• 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

I am glad you were able to intervene and help the family get Lillabelle proper care.
Well done.

Yes I agree she is not eating without pain meds and so there is probably a reason for her gut stasis. She was not eating much again this morning so we are syringe feeding her again.

She is now managing to eat some herbs but a lot of the food she takes and bites it and then drops it. I wonder if this is from her originating from wild bunnies and they pretend to eat so other buns don't realise they are sick?

She tries to take the food but then moves her mouth different ways trying to find a way to eat which makes me think dental but I may be wrong.

My OH has been letting me sleep between feeds as my meds are making things unsafe for me as I am falling asleep standing up and falling about when walking around the flat. I feel a bit better now but I can't do these early hours going to bed and getting up so early. So don't worry if you don't hear from me sometimes

Lil's has been eating herbs just now after a syringe feed that she mostly spat out again at first and then she settled and ate 50-60 mls at a guess. Do the syringe feeds still help stimulate the gut if she spits it out? Sorry if that is a silly question. I will try and Google about it.

Yes will chat with you later 😊
It sounds as though she needs a dental.

For the syringe feeds to promote gut motility she needs to swallow them

What is her poo output like now?
 
Gut stasis is not a stand alone illness, but a symptom of another primary problem. As is stated here in this article written by an Exotics Qualified Vet and a Rabbit Savvy well known Vet Nurse

‘’Gut stasis is one of the most serious conditions a rabbit could have, and it deserves to be taken seriously by both the owner and veterinary staff. Because there are many possible causes (many of them external to the gut itself), it must be highlighted that it is a symptom and not a final diagnosis. A rabbit that presents in gut stasis requires a full clinical examination and husbandry review. At this stage, the cause of the gut stasis may become obvious.’’

Full article:

https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/working-together-on-gut-stasis

Which is why it was so appalling that the initial Vet didn’t examine L before giving her prokinetics, which putting it bluntly could have killed her.

There are a multitude of possible primary causes that lead to gut stasis. Sometimes identifying the cause can be a challenge, sometimes it’s obvious eg a Dental
problem. So unless the cause of the gut stasis is identified and treated gut stasis will keep recurring.

I will text you later re the Vet Hospital, I too have concerns about the comment about a Rabbit in gut stasis not needing pain relief. Given the rest of the account you gave me of the consultation that remark is especially surprising.

L has been far too unwell to have a GA/Dental over the last few days, so if the treatment she is now on gets her eating and pooping normally again getting her teeth sorted out will be a priority.

Later this morning I will call the Veterinary Hospital we discussed yesterday and then text you 😀
I have read all this just so you know 😂
 
It sounds as though she needs a dental.

For the syringe feeds to promote gut motility she needs to swallow them

What is her poo output like now?
Yes we think she needs a dental too

Right. Well she does eat a syringe feed and then she does go on to eat afterwards by herself but we have to coax her to eat first. She has eaten 10 coriander stalks today at least. But she won't eat anything else today. We had to go and get some more.

Her output is ok. It is regular at least but not all uniform. She did a perfect looking cecal earlier but left it and I tried to present on tissue but she just kept trying to eat the paper 😞

She is sitting in the litter tray a lot again. Maybe it is more comfortable than carpet with just a sheet on the floor? We are putting a large padded dog bed in there that we bought for our buns but they don't usually like it so we will see.
 
Last edited:
Just to say she just had 160 mls syringe feed and there wasn't much pellet juice spilled and she didn't spit it out. So probably ate 120-140 mls I would say. Best feed yet 🥰

I talk to her and she opens her mouth and eats some. And she sits for longer too. She sits in my OH's arms quite happily now and doesn't struggle unless the syringe comes out. But now she is not so scared of it. I think she realises it is food.

But it could be due to the pain meds working now. We are so tired now and getting a bit despondent but keep boosting each other up. It must be so hard for one person to do this
 
Bless her, glad she's calmed down a bit, she knows you are helping her. I hope you can get a dental sorted for her, if it's needed.
 
Bless her, glad she's calmed down a bit, she knows you are helping her. I hope you can get a dental sorted for her, if it's needed
I feel like she knows too. She eats when I talk to her and she looks up at my OH for ages sitting in his arms. She has got easier to handle so I hope this will carry on.

Thank you yes I hope she will be strong enough to have a dental. She definitely is stronger now ❤
 
Just checking by for the latest updates. Do hope the feeding will get her strong enough for a dental.
 
Thank you. She is not eating any other food atm so I hope she does soon so she can get stronger
I think it’s unlikely she will get back to normal eating until her teeth are dealt with. I would have emphasised this more if you’d mentioned that the Vet stated she had an ulcerated mouth.
If her GI tract motility can be improved as much as possible by syringe feeds,prokinetics and analgesia over the weekend then I think a Dental needs to be done on Monday when you next have contact with the Vet. Otherwise her teeth are just going to get worse as she’s not eating much ,if any hay and the gut problems will continue. The ulceration in her mouth will get worse too.

So try to see this as an attempt to get her gut motility as good as possible in preparation for a GA/Dental rather than for her to be able to eat normally. If her mouth is ulcerated she can’t eat normally..

Edited to add, the other *possibility* is that the ulcer in her mouth has been caused by a foreign body getting embedded into the soft tissue. It’s unusual in Rabbits, but not impossible. If you still feed her dried nettles then they would be top of my list of prime suspects for causing an oral soft tissue injury. As stated, this scenario is unusual, but one that a Vet needs to bear in mind if a full oral examination under GA shows no evidence of the ulcer being caused by molar spurs.

If you notice her mouth starting to smell offensive over the weekend you need to speak with a Vet again straight away. As you still have some Baytril left the Vet might suggest restarting that to tide her over until she can be seen on Monday.

I hope none of this will be needed though. The reason I haven’t mentioned anything about the problems a mouth ulcer can cause until now is that I wasn’t aware she was found to have one until I read your post on here yesterday.
 
Last edited:
Yes I understand. As the vet said at the time that it wasn't her teeth causing the gut stasis I forgot to tell you. Sorry about that.
The vet has asked me to ring on Monday morning for an update anyway so I will need to ask her about a dental then. If they will fit her in Monday as sometimes we have to wait a few days as they are so busy.

The vet not agreeing to give L pain meds could be an issue I thought as I can't really say that she is better after having them can I?
Also she said L's teeth were long but not enough to cause an issue but she had an ulcer? I thought that was bizarre. How do I tell the vet we think it is L's teeth if it goes against what she told us? I feel uncomfortable challenging this but I need to do it for Lillabelle to get the right care. This vet (Briar House) has actually done all their ops successfully so maybe it would be ok to go with them again if I can't find another local rabbit savvy vet over the weekend.

Lillabelle was really fast breathing earlier however I thought it was probably because her pain meds were wearing off. Her breathing has calmed down as she had her pain meds about an hour ago but it is still faster than normal.

She has been eating her syringe feed quite happily today and seems really hungry when I give it to her but she is only now eating coriander in between each syringe feed. Around 4-10 sprigs. She is turning her nose up at everything else. She was having about 80-90 mls each feed but I thought it may be filling her up so she doesn't want normal food?
I gave her 50 mls at last feed to see if she will eat other food if she has less syringe feed. Do you think this is a good idea bearing in mind we want her fit for a dental asap? Or do we give her as much as she will eat in her syringe feeds? Also we give her syringe feeds every 3-4 hours at mo. Does that seem about right to you? I ask as I want her as strong as possible ready for her dental.

I will text you about other vets today if I find one but otherwise it will have to be Briar House again then. Thanks Jane 🥰
 
Last edited:
My recommendation is to give her as much in a syringe food as she is willing to eat in a feeding. She may not want to eat much else until after her dental.
Frequency will depend on how quickly her gi system is moving.
It is possible that the tooth and ulcer the vet saw on conscious exam is not the full story, and more severe dental issue may be present when she has her dental. It is also possible the dental issue is hurting her more than you or the vet realize.
Lillabelle's picking up food and stopping after a couple bites shows me she wants to eat, yet something (dental pain?) is causing her to stop.
Sending more vibes.
 
Last edited:
My recommendation is to give her as much in a syringe food as she is willing to eat in a feeding. She may not want to eat much else until after her dental.
Frequency will depend on how quickly her gi system is moving.
It is possible that the tooth and ulcer the vet saw on conscious exam is not the full story, and more severe dental issue may be present when she has her dental. It is also possible the dental issue is hurting her more than you or the vet realize.
Lillabelle's picking up food and stopping after a couple bites shows me she wants to eat, yet something (dental pain?) is causing her to stop.
Sending more vibes.
I agree with this.

Can you get a video of her when she's ‘fast breathing’ and post it on here ?

Is she eating her cecotrophs ? Is her bum clean ?

If you feel along her jawline can you feel any lumpiness ?
 
Thank you BM for the vibes. We can see she is in pain as she is fast breathing and just lying not moving in the crate and she just sits in the litter tray for ages.

It's not us that need convincing it's the vet we saw who believes rabbits don't have pain with gut stasis. All of us bunny owners know that's not true. Also, as you said there is a reason she is not eating. Most likely dental issues. Lillabelle is an in hiding her pain and pretending to eat. What she does is bite the food as if to eat it then drop it. We could have easily missed that she is not eating as much before Sunday even.

We had 2 great feeds where she ate well but this feed just now was awful. She was shaking so much and when I tried to feed her she just took the feed in her mouth and just sat there not moving. Not eating. It was actually really upsetting to see. We could see she was in a state of shock. We put her back in the pen to calmed down. She is just sitting facing the wall again and shaking so much 😭

I don't know what to do now. Do we leave her for a while then try again? Or miss this feed out? She has only eaten 4 sprigs of coriander since the last feed. Since around 1am actually.

Her output is good atm. She is pooping every hour or two. But they are elongated and smaller than usual. And weeing more than usual I think.

We are going to leave her to settle for now. Really worried for her right now
 
I agree with this.

Can you get a video of her when she's ‘fast breathing’ and post it on here ?

Is she eating her cecotrophs ? Is her bum clean ?

If you feel along her jawline can you feel any lumpiness ?
Posting video here.

Well I found a perfectly formed cecotroph but she wouldn't eat it. Her bum is clean. She is doing formed poops but they are a bit irregular and bit smaller than usual.

I can't feel lumps on her jaw. She is really stressed though 😢
 
Her breathing has slowed down now. Sorry can't work out how to send it on here. I am really tired as I stayed up all night so Phil could sleep. I will add a video when I can read up on how to do it.

Her breathing has slowed and Phil got her running up and down the hall and now she eating cauliflower leaves and dill so much better news 😊
 
Dental pain would cause her to not eat, yet your posts sound like she is constant severe pain. Yet her gut pain should lessen as her gut motility improves. If she is producing an appropriate amount of poo for the quantity she eats her gut motility must be better.
It baffles me that she went from accepting a couple of good sized syringe feeds and eating a few herbs to not wanting to eat anything.
Is she still getting pain meds and motility meds?
How is her body temp?
You described her as being in a state of shock when you tried to syringe feed??
How is her color? Pink? Pale?
Is she straining when she is in litterbox? Does her pee contain any flecks that could be blood? Is she dribbling pee? Could she have a uti, kidney infection or bladder stone?
Sorry if I am worrying you needlessly; yet maybe call vet to see if starting antibiotic would be prudent.
 
Last edited:
Dental pain would cause her to not eat, yet your posts sound like she is constant severe pain. Yet her gut pain should lessen as her gut motility improves. If she is producing an appropriate amount of poo for the quantity she eats her gut motility must be better.
It baffles me that she went from accepting a couple of good sized syringe feeds and eating a few herbs to not wanting to eat anything.
Is she still getting pain meds and motility meds?
How is her body temp?
You described her as being in a state of shock when you tried to syringe feed??
How is her color? Pink? Pale?
Is she straining when she is in litterbox? Does her pee contain any flecks that could be blood? Is she dribbling pee? Could she have a uti, kidney infection or bladder stone?
Sorry if I am worrying you needlessly; yet maybe call vet to see if starting antibiotic would be prudent.
Lillabelle was on a state of shock when we were feeding her. I don't know why she went like that. She just got really shaky and didn't move. When I fed her food she just let it sit in her mouth. She must have swallowed it as it wasn't spat out.

Her breathing was really fast so we left her to calm down. After about 20 mins her breathing started to calm down. Her belly felt like it had gas in it so my OH had her running up and down the hall to help with the gas. Then he offered her veggies and she ate 2 small cauliflower leaves, some sweetheart cabbage and approx 8 sprigs of herbs and she was fine.

She is weeing more than usual as litter trays are wet plus she had a long drink when my OH held the water bottle. She has been drinking more than usual. We have not noticed any blood specks anywhere. She has been given motility drugs and pain relief on schedule.

I don't know what happened. Maybe she didn't want the syringe feed as had enough of it? Maybe she was holding the food in her mouth as she had tried spitting it out and it didn't work? She didn't want the recovery food but 2 times before that she ate really well.
 
Back
Top