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Bunny loss of appetite

Marmot

Young Bun
My 10 month old Nethie Dwarf bunny girl Lauren suddenly lost her appetite a week ago. We took her to the vets where they x-rayed her eliminating impaction, gut stasis (there was a bubble in her abdomen at first but that disappeared on the 2nd x-ray) and her teeth have been filed down so no spurs.

She is receiving orally painkillers (Metacam) and gut-stimulants (Emeprid and Ranitidine). We have syringe fed her on and off based around the couple of days she nibbled a few cavolo nero leaves by herself or stuffs her nose into the pellets bowl. Today we've added Fibreplex to her treatment and have decided to step up the syringe feeding as although she ate a reasonable amount yesterday, today she has hardly touched a thing. One vet said not to over syringe feed so the bunny gets hungry but I believe that is bad practice.

Lauren doesn't like hay so I try to get her to eat grass which is hit and miss. Her fecal poops are tiny whereas her cecal poops are normal (but not reingested) so I reckon this scenario relates to lack of fibre. But how to get more fibre into her???

When this all started out she was in obvious pain and didn't like her abdomen touched but since then has allowed tummy rubs and seems pain-free (or zonked out with all the meds). She is behaving almost normally however - quite perky and inquisitive.

I hate to admit that I'm no stranger to rabbits going off their food from time to time but I've managed to bring them round in a day or two. Lauren has never had this problem until now (except she wouldn't eat for a week after she was spayed).

Lauren lives with a 6 year old neutered Dwarf Lop bunny boy Rowan and they get along fine. Nothing has changed in the environment or diet. I am at my wits end! Has anybody else in this forum experienced this sort of thing or have any suggestions? Would be much appreciated as I'm so scared for my poorly bunny.

:(

Krys
 
I’m sorry Lauren is worrying you. When did she have her dental? One of my bunnies is a dental bunny and he took over a week after the dental on twice daily metacam, emeprid and ranitidine to get back to normal. Also some bunnies don’t go very long at all before they grow spurs again, so especially if she’s not eating hay, maybe she needs another dental already?

Have you tried her with different hays? My dental bunny went off a lot of hay after his first dental but after getting samples I finally found a few he loves. His favourites are Timothy hay from Timothy hay.co.uk and sweet green hay from nature’s own. Timothy hay.co.uk will send out samples, as do some other places. The hay experts do a sample pack which was good.

Have you tried her with Readigrass? Fibafirst is also good for getting fibre into them. Do you feed many pellets?

Sending lots of vibes for her.
 
Thanks so much Zoobec for your ideas! :) and your vibes!!!!

Lauren only had her teeth done at the start of this problem, just a week ago. The vet accidentally clipped a blood vessel in her mouth which would not have made her very happy, but surely she should feel better by now. Maybe she is still recovering from the dentistry!!!

I give my bunnies several different hays and have tried readigrass to no avail. At the moment, all I care about is getting Lauren through this phase and then I can concentrate on getting her more fibre.

Thanks again!

Krys :)
 
Thanks so much Zoobec for your ideas! :) and your vibes!!!!

Lauren only had her teeth done at the start of this problem, just a week ago. The vet accidentally clipped a blood vessel in her mouth which would not have made her very happy, but surely she should feel better by now. Maybe she is still recovering from the dentistry!!!

I give my bunnies several different hays and have tried readigrass to no avail. At the moment, all I care about is getting Lauren through this phase and then I can concentrate on getting her more fibre.

Thanks again!

Krys :)

Possibly her mouth was very sore from the mishap. Last time Frosty had a dental he had ulcers on his tongue and that was why it took so long for him to recover properly. Herbs, pellet mush, and Aldi carrot apple and parsnip pouch baby food went down well with Frosty, when he was recovering.
 
My 10 month old Nethie Dwarf bunny girl Lauren suddenly lost her appetite a week ago. We took her to the vets where they x-rayed her eliminating impaction, gut stasis (there was a bubble in her abdomen at first but that disappeared on the 2nd x-ray) and her teeth have been filed down so no spurs.

She is receiving orally painkillers (Metacam) and gut-stimulants (Emeprid and Ranitidine). We have syringe fed her on and off based around the couple of days she nibbled a few cavolo nero leaves by herself or stuffs her nose into the pellets bowl. Today we've added Fibreplex to her treatment and have decided to step up the syringe feeding as although she ate a reasonable amount yesterday, today she has hardly touched a thing. One vet said not to over syringe feed so the bunny gets hungry but I believe that is bad practice.

Lauren doesn't like hay so I try to get her to eat grass which is hit and miss. Her fecal poops are tiny whereas her cecal poops are normal (but not reingested) so I reckon this scenario relates to lack of fibre. But how to get more fibre into her???

When this all started out she was in obvious pain and didn't like her abdomen touched but since then has allowed tummy rubs and seems pain-free (or zonked out with all the meds). She is behaving almost normally however - quite perky and inquisitive.

I hate to admit that I'm no stranger to rabbits going off their food from time to time but I've managed to bring them round in a day or two. Lauren has never had this problem until now (except she wouldn't eat for a week after she was spayed).

Lauren lives with a 6 year old neutered Dwarf Lop bunny boy Rowan and they get along fine. Nothing has changed in the environment or diet. I am at my wits end! Has anybody else in this forum experienced this sort of thing or have any suggestions? Would be much appreciated as I'm so scared for my poorly bunny.

:(

Krys


Hi Krys

Sorry to hear about Lauren. What a worry!

If the vet managed to nick the inside of her mouth whilst doing the dental it's possible that patch of mucous membrane has ulcerated. Now and again it can require antibiotics to help heal it up as the food and stuff going in will keep aggravating it. They can become infected.

You might want to get the vet to check the inside of her mouth again to see what's going on.

As you say, the thing is to get her eating normally before you worry about fibre in particular.
More fibre - I usually give fibafirst sticks, high fibre pellets and readigrass (or the delicious oat version of readigrass).

I often mix mashed pellets with baby food (carrots, parsnips, apples etc) and syringe feed it or offer it in a bowl. She may lap it up?
 
Thank you Zoobec and MightyMax. I've made an appointment to get her mouth checked out this morning and I can get them to check her tummy out at the same time. The baby food recommendations are good too, thanks. Got to be more inviting than Critical Care at every feed.

I gave Lauren a one hour tummy rub last night (2am!!!) and she seemed to enjoy it with no pain - even started grooming herself in the middle of it! Finally got some tiny poos this morning which is a relief as she didn't do any yesterday. The little b*gger just nibbled some cavolo as I write this, but I don't suppose that will become a regular thing anytime soon. This on/off eating is so weird. In herself, Lauren seems totally normal (or as wacky as always). The vet said she needed to lose a little weight, but I didn't expect her to take it to heart!

Thanks again for your help.

Krys
 
Just a quick update for Zoobec and Mightymax who kindly offered advice to me and Lauren in her predicament.

The vet visit established that there were no problems in her mouth and that her gut sounded OK. This just meant time and patience feeding her until she would eat on her own. The use of yummy babyfood helped. Thanks for the tip!

After a few more days perseverence, Lauren seems to be getting her appetite back, tonight even desperate enough to nibble hay while waiting for her supper!!!!!

I hope our experience will encourage other bunny parents to persevere if their "little darling" goes on hunger strike. Keep up the syringe feeding/gut stimulants/pain meds for as long as it takes until the bunny gets his/her appetite back. It took us around 10 days but it was worth all the hassle, money, sleep deprivation and anxiety to save our sweetheart.

Rowan obviously thinks Lauren is OK and fair game now as he's just chased her and took a chunk out of her fur!!! Ain't bunny love wonderful??!!??

Krys :)
 
Just a quick update for Zoobec and Mightymax who kindly offered advice to me and Lauren in her predicament.

The vet visit established that there were no problems in her mouth and that her gut sounded OK. This just meant time and patience feeding her until she would eat on her own. The use of yummy babyfood helped. Thanks for the tip!

After a few more days perseverence, Lauren seems to be getting her appetite back, tonight even desperate enough to nibble hay while waiting for her supper!!!!!

I hope our experience will encourage other bunny parents to persevere if their "little darling" goes on hunger strike. Keep up the syringe feeding/gut stimulants/pain meds for as long as it takes until the bunny gets his/her appetite back. It took us around 10 days but it was worth all the hassle, money, sleep deprivation and anxiety to save our sweetheart.

Rowan obviously thinks Lauren is OK and fair game now as he's just chased her and took a chunk out of her fur!!! Ain't bunny love wonderful??!!??

Krys :)


Aww Krys what a wonderful update :D

Yes, it's certainly worth persevering with our little ones, and 10 days is a good innings!

I hope you can all get some quality sleep now :)
 
Oops. Lauren is back to picky or not eating again today. Definitely one step forward, three backwards. Oh dear - out with the syringe again..... :(

Krys
 
Hi. I hope you can get Lauren interested in her food again and that she starts eating for herself. Sending lots of lovley nom vibes
 
Topping up the vibes for Lauren, is she on any meds still? Have you taken her back to the vet?
 
Thanks Zoobec and Roxyroller88. I have indeed tried my buns on the Pro-Fibre Pellets in their munchies bowl but getting them to eat them is another thing. I have just received a new tub of the stuff from Animed as a matter of fact. I might try that hay though. Both buns have a choice of 4 different hays and are still picky!!! :(

We haven't been back to the vet yet - I really don't know what they would do at this point. Lauren's cecal pellets are fine still (but not eaten) but the fecal pellets are tiny and would put a mouse to shame. I know I need to get more fibre into Lauren so I will try grinding up some Pro-Fibre pellets to mix with the Critical Care as that will top up the fibre Level. I was going to top up using ground up Oxbow Digestive Support tablets but I don't think that has as much fibre.

Lauren is still on the meds - Metacam, Emeprid and Ranitidine although when she began to eat a little more we reduced these. I know meds can cause digestive problems. Heck, what to do?!! It's a warmish sunny day today - I think I'll turf both buns into their outdoor run and see if the grass tempts them. At least the outdoors experience should cheer them both up!

Thanks again for your good vibes and suggestions. Hope you and your bunnies are all doing OK!

Krys
 
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