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Bunny not eating after partner’s death - he’s gone

weedug

Mama Doe
Sorry to come here yet again when I’m desperate. Little Boo had to be pts on Christmas Eve. She had a tumour in her eye, but seemed to be coping ok with it so the vet thought it was best not to remove it. She deteriorated quickly on Christmas Eve, and had a very low temp and her blood glucose was 38 at the highest. My vet did everything to warm her up and stabilise her for the trip to D1ck vet, but not matter what they did, her temperature wouldn’t come up.

The next day her husbun, Pippin, stopped eating. He’s a very stressed bun, so I thought the vet trip the day before was too much for him. Gave him gut meds and syringe fed him every 2 hours, and he was pooping again by evening. Next day I continued but started syringe feeding less. Plenty poops, although small, and pee’s in his potty. Next day, he was back to passing nothing, so I gave up and took him to the vet. They couldn’t find anything wrong, other than no gut sounds, but admitted him for fluids and syringe feeding. He had to come home at night because the local vet doesn’t have overnight care. Next day he seemed a bit worse and wouldn’t take his syringe feeds so I had him transferred to D1ck vet on Saturday.

Yesterday someone phoned to say he still wasn’t eating and wasn’t taking his syringe feeds. Today they said he had eaten all his veg overnight and passed loads of poops and sent him home.

He’s now back to not eating (maybe the stress of coming home again), and hasn’t passed any poops since he’s been back. I mentioned that I was expecting him to stop eating again, and was told to syringe feed him if he stopped. I’m worried now though that he doesn’t seem to maintain his pooping/gut sounds. He’s also dropped from 2.5kg to 2.37kg. It’s as if he just doesn’t want to eat and has no interest. His mouth and teeth have been checked, and he had a ct a couple of weeks ago that showed no problems.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do from here? Taking back and forward to vets is just stressing him out, he isn’t bloated and they can’t find any source of pain. He was fine until his partner died.
 
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Sorry to hear about your little one. We've just been through a very similar thing with Phillip, after his partner Snowy died in November. He went through stages of what I thought was him getting better, but then he'd get worse and stop eating again. Like Pippin, he had vet checks and everything seemed to be ok.

It's only within the last week or so that he genuinely appears to be back to his normal self. It's taken a lot of hard work to get him back to this point. We've had to syringe feed recovery food on and off and he's had gut meds every so often. We found on some days that he was reluctant to eat for himself but if we put a syringe of water in front of him, he'd take it happily, didn't even have to pick him up. Some days he happily took baby food from a syringe (Aldi- apple and banana - life saver!), again without being picked up. We bought all his favourite treats, and it just seemed to be hit and miss as to what he preferred on that day. We made as much fuss as we could of him and spent as much time as we could with him so he didn't feel alone.

We also did get another two rabbits, which we're planning to bond with him. Although we haven't started yet, he can see through their enclosure which seems to have helped him to perk up as I often catch him lying near them or staring in.

I'm not sure if any of that will help, but I think essentially you just have to keep doing what you're doing. He will get there. I didn't realise how badly rabbits could grieve until recently :cry:
Hope he perks up soon xx
 
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I’m so sorry you lost Boo :cry: I haven’t been in this exact situation so I can’t advise specifically. Is he on gut meds as well as syringe feeding ? It sounds like he is grieving :cry: I assume they will have checked his teeth etc just to be sure. Spurs can grow quickly if they aren’t eating for a short while.

Sending lots of vibes and hugs xx
 
I'm so sorry to hear about Boo - she was a brave girl . I've experience of grief hitting a bereaved bunny hard. i hope it is the change in environment & Pippin settles soon. If he'll take syringe feeding I'd just keep up with that til he has a good appetite. Is he on any pain relief or other meds? xx
 
Thank you all for the replies, and the kind words about Boo. Pippin is on ranitidine and metacam. Both my vet and D1ck vet checked his teeth and mouth when he was conscious and found nothing. I wouldn’t even have said he was very close to Boo. They’ve been apart before when she was ill and he didn’t bother. I had noticed that Boo would run around like mad at feeding time and that seemed to tell Pippin it was time to eat.
 
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So sorry for the loss of your Little Boo xx

We had a similar issue with our Bertie when his sister Bella passed away suddenly. We spent *a lot* of time on the floor with him, just stroking and letting him grieve. We offered his favourite treats and lots of greens, more than we normally would but it was about getting him to eat something. We also gave him Fibreplex which helps move the gut. I started offering him mushed pellets instead of trying to feed critical care, and he took to it (we still do this).

It was incredibly stressful for all of us but we got through it, and eventually he started eating small amounts by himself.

Gentle nose rubs for your little man xx
 
I’m so very sorry to read of the loss of Boo and the eating problems with Pippin. I have encountered similar behaviour from my dear bridge in Ben who went through this phase of grief. And other rabbits have displayed very similar. It’s hard because they don’t understand the sudden absence and they are in grief. You are doing everything positive for Pippin and you are incredibly vigilant with him. I found a snuggle bun- some soft toy type thing, a source of comfort so perhaps this might be something you could get for Pippin?
Pippin is surrounded by love and this will be something he feels and will be of huge comfort for him. It may be a case of just small steps with Pippin and I hope that he starts to feel better soon for you.
Sending gentle nose rubs from all here. Xx
 
I am so sorry to hear that you had to let Boo go :cry: As Pippin has been seen by the Exotics Specialists I doubt that they have missed any physical health problems, but can you remind me what the CT scan was carried out for ??


Pippin may benefit from a slight change in his environment, by which I mean the provision of new items to explore. Is he an outdoor Rabbit and if so could he become a House Rabbit if he now lives alone with no other Bunnies around ?

Some people have found this to be useful, I have never used it myself though https://petremedy.co.uk/faqs/

Sending him nose rubs, poor little chap xx
 
It helps to know other bunnies have been through the same, and started eating themselves eventually.

I will get him a little toy. He seemed to always be grooming Boo, but she didn’t groom him back, poor boy. They were moved indoors in the summer, when Boo first took unwell and had a problem with her temperature. He lives in an enclosure in the spare bedroom. Being such a stressed bun, I doubt if I’d be any comfort to him.

Pippin got the ct done because his eyes bulge hugely, and it was strongly suspected that he had a thymoma. The ct was clear though, and bloods weren’t too bad.

He has eaten a tiny bit himself overnight, just some dried apple leaves and a few greens, but at least it’s something, and he’s passed some poops.
 
It helps to know other bunnies have been through the same, and started eating themselves eventually.

I will get him a little toy. He seemed to always be grooming Boo, but she didn’t groom him back, poor boy. They were moved indoors in the summer, when Boo first took unwell and had a problem with her temperature. He lives in an enclosure in the spare bedroom. Being such a stressed bun, I doubt if I’d be any comfort to him.

Pippin got the ct done because his eyes bulge hugely, and it was strongly suspected that he had a thymoma. The ct was clear though, and bloods weren’t too bad.

He has eaten a tiny bit himself overnight, just some dried apple leaves and a few greens, but at least it’s something, and he’s passed some poops.

Are his eyes still bulging ? Did they do a full body CT scan ? xx
 
Are his eyes still bulging ? Did they do a full body CT scan ? xx

His eyes are still bulging, Jane, and it was a full body scan that he got.

He’s back to not eating anything and hasn’t passed any poops since 9 this morning. I really feel stuck with what to do for him. The more I handle him for syringe feeds or medicines, the more stressed he gets so the less he’ll eat. But I can’t not syringe feed him when he is hardly taking anything in himself. He’s a wildie cross, which I presume is where some of the stress will be coming from.
 
Will he eat something natural like grass or Dandelions? I am sorry you lost Boo and hope Pippin starts to eat properly soon.
 
Calming vibes for you & Pippin. My bun currently has progressed from taking his recovery feeds from a spoon - (he won't consider a saucer with it on), I don't suppose that would be worth a try. Even though you're both finding it stressful I'd prop him up with as much syringe feeding as you can & keep tempting him with other morsels. Do you burrito him for feeds? That might help him feel more secure. Its so difficult when they resist xx
 
His eyes are still bulging, Jane, and it was a full body scan that he got.

He’s back to not eating anything and hasn’t passed any poops since 9 this morning. I really feel stuck with what to do for him. The more I handle him for syringe feeds or medicines, the more stressed he gets so the less he’ll eat. But I can’t not syringe feed him when he is hardly taking anything in himself. He’s a wildie cross, which I presume is where some of the stress will be coming from.

I am wondering if the at the time of the CT scan a Thymoma was too small to pick up :? Has he had any investigations regarding his nasal cavity/orbital cavity ? Can you call the D1ck Vets for some advice this evening ?
 
Pippin has eaten a little grass, some dandelions himself and a little dried apple leaves, but I’m syringe feeding every few hours. He probably takes about half what I put in. It’s not that he fights me, he just sits there and let’s it fall out his mouth. He was doing the same at my vets and at D1ck vets.

Somebody did mention a thymoma being too small to pick up on the ct, Jane, but they said that if it was that small it wouldn’t cause his eyes to bulge. The only investigations he had before he was ill were the ct and bloods.

I haven’t managed to speak to anyone at D1ck Vet. I’ve totally lost my voice and have nobody who can phone for me. The only thing I could think of was to email my usual vet. All she could recommend was trying emeprid as well, and maybe swapping to cisiprid if that doesn’t work. When I collected him yesterday, I mentioned that I thought Pippin would stop eating again because of the upset in coming home. The vet just said to continue the gut meds they had given me and syringe feed him. I don’t expect the fireworks tonight will help him much.

He might also be picking up on my stress. I’ve had the upset if losing Boo, a new granddaughter born by emergency c-section because her mum had stopped breathing and she was distressed by it (they’re both ok now), all the rushing about between vets and the hospital while trying to care for my daughter with special needs, a brain scan next week for a continuous headache and problems with my vision in one eye, and now a terrible cold that’s caused me to lose my voice.
 
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I'm so sorry you've had to contend with so many difficulties in such a short time. I hope pippin continues to eat more . You're doing amazing getting some syringe feeds in hm & caring for him so well. Loads of vibes for everybun xx
 
Pippin has eaten a little grass, some dandelions himself and a little dried apple leaves, but I’m syringe feeding every few hours. He probably takes about half what I put in. It’s not that he fights me, he just sits there and let’s it fall out his mouth. He was doing the same at my vets and at D1ck vets.

Somebody did mention a thymoma being too small to pick up on the ct, Jane, but they said that if it was that small it wouldn’t cause his eyes to bulge. The only investigations he had before he was ill were the ct and bloods.

I haven’t managed to speak to anyone at D1ck Vet. I’ve totally lost my voice and have nobody who can phone for me. The only thing I could think of was to email my usual vet. All she could recommend was trying emeprid as well, and maybe swapping to cisiprid if that doesn’t work. When I collected him yesterday, I mentioned that I thought Pippin would stop eating again because of the upset in coming home. The vet just said to continue the gut meds they had given me and syringe feed him. I don’t expect the fireworks tonight will help him much.

He might also be picking up on my stress. I’ve had the upset if losing Boo, a new granddaughter born by emergency c-section because her mum had stopped breathing and she was distressed by it (they’re both ok now), all the rushing about between vets and the hospital while trying to care for my daughter with special needs, a brain scan next week for a continuous headache and problems with my vision in one eye, and now a terrible cold that’s caused me to lose my voice.

So sorry that I missed this update WD. Please PM me if I can be of any help re relaying a telephone message to the D1ck Vet if you remain voiceless. I do hope that Pippin has improved a bit by now and is eating more. You most certainly have a huge amount of stress to cope with right now. I am so relieved to hear that your new Granddaughter and her Mum are OK. What a terrifying experience for all involved. Sending you massive hugs, if I lived nearer maybe I could be of more help xx
 
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