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syringe feeding * update on abcess

E

Estelle

Wise Old Thumper
I'm helping my very pregnant friend with her poorly rabbit. The rabbit has bad teeth, spurs on her back teeth and a front tooth that will be removed tomorrow at the vets. Her eye is also swollen. She isn't eating on her own. The vet gave her some science recovery which we gave her last night and this morning but we are finding it really difficult to get it into her mouth.
The syringe is really hard to push and then a big blob comes out and not alot of it goes in her mouth.
I looked at baby foods but they all had potato or rice in and i wasn't sure she should eat those.
I could try making carrot and broccoli puree if that would syringe any better.
Also tryed her with some mushed up pellets but she won't eat them.
She has metacam, antibiotics and eye drops and should be better after having her dental tomorrow but i think we will have to feed her for a couple of days afterwards.
Any ideas on getting more food into her?
 
Last edited:
You can get jars of baby food with just apple or apple and raspberry - I used these along with carrot that had been cooked and mushed through a sieve.
See if you can get a better sized syringe from the vet as well.

Good luck - I hope the bun starts to eat soon!
 
Awwww poor Bun :cry:

Has she had a skull X-ray? The swollen eye is a worry-I am thinking tooth root related abscess behind the eye :cry:

Anyway, back to your question. You can syringe the puree'd veg but it would be a good idea to get some fibre into her. I'd suggest getting some Fibreplex but maybe the Vet does not have it in stock

http://www.protexin.com/vet/product.php?id=21

You could try making the Science Recovery more dilute than the mixing instructions suggest. At least some fibre would be going in. I would not advise using a bigger syringe as their is always a risk the bun will aspirate the feed if it goes in too fast.

There are sever baby foods you can use, the Hipp Organic Range do a Carrot and Sweetcorn

http://www.hipp.co.uk/products/1_Carrot_Sweetcorn_FT.html

and Plum Baby do a Spinach one

http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/about_our_recipes.php/sectionID/4/articleID/12/#15

They are available at large Sainsbugs, Tesco and ASDA

Maybe the Bun needs a stronger analgesia, something like Torbugesic. Is she pooing ? If her guts have shut down maybe she needs some Metoclopromide too.

I hope the poor Bun feels better soon

Janex
 
I think it's called hibi baby food, that's what I use, there is vegan varities :D
 
Hi,

I found that my rabbit would lick the science recovery off a teaspoon. A bit messy but at least they get some. With the syringes I tried a couple of things quite successfully one was to cut the thin end off the syringe, the only problem with that is getting the syringe in their mouth. The other thing I did was to make it more watery.

(Tips from other RU users!)
 
If i`m syringe feeding recovery food or baby food i use the dropper that comes on an infacol bottle. If you snip the end off then you can suck up the food then gently squeeze it gradually into your bunnies mouth. ( I find syringes always block ).

Su.x
 
I had to recently syringe feed Effie and I got an apple and banana baby food which I mixed with SR and water. I cut the end of the small syringe right off so I could suck it up easily, also if you water the SR down a bit more it will make it easier to syringe feed and the extra water will be good for bun too.
 
As Tree and Jane says the best is the Hipp carrot and sweetcorn :D The Fibreplex is excellent too, Jane suggested that to me when I had a poorly baby bun. I use a doctored 1ml syringe that my vet sent me and I copied the design. You chop the syringe end off but makesure you put a plaster around the plunger at the top, so there is no chance that the plunger will come out the end of the syringe. Hope this helps. The syringe made it really is easy with no big blobs and sudden squirts :D
 
Thanks, i will try modifying the syringe to see if i can make the hole bigger. We did put extra water in the SR today but it was no easier to get out.
I will have a look at baby foods again. I couldn't see any just fruit or veg ones. I was amazed that so many of them had meat in them.
I'm sure rabbit will feel better tomorrow after her dental. She won't eat off a teaspoon at all. She is still quite lively and hopping around the garden but just not eating anything. I couldn't tell if she had pooped but i will check tomorrow when i pop round to take her to the vets.
 
also, should she be able to eat hay with no front teeth? She doesn't have hay at all at the moment because my friend says she won't eat it but i think it would be good for her back teeth if she could be encouraged to try some.
 
can yuo cut it up small and mash with a bananna, when I was looking after Midlands pet rescue, did this with some of the teeth bunnies and they loved it :D
 
If its the one mil syringe you just cut the whole bottom bit off (where the plunger comes out). I also put the baby food in a bowl and Dotty ate it from there later on :D
 
we spread fibreplex onto fave veg fresh leaf parsley - thumper as he is a little dim ate it no problems, whilst lily when she had antibiotics knew which leafs had the stuff on and which didnt! hope this helps :)
 
thanks, she just won't eat anything on her own at the moment, not even her favourite foods so her mouth must be quite painful. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow after the dental.
 
Well bunny had her dental but they forgot to remove her front tooth so she will have to have another GA in a couple of months :(

She is eating mushed up pellets now but her eye is still a bit swollen and she has all this yellow gooey stuff coming out of it. Is that from the abscess?
We are bathing it with cool boiled water on cotton wool and she has eye gel but it looks really messy. She is back at the vets tomorrow for another check up.
 
What other meds is she on Estelle?
They forgot to remove her front teeth??:shock: hope they won't be charging for the next GA..poor bunny:(

and sorry didn't see this earlier..but the Hip baby foods that have rice in are fine..
apple and pear...apple and blueberry ..apple and banana..and of coures the carrot and sweetcorn...
 
last week they gave her baytril, metacam and eye gel. When she's finished the baytril she has some septrin. They flushed her tear duct and filed down her back teeth. I think she has an abscess behind her eye. She can't see very well in that eye anyway as she had a parasite when she was a baby. Another healthy bunny from pets at home! :roll:
 
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