HELP ASAP! Household Cleaner???

[ams1786]

Help ASAP please! I have a mostly free-rein house rabbit. I walked away for two seconds and found her sitting in front of a sponge with a few bites out of it. I have NO idea where she got it. She was sitting in the middle of a room without any cabinets or hidden corners and it doesn't even look like the sponges we buy. I'm at a loss. Anyway, it was really old and gross and used looking so I tasted it to be sure and there was definitely something DISGUSTING on that sponge. I don't know why she was interested in it because it was repulsive and I'm fairly certain she was responsible for the bites because I put it in front of her and she tried to grab it again. I don't know what to do and I'm freaking out. It must have been some serious cleaner or chemical and she got a few bites. I have no idea if there are any precautions I should take (is there anything I could feed her) or what I should be on the lookout for or generally what to do! I don't even know if it's safe to leave her alone and go to bed, and the vet's clearly not available this time of night. Please help!!! She's a rex, 6+ pounds, around 10 months old. She's fairly big and didn't eat a ton of it but I don't know how toxic these things are or what they can do.

 

[Watermelons]

How is she this morning?
At this point best thing to do would be push hay and water to keep her system moving and help flush out and badness that did get in there.
Sometimes some items may retain a smell or taste of something past, but may not have anything other then that really left in it.

 

[LakeCondo]

Let's hope that was the only mystery object in your house.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Rabbits are very good at finding things.

 

[missyscove]

Yes, how's she doing today?
In the future, you can try either the Pet Poison Helpline http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/ at 800-213-6680 or the ASPCA Poison Control Center http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/ at 888-426-4435 Both have fees associated with using their services, but can be invaluable if your pet has ingested a toxin.

Without knowing what she ingested though, it's hard to recommend treatment.

 

[tonyshuman]

Make sure she is behaving normally. Look for listlessness, lethargy, or hyperactivity. Food and water intake also important. If anything looks abnormal, get her to an emergency vet and/or call ASPCA poison line.

 

[ams1786]

Thanks for the replies. So I think I sourced the sponge and apparently it had only been used with water. Is it possible that sponges just taste disgusting? Or are treated with anything bad? I can't believe I'm asking that...

Anyway, better safe than sorry. I haven't noticed anything odd yet and it's been over 12 hours. Do any of you know what the timeframe would be for something like this? Like knock on wood if there were anything gross on it how long it would take to have an effect and when would it be over? Also, I'm assuming a rabbit can pass little rabbit sized bites of sponge but is that a worry?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[missyscove]

Definitely keep an eye on her for any signs of GI slowdown. Encourage her to drink plenty of water to help her kidneys filter, maybe offer her a second dish spiked with just a tiny bit of fruit juice, or even just offering a dish if she's used to a bottle can increase water intake.
Sponges can be great places for all sorts of bacteria to grow (putting a fully wet sponge in the microwave for 2 minutes on full power has been shown to kill 99% of bacteria, and 4 minutes leaves no bacteria surviving). Sometimes that can make them stinky.