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Not eating at all after spay

Lola is home! She is seeming much more sprightly which is amazing compared to this morning! She is still not eating much but definitely more and is enjoying apple and blueberry baby food. They sent us home with some more critical care, Fibreplex and some Ranitidine, as well as the metacam we already had. It appears that she is not too keen on oral medicine, as demonstrated by the large scratch on the vet’s hand 😬 so that should be a fun task tonight! The main problem I’m noticing now is that she is licking at her surgical site quite a lot, although I’m not sure if she is licking the actual wound. Does anyone have any idea how to prevent this? I would hate for her to accidentally tear any of the stitches. We are going back tomorrow mid-morning for a check up so I can ask them about it then but I just wondered if there is anything I can do overnighting ght as I can’t be watching her 24/7. Thank you 😊
 
SamTheBunny said:
Lola is home! She is seeming much more sprightly which is amazing compared to this morning! She is still not eating much but definitely more and is enjoying apple and blueberry baby food. They sent us home with some more critical care, Fibreplex and some Ranitidine, as well as the metacam we already had. It appears that she is not too keen on oral medicine, as demonstrated by the large scratch on the vet’s hand 😬 so that should be a fun task tonight! The main problem I’m noticing now is that she is licking at her surgical site quite a lot, although I’m not sure if she is licking the actual wound. Does anyone have any idea how to prevent this? I would hate for her to accidentally tear any of the stitches. We are going back tomorrow mid-morning for a check up so I can ask them about it then but I just wondered if there is anything I can do overnighting ght as I can’t be watching her 24/7. Thank you 😊
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I'm glad to hear she is home and doing a little better :)

Regarding the stitches, there's not a lot you can do to prevent her licking the site without either a collar or a little vest, neither of which you have.

Best thing is to try and distract her with things to chew - do you have any fruit tree branches - or willow or hazel? Or perhaps some forage from the garden, grass and dandelion leaves.

Is she taking any herbs at all?
 
MightyMax said:
I'm glad to hear she is home and doing a little better :)

Regarding the stitches, there's not a lot you can do to prevent her licking the site without either a collar or a little vest, neither of which you have.

Best thing is to try and distract her with things to chew - do you have any fruit tree branches - or willow or hazel? Or perhaps some forage from the garden, grass and dandelion leaves.

Is she taking any herbs at all?
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Thank you for your super speedy reply! Basil was the only thing that she was willing to even try and eat last night so I have been giving her quite a lot of that. I have already put some apple tree branches in there from the trees in my garden in the hopes that she would have a chew on those instead but she has only nibbled a bit and then gone back to her wound. I do have a couple of harnesses I made for two of my other rabbits that could be easily inverted to cover her belly. They're both lined with fleece so it would be quite soft but if it isn't necessary or won't work properly then I would prefer to not stress her with it. Would you use them or should I just leave it and try to keep her distracted?
 
SamTheBunny said:
Thank you for your super speedy reply! Basil was the only thing that she was willing to even try and eat last night so I have been giving her quite a lot of that. I have already put some apple tree branches in there from the trees in my garden in the hopes that she would have a chew on those instead but she has only nibbled a bit and then gone back to her wound. I do have a couple of harnesses I made for two of my other rabbits that could be easily inverted to cover her belly. They're both lined with fleece so it would be quite soft but if it isn't necessary or won't work properly then I would prefer to not stress her with it. Would you use them or should I just leave it and try to keep her distracted?
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Well she's got to get through the night and you won't be able to keep an eye on her. On the one hand, something to cover the wound might help, but I am always concerned that rabbits might get themselves tangled up in things and cause more harm than good.

Some vets use surgical glue, but from what you say, she has stitches - this gives her something to tug on, unfortunately.

See how she goes this evening. I'm glad you put branches in with her, but shame she's not gnawing on them instead. Can you keep a little eye on her overnight now and again without wearing yourself out too much?
 
MightyMax said:
Well she's got to get through the night and you won't be able to keep an eye on her. On the one hand, something to cover the wound might help, but I am always concerned that rabbits might get themselves tangled up in things and cause more harm than good.

Some vets use surgical glue, but from what you say, she has stitches - this gives her something to tug on, unfortunately.

See how she goes this evening. I'm glad you put branches in with her, but shame she's not gnawing on them instead. Can you keep a little eye on her overnight now and again without wearing yourself out too much?
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Yep of course, if staying up to keep an eye on her would help then I am more than happy to do so. I certainly have enough homework to keep me going! Would getting up every couple of hours or so work or would I need to be up more? I will do whichever is best for her :)
 
I'm pleased that you've got her home and that she is improving. Her eating certainly sounds a lot better.

Regarding her wound, are you absolutely sure that there are visible stitches?
 
SamTheBunny said:
Yep of course, if staying up to keep an eye on her would help then I am more than happy to do so. I certainly have enough homework to keep me going! Would getting up every couple of hours or so work or would I need to be up more? I will do whichever is best for her :)
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Don't wear yourself out ...I would probably try and get up and have a peek (if possible) every two or three hours. The a really good look in the morning. I know you are concerned to pick her up, but you will need to see how things are :)
 
Omi said:
I'm pleased that you've got her home and that she is improving. Her eating certainly sounds a lot better.

Regarding her wound, are you absolutely sure that there are visible stitches?
Click to expand...

They're not visible stitches on the surface, they're subcutaneous stitches that will eventaully dissolve. However, the vet did mention the possibility of her licking at it and pulling the stitches so i assumed that the risks were similar to those of regular stitches. When the vet checked the surgical site earlier I couldn't really see any of them, but you could tell there was something like that there because of the way the skin was lying. Is there anything I should be doing differently or things I shouldn't be doing at all with this kind of stitch?
 
MightyMax said:
Don't wear yourself out ...I would probably try and get up and have a peek (if possible) every two or three hours. The a really good look in the morning. I know you are concerned to pick her up, but you will need to see how things are :)
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Great, I will do that then. She seemed a little more comfortable with me picking her up earlier so hopefully she won't get as aggitated as earlier. Thank you again :)
 
SamTheBunny said:
Great, I will do that then. She seemed a little more comfortable with me picking her up earlier so hopefully she won't get as aggitated as earlier. Thank you again :)
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Your welcome :)

I do know it's stressful and licking stitches can be a bit troublesome. Let's hope she is only licking them and not chewing at anything she shouldn't. Is she a bit warmer today?
 
SamTheBunny said:
They're not visible stitches on the surface, they're subcutaneous stitches that will eventaully dissolve. However, the vet did mention the possibility of her licking at it and pulling the stitches so i assumed that the risks were similar to those of regular stitches. When the vet checked the surgical site earlier I couldn't really see any of them, but you could tell there was something like that there because of the way the skin was lying. Is there anything I should be doing differently or things I shouldn't be doing at all with this kind of stitch?
Click to expand...

I think all you can do is to keep checking on her. I wouldn't have thought that licking would cause any issue, but obviously you don't want her to decide to pull at the wound. Hopefully, she'll lose interest in it.
 
MightyMax said:
Your welcome :)

I do know it's stressful and licking stitches can be a bit troublesome. Let's hope she is only licking them and not chewing at anything she shouldn't. Is she a bit warmer today?
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Definitely! Her temperature seems back to normal now so I'm really happy about that, as that was quite worrying last night. I haven't noticed too much chewing, only a little bit but I'm almost certain that was just the fur around the shaved site, so nothing I feel I need to worry about too much at the moment. Of course I will sort something out if she begins to chew on her wound, probably using one of the harnesses but this would be a last resort as I don't want to be stressing her out. Thank you :)
 
Omi said:
I think all you can do is to keep checking on her. I wouldn't have thought that licking would cause any issue, but obviously you don't want her to decide to pull at the wound. Hopefully, she'll lose interest in it.
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Fingers crossed that she just forgets about it! :)
 
SamTheBunny said:
Definitely! Her temperature seems back to normal now so I'm really happy about that, as that was quite worrying last night. I haven't noticed too much chewing, only a little bit but I'm almost certain that was just the fur around the shaved site, so nothing I feel I need to worry about too much at the moment. Of course I will sort something out if she begins to chew on her wound, probably using one of the harnesses but this would be a last resort as I don't want to be stressing her out. Thank you :)
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Just having an operation (I know, I've just had one!) can make for itchiness. Yes I hope she sticks to just licking it! Rabbits mouths carry bacteria, and a wound that is healing is not a good place for loads of rabbit's saliva. Perhaps she's jut tinkering with the fur around it :)

I am so glad she's warmed up. That was my main concern, to be honest.
She's got a very good caretaker in you, and I think you love her very much :)
 
MightyMax said:
Just having an operation (I know, I've just had one!) can make for itchiness. Yes I hope she sticks to just licking it! Rabbits mouths carry bacteria, and a wound that is healing is not a good place for loads of rabbit's saliva. Perhaps she's jut tinkering with the fur around it :)

I am so glad she's warmed up. That was my main concern, to be honest.
She's got a very good caretaker in you, and I think you love her very much :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for such a kind message ☺️ My rabbits are like my babies, as I’m sure many others can relate! I’m really glad that her temperature is back to normal as well because that really was quite worrying. The itchiness is a good point and would definitely make sense as to why she is fiddling around with it so much! Thank you for the suggestion, it didn’t even cross my mind that it may just be itchy 😊
 
SamTheBunny said:
Thank you for such a kind message ☺️ My rabbits are like my babies, as I’m sure many others can relate! I’m really glad that her temperature is back to normal as well because that really was quite worrying. The itchiness is a good point and would definitely make sense as to why she is fiddling around with it so much! Thank you for the suggestion, it didn’t even cross my mind that it may just be itchy 😊
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:D:love:

How was your night, and now are things this morning?
Are you managing to stay awake and with it enough for your studies?
 
MightyMax said:
:D:love:

How was your night, and now are things this morning?
Are you managing to stay awake and with it enough for your studies?
Click to expand...

She was absolutely fine last night. No licking that I noticed when I was awake and I managed to get some critical care in her by hiding it in basil leaves! Ended up doing some work last night so it’s actually working out quite well and I still have enough energy for it during the day! We are just on our way to the vets now for her checkup, and I checked her wound this morning and it looked great, just as they said it should. Thank you ☺️
 
SamTheBunny said:
She was absolutely fine last night. No licking that I noticed when I was awake and I managed to get some critical care in her by hiding it in basil leaves! Ended up doing some work last night so it’s actually working out quite well and I still have enough energy for it during the day! We are just on our way to the vets now for her checkup, and I checked her wound this morning and it looked great, just as they said it should. Thank you ☺️
Click to expand...


:D

You are probably 'over the worst' now, and all should be well :D

At least you won't all have to go through that again!

I'm glad you've managed to keep up your homework and also your strength and energy. x
 
MightyMax said:
:D

You are probably 'over the worst' now, and all should be well :D

At least you won't all have to go through that again!

I'm glad you've managed to keep up your homework and also your strength and energy. x
Click to expand...

That’s just what the vet said. Hopefully onwards and upwards from here! Not something I ever want to deal with again. Thank you for all of your help, I don’t know how I would have coped without it ☺️
 
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