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Syringe fedding

W

Wilbur

Mama Doe
Hi,

I have been reading these forums for a while now. I will introduce myself and my bunnies soon. Harry my 9 year old dutch rabbit is having lots of problems at the moment, he is losing weight and won't eat anything apart from the odd dandilion. He is on Baytril, pills to help his appetite, and two types of eye drops, and also metacam!

He has an ongoing eye problem (slipped lens and pus behind it)

I have got some Science recovery powder for him but he is really reluctant to take it. Also it seems to stick in the syringe. I have the biggest syringe my vet uses.

Any advice or ideas? :(
 
Hello

Oh dear poor Bunny :cry:

If he is not eating I really think you need to have another chat with the Vet today. He may need a different type of pain relief to Metacam. He may also need some meds to try to prevent any gastric ulceration, a common problem in anorexic rabbits and also a potential side effect of the longterm use of oral Metacam.
Is his drinking? If not he may also need sub-cutaneous or IV fluids.

With regard to syringe feeds I find mixing Science Recovery with cooled boiled water, allowing it to stand for 10 mins, then mix in a bit more water makes syringing it up a bit easier. Also, mix it in a mug rather than a bowl. Again this appears to aid getting it into a syringe. You do need to be very careful with using a large syringe for feeds. A bun can easily aspirate the feed if stressed (ie it 'goes down the wrong way' -down the trachea rather than the osophogus.)

I hope your Vet is able to advise as to what else can be done for your Bun

Janex
 
hey...
iv been having the same problem with daisy...i find that if u wrap urbun in a toewel and let her sniff the syringe first u mite find he/she will grap the syringe in ther mouth well thats wat daisy seems to do

hope all goes well
 
I find if you cut the thin nozzle part off the end of a small syringe, it goes through a lot easier. Just watch for any sharp bits.

Hope your bunny gets better. :)
 
syring feeding

Hi,

Thanks for all your advice. I have got him some Critical care formula whcih I have just given him, along with water, baytril, eye drops, poor bun. He also finally swallowed the tablet to help his appetite (quarter of one). We saw the vet on Tuesday and he was given fluids then. He has an ulcer under his tongue from a tooth spur so I think that's part of the reason he's not eating. I will call the vets today for some advice. Thanks agin everyone. I also gave him a little pineapple juice as suggeted on a previous subject. He really liked that!

Thanks again.

Harry's mum
 
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