Bun not Eating!! Help!

[graceofangels]

Hello: I'm nervous as hell right now. I took Thumper to the vet and she couldn't find anything wrong with him. No physical signs of stasis, his stomach feels fine, etc. I brought him to one of the hospitals on the House Rabbits Society pages to make sure I was working with a vet that is knowledgeable about rabbits.

He isn't eating ANYTHING right now, not that i can see. He's turned up his nose at pellets, romaine, cilantro (his favorite) and dandilion greens, and he hasn't been eating hay. He did take a small amount of kale of this morning but hasn't touched it since. The vet has not yet recommended I try critical care, but my friend came over and gave him some today...which seemed more stressful for him than anything. He did poop once, but i think it was out of fright as she was feeding him the CC. He has no problem showing energy to run from the CC or wiggle free, and he's still grooming himself

How long does it take for a bunny to go into stasis? The vet is supposed to call tonight with results from his blood work they did, but I still haven't heard. They are open till 10, but damn it, my anxiety is through the roof. I've called once already today. I'm not eating myself now since I seem to just be staring at him, hoping to catch him. Last night's sleep was so fitful.

 

[JBun]

Did the vet check his teeth? Were you sent home with any meds, and if so which ones? Have you tried simethicone(baby gas drops)? It can sometimes help if the lack of appetite is due to gas pain.

With the critical care, if a bloated stomach is ruled out and a full blockage by the vet, I can't understand why they wouldn't recommend that you start syringe feeding. It's never good to let a rabbit go more than a few hours without eating. If the vet calls back, I would want to ask about starting syringe feeding. Before starting the syringe feed, it's always good to verify there isn't a bloated stomach. I very gently palpate the belly just under the rib cage. If it's bloated it will feel like there is an inflated balloon just below the rib cage. If it is bloated, syringe feeding is bad as it adds pressure to the stomach, which pressure can result in rupture or pressure on the heart and lungs. If you do find a bloated stomach, I would want to inform the vet of this immediately. If it's not bloated, I would be inclined to start syringe feeds.

This link has info on gi stasis and the dosing info for simethicone. Don't use gas drops that have xylitol in them.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

 

[BugsLola1411]

My baby had stopped eating as well.......the vet initially said that she had a small ulcer in the mouth. After a few tests (xrays and ultrasounds and blood tests) she was diagnosed with a liver issue.
She is yet on critical care. We need to force feed her using a syringe. We also feed her the meds using a syringe. It has been over a week. But she has started pooping a little now.
She also got a bad abscess or cyst (I'm not sure) near the rectum.
The vet said this could be because of bacterial infection because of peeing and sitting in that.
Make sure your bunny does not do that.

 

[BugsLola1411]

Ask your vet to check the insides via an ultrasound to make sure all is ok. Do not delay it

 

[Aki]

A lot of things can explain a rabbit not eating, from severe issues to a small bruise on his gum after bumping his tooth. But I agree with JBun that a rabbit that is not eating (once you've ruled out blockage, which has been done from what you said) has to be force fed with critical care until he's able to eat on his own. Have you given him metacam? A lot of times when a rabbit is not eating, it's that something is painful and sometimes just giving metacam can make the rabbit eat again. It will at least give you an indication about the intensity of the pain. But anyway, it can be something minor, but a rabbit never stops eating for no reason - and a rabbit with a bruise can kill himself by stopping to eat because it hurts a bit. Have the teeth been examined correctly? There are some issues that can only been seen with an exam under anesthesia (if it's on the back of the mouth). I say for now, metacam and critical care (and water from a small 1ml syringe to avoid drowning him) but you need more exams if the problem isn't resolved in a few days. Giving critical care is never very pleasant (but it gets easier and quicker with a bit of practice, don't forget to do this while sitting on the floor to avoid scaring your bunny by carrying him around) but a rabbit with an empty stomach is a dead rabbit.

 

[graceofangels]

According to the vet, everything felt and sounded fine when I brought him on Sunday. I noticed he was turning he head at foods he normally loved and immediately brought him in. She took blood, and I heard from her late last night that there was nothing "exciting" with his blood work. She did palpitate his stomach and didn't mention bloat. She sent me home with him with nothing. When I spoke to her last night and mentioned he still wasn't eating, she had me come in and pick up Critical Care and told me if he's still not eating in 24 hours, we'll need to do xrays and ultrasounds to see if there's something not stomach related that is causing him to not eat.

I'll look into getting baby gas drops. What is metcam? The only thing coming up is metcam for dogs and it says it has to be prescribed.

 

[JBun]

Metacam/meloxicam is an anti inflammatory pain reliever commonly used with rabbits for minor to moderate pain control. In cases like this where a rabbit has stopped eating for some unknown problem, it is common for a good rabbit vet to prescribe metacam, as a rabbit in pain won't eat well or at all on it's own. Adequate pain control is essential for a sick rabbit, to help it recover. The fact that this vet hasn't sent you home with metacam/meloxicam or any other of the common meds used in cases like this(gut motility such as metoclopramide, sub q fluids at the vet office) makes me really wonder if your vet is all that rabbit savvy. It's really unheard of for a decent rabbit vet to send home a sick rabbit with no pain relief. I personally would be calling up the vet today and requesting it. You want the 1.5mg/ml concentration, and dosing should be at least 0.3-0.6mg/kg(I prefer at least 0.6mg/kg for a sick rabbit). And for the future at least, I would be looking for a better vet if possible.

Info on meloxicam use in rabbits, dosing references, and importance of adequate pain relief.
http://vgr1.com/metacam/
http://www.floridarabbit.org/Importance_of_Pain_Control.pdf

If this vet didn't check his teeth, I would suggest having that done before xrays or anything else, if he isn't doing better in the next day or two, especially once you get him on pain relief and regular syringe feeds. Aside from digestive upset, dental problems are one of the most common causes of a rabbit that stops eating. Again, the teeth would be one of the first things any good rabbit vet would check, and if this vet didn't it's probably not the best rabbit vet.

 

[graceofangels]

I would assume that the vet is pretty rabbit savvy as they are the vet the HOuse Rabbit Society of NJ has on their page for my county. She did a check of his teeth and said they looked fine.

 

[graceofangels]

Update: I called the vet and they had me see the he hospital director with Thumper. He also sees rabbits. He gave thumper three shots, a motility, a pain reliever and fluids since he hasn’t been drinking. He also sent me home with motility and pain reliever. He did not charge me for the visit as he feels any bunny who isn’t eating should be treated as in stasis. He then said of thumper still isn’t eating by tomorrow afternoon, bring him in for X-rays. His teeth are fine as well as his stomache

 

[JBun]

Update: I called the vet and they had me see the he hospital director with Thumper. He also sees rabbits. He gave thumper three shots, a motility, a pain reliever and fluids since he hasn’t been drinking. He also sent me home with motility and pain reliever. He did not charge me for the visit as he feels any bunny who isn’t eating should be treated as in stasis. He then said of thumper still isn’t eating by tomorrow afternoon, bring him in for X-rays. His teeth are fine as well as his stomache

That's really good to hear that vet did that for your bun, and I totally agree with that statement. Hopefully with the pain meds now on board, you will see some improvement soon. The fluids will help a lot too. If it's not too complex an issue causing the lack of appetite, sometimes fluids and meds are just what they need to give them that boost to start feeling better again.

 

[graceofangels]

It looks like he ate half of a plate of veggies I left out for him overnight. But he does have some serious poopy but. Has this happened to anyone else after the motility drug?

 

[Aki]

It's good he ate. So he was clearly hurting from something - rabbits deal very badly with pain, even when it's a moderate one. Could be from the stasis in itself (I've already had rabbits with whom the vet couldn't 'feel' any build up and told me it wasn't stasis but the rabbit wasn't eating, wasn't pooping and was in pain) but it might be something else so if he isn't totally back to normal after you stop the pain meds, you'll need to find out what the problem is. Very often, the problem is from the teeth or the digestive system in itself.
About the poopy butt, do you mean he has diarrhea? Because after the system 'restart' you can sometimes find mucus in the poop, but mobility drug is not supposed to give real diarrhea. The role of the drug is just to contract the guts' muscles to push the waste toward the exit when you don't have enough undigested long fibers in the guts to do it - to sum it up, rabbits' guts kinda suck and they always need help to work properly, which is why the system can slow down or even stop so easily.
I hope he eats hay again soon, as it is the most effective and best way to get everyting back to normal... as long as there is no other hidden problem.

 

[graceofangels]

Yes, it's brown and liquid so definitely diarrhea. I keep reading that it's lethal so I'm taking him back (again) today at 3.

 

[graceofangels]

I forgot to add...he nibbled on some kale this morning after the motility and pain med last night, but he was spitting out the critical care this morning. He has mushy poops kind of like pudding in his litterbox. I came home for lunch to try again since he to be force fed 3x a day per the vet since he's not really eating. He was FINALLY out of his litter box and drinking water, which I was delighted for. I thought yeah!!! He's finally turning around. I began giving him a tummy massage, wrapped him in a bunny burrito and tried to feed him his 2nd dose of critical care. Once he was done, he spit out as much as he could, ran for the litterbox and brown liquid spilled out of his butt. So now, I'm taking him back to the vet again today. 3rd time since this started.

 

[JBun]

You're right. Profuse watery or pudding like diarrhea(where it's not just mushy cecotropes and the fecal poop is normal) is considered an emergency. This could actually be the original cause of your rabbit not feeling well, even though the diarrhea just showed up today. It's called bacterial enteritis(though coccidiosis is a possibility as well), and can take several days from the initial infection, til the diarrhea occurs.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Protozoal_diseases/Cocc_en.htm (warning: contains medical related photos)

If the diarrhea is brown and not yellowish(e. coli), I would want my rabbit put on metronidazole in case of the clostridium bacteria being the cause of the diarrhea. It's also probably a good idea for the vet to do a fecal test to rule out coccidiosis as the cause.

This would be the most severe case and it's more medical related info, but I'm sharing it in case you have a need to refer to it for the medications used to treat it.
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/Clostridial_enteritis_rabbits.htm

I hope the vet goes well and you are able to get your bun on the road to recovery. It's such a difficult thing having a sick pet and trying to figure out why they are sick so you can get them the correct treatment.

eta: If it's very mild diarrhea, there's a possibility it could have been caused by the veggies.

 

[graceofangels]

So I just got back from our 3rd vet visit. They found a mass in his stomach and a lot of painful gas in his lower intestines. They wnt to hospitalize him for a few days and see if there is an improvement as they don't know if he'll survive surgery. If he does get a bit stronger, tjhere is still the option of him not surviving. I don't know what call to make. Do I want to put him through all that while he's in pain for a maybe?

 

[graceofangels]

Just got a call from the vet, thumper passed away.

 

[BugsLola1411]

Soo sorry to hear that.....

 

[graceofangels]

I'm going to deeply miss this boy. 6+ years was not enough with him. Granted it had 2 homes before me so he could have been close to 10. but....still. Not enough time for me.

 

[graceofangels]

Here's some of my favorite pictures of my boy