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Bunny Not Eating

T

Thomasamoso

Young Bun
Hi, I have a 5 year old dwarf lop who has previously had his front teeth removed due to over-growing and constant clipping (about a year and a half ago). He has seemed fine until yesterday, when I noticed he left some food in his bowl. Today when I checked on him and let him out, he just went out and lay down under a bush (doesn't sound alarming, but that's not usual behaviour for him). He won't eat anything I've offered him, including rabbit pellets, pansies, carrot, crackers, and baby food. He did eat one dandelion leaf earlier, but that's it for the whole day.

Concerned, I rushed him to the vet, who said he couldn't be sure what was wrong. He prodded him all over, and eventuall gave him 4 injections, including pain relief, something to get his gut stimulated, and 2 other things which he didn't really specify... He said to call tomorrow if he is still not eating.

Do I just wait it out? If he doesn't want to eat, should I "force" him to? Is there anything I can do?
 
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If he has seen a vet then I assume he has had an examination and there isnt a blockage. In which case you are ok to syringe feed him if he doesnt start to eat for himself.
 
I would suggest bringing him inside if you can (if hes not a house bunny) and you think he will cope with this, and provide him with a heat source he can get away from if he needs to.

How long ago did he have the pain meds? Keep trying different foods.

Hydration is super important. If you can provide a bowl of plain water (even if he is used to a bottle) and a bowl with something super special in (maybe cooled mint or camomile tea, maybe water laced with a tiny amount of apple juice, or cranberry juice or vanilla essence) it might help entice him to drink.

Has he had any new foods in the past 24 hours. I'm guessing the vet checked his molars? and generally gave him a good going over?
 
Yes the vet looked into his mouth with a.. Mouth looker into, and felt his stomach for a while. He had his injections about five hours ago.

What shall I feed him? Around last Christmas my 11 year old bunny stopped eating, and the only thing I could get down her was plain baby food, I tried mashy pellets but she just let them dribble out of her mouth. It destroyed me when she had to be put down, and it feels like the same thing is happening again.
 
Agree with the above suggestions and would add to keep trying to tempt him to eat with tasty treats such as aromatic herbs - corriander, parsley, mint are popular, a little grated carrot, dandelion leaves, some fresh scissor cut grass - basically anything bunnies like (go easy on anything sugary as this can cause tummy upset), maybe his regular pellets mushed up with some warm water.

If you have a friend or neighbour with a small baby they may have a little syringe as they are often given with meds for easy administration to babies or if your vets has a nurse on the ward overnight you may be able to pick one up there if you call and also some recovery food which would be helpful.
 
You can be creative, especially if you have a food processor.

You can use pellet slurry, because that works for some buns. You can mix into it some of her favour foods, or make a creation with her favourite foods in a food processor.

Baby food wise, be very careful. You can use things like pureed apple and pear, but that can be risky because for agut that has stopped or slowed, the additional sugar can be detrimental. Although, sometimes with mine, I think anything is better than nothing.

You can also use rolled oats (regular oats, not quick or instant) and make a porride using water, which can be good and easy on the tummy.

Is he pooing?
 
I don't know if he is pooing, the vet said that it would be best to give him a normal day doing whatever he normally does, so he's been out in the garden, and it would be like finding... Well, a rabbit poo in a garden.

I have just thought that I may be able to find one of the syringes I had from last year, if I do find one, I will make a paste of rabbit pellets, a little carrot, and a few dandelion leaves - Is this an agreeable course of action?
 
Personally I would try my best to tempt him to eat on his own and syringe as a last resort - it's not easy and can be stressful for everyone.

I agree you bun needs to be kept nice and warm and you need to be able to tell if he is eating, pooing and weeing really.

When mine was poorly I kept her in the kitchen in our little guinea pig run with some newspaper on the floor so I could keep a close eye on her.
 
Could you bring your bun in tonight to observe?

I completely agree with Dusty Rabbit that syringe feeding should be a last resort, and if at all possible, enticing the bun to eat by himself is better. However, how long you leave it before syringe feeding would be up for debate because of when he last ate and how much he last ate, and if he is pooing, etc.

The general things rabbits tend to go for first are things like fresh grass, dandelion leaves, parsley, things like that (but only if you know he can tolerate them).
 
I agree Sky-o, it musn't be left too long before this bunny eats - if he's been in the garden I wonder has he been eating grass?
 
I have to pull up grass for him, as he has had his incisors removed. He can still eat hay, though. I left a pile of grass next to him, but I don't think he has eaten any of it.
 
Oh yes, sorry, I forgot about the incisor issue.

If you are worried and he's still not interested in food, perhaps another call to the vets would be in order?
 
What tonight? The vet said to ring tomorrow if he was still unwell. I, or course, would be more than happy to ring up again now. (although it will be out of hours)

He just ate a small bit of plain cracker out of my hand, and I made a little platter of carrot, fresh mint chive and basil, pansy flower-heads, a bit of cracker, and a few dandelion leaves. He hasn't eaten any of that though - he just put his paws in it and ruined my little display. He has planty of hay also.

I put a little apple juice in his water too. If I've done anything wrong, please could somebody say - Usually they all find their own food (besides pellets and hay)
 
It's good he has eaten a bit, but I wouldn't give him too much cracker because that in itself can cause gut issues.

What about waving some grass or dandelion in front of his mouth? Sometimes buns will get frustrated with it there and grab it in their mouth to throw it away, only to then decide to eat it.
 
Yes, I've successfully used that technique before, but to no avail here. I really hate things like this - I get very upset about rabbits for some reason. A few weeks ago I was browsing a forum (I can't remember which) and someone's rabbit had died. All it took was for me to read the first response, which consisted of something along the lines of "She's in a happy place now" and I just began sobbing uncontrollably.

I'm driving down to Tesco now to see if I can pick up a baby syringe.

Also what is the best way to make sure he is hydrated? I don't think he has touched his water tonight.
 
I think its really, really important, however hard it is, to be relaxed around him because he could easily sense your stress, which could make him think there is something to be stressed about, and so not want to eat through stress. So try to be as relaxed as you can around him.

It's a shame the 'waving' technique isn't working. Worth a shot though.

You can syringe fluids if he does not stress too much about that. Another option is just enticing them. I once lined up 6 bowls in a line, all different, waiting for my bun to choose which one he liked, and he did and it made it super easy in a way, and I knew what to give him.

Another option is when you go back to the vets, to ask for sub-cutaneous fluids, where they give them under the skin and they are gradually absorbed into the body. This can be really good for a rabbit in stasis because hydration of the gut is very important.
 
Ok. I know the internet isn't the best place to ask for medical advice, but if this were your bunny - Having been to the vet at 12:00, and not seen any improvement by 20:00, would you ring the vet again and make an emergency appointment, or would you just wait until the next day?
 
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