HELP!

[chaoticfun]

I have a unneutered male Holland Lop around 10 months old. I don't know of a rabbit vet in my area. I know this should go in the infirmary, but I am hoping for a quicker response here.

I fed him two baby carrotslast nightafter I got home from the store. He hadn't had carrots in a while. We didn't have play time, as I got home pretty late. This morning, he wasn't his usual chipper self. He just wanted to sit in a corner of his cage and not move around. He refused his very favorite treat (which he has never done before). In fact, normally he is all over his cage and pushing his treat bowl to let me know he will take a treat if I want to give him one. I came home this afternoon to find him still sitting in the corner of his cage and he hasn't touched his food or the treat I left him (very not normal!). He has some mushy poop stuck to the floor of his cage and had a huge mushy lump of poop caked to his genital/rear end area--not to be gross, but its the kind that is a little sticky and mushy, and there was no round to it, although there were some normal round poops stuck to the outer edges of it. He has the kind of cage that allows his pee/poop to fall down into a bin, so I know that everything attached to him was fresh and not from him getting into a litter box or anything.

What could be wrong with him? Is it from the carrots? What can I do to help him? As of right now, he just wants to sit in one place and not move around much. HELP!!!

 

[Spring]

Ok, just calm down.

Do you have a pharmacy around you or anything? You could pick up some baby gas medicine (anything with Simethecone for babies, I use Oval). The carrots may have given him gas. Do you have a syringe without a needle at home? You might want to try mushing up his pellets with some warm water and seeing if he'll take them.

Try to see if he'll take some water, then try warming it up. Get him moving a bit, activity will help get his gut moving.

Where are you located? I might see if I can find a vet around your area.

 

[chaoticfun]

I am in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Yes, I can go to the pharmacy, do I give him the gas medicine through a syringe?

What do I do if he won't take the mushy pellets/water or the medicine?

 

[Spring]

I wouldn't panic too much, if he's pooping thats good. You just need to keep him hydrated if he's having mushy poo thecarrots probably upset his tummy, that's why he's having mushy poo. It's been less then 24 hours since he's eaten so it's not critical you just need to get him drinking a bit.

 

[Spring]

I looked quickly, couldn't find any rabbit savvy vets in Arkansas, but I'll keep looking.

The simethecone comes in an eyedropper, and it's usually helped in the cases that I've had. Even if your bun doesn't have gas, it won't hurt him. I'd just try seeing if you can get some into him. Any constantchange in position? Tooth grinding? Pressing belly to the ground? Laying flat out with tummy in odd position? Any loud stomach noises?

You'l probably be able to get the medicine in him. If he doesn't take the pellet mix, try picking up a can of plain, unseasoned pumpkin or maybe some baby food to try. Do you feed him veggetables? try bugging him by waving his favourite veggies in his face or even putting it in the side of his mouth.

If he doesn't take the pellet mix, keep trying but don't force him to eat it.

 

[Elizabeth]

chaoticfun wrote:

I am in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Yes, I can go to the pharmacy, do I give him the gas medicine through a syringe?

What do I do if he won't take the mushy pellets/water or the medicine?

Yup, you can give him the gas medicine through a needle-less syringe. Most bunnies can be force fed medicine if needed. Sit the bunny on a towel on your counter, if you're right handed use your left arm to tuck the bunny up against your side. Hold his head steady with your left hand, gently force the syringe in behind his front teeth, aim the syringe so that it's pointing towards his cheek and very, very slowly syringe the medicine in. You want to do it slowly and point it towards his cheek because you don't want him inhaling the medicine into his lungs. You would feed him the mushed up watery pellets and water the same way.

Instead of plain water, I would syringe him Pedialyte. If he is dehydrated that will help him perk up faster than plain water.

Either your bunny has an upset stomach because of the carrots or he's going into stasis because of a hairball in his tummy. The pooping is a very good sign, we like to see pooping!!

Keep an eye on him, you can massage his tummy a bit, put him on your lap with a nice warm pack against his tummy for a while and give him lots of love. Watch him closely over the nextfew hours or so, if he doesn't start eating againyou need to start syringe feeding him the mushed up pellets and get him to a vet for medical treatment. They'll give him medicine to get his gut moving again and some antibiotics as well.

Good luck with your little bunny, keep us updated on how he's doing.

 

[Pipp]

Is he grinding his teeth? That would be a concern, a sign that he's in pain.

Good advice from Spring.

The gas medicine should come with its own eye dropper. And be forewarned that the dose for a bunny is quite a bit higher than a dose for a baby. I use Ovol (which you may not have there), and my little guys get a leastthree quarters of a dropperful once an hour for up to three hours. (It won't hurt him, he can't overdose on it, and I've never heard of anyside effects).

It should make him start feeling better within the hour, though, but if it doesn't, you're really going to have to watch him and make sure his temperature doesn't drop (even though it's tough to tell without a thermometer). If that happens, it's emergency vet time.

Also you may want to stick a sock full of rice or beans in the microwave and let him cuddle up to that.

And here's a link to a 'butt bath' description:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

Let us know how he's doing!

sas

 

[chaoticfun]

So far, I haven't heard any rumblings in his tummy or him grinding his teeth. I have given him two syringes full of water (which he thankfully accepted and was curious about). I gavehim a .2 dose of the gas medicine because he only weighs 3 lbs. Should I give him more? My thought was that he is half the size of most newborns, so I shouldn't give him too much. I haven't added the pellets yet, but will soon...just trying to give him a little time to himself as he has been under my constant stare for the past hour. He is hanging out under in a place where he thinks he is hidden (but he isn't) at the moment.

Thanks for all the help and insight. Like I said earlier...I don't know of any vets and now its "after hours" so that doens't help!

I will keep ya'll updated and would appreciate if someone could let me know what size of dose I should aim for when giving him the gas medicine.

 

[Pipp]

I think it should be closer to a full 1 CC, actually. At least point .5, but probably more. I'll have to look it up, but again, no overdose worries.Its quite abit more for bunnies than infants. (Go figure!).

Great that he's taking the water.

sas

 

[aurora369]

Pipp mentioned that she uses a much higher dose than for babies, about 3/4 of the dropper that comes with it (assuming a 1mL dropper, thats .75mL), once every hour for up to three hours.

Simethecone is non-toxic, and you can't over dose them on it. It just helps push the gas bubbles together to make it easier to pass.

The higher dosage is probably related to the length of their intestines. They have a very long, and effiencent intestine to break down as much nutrients from the grass and other forage they get in the wild.

Most important, like everyone else has mentioned, is to keep him hydrated (pedialyte is good for that), and try to keep him pain free (hot compress, belly rubs, and Simethecone).

And if he's not eating on his own in a couple hours, mix up some pellets and water (or pedialyte), so it's runny enough to get in a syringe, and force feed him at least 3-4 cc's of the mush (more if he'll take it) every hour or so, untill you can get him to a rabbit savvey vet.

--Dawn

 

[Pipp]

Yup, looked it up, and 1/2 to 1 cc by mouth 2 times daily (although the two times can be an hour apart) with a third dose if neccessary.

Ditto re: thePedialyte, it worked wonders for Pipp when she was dehydrated. Good call Elizabeth, Dawn. (And Dawn, neverknew why the dose was so high, thanks for that bit of info!)

(Funny that all of us posting in this thread are from BC! All we need now is JordiWes!).

sas

 

[Pipp]

PS: Moving this to the Infirmary, just realized it's in the wrong spot. (Duh)

 

[Elizabeth]

aurora369 wrote:

The higher dosage is probably related to the length of their intestines. They have a very long, and effiencent intestine to break down as much nutrients from the grass and other forage they get in the wild.

--Dawn

Now that's good to know! I knew they had to have a higher dose based on converstions with sas in the past, but never actually knew the reasoning. Thanks Dawn!

Glad to hear your little guy took water easily from the syringe. Sometimes that's half the battle - just getting them to use the syringe! There's someone I know on another forum that if she even shows her bunny the syringe, the bunny gets really upset and grunts and thumps around in a very disgruntled way. It's almost impossible to syringe feed her.

 

[aurora369]

That's not a scientific fact, just my own guessing about the higher dosage... So I may be wrong.

But I do know they do have very long intestines in order to process the low nutrient food the live off of in the wild. So know that, I made an educated guess...

--Dawn

 

[chaoticfun]

Ok, here is an update!

He is hopefully on the way to a recovery. He has ate a craisin and a few pellets that were in my hand with the craisin. I just put him in his cage, where he checked out his treat bowl and briefly munched on a grainy type treat and has since been drinking out of his water bottle for about the last 3 minutes with a few breaks between drinks every now and then. As of this moment, he has just decided to hop all around his cage and is now enjoying a full bunny flop.

So, he is a VERY different (and more like normal) bunny than I came home to find a few hours ago. Thank you all so incredibly much!!!! I think the water and gas med was the ticket! :bunnydance:

 

[Spring]

I usually gave Pepsi 1 dropper- 1 and a half droppers full with the baby gas medicine, because sometimes she'd be a little rascal and open her mouth so it all ran out when she was being very defiant. I usually gave more, just so I knew she had enough to help in her.

I'm so glad he's looking better! Eating and being active are very good signs. Probably just a bit of an upset from the new carrots, nothing major. A cooperative bun is very good when it comes to syringe feeding!

Just keep monitering him till he comes back to his normal appetite and activity level.

 

[Pipp]

chaoticfun wrote:

Ok, here is an update!

He is hopefully on the way to a recovery. He has ate a craisin and a few pellets that were in my hand with the craisin. ... I think the water and gas med was the ticket! :bunnydance:

:happydance

I think Spring deserves a special thanks for being so quick, cool, calm, collected and correct!

Isn't she awesome? :hug1(You'd think she was ateacher, not a student!)

Itmust bea BC thing,we grow good ones! Thanks toDawn and Elizabeth as well!

Meanwhile, easy on the treats! Hopefully he'll stick withhay and water for awhile, that's the best thing for him-- although eating is important, soif you must resort to bribes, so be it.

sas

 

[Spring]

Thanks! Just passing on info and things that have worked from my experiences with Pepsi.

How many treats do you give him usually? Sometimes too much of a good thing isn't a good thing!

 

[chaoticfun]

I am VERY THANKFUL to everyone who offered kind words and help today. I appreciate it more than I could ever really communicate. I was worried all day about him and even more worried when I got home this afternoon.

So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU...all the way from Arkansas (where we obviously need a rabbit savvy vet!)!!!!!:colors::bunnydance::elephant:

 

[Maureen Las]

Glad everyone is OK and I think that Spring did a great job too.