• Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Lillabelle not eating

Lillabelle has stopped eating. Yesterday she was fast breathing and didn't show any interest in her tea so we took her to the vets at 9pm yesterday. We have a 24 hour vet which is fantastic for us. They were very kind letting us go through the insurance and to pay them the £50 excess tomorrow.

I told the vet about the moulting of both of them. The vet felt her tummy and said he felt she would be eating by tomorrow. He gave her fluids, metaclopramide and loxicom for cats at quite a low dose I thought but I know I got muddled last time about the dosage for them. He gave her dosage for a 5 kg weight as per the syringe of 0.5kg/mls. The vet's x-ray machine is broken so he can't x-ray her to see if she has a blocked tummy.

I don't know much about gut stasis except where Chief has had it before twice. Since we got her home we have tried getting her to eat waving food in front of her nose. We have tried greens, curly kale, fresh coriander, fresh dill, readigrass and Timothy hay and she just ignores us. She did eat a leaf of spring greens early hours of morning so we got some sleep early this morning after thinking she was starting to eat but when we woke at 11am she wasn't eating again. We rang the vets to ask if we could syringe feed her and they said to do that.

We gave her Science Selective pellets mushed up and added water to make a thick fluid drink. We don't have Critical Care here but the vets is getting some in tomorrow so we can change to that then. She seemed to be just taking it in her mouth and then spitting it out. We gave her the loxicom as well but it is such a small amount. I thought they were supposed to have the dog Loxicom? We only had time for one syringe feed before taking her back to the vets today.

We had another appointment at the vets at 3.30pm and I was surprised that the vet did didn't get her out the carrier. He just gave her metaclopramide again via injection plus more loxicom. I raised the issue of whether she had enough painkillers as she normally was given the dog loxicom and he said he would give her that instead and then at the last moment said we shou AQAld just increase the dosage to 7.5 kgs as on the syringe but still use the cat Loxicom.

We got home at 4.30 pm and we are leaving her for a while to recover from going to the vets then we are going to syringe feed her every hour approx to get her to eat. Would that be too often? When we got home she just kept drinking and drinking water for ages so she is dehydrated as well I guess.

When we syringe fed her she was so good and didn't bite us or wriggle. Just so unusual for her to not be feisty and difficult to be picked up which worries me that she is too weak to argue with us. I feel that it's my fault as the fur could be blocking her stomach. We really don't know what to do. In know nobody on RU can give vet advice but I just wondered if everybun thinks that is a low dose of painkillers or not? I have loxicom dog here. When Lillabelle got spayed she was given 1.6mls of dog loxicom once daily. We are given her the equivalent for 5 kgs twice a day.

Her output is very low. She did pass a cecal poop early this morning but she refused to eat it when my OH presented it to her. Otherwise no poops. She jumped in to the litter tray and was there a while but no poops and we couldn't find any wee output either. We have put both the buns into an 8 panel enclosure in our bedroom so we can see her better. Otherwise she hides under the bed so it is impossible to see if she eats/drinks.

Could you please send her some healing vibes. She just sits in a crouch position hardly moving although she did give Chief some head licks earlier. Is there anything else we could try please?
 
Last edited:
Has she passed poo ? What comes out is as important as what goes in. If she has not had any poo output then unless the Vet is certain there’s no blockage syringe feeds could make things much worse.

Did the Vet check her blood glucose and temperature? Both being necessary when assessing for a blockage.

why didn’t the Vet examine her again today ? IMO that is completely inappropriate. I am assuming this wasn’t the Rabbit savvy Vet ?
 
This is the new vets as we left the other 'rabbit savvy vet' because they sent our buns home wet after Lil's spay. This is the first time we have used this vet for a poorly bunny but I'm afraid he seems to not be rabbit savvy really.

She passed a cecal early hours of this morning but she refused to eat it. Nothing else ☹️ She has been in the litter tray twice and seems to be trying to poop or wee but as yet no other output.

Apart from feeling her tummy he did no other checks. When I asked about the loxicom he said to change to dog one but then afterwards he changed his mind and said to keep her on the cat one. Other than that the vet said nothing. They had an emergency with some puppies and they looked really tired but he hardly said anything to us.

So Lillabelle has been back in the litter tray for ages so we will see. We were going to syringe feed her based on the vet advice but I do not know what would be best to do. I also wondered if she is in too much pain to want to eat?

Idk if the other old vet we used to see would see her with us having no money for the excess on the insurance. We now owe the new vets £50 excess which they let us pay when we have it. Do you think we should go back to them then?

I just want to find a rabbit savvy vet!! Why is it so hard to find a good one? It's just so frustrating but more than that we just don't know what to do from here 😥
 
She has passed some poops!! They were really wet and smelt like cecals but they were bigger like normal poops. I tried to get her to eat them by sticking them right under her nose but she was having none of it.

Does that mean we can go ahead syringe feeding her?

We have to stick with this vet due to having no money. I doubt the old vets would be so nice to waive the excess and just see her anyway. So we have to work with what we have got for the time being.

I forgot to say he also prescribed Baytril for her as well.
 
She has just passed some more really soft poops that are possibly cecals but hard to tell for sure. I have read before on RU that antibiotics can stop the rabbit eating their cecals due to the different smell of the poops? I wonder if the Baytril is stopping her from eating them then?
 
Quick update...she had her 1 mls Baytril. She is not due painkiller now for another 20 odd hours.

However we managed to get her to take 50 mls less the 10 mls max for spillage and her spitting it out! It seemed a lot for her to take but it was quite liquid-y. The fluids will help with dehydration issues though.

We are letting them chill out for an hour or so then we start again.
 
Baytil should not be given unless there is evidence of bacterial infection.

IMG_4417.png


It really does sound as though the Vet was clueless with Rabbits ☹️



Are her ears cold ? Is she reasonably bright or flat and lethargic?

What dose of Metacam is she actually on ?
 
Baytil should not be given unless there is evidence of bacterial infection.

View attachment 2732


It really does sound as though the Vet was clueless with Rabbits ☹️



Are her ears cold ? Is she reasonably bright or flat and lethargic?

What dose of Metacam is she actually on ?
I thought that about the Baytril too ☹️
I have tried to read the article but I can't take it in as I'm so tired.

Yes I agree I was looking at the vet asking questions and basically having to answer them myself. He didn't seem to know. When he didn't get her out of the carrier I was shocked tbh.

Her ears were cold yesterday which is another reason we rushed her to the vets. Now they are warm though. She has been not interested in anything going on. She managed a few head licks to Chief but otherwise listless yes. Her ears are back, she is sitting in the same position all the time hardly moving. When we syringe feed her she is weak. She doesn't wriggle or try to bite and she just looks frail like a sickly baby bun.We are really worried. It is not like Lillabelle at all. She is looking really tired actually so we left her to snooze for a bit but now 2 hours are up and we decided to feed her every 2 hours and see what results we get. We don't know how often to feed her actually. We are just trying to keep on top of her feeds to me her gut moving.

As she has passed poops should we keep syringe feeding her?

She is on Loxicom for cats 0.5 mg/ml. The vet gave us a syringe with the weight in kg on the side. She is to have the amount for 5 kg. The syringe came with the box and it is 1 ml size. So initially he prescribed 0.5 mls of the Loxicom for cats.

So today I felt he prescribed Baytril with no proof of infection plus he only checked her tummy by feeling it and made this comment about how she will be eating by tomorrow no doubt. I just thought how can you know that?

So today I queried the loxicom amount and that we usually are given the loxicom for dogs. The receptionist agreed that the dog one is stronger and is usually given to rabbits. John the vet said nothing at all except nodding that we should have the one for dogs. And then he changed his mind again back to giving them the cat one and said to give her 0.75 mls instead of the initial 0.5 mls.

Until tomorrow we can't get her to another vets. The only choices are PDSA and hope the vet that day is rabbit savvy. Or back to our old vets. We need to get her through tonight first.
 
Quick update...we went to shop to get bananas after a really bad feeding session. She spat it all out. She was also grinding her teeth badly so I realise she is probably in pain. We have ended up giving her 0.5 mls of Loxicom for dogs. We just want to give her a chance to get through this. I worked it out to make sure it was under the usual dosage. We remembered how Chief did well having bananas in his syringe feed so we went to local shops hoping and there were some there so that was good actually.

We got home and gave her a 40 mls of Excel dust mixed with banana and she ate probably 20-30 mls of it. She was also feisty and was scrabbling to get away and trying to bite which we are happy about as it means our little Bellatrix is back. The painkiller has obviously worked then.
I realise it's early days but she seemed sparky and angry bless her which I thought seemed positive at least.
 
She has recently passed poops with fur entwined around it. The fur is really thick. Is that a good thing? If the poops are coming through?
Lillabelle is still just sitting there obviously in terrible pain. I actually feel sick 😢
 
The fact that some poo is coming out is a good thing. But she is not on anywhere near enough analgesia. So she will be in a lot of pain


Based on what you have posted IMO (unqualified) she should be on IV fluids, meds by injection (oral meds won’t work in severe cases of gut stasis) and if hypothermic she should have a heat source.

At the first consult she should have had a full examination, blood glucose test and possibly an abdominal X-ray.

It is disgraceful that she wasn’t examined at all during your second consultation and personally I would be making a formal complaint. But for now the important thing is to get her to a Vet who is at least able to provide the basic care

If she is still very flat and anorexic then she needs admitting for the intensive care mentioned above. This needs to be done as a matter of urgency.

A blood glucose test would give some indication of the presence of an obstruction. Abdominal X-rays too.

If you are struggling to explain things to the Vet show them this.


If they take offence so be it, what’s important is that Lillabelle receives appropriate care. Not even bothering to take the sick Rabbit out of the carrier to examine her is not appropriate care.

I do hope Lillabelle will recover x
 
Sending vibes for Lilabelle. It’s clear you are a very caring owner and I hope the advice Jane had given will help. Thinking of you - a poorly bunny is such a worry.
 
I am sorry I did not seen this sooner. It is good she is passing some poo and taking some syringe feeds.

Cat Medicam is one-third the strength of dog Medicam, so it would require three times the dosage in ml as you would give with the dog medicam to be the same amount of medication.

I understand not being able to get a rabbit savvy vet in an emergency, not even when I paid excessive amounts of money on my charge cards.
IM gave you excellent advice.

Fluids and pain meds are important for treating a bunny in stasis. If she is passing poo, I would continue giving syringe feeds if she will take them reasonably well. Motility meds should also not be administered unless vet has determined there is no obstruction.
 
So sorry to hear that Lillabelle is poorly, I hope she starts to improve soon, you are doing a great job helping her x
 
Sending lots of vibes for her. I hope you can get her seen by a rabbit savvy vet soon.
 
I agree with everything that's been posted already, can you get her to a rabbit savy vet asap so they can examine her properly and get her pain and care under control? It's so important this is done fast ime

Sending so many vibes xx
 
There is no rabbit savvy vet except our old vet which we went away from after they sent our buns home wet after Lillabelle's spay. I rang them today and they would not admit her without us paying up front for the pain meds, gut motility drugs and £50 for check up. All they care about is money and they can afford to be choosy as they are packed every day.

We have to pay our new vets £50 today and then we just have enough to live on until our universal credit on the 8th. We will have to take her to the current vets.

She has passed 15 poops this morning though and she has been nibbling on hay though so and the vets has agreed on giving her loxicom for dogs but it's the blind leading the blind here. We are so tired but the only choice we have is keep syringe feeding her and pray she pulls through.

I don't know what else to do 😢
 
There is no rabbit savvy vet except our old vet which we went away from after they sent our buns home wet after Lillabelle's spay. I rang them today and they would not admit her without us paying up front for the pain meds, gut motility drugs and £50 for check up. All they care about is money and they can afford to be choosy as they are packed every day.

We have to pay our new vets £50 today and then we just have enough to live on until our universal credit on the 8th. We will have to take her to the current vets.

She has passed 15 poops this morning though and she has been nibbling on hay though so and the vets has agreed on giving her loxicom for dogs but it's the blind leading the blind here. We are so tired but the only choice we have is keep syringe feeding her and pray she pulls through.

I don't know what else to do 😢
Is she still having prokinetics ? She needs to be on them. Best combo is metoclopromide and cisapride
 
Yes she is on prokinetics. I think just metoclopromide but I will ask. And she was given fluids. We are taking the Loxicom for dogs box with us to prove she needs higher pain relief.

Lillabelle was much more feisty in her last feed. She was also eating banana that was spilled out. She loves cuddles with my OH now. I realise she is weaker than normal so that will probably change back to wanting to eat us later! She is also lying with her legs back behind her for the first time in 2-3 days.

I feel so helpless that we can't do more however we are going to vets at 2pm for hopefully more prokinetics with, fingers crossed, better pain relief.

Thank you for your help Jane. Thank you to everybun who has posted. I am reading them all but have not much time atm to post back. We are very tired but we just hope she will pull through due to sheer determination on our part, love for her and sheer luck tbh. However we are seeing an improvement at least x
 
Has she passed any more poo?
It sounds as though she is showing signs of feeling better. She will need to remain on treatment until her output is back to normal.

Re the Meloxicam dose- show the Vet this, it is written by an Exotics Qualified Vet

 
Back
Top