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Pye's back from neutering...

J

Jenefina

Mama Doe
I'm really worried, the vets took him in at 8:30am and when I phoned at 12:30 they said he was just coming round so I should come in an hour to collect him. When I picked him up they hadn't tried feeding him, said I might be better at tempting him and now he's home he's still so groggy and looking so sorry for himself. He hasn't touched a thing and I have all his favourites out round him. He's just sleeping on and off on the vet bed stuff and when he is awake he keeps licking and occasionally biting at his stitches.

Did anyone else have this problem? Any advice on what I should be doing!! I'm feeling v helpless and soo worried.
 
Also the vet told me to keep him off hay for the next two days, I said I had some only in his hay rack but she said none at all in case it became stuck to the wound, will he be ok without it for that long?
 
If he's going to chew his stitches would be more of a worry - they don't usually want hay and dry food anyway although it should be available and I think a hay rack is fine. Is he used to eating veg? If so give him veg or grass or what he's used to eating - he needs food in his guts ASAP. And water in a dish next to him. I think you'll find he wakes up a bit better in the middle of the night so be prepared for that and don't leave him all night without checking his stitches - he may need a collar on if he's going to chew them. Hope he's OK soon - is he booked in for Monday morning? He may need more painkillers by then if the vet didn't give you any.
 
Thanks elve, He just ate a bit if romaine lettuce and had a bit of a nibble on some carrot which has nade me stupidly happy, also he had a drink from his bottle, he has a dish with some water in but he's ignored that.

I think i'll put his hay rack back in with a little bit in it, just spent a fortune on excel forage!!

He has to go back in a week for a check up, i though that was a bit long but the vet said that was normal... They didn't give me anything for him, just told me to get him eating and keep an eye on him.
 
Here's a photo of Muppet recovering from his:

Muppetpostop.jpg
[/IMG]

He just lay there for a couple of hours looking sorry for himself. I left a piece of apple nearby, ready for when he felt tempted. He shook off the towel after a bit (and then when I replaced it, in case it had come off by accident) and then ate the apple and snoozed a bit more. It's like any general anaesthetic tho - takes people awhile to feel right.

He has to go back in a week for a check up, i though that was a bit long but the vet said that was normal... They didn't give me anything for him, just told me to get him eating and keep an eye on him.
Click to expand...

Hopefully your vet will have given him some pain relief (to last at least 24 hours) before they sent him home with you. [If youre not sure, maybe ring them and ask?] We went back after a week for his post op check-up and all was fine :D The only bad moment was when he ground his teeth in pain very briefly about a day after, but (watching him very closely at that point!) it seemed to be a momentary thing because he'd moved awkwardly.

Also the vet told me to keep him off hay for the next two days
Click to expand...
I'd ve thought that meant as BEDDING, not as food :? I didnt worry about it as Muppet being an indoor bun doesnt have hay bedding but he does have a pile in the corner of his vet bed to nibble on.
 
He's eaten some more now, had quite a bit of lettuce, bit of carrot and even a bit of his burgess! He's also been moving around a bit so I think he's ok. He keeps licking his wounds every so often but doesn't seem to be in any pain, no teeth grinding or anything. He has had some very soft poop though, will see if they improve tomorrow.

Am gonna check on him every few hours through the night to make sure he's ok. Not sure how I'm going to check his wound though as he hates being picked up, it really freaks him out and he struggles like mad. I don't want to cause him any extra pain... guess I'll see how he goes.

Thanks for all the help and advice, I'll keep you posted.
 
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Does anyone know how many times I should check on him during the night? I was thinking every couple of hours or is that being neurotic?!

He seems to be getting more active and more like himself but I'm still worried about leaving him too long on his own. My boyfriend thinks my OCD is working overtime!
 
Squidgy was very wobbly when he came home. H'es an indoor bunny anyway, so we confined him to the bottom floor of his hutch, with a hot water bottle and all his favourite things. He did a lot of poos when he came home, and ate some pellets, so I didn't worry and left him to it overnight.
He would only eat grass and veg the following day and didn't poop for ages! He went back to the vets for some gut stimulant, but was completely back to normal after 36 hours.
He should have had a painkiller at the vets, and most vets give a gut stimulant injection anyway. Squidgy also had some Baytril (antibiotic) as his little balls were swollen:oops:
Hope he feels better soon
 
so you think he's ok to be left on his own all night? he's eaten quite a bit and pooped quite a bit (they are a little soft but that could be the trauma?...)

The vet didn't know anything about gut stimulants, said he would be fine if he started eating but to bring him back in tomorrow morning if I was worried. He definately got some pain medicine but not sure what...
 
It could take a few days for Pye to return to himself, but he will. The pooping/eating will be a bit random for a few days as well, and he may well be withdrawn and grumpy. Stopping him chewing the wound is important.

Stick with him, he'll be fine with your Love and care
 
If your vet really doesn't know anything about gut stimulants (how did he phrase it exactly?) you need a new vet - gut stimulant is basic rabbit care and the most likely thing your bunny will need, so a vet should always stock it.

Meanwhile - how is Pye this morning? :)
 
Oh my god, just rushed Pye to the vets as it looked like he'd pulled his stitches a bit and broke down in tears! :oops: He's fine, he'd pulled them a bit but the vet said he looked fine, was healing well and he was ok to come out a bit later on for a short supervised play.

Feel like such a fool!! she just laughed and said it was fine and gave me lots of reassurance.

It was a different vet from yesterday, seemed a bit more knowledgeable but I'm now thinking about finding a new vet after they were a bit confused by the gut stimulation thing. It could've been the way I phrased it, I was an emotional wreck yesterday too but managed not to cry until I got outside!! I'm really new to the whole rabbit thing, only had him just over a month so maybe I confused them or didn't ask the right questions. Just don't want to get anything wrong.

I move in about 3 weeks too so it might be an idea to find somewhere closer to the new home. Anyone know of a good vet in the North Tyneside area?
 
I agree with Elve, you need to find a rabbit savvy vet. The drugs needed to kick start the gut movement are essential after anasthetic. My vet kept all buns for surgery in overnight and released them back only when the digestion was working, with or without the help of the stimulants.

Thanks for keeping us updated, we're all hanging in there with you.
 
Wow you guys are so supportive, thank you so much, it's so nice speaking to people who have been through this all and who have so much knowledge!

I think I'm going to let him out soon, he def seems to be slowly getting back to his normal self, still quiet, but I think he's a bit bored of being locked up too!! Might try him out for half an hour and see how he goes.

I found a thread about looking for vets and there's a large company of vets called Crofts who are quite nearby the new house I'm moving to and have some specialists in small animal surgery, will have to ring them next week as the vets are split over diff practices round north east, need to make sure I go to the right one!
 
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