Sue_P
Young Bun
For my own peace of mind I need to know what caused my bunny’s death.
Henry suddenly stopped eating and didn’t produce any poos, one minute he was fine the next he wasn’t. A day and a half later he saw the vet who gave him 3 injections to get his guts going and said his back teeth looked like they needed re-doing. (He had them burred 7 months previous). I asked the vet if he could have a blockage in his tummy from eating his own fur (he was especially furry and it got everywhere believe me
) and I said I’d spotted him eating his cat litter and asked why he’d done that. She said maybe he was trying to grind down his teeth a bit if they were causing him probs or maybe he was trying to eat his own poo but was mistakenly taking litter instead.
I force-fed him for a day unsuccessfully as he wouldn’t swallow and the injections gave him bad watery uncontrollable diahorrea but slowly he recovered and started eating again but mainly only when I put food in front of him or water infront of him otherwise he wouldn’t go to feed/drink. He wouldn’t eat huge amounts and I observed him eating and it looked as though he couldn’t chew right as he’d chew slow and seemed reluctant and would drop things mid-way through and would avoid his favourite treats so after a few days I decided to give him a back teeth operation thinking his lack of eating could be down to his teeth causing him pain or difficulty as the vet suggested. He came out of the op fine and seemed very bright for a couple of days and ate by himself but started going off his food and he still avoided some of his favourite foods. Again he stopped eating and pooing and I took him back to the vets and she gave me some medication to get his guts going but he didn’t seem to improve and looked worse so I took him back for 3 more injections the next day. In his last few days he was eating but very small amounts, not enough IMO to sustain him so I tried force-feeding again (reluctantly as I found the other time distressing as he wouldn’t take it), this time he was ever so good and lapped it up and I force-fed him for nearly 12 hours, I handed him to my mother whilst I went to work, 2 hours later he was dead.
In the last 10 hours he hadn’t pooed but he did a pee 3 hours before he died and had a belly full of vegetable baby food and Critical Care mix. In all he’d been ill (on and off) for 2 weeks.
Since his death I by chance stumbled upon information online that you should never have cat litter around a rabbit.
I didn’t know this.
Pamphlets don’t warn of death by cat litter,
cat litter has no warnings on the packets,
the vet and nurse at the vets didn’t gasp when I said I’d seen him eating his litter, they didn’t tell me that I wasn’t supposed to use it.
Henry was 3 and 3 quarters old and I’d been giving him cat litter for one year but up until 2 months ago I mixed sawdust in with the litter (as I had lots spare), I’d seen him eat the sawdust too. For the last two months he had purely cat litter, Morrisons Value cat litter. I’m not 100% sure if that’s classed as clumping cat litter or not. I rang the customer care line the other day, explained what had happened, asked if it was classed as clumping cat litter and asked if it’s made out of clay but surprise surprise no one got back to me with the information. & all the packet says on it for ingredients is……. wait for it…… “cat litter”.
Henry has had various medical complaints since I got him 2 years ago. Permanent blocked tearducts, he had 2 white growths growing on one eyeball which no vet could say what it was or give any treatment although I’d tried various eyedrop medications. (I believe the lump was a side effect of that eye being overly runny all the time). He seemed resistant to mite medication and had them twice and each time I’d have to overdose him to get rid of them. He’d stopped eating 3 times previous; the first time he acted very oddly and looked very uncomfy but it totally went within 8 hours (during the night before I even had chance to get him to the vets), that was when he lived outdoors and had never come into contact with cat litter before, the second time he didn’t eat for 5 days after his first back teeth burring operation and he had injections and I force-fed him then, then 5 months or so ago he didn’t eat for 24 hours and again looked uncomfy but he was back on form quickly after.
I’d also seen him with what looked like a cold before.
Whilst ill I had asked the vet how long could he go without eating much and she said as long as he’s getting fluids - quite a while. She didn’t seem overly concerned about him as he looked bright in the vets room when she saw him less than 2 days before his death. She said to give her a ring in a couple of days time for a progress report. I don’t think she expected him to die.
Afterwards I asked why he died and she said it could have been like toxins or bacteria in the gut (she got a bit technical with me and I can’t remember word for word what she said plus I was rather traumatised at the time) but she said his guts must have had toxins in. She said his tummy hadn’t gas in when she last checked him.
In your opinion do you think his death was caused by him eating cat litter?
When I saw him eat it a couple of times he’d just stick his head in it, shift it around a bit and then take one piece and grate his teeth on it - he didn’t eat lots by any means. If rabbits can die from eating cat litter then why isn’t there warnings about it?
& why on earth didn’t the vet consider his guts may have a stone in or be turning like cement? I’d have paid for an operation to remove the blockage rather than give a dying rabbit a dental.
I mean I take it the vet didn’t know herself that cat litter can kill, right?
Could the fact that Henry could still poo after his first bought of illness and up to 10 hours before his death mean that there wasn’t a blockage inside of him?
I’ve felt terrible since finding out more about cat litter, knowing that I gave him something that caused his death is awful to accept and I feel a complete clutz for not knowing or doing more research beforehand on litters and not trailing around the internet before his death. It could have been avoided and we could have had another 4 happy years together.
I need to know the truth though, I don’t want to blame myself and feel guilt wracked for life if the vet had good reason to not suggest his guts were blocked with cat litter, but at the same time if the vet didn’t do her job right and when informed he’d eaten cat litter should have operated and due to the fact she didn’t he needlessly died then I’m going to complain. Please give your opinions as I loved him like crazy and the cause of his death bothers me a lot.
Henry suddenly stopped eating and didn’t produce any poos, one minute he was fine the next he wasn’t. A day and a half later he saw the vet who gave him 3 injections to get his guts going and said his back teeth looked like they needed re-doing. (He had them burred 7 months previous). I asked the vet if he could have a blockage in his tummy from eating his own fur (he was especially furry and it got everywhere believe me
Since his death I by chance stumbled upon information online that you should never have cat litter around a rabbit.
Henry has had various medical complaints since I got him 2 years ago. Permanent blocked tearducts, he had 2 white growths growing on one eyeball which no vet could say what it was or give any treatment although I’d tried various eyedrop medications. (I believe the lump was a side effect of that eye being overly runny all the time). He seemed resistant to mite medication and had them twice and each time I’d have to overdose him to get rid of them. He’d stopped eating 3 times previous; the first time he acted very oddly and looked very uncomfy but it totally went within 8 hours (during the night before I even had chance to get him to the vets), that was when he lived outdoors and had never come into contact with cat litter before, the second time he didn’t eat for 5 days after his first back teeth burring operation and he had injections and I force-fed him then, then 5 months or so ago he didn’t eat for 24 hours and again looked uncomfy but he was back on form quickly after.
Whilst ill I had asked the vet how long could he go without eating much and she said as long as he’s getting fluids - quite a while. She didn’t seem overly concerned about him as he looked bright in the vets room when she saw him less than 2 days before his death. She said to give her a ring in a couple of days time for a progress report. I don’t think she expected him to die.
In your opinion do you think his death was caused by him eating cat litter?