Any vets online?? Rabbit problem

[BE57 TOY]

Hi all

I have a 2 year old lionhead dwarf rabbit that's stopped eating.

I took her to the vet today who said her back teeth are starting to curve and said to move her diet to hay which should fix the problem.

Rabbit has completely stopped eating now and is just slumped in the cage. She is not herself at all.

I am syringing recovery food which she is basically refusing and splitting out.

I am very worried as rabbits need constant food in their gut, or so I believe.

Do I need to call an emergency vet nos in the middle of the night? Or tomorrow (Sunday)? Or can this wait until Monday?

Help?!

Thanks.

[BE57 TOY]

Thank you all.

I was given metacam - 2 drops daily.

And the syringe recovery food, but I think they were expecting her to have started eating by now.

I woke up at 3am and gave some syringe food.

And again at 8am, now doing hourly. She hasn't eaten or drunk anything herself all night.

There are two or three tiny poos in her cage, but nothing much.

[BE57 TOY]

Just back from emergency appointment at the vets, diagnosed with gut stasis and kept in for blood test and multiple injections to get lower and upper bowels moving. She is also going onto a drip.

Really very worried about her and hope she doesn't die, but doesn't look good.

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bexVN said:

I'm so glad they kept her in tbh it's what our vets would have done. They're doing all the right things and you helped her loads by the care you gave at home.

She is a very poorly bunny right now and it is a worry but they can get through it, the sooner the treatment is started the better so it's very good that you didn't wait til tomorrow.

Hope so. Unfortunately this has been going on since Thursday when she was misdiagnosed with constipation by a different vet.

[BE57 TOY]

She was discharged from the vets today, after being there since Sunday.

She had a bit to eat there and passed some poo, but is still not eating or pooping properly at all. Infact she will only eat cardboard since she has been home and hasn't poo'd once.

So the ordeal is still not over.

Also the bill was £476 rather than the quoted £200!!! £34 per half day of vet and nursing care, plus all the drugs, plus £75 for putting the drip in. Surprised it wasn't inc in the medical care charge!

[BE57 TOY]

Update -

She is eating again now, albeit a smaller diet than before.

She was a perfectly behaved rabbit but now she is eating carpet and the skirting boards. Any ideas why she would do this?

We stop her, she runs off and does it again, relentless!

[BE57 TOY]

Update - rabbit has stopped eating again. I am starting to wonder if she is going to survive through this :-(

[BE57 TOY]

No, she's at home being syringe fed. I don't think the vets know what to do.

[BE57 TOY]

Hello everyone

I took her to a rabbit specialist today who has put her on liquid paraffin and hand fed her veg all day (rather than rescue food through syringe). They also injected 30ml fluid sub cut.

I've just got her home and she has poo'd loads and is eating plenty too. (She will only eat hand fed though)

I am so happy and hopefully she can keep this up and survive.

Thank you to everyone who has offered advice so far.

I will keep the thread updated.

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KFC said:

I wouldn't have paid it.

I have paid most of it, but have £206 left owing.

[BE57 TOY]

Ate and drank loads all weekend, but only when hand fed. Doesn't look like she ate or drank anything today whilst we were out. OH is in tomorrow so will monitor!

Does stress set rabbits back in their recovery? Ie going to the vets, can it set them back? OH is reluctant to go to the vets as often as I'd like in fear of this!

[BE57 TOY]

She is still eating albeit a much smaller and fussier diet than before. So she is mainly just eating Kale at the moment! We have also bought a run and taken her outside for the first time which she seems to really enjoy.

She's back to herself personality wise too.

We are having to monitor her closely though as she is still losing weight and not drinking much.

Thank you to everyone here who has helped / advised and cared about her.

I will continue to update!

[BE57 TOY]

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Lv2spd2 said:

What a lovely rabbit.

If I may ask, what was her original diet? Also what have you tried so far to get her back to eating normally?

Thank you.

Her original diet was 99% Excel pellets for dwarf rabbits.

To get her back into eating we have been giving her fresh greens. She absolutely loves kale so has been eating that by the bucket load!

We have been told we need to get her onto a 90% hay diet which we were previously unaware of!

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Lv2spd2 said:

Yes, definitely mostly hay. I suspected it was going to be a mainly pellet diet, as that is often a contributing factor to a rabbit's digestive issues. I am glad you know about the hay now. Were you also told to steer clear of alfalfa hay? The alfalfa is not actually BAD for the rabbit, but it is rather high in calcium, which can contribute to excessive tooth growth issues later.

Orchard grass, Timothy, western Timothy, oat, Brome and Bermuda hays (I am American, so I am sorry if any of those happen to be local names that are unfamiliar) are all excellent choices for day to day feeding as they can be fed in any amount without causing problems.

When my little hopper was sick and went off her feed after treatment, I found it easiest to get her back to eating hay by simply offering her a smorgasboard of various hays, both in hay balls and loose, over night, with no other foods on offer during those hours. I let her pick the one she liked, and she did. She also learned to let me know when she wanted more by grabbing the empty hay ball with her teeth and raking it up and down the cage bars. She may be slightly spoiled.

Here is a really excellent resource for you. It should contain any info you need.

http://rabbit.org/

I wish i had known about it before losing my first little rabbit to my own ignorance.

Thank you - you're very knowledgeable about rabbits and it's a real help.

She does seem quite fussy with hay so I am putting a few different types in at a time.

I've noticed in the past few days she hasn't drunk anything, which is odd as it's particularly hot at the moment.

How much should she be drinking? Is there adequate water in the kale she has been eating?

She is acting completely normal!

[BE57 TOY]

She was eating an absolute stack of kale, once I weened her off that and onto hay she started drinking from the bottle. I think she must have been getting enough liquid from the kale as she was urinating.

[BE57 TOY]

So although she has now fully recovered from stasis, her poop is funny shaped and joined up by fur.

As you all know she is a long haired lionhead, but she is groomed daily and isn't malting excessively.

Should I be worried and do I need to go back to the vets?

Pic -