Help desperate bunny

[jackbunnie]

Hi, my bunny jack, 3yrs old, boy, neutered, I notice he had a head tilt and that he was looking thin so took him to the vet who found he had a tooth that was too long and had stopped him eating, this wason monday and they knocked him out and filed it down. since then he's been given critical care and metacam and he's been up and down with eating the critical care, but won't ouch anything else.i've given him carrot tops, dandilion leaves, grass, clover apple and he won't eat it. he starts to take it and chews for a bit and then it stays half hanging out of his mouth un eaten un chewed. he's so skinny now andquitelathargic and still has a head tilt when he's tried to eat somethingand has been back the the vet twice since monday, latest this morning, she says to keep trying with the food and that it's something bunnies do is give up. she's looked in his mouth and says it's healing well and it all looks good. Anyway if anyone has any ideas on how to get him eating as it's been almost a week now and i desperately want him to pull through. any helpful suggestions quickly would be appreciated.

 

[naturestee]

The tooth problem was most likely not the cause of the head tilt, which is usually caused by an ear infection or sometimes E. cuniculi, a parasite. Is there a different vet that you could see? Has your vet mentioned any other possible cause for the head tilt?

 

[jackbunnie]

She did mention the parasite but thought that it was almost certainly the tooth that was causing him to tilt his head. Given he's barely eating anything and is very thin not sure i should treat him with panacur the wormer that treats ecunicili.

 

[jackbunnie]

just off the phone with the vet. going to try panacur for ecunicili but by the time it gets to the head tilt stage the parasite has formed grunuloli in the brain which is what causes the head tilt. his ears are good, no sign of infection.

 

[plasticbunny]

Don't give up, most bunnies can live normal lives with permanent tilt after the parasite or infection have cleared. He may be dioriented by his new view of the world and dizzy, and that could be why he's not eating. Keep up with the critical care, switch him to alfalfa, and offer him some steal cut oats. All fattening foods :biggrin2:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Yep, all the fattening foods are good. Try serveral different hays, and keep up the critical care.

 

[jackbunnie]

i'm feeding him with a syringe every couple of hours, he doesn't want it though. he did drink some carrot juice on his own earlier and his guts are rumbling. hopefully he'll get an appetite soon.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[Maureen Las]

Unforunately you will have to keep to a schedule of feeding him if he doesn't eat on his own. You may also want to try mixinga little plain pure ( unseasoned) canned pumpkin) in with the critical care . I have also mixed critical care with pedialyte instead of water.

I usually really dilute the critical care because it is really hard to get it in the rabbit when it is thick... plus if it is not properly diluted it will actually dehydrate the rabbit
Poor bunny

 

[jackbunnie]

Well, he's still with us this morning. he's happy to drink carrot juice on his own but still not eating anything solid. Will water down critical care more thanks for that angieluv.

 

[jackbunnie]

update: visit to vet yesterday he had hydration injection into stomach and two more under skin a strong pain killer and antibiotic. he was getting regular critical care mixed with carrot juice. this morning he's much brighter and eager for his critical care - 10 x 2.5mls!

 

[jackbunnie]

we don't get canned pumpkin in the uk. steel oats are they like porridge oats?

 

[jackbunnie]

After a day of Jack going great on the critical care mixed with carrot juice he started to look swollen around his eye and jaw on the side that had the tooth filed down.A visit to the emergency vet and they said he had developed an absess. The vet said that even in a health rabbit chances of successful surgury was slim. Poor jack had to be put to sleep this afternoon. Poor little streetfighter.