Mr. Ham isn't eating - please help!

I went out to feed the bunnies at 8.00am as usual. On a normal day both of them will come running to the door and get under my feet. Beatrice did, but Mr.Ham stayed in the hutch with his eyes closed. I put the food down and went over to see him incase he was just sleepy. He feels very cold to me and wouldn't move at all. He's just watching me with his eyes slightly open.

I'm very worried about him - he is usually the greediest rabbit alive and will push Bea out of the way to get the best piece of carrot! Going to call the vet at 9.00am sharp when they open. What can I do in the meantime?

They had their RVHD2 vaccines yesterday - is there any way that this could have gone 'wrong' and caused him to get ill? Bea is just fine. Please help

Sounds like you need to warm him up: can you bring him inside? Hopefully someone will be along with good advice soon but that's the first thing I'd do. Best wishes.

It could be a combination of the cold and the vaccination. It is always a worry when a rabbit loses their appetite. Personally I would give him a bit more time to see if he improves as another Vet's visit might just upset him more. But you are probably doing the right thing in phoning the Vet. I hope he gets back to normal very quickly.

I think your vet should see him as a matter of urgency if he is not eating. It's probably difficult for you to tell whether he has produced poo recently as they are together, but you might have a look to see if some of the poo is smaller, which would indicate that his gut is slowing down.

I doubt whether it's anything to do with the RHD2 vacc in itself, but he might have got stressed going to the vets, which may have had an impact.

Sending him lots of vibes.

Thank you so much everyone for the advice. We took him to the vet for 9.10am. She said his gut was very quiet, and that it could be a combination of the very cold weather and perhaps a bad reaction to the RVHD2 vaccination. She advised that we bring him in with Beatrice to warm him up and she also gave him a couple of injections to help his gut move. She said that because he's an older bun (5 going on 6) perhaps he isn't coping with this frosty weather so well.

He seems a bit brighter now and has eaten some dandelion leaves and a few pellets since we got back. They're in our 2nd bedroom upstairs which is very warm. But now my concern is: can they go back outside after this? The weather is undeniably freezing, so surely the transition from a day or two inside to outside again would be a nasty shock.

We do have a spare bedroom which is currently not used for anything other than a dumping/storage room. We moved to this house not so long ago and keep decorating supplies in there/stuff that hasn't been unpacked or sorted yet. If we were really determined it could be cleared out over the course of a weekend. It is 2.90m (9'6') x 2.39m (7'10'), which obviously isn't as big as their 10 x 8 run they have outside alongside their 6ft hutch. Furthermore, this house we bought is a huge fixer upper, so the room in mind just has old dirty wooden floorboards and the walls are flaky old paint/remnants of wallpaper. It could be cleaned probably, but it isn't the best.

I'm a bit beside myself because it felt like things were finally straightened out - 100% secured living space with 24/7 access to the huge run, bunnies bonded together and very happy. I feel incredibly guilty if his illness is the result of being too cold, but their hutch sleeping area is stuffed with hay, they just don't seem to use it I went out probably around 8.00ish last night and they were both still running around in the frosty pitch black. Even this morning when he was cold, I tried to keep him warm with a blanket and by surrounding him with hay and he shook it all off and ran off.

Any advice is so appreciated!

Huge vibes for Beapig. I've never had outside buns but yours will have their winter coats so if poss I'd work towards getting them back out. Its possible the cold had nothing to do with him being in (my inside bunnies feel cold if they are poorly).

I'm guessing your property is old-ish. I wouldn't leave them in the building supplies room as most paint (& a lot of plaster, primers too) from up to the 70's contain lead paint which is massively toxic to rabbits. The flakier, the riskier (I've had recent issues with this myself)

So sorry I got their names mixed up - huge vibes for Ham

joey&boo said:

Huge vibes for Beapig. I've never had outside buns but yours will have their winter coats so if poss I'd work towards getting them back out. Its possible the cold had nothing to do with him being in (my inside bunnies feel cold if they are poorly).

I'm guessing your property is old-ish. I wouldn't leave them in the building supplies room as most paint (& a lot of plaster, primers too) from up to the 70's contain lead paint which is massively toxic to rabbits. The flakier, the riskier (I've had recent issues with this myself)

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Our house is 1950s, and yes, I think it's very likely that the skirting paint could be lead based. Unfortunately this room is bottom of our priority list for decorating - we have had only a few rooms in the house plastered so far and the small third bedroom has just become a dusty dump for tools and cans of paint :/ If we had to bring them in then we could make it a priority, but it would still take many weeks to get to the point of being rabbit safe and generally habitable. Seems a shame too, given that we spent months and a lot of money on building their current outdoor accommodation.

I think it is definitely best that we keep Ham in overnight though, because he's still off his food and very dopey. He has eaten a small amount of danelions so far, but not much. Can anyone recommend any foods that might perk up his appetite?

Regarding the cold, Beatrice lived in a flat almost all of her life until we got her a few months ago, and she's just fine. They're close in age, and in Ham's previous home he just had sawdust for bedding, no hay, and he got through many winters. So I am also wondering if the cold has anything to do with it, but I doubt that being out in this frost today would help his conditon.

It's lucky that I'm a freelancer who works from home so I can keep an eye on him

P.s. he is still eating very little and mostly just lying down. He has has a small handful of dandelions at the most. He hasn't pooped since we got him back two hours ago. How long should I leave it before I call the vet again? Going to the vet really stresses him out, so I don't want to put him through that unless completely necessary. Just wondering what is best to do for our boy

I would call your vet but not necessarily take him. Has he got metacam & motility drugs to have at home from his vet visit. He may need syringe feeding

Beapig said:

P.s. he is still eating very little and mostly just lying down. He has has a small handful of dandelions at the most. He hasn't pooped since we got him back two hours ago. How long should I leave it before I call the vet again? Going to the vet really stresses him out, so I don't want to put him through that unless completely necessary. Just wondering what is best to do for our boy

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Do you know the names of the drugs he had injected ? If you have an itemised Bill they should be on it.

Jack's-Jane said:

Do you know the names of the drugs he had injected ? If you have an itemised Bill they should be on it.

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I'm afraid I don't know the exact names, but one was an anti inflammatory and the other was to help move the gut along. Ham is still eating next to nothing

Beapig said:

I'm afraid I don't know the exact names, but one was an anti inflammatory and the other was to help move the gut along. Ham is still eating next to nothing

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It was probably Metoclopramide and Metacam.

Vaccination can occasionally make a Rabbit feel under the weather for about 24 hours. Just as we can after having something like a Flu vaccine.

The possible side effects are noted on the Filivac data sheet

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/media/documents/filavac.doc


I'd just let him settle for a while as he is also no doubt stressed by going to the Vet. Just make sure he's warm and that he has some bits of tasty food nearby.

I've only had one experience with Lopsy (his other, the first, was while he was being cared for by a friend :S): I don't know how long he spent getting back to his eating self after the vet visit but it was longer than 3 hours. He's was nibbling bits here and there but is impossible to syringe feed: I made up a critical care pouch into a bowl and he licked a bit of it. I left him with tons of food but went to bed about 11pm (he'd been seen by the vet at 7:30pm) and he had only tried some things: he seemed to want to eat but then was in too much pain to do so or something. When I got up at 6am I went straight up and the little toerag had eaten everything, including most of his hay, and was begging at the bars. We were 'lucky': he was already inside in his run and a puppy pen in the attic (we turned the radiator off), as his first experience was too long-term for him to go back out. The only common denominator was sprouts :S

Keeping them in today somewhere unheated would be really good if you can, with areas of warmth from a snugglesafe or similar, but spaces they can get cool too if they need to. If Mr. Ham is seemingly back to normal after that or even tomorrow morning, then putting them back out shouldn't be too bad, I suppose. But I don't have that much experience really so if someone wants to contradict me, please do so

Thank you so much for the advice everyone. Mr. Ham has just started to eat properly again, so we're very relieved. I think we'll keep them in overnight to be sure and then put them outside again tomorrow if he seems a lot better. What a day it has been :shock:

Excellent news Most likely it's just a blip, all too much at once, and he'll be right as rain! Best wishes for you all

My rabbits have always lived outside. If he seems to be a bit brighter, I would turn the heat down/or off in the room that they are in at the moment. I would maybe keep them in tonight, but I don't think you would be able to put them back outside if you keep them in for too many days after that and certainly not if you keep the room warm. I don't, but some people use Snugglesafes. You could perhaps shut them in the hutch overnight with a Snugglesafe.

It may be nothing to do with the cold temperatures. It also may be nothing to do with the vaccination. However,either or both will probably not have been helpful if he's not well.

I would try to tempt him with strong-smelling herbs and I would rinse them, so that he's getting fluids. I would also telephone your vet to update him and ask whether you should be syringe-feeding. Have you got meds to give him orally? If not, this is also something to ask your vet about.

ETA Just seen your update post. Good news

Omi said:

My rabbits have always lived outside. If he seems to be a bit brighter, I would turn the heat down/or off in the room that they are in at the moment. I would maybe keep them in tonight, but I don't think you would be able to put them back outside if you keep them in for too many days after that and certainly not if you keep the room warm. I don't, but some people use Snugglesafes. You could perhaps shut them in the hutch overnight with a Snugglesafe.

It may be nothing to do with the cold temperatures. It also may be nothing to do with the vaccination. However,either or both will probably not have been helpful if he's not well.

I would try to tempt him with strong-smelling herbs and I would rinse them, so that he's getting fluids. I would also telephone your vet to update him and ask whether you should be syringe-feeding. Have you got meds to give him orally? If not, this is also something to ask your vet about.

ETA Just seen your update post. Good news

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Thank you Omi and Keletkezes for the advice and support <3 We have an outbuilding type room attached to our house which is single brick, so quite close to outside temperature. This is the room that we bonded them in. Perhaps we'll put them in there tonight to keep an eye on them and then back out into the run tomorrow. I think Beatrice is feeling a bit cooped up so it would be good to get them back outside asap. We do have a snugglesafe, and I think I might order another as it's winter now and they both seem to really like them.

I'm so very happy that he seems to be on the mend

Glad to hear that he is feeling better now

Thank you so much everyone, it is such a relief that it wasn't anything too serious <3