need advice-bunny not eating*update! :)*

im really worried about Stumpy. usually when we do his food he comes running up and sticks his head in the air waiting for nose scritches, then dives into his food(leaning over the side of the cage to get it before its in with him!!) he also usually grabs his carrot from us when we go to give it to him-not tonight

tonight he has stayed lying down in his litter tray-every time we have put food near him he sort of pulls his head in and squints his eyes he is not acting like himself at all. i have noticed he has been in his litter tray most of the day, but he does usually lie there anyway! he really didnt want to come out either but i thought he was just being moody(as he sometimes can be-Sue im sure you know what i mean!)

what on earth could be wrong with him? his dish was empty from last nights feed, but he wont go near anything tonight.

if he still hasnt eaten by morning i will be bringing him to the vets obviously-but is there anything i could do tonight to tempt him some how? i dont suppose there is if he wont even have his carrot off us

any ideas at all as to what this could be? as far as i know he has had no previous health problems-and i havnt noticed anything wrong with him upto now-hes a happy healthy boy! usually im so worried

Deffineltly take him to the vets in the morning. As for tonight, when I have tried to get sick buns to eat I soak get their pellet wet (with water or apple juice) so it is easier to eat, and i make a banana/carrot mix. I mince the carrot and mash it into the banana. It makes a sort of "cake" and none of my rabbits have ever rejected this treat.

Hope Stumpy feels better, sending healing vibes!

thankyou for your reply. so strange because tonight i gave him his usual few chunks of carrot and a piece of banana! how strange is that?? :shock: i will try mashing it then and see if it will tempt him. i shall most certainly be at the vets with him tomorrow if he still hasnt eaten. i feel like i live at the vets-i was only there wednesday with 2 poorly rats :shock:

Hiya,

Clear out his litter tray so you can keep track of his poops. It's quite serious for a rabbit to stop eating and one of the questions the vet should ask is 'is he still pooping'.

You need to keep him eating as much as possible even if that means tempting him by hand feeding his favourite foods.

If he's still not eating by tommorow morning demand the vets gives you an appointment in the morning asap.

Rabbit's are quite prone to gut problem which can also be related to something else... e.g. if a bun is under the weather with something they stop eating and the gut shuts down (gut stasis) the vet can give him drugs to help get his gut moving and can check for problems like teeth that might have caused the problem in the first place.

Tamsin

right, ive just completely emptied his cage and litter tray so i can keep complete track of his poops. have put a pile of fresh hay in with him and left his veggies and pellets in too. i did just have to get some poops off him that were stuck to his fur around his bum :? but havnt noticed any sticky poos etc in his cage.

i also offered him his veg and some pellets again, but he done the same thing im afraid i shall have to go to sleep shortly if i have any chance of getting up early for the vets :shock: but will set my alarms to go off to keep checking on him. will keep you posted on him and let you know how he is in the morning. please keep fingers crossed!

Hi Belinda,
I`m so sorry to hear that Stumpy`s not eating. :? As you`ve said he`s had no previous health problems so i`m afraid i`ve no idea why he`s being like this?
As others have said all i think you can really do to be on the safe side is take him to the vets to investigate the situation further. Has he been deplummed yet?
Please keep me updated as to how he gets on.

Sending you and Stumpy big hugs,
Su.x

If he didn't eat anything for 12+ hr., force feed him with baby food. Give him 6 cc. of baby food (no meat contents) by sucking it in a syringe, dip the syringe in hot water for 1 min. to warm up the baby food. Force feed him.

Do it 4 - 5 times every 24 hr.

There's quite a few bunnies on the forum not eating at the min. Have you seen in General Chat? (Flint, Tilly, Prudence,Lloyd). My Flint's had an op, so that's causing his. I'm syringe feeding now, & taking him to the vets at least once a day.

Hi Belinda, how are you getting on with stumpy??
Harvey has a tendancy to do this to me, the first time it was either teeth trouble or xmas tree poisoning but we had his teeth done anyway in case... last time i won him over by hand feeding pak choi and corriander. but now and then he just seems "sad" and not fancy anything to eat..... sometimes its if theres been a change round, like james decorating makes him sulk, or the ratties coming home from school for the holidays - their holiday cage lives on top of his, so he sulks for a day at that!! :roll:

Let us know how you get on wont you? Also sorry to hear you have had 2 porly ratties? How are they?? Its been a sad time on rat chat, so many people are losing ratties at the moment, seems neverending. Touch wood my old boys are ok. old, but ok!!

thinking of you

**hugs**

so sorry its took me so long to update-i hope i havnt worried anyone too much? im happy to report that Stumpy is back to his normal cheeky self! i went to bed around 5am and OH got up to check him at around 7am-and found him sitting by his food dish eating i didnt believe him so got up and went into him myself, and sure enough there he was by his food dish! he then of course he demanded nose scritches and kisses

he has eaten all his carrot, some of his food, several treats :roll: and his hay. also put a handful of dandelion hay in with him to tempt him which he seems to have had a nibble at. his water has gone down and there are poops in his cage! does anyone have any idea why he would have gone like that and then a few hours later be acting normal? can bunnies get trapped wind?

oh, and he hasnt been "done" yet-but i was only talking about it the other day as im planning on getting him done a week monday-maybe he heard me and this was a sign of protest? :shock: :lol:

either way my mini man is back, but boy was i worried! it just got me thinking again about how i dont know enough about bunny health-safe to say i will be doing some reading up!!

Phew!Glad to hear Stumpy`s back to his usual self again! I find some of my bunsters have the odd `strange` day where they`re not quite themselves, i often give them pro biotics and they pick up again. Think they`re like us humans in a way have good and bad days?! I know it`s always worrying when they stop eating and you have to be so careful to prevent their tummies going into stasis but Stumpy`s obviously feeling better now and to be honest has me stumped, (pardon the pun), on this one :?:

Personally i reckon he must have heard the de-plumming conversation?! :shock: :lol:
Su.x

P.S. Please give him big hugs from me.xx

cannonwoman said:

Personally i reckon he must have heard the de-plumming conversation?!

Click to expand...

....What bloke wouldn't go off his food on hearing it :shock: :shock: And yes, bunnies can get wind!! Infacol (the stuff babies have for colic) is good for breaking up the wind. You can buy it at most supermarkets....costs about £3.20..The Infacol, NOT the WIND!! :shock: :lol: :lol: Jane and Buns xx

Su-i shall certainly pass on cuddles from you to the Stumpy man! oh, and just because he worried everyone i think i may have to get some updated piccies of him on here :wink:

maybe it was trapped wind then? i have some gripe water here and was going to ask if it would be safe to use on buns? i got it for the animal first aid kit as i know it can be used on piggies and i also used it on one of my rats not too long ago as he was very bloated due to gasping for air but if not i shall get hold of some infacol for the kit! :thumb:

Infacol is fantastic stuff, I would definitely recommend having some handy. Is stumpy moulting at the moment, he might have had a bit of tummy ache from a build up of fur??

awww glad hes feeling better!