Vibes for Harley

[lauraj27]

Harley has been grumpy since Thursday night. He didn't go for nuggets and looked really uncomfortable. Luckily we have a stock of metacam in the house so we gave him what we know is the correct dosage. Checked on him at 330am and he had scoffed all of his nuggets down as well as the dandelion leaves we'd put in and was happily munching on hay.

Everything seemed fine yesterday (Friday) until about 530pm when he started to look uncomfortable and like he was struggling to push something through. Lo and behold he wasn't interested in nuggets, hay, dandelion leaves so another dose of metacam followed. Within a couple of hours of giving him the metacam he munched his nuggets on and off, then was munching on hay & the dandelion.

So vet trip this morning to have him checked over. Vet said his gut sounded good. However he has lost about 70g since he was last in which we think was April (hubby took him in as I was working). His food intake has been the sam however, 30g of nuggets per day, unlimited hay and occasional dandelion leaves or kale.

Vet also did a glucose test and said his level was a little elevated but this could have been due to him being stressed - Harley really does not like travelling in the car and hates being interfered with. He sulks something chronic if you pick him up, put syringes in his moth, clip his claws or anything that isn't a nose rub.


He has had spurs on his teeth in the past that he catches his tongue on causing him pain and we book him in for a dental when this occurs. The vet said he has one small spur but it isn't spikey and doesn't seem to be interfering with his tongue at the moment but we will likely book him in for a dental soonish.


Vet gave him an injectable painkiller and has given us more metacam.

Vet thinks that it may just be hairballs /fur that he is trying to pass through but didn't give hubby a gut stimulent as the gut sounded good, though I am bit confused why as if it is do with him pushing something through then surely a gut stimulent would help? Vet also gave us some critical care just in case.

We do have Zantac in the house so we can give that to him if necessary though my preference is always for metroclopmide.

He has been fairly quiet since he came home from the vets at about 11am but then again he was interfered with a lot. He has munched some hay and a couple of dandelion leaves but I'd just like him to be better.

It's a very difficult time at the moment; tomorrow would have been my Dad's birthday who we lost back in June. The week before we lost him one of our other rabbits Snowy passed away when she was being brought round from an op to have her eye removed and a month before that my father in law passed away and I am just so petrified and anxious that we are going to lose Harley as well especially given the link with tomorrow's date.

[Zoobec]

I’m sorry everything has been so hard for you it could be dental related as often they can’t see spurs and soreness until they are sedated. Last time Frosty needed a dental the vet could see barely there spurs but when he was under anaesthetic she saw more, and bad ulcers either side of his tongue. Sending lots of vibes and hugs to you xx

[Craig 1965]

Sending vibes for Harley - I hope that he feels more comfortable soon. Xx

[bunny momma]

I’m sorry everything has been so hard for you it could be dental related as often they can’t see spurs and soreness until they are sedated. Last time Frosty needed a dental the vet could see barely there spurs but when he was under anaesthetic she saw more, and bad ulcers either side of his tongue. Sending lots of vibes and hugs to you xx

Exactly. How is his drinking? The gut can dehydrate fecal matter making it harder to pass too.
I lost a bunny day after my dad died and another couple days before my mom died. So while I understand your connecting events, I also had many losses that do not fit that pattern.
Sending vibes for you all.

[OliveTree]

I'm sorry! I hope he feels better soon.

[Pets mum]

Sending lots of vibes for Harley, hope the meds will make him feel better soon xx

[tonibun]

I am sorry Harley is not very well. Is there a reason you give him 30g of pellets every day? as this sounds way too many to me. He needs to be eating more hay and less pellets as the hay helps to push everything through the gut. He also needs to be kept hydrated so wet his greens as this will help. You could pick him some grass as well. I hope he is better soon.

[CarelessSquid07]

If its hair I would definitely recommend encouraging as much wet as possible. Offer some water bowls of lukewarm water or cooled down mint or coriander tea made with the fresh herbs.

Wet his greens, reduce his pellets if he's eating all those they're likely impacting with the fur if it's all at once.

We saw immense improvement in Primrose in terms of dentals and gi problems after removing nuggets from their diets completely. We reduced them to just treats and then removed entirely.

If you're pushing fibre some loose wet recovery food may help things if he'll eat it voluntarily. Ironically my two when feeling fine will gobble it but wont touch when feeling rubbish.

Really push the hay as well, try offering a new handful every so often. It seems to trick them into thinking its special...





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[lauraj27]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the messages and advice.

We gave him 15ml syringe feed before we went to bed (approx 11pm) and I got up in the night to check on him (330am) and I syringed him about 15ml of water as I can't say for certain that I saw him drinking from his water bowl yesterday evening. We do also soak any and all greens that we give him.

Whilst I was making up the recovery food at about 4am following giving him the water (annoyingly we only have 1ml syringes) he started munching on quite a bit of hay so I was loathe to syringe feed him if he was eating of his own accord.

I got up at about 9am and syringed him some more water about 10ml and when I was making a cup of coffee he did put his head his food bowl and munch a few nuggets.

I syringed him another 5-10ml of water at about 1030am whilst I gave him his metacam. He has been chewing on some hay this morning but we will likely do a couple of syringe feeds as I want to make sure he is taking enough food in but he is not a fan of recovery food /critical care.

My question now is how often and how much water should we syringe into him? 10ml every hour seems like it might be a bit excessive but I want to make sure his gut is hydrated.

I am going to call the vet tomorrow and get him booked in for the dental this week as if he is getting a bit of pain from his teeth and some from his guy he's in twice the pain and if he carries on we have at least ruled out his teeth.

Going to pop to the shops shortly and get him some kale and mint so he has a bit of variety and the latter hopefully will help with some digestion.

[lauraj27]

Forgot to say the 30g of nuggets is based on his weight - he is just shy of 3kg so we do 10g of food per kilo of body weight and he's been on that amount his whole life - he's about 8 and half now.