I don't know what to do???

[jenissi]

I’m truly in a sad state. Six days ago, I was preparing to go out of town, and as I was leaving in the morning, I noticed the most outgoing of my two bunnies was sitting quietly in his cage. There was nothing abnormal about this, except that it was unusual for him since he is normally begging for food at this time. While away, I asked my wife how he was doing, and she said he had been pretty quiet and not eating much. When I returned on the evening of the third day, I looked him over and found that he was barely eating at all, and had a bit of a nasal discharge. Upon seeing this, I separated him and my other bun into their own cages across the room from each other, and began checking on him regularly. I’ve been able to get him to eat a bit of carrot, a bit of celery or a bit of cilantro here and there, but other than that, he’s been fasting.



I’m most concerned that he seems to be drinking little to no water from his bottle, and that’s why I’ve been trying to get some fresh vegetables into him, but I’m sure he needs much more than this. I’ve been reading up on the common rabbit ailments, and snuffles or dental problems seem like the most likely match. The thing is, I don’t hear him sneezing, which seemed to be a major snuffles symptom, I just see some nasal discharge, and he seems in some way congested, no eye discharge. I have never really checked his teeth, but I’m going to try tonight when I get home. I don’t know why this happened to him since they are very well taken care of and live indoors in a very clean environment. They have hay at all times, fresh water, quality pellets, fresh vegetables and plenty of roaming room. One day he was perfectly fine, then the next, he took a 180 degree turn.



The problem is, I don’t have any money for a vet, and I mean none. About a year or two before our poodle died, my wife and I spent over $1300 in meds, an operation, and tests. I know how you can walk into the vet with a question, and walk out with a $300 bill, so I just can’t go down that road, I don’t have it available. I rescued him from an animal shelter about a year ago, and we really love him, but I don’t want him to suffer through hunger and thirst and whatever else he might be feeling right now. However, paying a vet $25 for an office visit, $80 for a test and, and $50 for medicine and $25 for a follow up visit etc etc etc is just beyond my means. Any advice?



…Charles

 

[pla725]

Youmight be able to work out a payment arrangement with a vet. If your rabbit is not eating it is an emergency. I just went through this with my foster bun over the weekend. Turns out it really serious and also too late.

I believe there are resources to help pay for a vet. I've seen them posted on the forum.

http://www.imom.org/

 

[luvthempigs]

I can certainly understand and do feel your pain but you don't want your bun to starve to death do you?

Are you able to get Critical Care? If not, I would try and make up a mash out of his pellets and water and then hand feed him with a large syringe (not easy by any means but you really need to get some food and water into him)

If you have a vet that you are already established with you can call them and explain the situation and most likely they will let you make payments (they don't want to see your bun suffering any more than you do)

Hopefully some of the other memebers who may have more experience with this will be along to offer more advice. Unfortunately in the end though I think you need a vet and fast especailly since this has been going on for several days already.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

 

[TinysMom]

You have a private message - you can find out about it at the top of your screen in the center above the thread. It will say:

Logged in as jenissi - You have 1 unread message.

Peg

EDITED TO ADD SOME OF THE PM in case others are reading this later on and have the same situation:

Can you afford to get some baby food and try to use an eye dropper or a syringe to syringe it into him?

Also - what about flavored pedialyte? That would have needed electrolytes for him too.

Have you tried feeling his tummy to see if he has gas? I know with the nose you'd think "snuffles" right away but it could also be gas problems....with the not wanting to eat. Here is a link to information on that..

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11931&forum_id=10

Here's also GI Stasis:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11918&forum_id=10

and loss of appetite:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11932&forum_id=10

 

[Haley]

Another option to look into is care credit. Their website is www.carecredit.com where you can borrow without interest for medical bills that are paid within 18 months.

For now, you must get him eating and drinking. It could just be that the nasal discharge is unrelated and this isthe beginningsGI stasis. It does sound more like a tooth problem to me though.

Anyway, is he still pooping? You need to get him to eat his pellets. If he wont take them willingly you can try wetting them into a pellet slurry and using a syringe to feed him. Canned pumpkin (100% pure) also works well by itself or in the pellet slurry. You also want to keep him hydrated. You can syringe water, but children's pedialyte will help even more.

Also, is the nasal discharge clear?

I'll say a prayer for your little one.ray:

Haley

 

[m.e.]

ray:

 

[Pipp]

The most important thing is to keep him drinking. He won't eat if he doesnt drink. Try some diluted carrot juice, or well-diluted fruit juice and see if that inspires him.

Canned pumpkin isa good source of wet fiber that can be eaten with dental problems or a generally anorexic bunny. Get some pronto.

Mine will also eat grated carrot, celery, etc. when she has tooth issues. My vet also has a blender veggie mix he sells frozen, try making one of your own. (Hard to syringe, but maybe you can convince him to eat it).

A homemade pellet slurry is also very advisable if you don't have Critical Care. Put the pellets in a small new (or at least extremely clean) coffee bean grinder and lettthe powder soak in water for a good 30 minutes. You can flavor that with Pedialyte, pumpkin or whatever.

You may have to surrender the bunny to a rescue, though. THis isn't an issue that's likely to go away on its own. It's not stasis or gas that causes something like this, those are the results of something else -- dental, nasal, viral, bacterial, or whatever.

You;re going to have to try to keep him going until something can be worked out.

sas

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

I think you have received some excellent advice. Something that concerns me is taking him away from his friends. That by itself is quite stressful and can cause an escalation in his condition. And if he does have something contagious, your other buns have already been exposed so a separation may only lead to more problems.

I rescue very sick rabbits and I think your rabbit needs advanced care immediately. If you don't mind me asking, where are you located? Is there a vet school near you? Sometimes, they will work a deal in exchange for allowing students to treat an animal like a rabbit since they are not generally studied much in schools.

I am concerned about the nasal discharge. There is really no such thing as "snuffles"...that is just an old school term conjured upto cover any infection in a rabbit since the vet community knew virtually nothing about rabbits at that time. Unfortunately that type of misinformation is still widely available (and it irritates me like fingernails on a chalkboard). It is most likely an upper respiratory infection. A dental concern is also a possibility but it is nearly impossible for you to make a useful examination of the teeth...particularly the molars. Wehave also seen nasal discharges from a gum infection caused by a piece of food stuck between the teeth. A nasal discharge can also be a sign of pain or excessive heat.

This is a difficult situation. I can fully understand the financial part....but I do think your bun needs professional help. Make some calls to local vets and ask for help, look for vet schools, or as a last resort, surrender to a rescue that can help. Time is important in rabbits and the quicker the treatment is received, the better chance of success. Best wishes.

Randy

 

[jenissi]

I just want to thank everyone for all of your excellent advice and support thus far. I kept trying to get him to take different vegetables, and he landed on parsley (not cilantro like I thought earlier). That was the one thing he would eat. And boy he ate a lot of it over the last couple of days to my utter joy. Now I'm watching him go at his hay like his old self right now. The big problem at the moment is that he is still off water, so I just gave him some pedialyte mixed with apple/cranberry juice (all I had) and he drank some. ...Understand, I haven't seen him drink in 7 days, so even that little bit was a huge step as far as I'm concerned. I know we're not out of the woods yet, but I'm hoping for the best. Right now, I'm giving him as much as he will eat, and steadily trying to get water into him. Your support has been vital, thank you.

...CC

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Give him wet greens, the wetter the better. You have to keep him hydrated as well.