swelling around his mouth/cheeks has gone right down, can't believe how bad it was yesterday looking at him now!
He's not interested in his mush though. He did eat a good amount of it last night with the help of Chloe :roll:. I'm going to ring the vets later to see if I can double up his pain relief so he can have it twice a day instead of just once.

Glad the swelling has gone down, bound to be a bit sore still though, sounds like he took a good old bash ! Hope he's back to his normal self soon xxxxx

Finally got some pain relief down him with the help of some dandelions. I'm hoping it will be enough to get him to eat his mush. He really struggled to eat a strand of hay earlier :shock: Vet appointment booked for this evening in case he needs a gut stimulant. I also want to give him a greater dose of Loxicom, he was on double the amount of what he is now for his sore foot. Surely a sore mouth is more painful as he could take the pressure off his foot?

I've tried everything today to try and get him eating, even soaking barley rings & weetabix in water *sigh*.

Is he interested in the food, or just not bothered ? Might be worth ringing the vet later if he's not eating by this evening. Did they X-ray his jaw yesterday, or just have a feel around. Still it can take a while for bruises to come out, poor little chap. Wish I could be of more help really, not sure what else to suggest. Aren't they a worry, I'm waiting for a call from vets to let me know Toffee is ok, went for his first dental today

Pets mum said:

Is he interested in the food, or just not bothered ? Might be worth ringing the vet later if he's not eating by this evening. Did they X-ray his jaw yesterday, or just have a feel around. Still it can take a while for bruises to come out, poor little chap. Wish I could be of more help really, not sure what else to suggest. Aren't they a worry, I'm waiting for a call from vets to let me know Toffee is ok, went for his first dental today

Click to expand...

He has just had a handful of dandelion leaves and about 12 pellets. He wants to scoff the lot I can tell, he got really excited when I shook the pellet bucket. It's just too painful for him though. He has a vet appointment at 6.40, the vet I saw yesterday did say they would take an x-ray if he wasn't eating today but as he's eating a little bit now they may wish to wait a bit longer before making that decision. Am I right in thinking that he would be under anaesthetic for the x-ray?

Poor Toffee I've read about a lot of buns with dental issues, it can be a real nightmare can't it. Hope you hear off the vets soon x

Just checking, hope Barneys visit went ok. Got Toffee back safe, he had a nasty ulcer on the back of his tongue bless him. I felt awful, but he'd been eating and binkying around as normal, just wasn't eating the stalky hay ! Anyway, all done. Nose rubs for Barney xxxx

I'm glad Toffee is home

He is going in for an x-ray tomorrow. He's been inside all day, I've just put him back in the shed with Chloe & they had a massive scrap :roll: They are sitting happily together now but it seems as if she was initially upset he was back. Tomorrow whilst Barney is at the vets I'm going to put Chloe inside so she can't claim their shed as hers and bully him

I would get more Oxbow Critical Care or Supreme Recovery food and offer this - don't syringe feed unless you have to, just offer it in a bowl first. It's normally aniseed flavour which bunnies love. Offer soaked pellets, you can also mash them up. It sounds like he's liking greens, so I'd try fresh herbs and leafy greens like rocket - try fragrant ones to tempt him. It's important to keep him eating regularly, even if it's small amounts. It's important his gut doesn't stop or this will cause more problems for him, including more pain.

If you're not confident the pain relief is working, talk to your vet as they may want to increase the dose or try it alongside another painkiller like vetergesic or some gut stimulants. Rabbits often require higher doses of drugs than dogs or cats.

When you collect him from the vet tomorrow, take Chloe with you, so that they come home together and both smell of the vets. Try and keep them together, but if they start fighting put one in a cage or separate with a barrier so they can see and smell and maybe touch, but not hurt each other.

Oh bless! Sending more nose rubs to him


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

nessar said:

I would get more Oxbow Critical Care or Supreme Recovery food and offer this - don't syringe feed unless you have to, just offer it in a bowl first. It's normally aniseed flavour which bunnies love. Offer soaked pellets, you can also mash them up. It sounds like he's liking greens, so I'd try fresh herbs and leafy greens like rocket - try fragrant ones to tempt him. It's important to keep him eating regularly, even if it's small amounts. It's important his gut doesn't stop or this will cause more problems for him, including more pain.

If you're not confident the pain relief is working, talk to your vet as they may want to increase the dose or try it alongside another painkiller like vetergesic or some gut stimulants. Rabbits often require higher doses of drugs than dogs or cats.

When you collect him from the vet tomorrow, take Chloe with you, so that they come home together and both smell of the vets. Try and keep them together, but if they start fighting put one in a cage or separate with a barrier so they can see and smell and maybe touch, but not hurt each other.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice nessar. He did eat last night but this morning he's not interested at all I'm dropping him to the vets in an hour so I'll pass that information on. I will take Chloe with me when I go to collect him. The vet did say that if he's to stay overnight that they may want Chloe there with him.

He's looking very sorry for himself this morning

Good luck at vets. Such a worry! I still think it seems like he had concussion. Hope it all goes ok.xxxx