Underweight bun, not eating. UD still not eating after 24hrs

Hi All,

I hope someone can offer advice.

MJ is a 5-6yr neutered male, we've had him for 3.5yrs. We adopted him as a friend for our bun Temperance, it was very much love at first sight. No bonding required and they were very close. MJ was always an extremely active, confident, outgoing who was seriously enthusiastic about food. Although he's quite affectionate and kissy he is definitely more bun-orientated.

Early last ear MJ lost his eyesight due to cataracts, it developed within a matter of days and he did not cope well at all. He lost his appetite, was very quiet & withdrawn. He would only eat when Temperance was with him, his weight dropped from about 2.1kg to 1.9kg. It turned out he had EC, he was treated 4 or 5 times before blood tests showed that his EC was no longer 'active' (as was his wife bun). We opted to have his eyes fixed surgically, and in August we went to London for him to have lens replacement surgery. The surgery was a success and MJ regained his eye sight and he was noticably happier almost immediately.

Sadly in October we had to have his wifebun pts. It was sudden and unexpected. MJ was heartbroken, it was like he'd lost his eyesight all over again. He just lost interest in everything, his weight dropped to 1.8kg.

We waited a month and we adopted a friend for MJ, a 5yr old neutered mini lop called Philip. We hadn't planned on getting a boy but he is what we got so.
Bonding wasn't too tricky, there was a bit of humping and chasing but there was grooming as well. After a few weeks they were living together happily.

Philip is a very people orientated bun, and is always interested in what we're doing as much as he is in MJ. They've been together 6months now and they continue to get closer, its not the same relationship MJ had with Temperance but they're getting pretty close. MJ has been more active, more binkies and bunny 500's, he often runs around Philip buzzing.

By February MJ had not regained any weight and had just maintained 1.8kg (his appetite still wasn't what it once was but he was eating okay) so we had him admitted to the D1ck vet in edinburgh (with Philip). They spent the best part of 2 weeks there during which time he had: fecal samples/tests, urine test, cystocentesis, blood tests, ultrasound and CT scan. The only thing they found was that he was one non functioning kidney however the other tests showed that it was not causing any issues.

Recently the vet from London has been in touch and one of MJ's eye drops was changed (last weekend) as the one he had been on was a steroid. He was getting Azopt 3 times a day and Maxidex once a day, so now he still gets the Azopt but he gets Acular instead of Maxidex. They also asked that we schedule a blood test/eye pressure test for the start of June. We've also started giving them Pro-C in their water because Philip gets a mucky bum sometimes and I heard it could help (the vet school also said it was worth trying).

We had an appointment at our own vet on Monday last week for weigh in, nails trimmed and a bum shave for Philip.
Unfortunately MJ's weight has dropped to 1.65kg (no noticable change in appetite, and with the leaves coming in he'd been getting a bit of forage which he likes). We called the vet school and pulled the appointment for June forward and we had our appointment on Friday there. We were hoping for the blood tests back today but never got a call.

Unfortunately as of this morning MJ is refusing food. I've seen him nibble a few bits of hay but thats about it, I've offered him: pellets (burgess excel), fibre first sticks, barley ring, fresh herbs, fresh grass, hawthorn, wild rose, dandelion. So this morning before work I gave him 10mls made up of critical care. Called the vet when I got to work and they have given me meloxydil, ranitadine and cisapride and some more critical care. He's still not taking food himself so he's had another 10mls of critical care and he's had his first dose of meloxydil and cisapride. He'll get the ranitadine at 9pm as he can't have it within 2hrs of one of the others (vets instructions). Apart from not eating he's not showing any other pain/tummy symptoms (eg teeth grinding or tummy pressing).

Obviously I still need to wait on the results of the blood test, hopefully it does not show anything to worry about. It was mainly to make sure the steroid eye drops hadn't been affecting anything, but he's to get bi annual blood tests anyway for his EC and also now to keep an eye on his duff kidney.

So where does that leave us?
In my heart I feel that MJ is sad. Am I just projecting my own feelings onto him? I have no idea. He's never been the same since we lost Temperance, although he has been improving. If he is sad, how do I make him happy? He'll sit to be petted for a while but as I say, he'd rather be snuggled up with a bunny. Philip and him are getting more snuggley, although Philip is happy enough to snooze by himself. MJ and Temperance were rarely apart for long.
I hate having to syringe feed him and he hates it too, he's not great to medicate either although I'm pretty slick at it these days.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully someone will have some sort of in sight or suggestions at least on getting MJ to eat by himself.

Thanks,

Gayle

I was going to suggest bloods doing but noticed you said your vet has done them, have you got any recovery food to give him in the meantime? sending vibes for him to start nibbling more

I am sorry I can't be of any help but you clearly do your utmost for your bunnies. I hope the blood test shows nothing serious and MJ starts eating again.

Thanks guys.

I separated them last night so I could see how much MJ was eating/drinking/pooing. Unfortunately he does not appear to have eaten or drank at all and the only visible poos are tiny very wet ones, and only about 4 of them.

My vet opens at 8.30am, I'll call in then.

My vet suggested some small drops of honey, something to give just a bit of energy might help him eat and he doesn't need to swallow the honey as it will be absorbed by the tongue. I'm sending you loads of positive vibes for you all x

He's been admitted to the vet, although it took some persuading as they said it would be a normal appt which they didn't have until 11am. My OH took him in and isn't sure if they only took him in to shut my OH up as he basically refused to leave until they admitted him.

I've since spoke to the vet school who have said his blood test results are normal, his white cell count is slightly low probably from the steroid eye drops but still within normalish range.

I mentioned to them that he wasn't eating and they confirmed what I thought that not eating for that long is an emergency. They said even a bun who hasn't eaten for far less time they'd admit and immediately start on intravenous fluids and strong painkillers.

Now I need to call my vet and make sure they're actually doing something with him.

I'm in work and this is very stressful not being able to do anything for him.

Sending lots of vibes xxx Well done to your oh for being so firm, sometimes it just needs to be done x

when I spoke to them at 11 he was on fluids, in an incubator, had been given an antibiotic and his dose of cisapride. they've been syringe feeding him but he'd still not done any poos.

i don't think they looked at him until about 10.30, so I'm not feeling best pleased about that as we took him in as an emergency when they opened at 8.30 and i know the vets probably have to deal with owners all the time wanting their animals admitted as an emergency when its not really but we told them how long he'd not eaten by himself for (and they were seperated last night so we can say for completely certain that he did not eat or poo during the night) and even the vet school confirmed yes, this is an emergency.

I really hope he will improve soon, sending him lots of vibes xx

Sending loads of vibes for MJ. I really hope you get a better update from the vets soon.

Sending loads of vibes for a good improvement

Thanks very much guys, we picked MJ up this evening and he's currently sitting in his pen nibbling some dried forage and dried apple bits. We also have some baytril to give him in addition to the other drugs and the vet has advised still syringe feeding him a bit. We'll keep them seperate again tonight just so we can satisfy ourselves that stuff is going in and coming out.

That's great, I'm glad he is home. Sending all good vibes for a nice easy night x