Rabbit only eating a little - 4 days

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Hello all!

Please could you offer me some advice with this.

Our bunny Lucy has not been herself for 4 days now. She is not running around like she normally does and has eaten / drank very little. Our other rabbit goes through phases wheere he has an off day and he's fine the next day. Lucy has a warm temperature and has eaten a couple of things, dandilon leaves and some fresh grass, but not enough hay!

We took her to the vet last night - I know you may think we have left it a bit late, but we had some gut medicine and some metacam painkillers which we gave her as we had some left over from our previous vet trip. We also had some fibre paste which we fed her with a syringe. But these didn't work. The vet wasn't sure what was up with her and we decided that she should have the metacam and gut stimulant via injection. The vet said her stomach was empty and her teeth were fine. When we got back from the vets last night, she ate a little and had a wee. It seemed to be positive, however this morning she is back to her ill self and not eating much hay or veg!

I don't really know what to do! are the bunnies bored of their hay and deciding they don't want to eat it?! We give them a mix of hay including oat, readigrass and normal hay.

It's quite worrying as it's going on for a few days now!

 

[joey&boo]

Sorry to hear about Lucy. Of course its always helpful to find out whats causing a bun to not eat but not always possible. In these circumstances - & with vets go ahead (blockage needs to be ruled out) we often have to administer recovery food via syringe feeding - normally every 3-4 hours & for as long as it takes for appetite to resume. If you dont have any recovery food pellets ground in to smooth mix with boiled water (left to cool to tepid) can be syringed, pureed fruit can make it a bit more palatable. After Christmas it might be worth looking at diagnostics if she hasn't picked up but for now syringe feeding would be my focus. Good luck

 

[InspectorMorse]

Did the Vet take your Rabbit’s temperature ?

Is your Rabbit up to date with her vaccinations ?

Have you contacted the Vet again to let him/her know that your Rabbit is not improving ? Often it is necessary to give analgesia and prokinetic medication for several days in cases of gut stasis.

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Thanks for your reply! The vet said to bring her back if she hasn't recovered, but he said about keeping her overnight on a drip. Now i'm wondering if we should just keep feeding her the fibre paste like you've said and see how she goes.

The vet also checked her glucose levels, they were a little low, but not past the limit where it's an emergency.

Thanks again

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

hello! yes, he said her temperature was fine. She is still passing some stool, although small.

All up to date with vaccinations too

 

[tonibun]

If she will eat grass and some Dandelions I would not worry about her not eating hay as grass is better than hay really. Do you not give them pellets as well? How old is your Bunny?

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Hi there! yes they only have a few pellets a day, not too many. She's been turning away from eating those too. I buy a dandilion mix of dried forage which they normally love, again she's not bothered about that. She's only had a tiny amount of grass today.

She's a round a year old.

 

[InspectorMorse]

hello! yes, he said her temperature was fine. She is still passing some stool, although small.

All up to date with vaccinations too

Did the Vet dispense medication (analgesia and prokinetics) for you to continue to administer for a few days ? As mentioned in my previous post this is usually necessary.

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

I've just popped to see her and she's eaten a dandilion leaf, but had enough after one. This is so confusing!

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Hello, they only gave us metacam and emeprid to administer at home

 

[InspectorMorse]

Hello, they only gave us metacam and emeprid to administer at home

That’s good, the Metacam is the analgesic and the Emeprid is the prokinetic.

Is she bright within herself or is she unusually quiet ?

Did the Vet check her ears ?

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

That’s good, the Metacam is the analgesic and the Emeprid is the prokinetic.

Is she bright within herself or is she unusually quiet ?

Did the Vet check her ears ?

She's not her normal self, normally she's causing trouble somewhere! And she rarely likes being touched, but now she'll tolerate you touching her.

I called the vet and they said to phone them tomorrow as she is still wanting to eat.

Vet didn't check ears

 

[InspectorMorse]

She's not her normal self, normally she's causing trouble somewhere! And she rarely likes being touched, but now she'll tolerate you touching her.

I called the vet and they said to phone them tomorrow as she is still wanting to eat.

Vet didn't check ears

It sounds as though some further diagnostics are needed. I hope the Vet will see her again tomorrow

 

[Craig 1965]

Hello. I’m sorry that your bunny is having this episode. From what you say, you’ve identified quite a significant shift in your rabbits behaviour and I am with Jane on this that further vetinary investigations are probably needed.
I hope that you can get to see your vet in the next day or two and that your vet can consider support meds.
Sending vibes for your rabbit. Xx

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Thanks for your message! It's so strange!
When you stoke her, occasionally she will grind her teeth - I know that is normally a good sign? Xx

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thanks for your message! It's so strange!
When you stoke her, occasionally she will grind her teeth - I know that is normally a good sign? Xx

Tooth purring due to being content is like a tooth chattering sound, tooth grinding due to pain is as in the title, a grinding sound which is louder and very obviously not due to contentment

 

[MimzMum]

I'm guessing the reason they wanted to keep her in overnight and monitor was to hook her up to a drip to hydrate her. Sometimes when bunnies are having gut stasis they really need more fluid going in and it's not always possible to get enough in by mouth, especially if they're not eating.

Any greens you give that she will take, leave water on them after you wash them. This will help, but hopefully your vet will see her again and reevaluate. She may need to be admitted.

Vibes on the way that things will turn around for her soon. xx

 

[Zoobec]

Sending lots of vibes for her, I hope the vet can work out what the problem is. I’d be a bit concerned that the vet did not check her ears as a part of the routine check up. Sometimes teeth look ok but they aren’t able to see everything that’s going on in their mouths whilst they are conscious so sometimes issues can be found when they are under anaesthetic.

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Thanks everyone. She ate a head-sized amount of greens last night and there's not much change this morning, although she's eaten some corriander and a tiny bit of kale xx

 

[Eddie&LucyBun]

Hello again, just a quick question, how many ml would you syringe feed every 3-4 hours?