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Rabbit just sitting in his house, not eating
- Thread starter Onana & Lukaku
- Start date
Onana & Lukaku
Warren Scout
Thank you all lots and lots and lots.
I can't believe how lucky I am to work from home, having my rabbits constantly "under my feet" and therefore noticing every change in them.
And to have the advice of this forum. I have an anxiety disorder. If one of my children coughs once I think it's cancer ... Therefore nobody takes me serious when I think, somebody is sick. So if I hadn't read so much on here I would probably have thought I am just hysterical as usual.
But thank God we were at the vets' early enough to be in with a good chance. The vet was satisfied with Onana whose belly feels much better. "He is not out of the woods yet, but has improved a lot." I need to make sure he keeps nibbling his hay, if not I should go back to syringe feeding and also give him fresh pineapple juice with his water. He got another injection for his guts and painkiller, but not the one that knocked him out so much. Now we must see how it goes, and if he keeps improving I only have to bring him back tomorrow morning.
And I forgot to say: He did a little pile of poo. On the small side but otherwise normal.
If he knew how much I love him he would be scared.
I can't believe how lucky I am to work from home, having my rabbits constantly "under my feet" and therefore noticing every change in them.
And to have the advice of this forum. I have an anxiety disorder. If one of my children coughs once I think it's cancer ... Therefore nobody takes me serious when I think, somebody is sick. So if I hadn't read so much on here I would probably have thought I am just hysterical as usual.
But thank God we were at the vets' early enough to be in with a good chance. The vet was satisfied with Onana whose belly feels much better. "He is not out of the woods yet, but has improved a lot." I need to make sure he keeps nibbling his hay, if not I should go back to syringe feeding and also give him fresh pineapple juice with his water. He got another injection for his guts and painkiller, but not the one that knocked him out so much. Now we must see how it goes, and if he keeps improving I only have to bring him back tomorrow morning.
And I forgot to say: He did a little pile of poo. On the small side but otherwise normal.
If he knew how much I love him he would be scared.
Scrappy's Little Helper
Mama Doe
That's brilliant news, well done both of you!
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Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
I am glad that the Vet is pleased with Onana's progress and that Onana has done some poos. Hopefully the 'output' will now gradually increase until it is back to normal, usually it is best to keep the gut motility meds going until both input and output have been 'normal' for 24 hours xx
Onana & Lukaku
Warren Scout
We got one last injection today.
Well Onana, not me ...
As far as I can see he has been eating and pooing normally during the night and the morning. So if this continues I don't have to take him tomorrow, which I would love because he is so stressed out from the vet visits, even though everybody loves him there.
The problem is the antibiotics, though. He is supposed to take them twice a day for six days, and the three of us just can't get them into him. He fights and spits and won't eat anything they are on. They must taste like hell. I don't know how the vet and the nurse do it ... (well I even videoed it for us to copy, but we are just unable.). Dreading the evening, when we have to do it again because he clearly hates us for it and it hurts me to see how he dislikes them. But for the moment I will just enjoy him hopping around and being my old Onana again. He is so beautiful and playful and just the best (together with Lukaku who I must cuddle a lot because he was neglected these days).
Well Onana, not me ...
As far as I can see he has been eating and pooing normally during the night and the morning. So if this continues I don't have to take him tomorrow, which I would love because he is so stressed out from the vet visits, even though everybody loves him there.
The problem is the antibiotics, though. He is supposed to take them twice a day for six days, and the three of us just can't get them into him. He fights and spits and won't eat anything they are on. They must taste like hell. I don't know how the vet and the nurse do it ... (well I even videoed it for us to copy, but we are just unable.). Dreading the evening, when we have to do it again because he clearly hates us for it and it hurts me to see how he dislikes them. But for the moment I will just enjoy him hopping around and being my old Onana again. He is so beautiful and playful and just the best (together with Lukaku who I must cuddle a lot because he was neglected these days).
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
The only way we managed to get them into Lopsy was soaked into a fenugreek crunchie! Such a palaver. He's too strong for us to hold down (my hands aren't big enough and the OH is scared of hurting him), and very good at getting his mouth out of reach :roll: It is the vilest stuff known to man or beast!
Scrappy's Little Helper
Mama Doe
Is the antibiotic baytril? That one is notoriously difficult to administer as it apparently tastes awful. I've not tried it on a fenugreek crunchie, but I have had success putting it on a small piece of banana or letting it soak into a thumbnail size piece of wholemeal bread.
I believe other people have mixed it with a little bit of unsweetened fruit juice or a bit of pureed fruit baby food (Ella's kitchen is a popular brand) in the syringe as it makes it a bit more palatable for them.
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I believe other people have mixed it with a little bit of unsweetened fruit juice or a bit of pureed fruit baby food (Ella's kitchen is a popular brand) in the syringe as it makes it a bit more palatable for them.
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Onana & Lukaku
Warren Scout
Yes! It is Baytril, and I am very relieved that I am not the only one who had problems administering that. The banana-trick I had tried because I was given that advice here after the neutering when Onana didn't want to take his painkiller. It worked fine back then but it didn't work with the Baytril. I hope my son who soon comes home has more success. He seems to be a bit of a rabbit whisperer. On the positive side Onana seems almost back to normal, has eaten lots of hay, coriander, mint, basil and fennel.
I am not back to normal, to be honest. I had just started to feel confident with my feeding and now I am totally insecure again. Even though everybody at the vets tells me NOT to guess what caused it, I can't stop myself. As a result I have stopped to feed Onana and Lukaku the herbs and grasses I picked every day for them from the wild part of my garden and only give them those, which I grow in protected raised beds. I still give them the hay from the Timothy company of course, which Onana loves, and vegetables that I get via subscription from an organic farm. But I have radically reduced the variety. Black cabbage, pointed cabbage, kale - it all scares me now. Until two days ago, my two rabbits had at least 15 different herbs and leafy vegetables to choose from every day. By now they have no more than half of it. And winter is coming. So there might be soon even less variety.
Am I doing the right thing by being more cautious? Or should I just continue to give them as many fresh food variety as I can possibly find?
Also they do live in my office. And while I have packed away all wires, I haven't bothered protecting the wooden shelving and books. I'm a writer, so I get lots of copies of my own books and I just stuffed them all into the bottom shelves and found it quiet funny how Lukaku and Onana nibbled them. Now I wonder: Did that cause Onana's stasis?
I want to care for them better, give them the best life possible. But if I would put fences up I would limit their space even more - and since the bonding wasn't going too well they anyway have only half the room each, which is not as much as I wanted.
I feel a bit at a loss at the moment and grateful for your advice and experience once again. Are there any rules you followed to avoid your rabbits going into stasis again? Or did you just continue as before and concentrated more on them leading a happy and interesting rabbit life?
I had also ordered a digging box from manorpetshousing and now I worry about what digging material to put in it - what is safe, what won't cause stasis?
My lovely vet nurse said: "Rabbits are so complicated, people should have a licence to keep them."
I definitely haven't got that licence. But I want my rabbits to have a great long life!
I am not back to normal, to be honest. I had just started to feel confident with my feeding and now I am totally insecure again. Even though everybody at the vets tells me NOT to guess what caused it, I can't stop myself. As a result I have stopped to feed Onana and Lukaku the herbs and grasses I picked every day for them from the wild part of my garden and only give them those, which I grow in protected raised beds. I still give them the hay from the Timothy company of course, which Onana loves, and vegetables that I get via subscription from an organic farm. But I have radically reduced the variety. Black cabbage, pointed cabbage, kale - it all scares me now. Until two days ago, my two rabbits had at least 15 different herbs and leafy vegetables to choose from every day. By now they have no more than half of it. And winter is coming. So there might be soon even less variety.
Am I doing the right thing by being more cautious? Or should I just continue to give them as many fresh food variety as I can possibly find?
Also they do live in my office. And while I have packed away all wires, I haven't bothered protecting the wooden shelving and books. I'm a writer, so I get lots of copies of my own books and I just stuffed them all into the bottom shelves and found it quiet funny how Lukaku and Onana nibbled them. Now I wonder: Did that cause Onana's stasis?
I want to care for them better, give them the best life possible. But if I would put fences up I would limit their space even more - and since the bonding wasn't going too well they anyway have only half the room each, which is not as much as I wanted.
I feel a bit at a loss at the moment and grateful for your advice and experience once again. Are there any rules you followed to avoid your rabbits going into stasis again? Or did you just continue as before and concentrated more on them leading a happy and interesting rabbit life?
I had also ordered a digging box from manorpetshousing and now I worry about what digging material to put in it - what is safe, what won't cause stasis?
My lovely vet nurse said: "Rabbits are so complicated, people should have a licence to keep them."
I definitely haven't got that licence. But I want my rabbits to have a great long life!
mikek
Warren Veteran
your vet nurse sounds very knowledgeable regarding rabbits and i agree they are very complicated.
my way of thinking is just to give them the best and most natural life possible while they are with me.
regarding stasis & diet (and having observed my rabbits that are free-range) i believe they need PLENTY of roughage. my buns eat all sorts of things by choice that i wouldn't have dreamed they would like eg not just tree leaves (mainly apple), but they munch the dried leaves probably more than fresh ones!
i wouldn't beat yourself up about Onana getting ill - rabbits seem to get ill for no apparent reason at all. imo they are one of the worst animals to have as pets! if they are vaccinated (mixy, RHD1 & RHD2) and have a decent diet you are 1/2 way there.
apart from that, i think it is a good idea to get females neutered to avoid cancer & if they are prone to dirty bottoms keep them ultra clean to avoid fly-strike.
blocked tear ducts can also be an issue.
you did the best thing possible for Onaka by getting to a vet as soon as you suspected something was not quite right
my way of thinking is just to give them the best and most natural life possible while they are with me.
regarding stasis & diet (and having observed my rabbits that are free-range) i believe they need PLENTY of roughage. my buns eat all sorts of things by choice that i wouldn't have dreamed they would like eg not just tree leaves (mainly apple), but they munch the dried leaves probably more than fresh ones!
i wouldn't beat yourself up about Onana getting ill - rabbits seem to get ill for no apparent reason at all. imo they are one of the worst animals to have as pets! if they are vaccinated (mixy, RHD1 & RHD2) and have a decent diet you are 1/2 way there.
apart from that, i think it is a good idea to get females neutered to avoid cancer & if they are prone to dirty bottoms keep them ultra clean to avoid fly-strike.
blocked tear ducts can also be an issue.
you did the best thing possible for Onaka by getting to a vet as soon as you suspected something was not quite right
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Mike's absolutely right in his advice. In the majority of Stasis cases, it is not apparent what the cause has been.
I would not limit the forage, which you have been collecting from your garden. It is all much more likely to be beneficial than harmful. I'm also a big fan of tree leaves for rabbits and I've also noticed that they will eat ones which have dried as well as fresh ones. Blackberry leaves are particularly good for rabbits' tums.
It's to be expected that your confidence will have taken a knock, but just remember that it happens to most if not all of us sometimes.
I would not limit the forage, which you have been collecting from your garden. It is all much more likely to be beneficial than harmful. I'm also a big fan of tree leaves for rabbits and I've also noticed that they will eat ones which have dried as well as fresh ones. Blackberry leaves are particularly good for rabbits' tums.
It's to be expected that your confidence will have taken a knock, but just remember that it happens to most if not all of us sometimes.
Scrappy's Little Helper
Mama Doe
I agree with Mike and Omi, often stasis can happen without rhyme or reason. My buns have unlimited quantities of three or four varieties of good quality hay, fresh forage and fresh herbs. Several vets have said they have an excellent diet, but they still get stasis episodes.
Having said that, I think it's wise to be cautious with food. Some buns are like furry garbage bins and can tolerate practically anything with no ill effects. Others have more sensitive tums, and so have to have a more restricted diet. I would be wary of the cabbages as they are known to cause gas for some buns. Herbs on the other hand are well tolerated as they are much gentler on rabbits' tummies. The aim really is to have a very high fibre diet, so plenty of hay and fresh grass. Wild plants are also a very good source of fibre, particularly bramble leaves. I actually think the greens part of the rabbit diet is the trickiest one to get right just because tolerance levels vary so much from rabbit to rabbit.
Having a rabbit get ill really does knock your confidence. It's a baptism of fire with bunnies. But you've done a fantastic job of getting Onana through this episode and he's very lucky to have you looking out for him.
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Having said that, I think it's wise to be cautious with food. Some buns are like furry garbage bins and can tolerate practically anything with no ill effects. Others have more sensitive tums, and so have to have a more restricted diet. I would be wary of the cabbages as they are known to cause gas for some buns. Herbs on the other hand are well tolerated as they are much gentler on rabbits' tummies. The aim really is to have a very high fibre diet, so plenty of hay and fresh grass. Wild plants are also a very good source of fibre, particularly bramble leaves. I actually think the greens part of the rabbit diet is the trickiest one to get right just because tolerance levels vary so much from rabbit to rabbit.
Having a rabbit get ill really does knock your confidence. It's a baptism of fire with bunnies. But you've done a fantastic job of getting Onana through this episode and he's very lucky to have you looking out for him.
Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
your vet nurse sounds very knowledgeable regarding rabbits and i agree they are very complicated.
my way of thinking is just to give them the best and most natural life possible while they are with me.
regarding stasis & diet (and having observed my rabbits that are free-range) i believe they need PLENTY of roughage. my buns eat all sorts of things by choice that i wouldn't have dreamed they would like eg not just tree leaves (mainly apple), but they munch the dried leaves probably more than fresh ones!
i wouldn't beat yourself up about Onana getting ill - rabbits seem to get ill for no apparent reason at all. imo they are one of the worst animals to have as pets! if they are vaccinated (mixy, RHD1 & RHD2) and have a decent diet you are 1/2 way there.
apart from that, i think it is a good idea to get females neutered to avoid cancer & if they are prone to dirty bottoms keep them ultra clean to avoid fly-strike.
blocked tear ducts can also be an issue.
you did the best thing possible for Onaka by getting to a vet as soon as you suspected something was not quite right
I agree with all Mike has said. I have kept Rabbits for 22 years and I am still learning !!
You will find a lot of helpful information about all things 'Rabbit Care' related on the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund's website
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/
Onana & Lukaku
Warren Scout
Thanks a lot.
I am relieved to hear that this confidence problem after illness is common among rabbit owners (I really don't like the word owner. It's rather as if they own me ...).
I will bring back the blackberry leaves to their menu today. And then probably start re-introducing the wild herbs one day at the time. We have wonderful wild marjoram, which Lukaku and Onana loved. I wondered if I gave them too much of it and didn't feed it anymore, but maybe that's really exaggerated.
The rabbit welfare-page I will look at - thank you!
I also wonder how to go about our re-bonding, which we have interrupted due to Onana's illness. Should we start it again this weekend? Or give Onana more time?
Our vet's nurse is really great, I am so grateful for her loving rabbits so much. She volunteered at a rescue and did bonding there, she offered to come to our house and help. Maybe I will take her up on this. I just feel so nervous at the moment.
Have all a great weekend full of happy, healthy hoppers and thank you!
I am relieved to hear that this confidence problem after illness is common among rabbit owners (I really don't like the word owner. It's rather as if they own me ...).
I will bring back the blackberry leaves to their menu today. And then probably start re-introducing the wild herbs one day at the time. We have wonderful wild marjoram, which Lukaku and Onana loved. I wondered if I gave them too much of it and didn't feed it anymore, but maybe that's really exaggerated.
The rabbit welfare-page I will look at - thank you!
I also wonder how to go about our re-bonding, which we have interrupted due to Onana's illness. Should we start it again this weekend? Or give Onana more time?
Our vet's nurse is really great, I am so grateful for her loving rabbits so much. She volunteered at a rescue and did bonding there, she offered to come to our house and help. Maybe I will take her up on this. I just feel so nervous at the moment.
Have all a great weekend full of happy, healthy hoppers and thank you!
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
I would leave the re-bonding until after the weekend. Then I would definitely take up the Vet Nurse's offer of help with rebonding
