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Please may I have some vibes for Scrappy. U/D doing much better

Thanks Zoobec :)

I've just seen her eat a couple of strands of hay! Not much I know, but hopefully a step in the right direction. She glared at me as she was eating them as if to say "Look, I'm eating something so you can eff off with that syringe! :evil:"

Speaking of syringes, Bunny Momma, those tips worked a treat and on the last feed I managed to get a thicker mixture through a lot easier. Thanks! :thumb:
 
so pleased that she is eating. my little boy is still in at the vets, i rang this morning and they said he can't go home yet as he's still not eating. i am now wondering that he will be better at home, as i could encourage him to eat also he would be able to see his buddy, even tho he won't be able to cuddle him not yet.
 
Rita said:
so pleased that she is eating. my little boy is still in at the vets, i rang this morning and they said he can't go home yet as he's still not eating. i am now wondering that he will be better at home, as i could encourage him to eat also he would be able to see his buddy, even tho he won't be able to cuddle him not yet.
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Oh no I'm sorry Biscuit still isn't eating :( My vets discharged Scrappy last night even though she wasn't eating because they felt she might do if she were in a more familiar environment, although I was instructed to bring her back if I couldn't get any food into her. Might be worth asking if you can take him home and see and for them to give you some critical care to syringe until he does. Good luck, really hope he starts eating soon xx
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Hi Bunny momma :wave: Thanks so much for those tips on syringing the critical care. I did end up making the mixture too watery just to get it through the syringe so for the next feed I'll try and widen the tip a bit and wash it through beforehand.

I actually had a much more successful feed this morning. In order to make the critical care more palatable I softened a few SS pellets in warm water and added that to the critical care mix. Seemed to have worked as she ate a good 10mls quite happily without spitting it out or letting it dribble down her chin. Unfortunately she still doesn't seem to want to eat for herself but I'll keep leaving some fresh and dried food in front of her. The main thing for the moment is that she is getting food and water into her system. She has also poohed and weed overnight and this morning which is positive. :thumb:
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Even though I see from your later posts that she is starting to eat her hay, allow me to give you another tip regarding something you found yourself. You softened a few SS pellets in warm water and added it to the Critical Care. Unless your bunny needs some of the extra vitamins/components in Critical Care, you can either mix in a lot of pellets or use pellets only. The problem with using only pellets is they soon separate from the water as you syringe them into your bunny-making the consistency inconsistent. If you mix it with something other than water like you did with Critical Care, this makes it better. Also, pellets may contain larger pieces which get stuck in the tip of the syringe. One tip I will give about pellets is to use a coffee grinder to grind up the dry pellets to a fine consistency before adding it to the Critical Care. The Critical Care will make it a better consistency, or you can mix it with something other than water and use the ground pellets alone. I used ground up pellets before critical care was available. Critical Care does not taste like pellets (don't ask how I know) so some bunnies will perfer if your syringe feed their own pellets.
 
Thanks again Bunny Momma, these tips are very much appreciated! I'm strongly leaning towards making the bulk of the mixture pellets as this is going down a lot better than the critical care. Unfortunately I don't have a coffee grinder but I'm presuming crushing with a mortar and pestle would work just as well provided I can get it into a powdered consistency?

We've had a bit more hay eating and it looks like she's eaten a bit of fibafirst as well!
 
Glad that Scrappy is starting to nibble and show a bit more interest in food. it sounds like she is heading in the right direction.

I always use a 15ml feeding syringe for bunnies, they are brilliant. The tip is longer so easier to get into bunny's mouth and the end of the syringe is wider so the fibrous bits in the critical care don't ever get stuck. I use the one made by Supreme and would definitely recommend it.
 
Hi everyone :wave: Just a quick update on Scrappy. She has been eating for herself more over the course of this afternoon and evening. Initially the only thing she seemed to really want to eat was apple which wasn't really ideal, although obviously much better than nothing! So I've been rubbing some fibafirst sticks with apple slices just to get the flavour onto them and she's been eating those. She's also been chomping on more hay which I'm really pleased about.

Thanks again everyone for all your vibes and advice on syringe feeding. I must admit I hate doing it and usually try any other method of getting meds into Scrappy. Unfortunately that hasn't been an option this time so all tips have been very gratefully received. xx
 
Pleased to hear Scrappy is starting to eat on her own. You aren't the only one who hates syringe feeding!
 
so pleased Scrappy is on the mend, slowly but surely. like you i hate giving the medicine i was wearing the first syringe full of medicine. practice makes perfect. i shall be glad when Biscuit is better and he does not need it. Biscuit loves herbs, have you tried Scrappy with basil.
tomorrow is another day forward and another day of healing. lots of vibes for Scrappy and Biscuits. :love:
 
Rita said:
so pleased Scrappy is on the mend, slowly but surely. like you i hate giving the medicine i was wearing the first syringe full of medicine. practice makes perfect. i shall be glad when Biscuit is better and he does not need it. Biscuit loves herbs, have you tried Scrappy with basil.
tomorrow is another day forward and another day of healing. lots of vibes for Scrappy and Biscuits. :love:
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Haha I know what you mean! I ended up putting a make shift bib around myself for the syringe feeds! Fortunately this evening's administration of metacam has been a lot easier as she's licked her dose off a saucer which has saved on the stress of the syringe!

I just read your update on Biscuit in the health section. Really good news he's started doing some poos :thumb: Topping up the recovery vibes for him xx
 
Scrappy's Little Helper said:
Thanks again Bunny Momma, these tips are very much appreciated! I'm strongly leaning towards making the bulk of the mixture pellets as this is going down a lot better than the critical care. Unfortunately I don't have a coffee grinder but I'm presuming crushing with a mortar and pestle would work just as well provided I can get it into a powdered consistency?

We've had a bit more hay eating and it looks like she's eaten a bit of fibafirst as well!
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I don't have a mortar and pestle but that is a good idea. Even with the coffee grinder I have to be sure not to crush too many pellets at once because any larger pieces of pellets will get stuck in the syringe. I have even taken an ordinary kitchen sifter and sifted the pellets after they are crushed so I don't have any large pieces when I mix it with the water.

From your later posts I see she is eating much better, but it is always good to have some alternatives to give you peace of mind for any future issues. Plus it may help others who read these posts who have pellets but no Critical Care available.
 
Tracy said:
Glad that Scrappy is starting to nibble and show a bit more interest in food. it sounds like she is heading in the right direction.

I always use a 15ml feeding syringe for bunnies, they are brilliant. The tip is longer so easier to get into bunny's mouth and the end of the syringe is wider so the fibrous bits in the critical care don't ever get stuck. I use the one made by Supreme and would definitely recommend it.
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Tracy, you are right. Larger syringes will have a larger hole in the tip.

I use a 10ml syringe for my dwarf bunnies. My only problem was a bunny who chewed the tip. I did not mind buying new syringes every few days, but one day he took a new syringe and got one good chomp and he separated a large piece of the plastic tip. I tried to get him to spit it out and was worried he would choke. He chewed the piece for a minute before he finally spit out the plastic tip.
I needed a syringe with metal tips for this bunny and the vets did not have anything like that. I tried a few things and failed, until I realized I could use a cake decorating bag/coupler/tip that I had in my kitchen. The bags are heavy plastic and can be reused many times even though some are sold as disposibles. The tip is metal so it tolerates chewing. And you can purchase writing tips with various size holes depending on what you are feeding. The only downside is you twist the bag and squeeze it so it is a bit awkward.
 
Not a great update on Scrappy :( She's just had her post op check up and it looks like some of the internal stitches have ruptured :( She's in surgery now to have it fixed. I'm really worried and upset :cry: I thought it was healing nicely as she was eating more and the external stitches were intact.
 
Try not to worry...although it's easier said than done I know. It's not unheard of for the stitches to fail. My Pansy had a post-spay hernia and had to have another op a couple of days after the initial spay to sort it all out.

Sending lots of vibes for Scrappy and a hug for you. xx
 
Thanks Tracy :). I jut phoned the vet and they said she got through it ok and was recovering nicely and has eaten a little bit. They're going to phone me in a couple of hours to let me know if she can come home this evening.
 
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