Calico, my 6 month old spayed mini lop female house bunny stopped eating several days ago.
On examining her poops, I spotted what looked like carpet fibres (joining them together in a string) and assumed that this was the cause of her plight, making her feel full and uncomfortable. I syringe fed her for a couple of days and massaged her tummy and she was still pooing, but when she didn't improve (and was looking increasingly miserable), I took her to the vet. The vet couldn't feel an obstruction but thought there wasn't a lot of gut noise so they kept her in for a few hours, trying to rehydrate her with an IV line (which she promptly sabotaged), gave her a gut stimulant and tried to syringe feed her (without much success). Teeth checked out fine. Eventually Calico started to nibble a little grass and hay and brightened up in herself enough to start vandalising the surgery and we brought her home (much to the relief of the vets to return the stroppy little "Bunzilla"!)
That was Friday and since then, Calico has been up and down in her moods. She will take the occasional treat and nibble a piece of hay or even a piece of vegetable now and then, but doesn't want to eat for herself. She doesn't appear to be in discomfort - I know in rabbits it is hard to tell, but I know my bunnies well enough to detect tiny changes in their demeanour). We are giving her gut stimulant and pain killers and I am syringe feeding her regularly so she is pooing quite well although not as frequently as I'd like. She's great at taking the syringe food thank goodness but this is getting silly. The vet said to not syringe feed her too much so that she will get hungry enough to want to eat for herself but I am not giving her that much and I'm worried that underfeeding could be a disaster.
I also have another 5 year old neutered male dwarf lop rabbit Rowan who is beginning to lose the will to eat since his "girlfriend" Calico isn't keeping him company at the food bowls!!!
Have any of you bunny lovers had a rabbit with a similar problem and what did you do about it? The vet said the next step would be x-rays and taking blood, but I feel that isn't the solution. I keep hoping that if I persevere with the current feeding and treatment regime that Calico will eventually improve but this recovery is just taking such a long time that I'm wondering if that is a realistic expectation. Is 5 days too soon to expect an improvement? :?
On examining her poops, I spotted what looked like carpet fibres (joining them together in a string) and assumed that this was the cause of her plight, making her feel full and uncomfortable. I syringe fed her for a couple of days and massaged her tummy and she was still pooing, but when she didn't improve (and was looking increasingly miserable), I took her to the vet. The vet couldn't feel an obstruction but thought there wasn't a lot of gut noise so they kept her in for a few hours, trying to rehydrate her with an IV line (which she promptly sabotaged), gave her a gut stimulant and tried to syringe feed her (without much success). Teeth checked out fine. Eventually Calico started to nibble a little grass and hay and brightened up in herself enough to start vandalising the surgery and we brought her home (much to the relief of the vets to return the stroppy little "Bunzilla"!)
That was Friday and since then, Calico has been up and down in her moods. She will take the occasional treat and nibble a piece of hay or even a piece of vegetable now and then, but doesn't want to eat for herself. She doesn't appear to be in discomfort - I know in rabbits it is hard to tell, but I know my bunnies well enough to detect tiny changes in their demeanour). We are giving her gut stimulant and pain killers and I am syringe feeding her regularly so she is pooing quite well although not as frequently as I'd like. She's great at taking the syringe food thank goodness but this is getting silly. The vet said to not syringe feed her too much so that she will get hungry enough to want to eat for herself but I am not giving her that much and I'm worried that underfeeding could be a disaster.
I also have another 5 year old neutered male dwarf lop rabbit Rowan who is beginning to lose the will to eat since his "girlfriend" Calico isn't keeping him company at the food bowls!!!
Have any of you bunny lovers had a rabbit with a similar problem and what did you do about it? The vet said the next step would be x-rays and taking blood, but I feel that isn't the solution. I keep hoping that if I persevere with the current feeding and treatment regime that Calico will eventually improve but this recovery is just taking such a long time that I'm wondering if that is a realistic expectation. Is 5 days too soon to expect an improvement? :?
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