Hi All,
I'm wondering if anyone on here has experienced this before and / or might be able to share some tips or advice. So here's my story:
I've had 2 indoor rabbits since 2011, boy and girl, never much interaction between them, mainly kept themselves to themselves...
In January, the boy stopped eating, pooping and generally didn't seem well. Took him to the vets, we tried gut stimulants, injections, Metacam, syringe feeding etc etc.. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated quickly, he lost a lot of weight and so my vet proposed taking X-rays. The x-rays revealed that he had a hair ball in his stomach and that his entire gut was so full of gas that it had caused a rectal prolapse. All things considered, my vet said that the kind thing to do would be to let him go, which I eventually agreed to do. I still can't quite bring myself to think back to that day as it was all so upsetting and unexpected but I thought I should include it in this post, in case it helps to better understand my girl's current behaviour / condition....
Naturally, I was worried about how Lily would cope with the loss of her companion. For some reason however, she seemed completely fine with it and actually kinda 'perked' up?! For about 1 week, she was running and jumping around like never before, which I found a bit weird but I was just happy that she seemed fine. She was also drinking, eating and pooping normally, although I did notice that her droppings suddenly smelled a lot, they literally stank and I could smell it all across the room!!?
Then, in the second week, her behaviour suddenly changed and she started to display similar symptoms, i.e. no drinking and very reduced and infrequent pooping and eating.
Took her to the vets, who again gave me gut stimulants and said that because hair balls are usually just a 'secondary cause', it could be that both my rabbits had contracted an infection. However, as Lily still seemed a lot brighter and 'healthier' than my boy had been, the vet said she wasn't as worried about her as she had been about George, so suggested that we monitor her and that I also give her gut stimulants. The weird thing about the gut stimulants is that they have caused diarrhoea twice since we started her on them but then, on other days, she doesn't have a problem with them at all (always staying on the same dosage)?! I was also advised to syringe feed her pineapple juice, which she sometimes seems to like, other times she does everything to get away.
A few days ago, my vet also did X-rays on her and although we could see a hair ball in her stomach as well, hers is a lot smaller and there is no 'gas-built-up' in her gut (as of yet).
Although she did lose some weight initially, it has stabilised since. Her behaviour however, has changed completely and it really baffles me:
She tends not to eat before ca. 5pm, whereas before she would eat at any time. She also seems more selective of her food, e.g. she won't eat any carrots, broccoli or spring greens anymore although she used to love them. Instead, she now nibbles and eats straw which she absolutely never touched before.
She's still not drinking (apart from the pineapple juice that I syringe feed her). She isn't dehydrated though, according to the vet (I give her lots of fresh herbs) and she also urinates A LOT.
She does poop but the droppings are very small, hard and almost black.
About 2 weeks ago, I randomly bought her a litter tray (my rabbits always just used to go inside their hutches) and at first, she would sometimes use it, other times not. However, by now, she will only use that tray and she will sit in it for hours on end.
At the visit to the vets today, she suggested that "we just leave her be" for now and see how she gets on. She recommended some 'pet remedy plug-in' which I've bought and maybe that will help too? (Anyone got any experience with those?)
So, basically, Lily's current situation is that she's not doing much of anything during the day but perks up from afternoon onwards. She only seems to be able to eat after she's pooped. She seems to prefer 'soft food' but then also munches on pellets occasionally as well as straw, a bit of hay, lots of kale and herbs, sometimes some spinach or chard but in any way, nowhere up to what she used to consume, she used to always be hungry and now she's very selective and just eats less overall.
Apologies for the long post, just thought I might get as much detail in as possible. So if anyone has any idea or has maybe experienced a similar pattern / behaviour / illness before, I'd be so grateful as I'm terrified that I might lose her as well and I just want to try and explore any possible avenue!! Many thanks!!
I'm wondering if anyone on here has experienced this before and / or might be able to share some tips or advice. So here's my story:
I've had 2 indoor rabbits since 2011, boy and girl, never much interaction between them, mainly kept themselves to themselves...
In January, the boy stopped eating, pooping and generally didn't seem well. Took him to the vets, we tried gut stimulants, injections, Metacam, syringe feeding etc etc.. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated quickly, he lost a lot of weight and so my vet proposed taking X-rays. The x-rays revealed that he had a hair ball in his stomach and that his entire gut was so full of gas that it had caused a rectal prolapse. All things considered, my vet said that the kind thing to do would be to let him go, which I eventually agreed to do. I still can't quite bring myself to think back to that day as it was all so upsetting and unexpected but I thought I should include it in this post, in case it helps to better understand my girl's current behaviour / condition....
Naturally, I was worried about how Lily would cope with the loss of her companion. For some reason however, she seemed completely fine with it and actually kinda 'perked' up?! For about 1 week, she was running and jumping around like never before, which I found a bit weird but I was just happy that she seemed fine. She was also drinking, eating and pooping normally, although I did notice that her droppings suddenly smelled a lot, they literally stank and I could smell it all across the room!!?
Then, in the second week, her behaviour suddenly changed and she started to display similar symptoms, i.e. no drinking and very reduced and infrequent pooping and eating.
Took her to the vets, who again gave me gut stimulants and said that because hair balls are usually just a 'secondary cause', it could be that both my rabbits had contracted an infection. However, as Lily still seemed a lot brighter and 'healthier' than my boy had been, the vet said she wasn't as worried about her as she had been about George, so suggested that we monitor her and that I also give her gut stimulants. The weird thing about the gut stimulants is that they have caused diarrhoea twice since we started her on them but then, on other days, she doesn't have a problem with them at all (always staying on the same dosage)?! I was also advised to syringe feed her pineapple juice, which she sometimes seems to like, other times she does everything to get away.
A few days ago, my vet also did X-rays on her and although we could see a hair ball in her stomach as well, hers is a lot smaller and there is no 'gas-built-up' in her gut (as of yet).
Although she did lose some weight initially, it has stabilised since. Her behaviour however, has changed completely and it really baffles me:
She tends not to eat before ca. 5pm, whereas before she would eat at any time. She also seems more selective of her food, e.g. she won't eat any carrots, broccoli or spring greens anymore although she used to love them. Instead, she now nibbles and eats straw which she absolutely never touched before.
She's still not drinking (apart from the pineapple juice that I syringe feed her). She isn't dehydrated though, according to the vet (I give her lots of fresh herbs) and she also urinates A LOT.
She does poop but the droppings are very small, hard and almost black.
About 2 weeks ago, I randomly bought her a litter tray (my rabbits always just used to go inside their hutches) and at first, she would sometimes use it, other times not. However, by now, she will only use that tray and she will sit in it for hours on end.
At the visit to the vets today, she suggested that "we just leave her be" for now and see how she gets on. She recommended some 'pet remedy plug-in' which I've bought and maybe that will help too? (Anyone got any experience with those?)
So, basically, Lily's current situation is that she's not doing much of anything during the day but perks up from afternoon onwards. She only seems to be able to eat after she's pooped. She seems to prefer 'soft food' but then also munches on pellets occasionally as well as straw, a bit of hay, lots of kale and herbs, sometimes some spinach or chard but in any way, nowhere up to what she used to consume, she used to always be hungry and now she's very selective and just eats less overall.
Apologies for the long post, just thought I might get as much detail in as possible. So if anyone has any idea or has maybe experienced a similar pattern / behaviour / illness before, I'd be so grateful as I'm terrified that I might lose her as well and I just want to try and explore any possible avenue!! Many thanks!!
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