Is my Bun sick? Or just stressed from adjusting to a new home?

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Is he sick or stressed

  • Sick

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Stressed

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

LuciferTheBun

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I just recently got a rabbit, he is a six month old Netherland dwarf named Lucifer.
I got him four days ago, and for the first two days, he was eating and pooping normally.
Suddenly yesterday, his poop was more liquidy but other then that normal.

Today, I haven’t seen him touch his hay and water at all. And he hasn’t pooped at all.

I’m scared becase, my guardians wont let me take him to the vet because they think I’m over reacting.

Is he sick? Or is he just stressed?
 
He sounds sick. A rabbit that was eating and pooping normally, that suddenly has wet poop, then stops eating and pooping, is a sign of a rabbit being unwell. I would get your bun to a rabbit vet right away. A rabbit not eating or pooping for more than 12 hours is considered an emergency. If your rabbit has watery or pudding like diarrhea(no normal round fecal balls), this is also an emergency and a very serious one that requires immediate treatment by a vet.
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Generalities/Enteritis_en.htm
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

You also need to look at what caused this. A rabbit needs a very specific diet and any changes or wrong foods can cause these kinds of digestive problems. You will need to list all foods you are feeding, including any treats, for us to give recommendations how to fix his diet.
 
Please tell your guardians that, unlike a cat or dog, a rabbit can NOT go without eating - they have a very different digestive system than other household pets! Just 8-12 hours without eating and/or pooping is a serious medical emergency that can very easily become fatal. If you just got him, the diarrhea can, indeed, be stress-induced (or caused by a shift in diet between the hay/pellets he was eating before and what you're feeding him)... but combined with not eating, it's definitely cause for an immediate vet trip. Unfortunately, being New Years and all, that's gonna mean emergency vet.

While the vet really should be a MUST and is your rabbit's best chance for survival (he may need sub-q fluids due to dehydration and metoclopromide to keep his gut moving, among other things), I realize that as a minor, the vet issue is ultimately out of your hands.

Some at-home remedies you can try:
~ Probiotics, if you can find a place open that sells them (pet stores and/or feed stores sometimes carry a pet probiotic... Bene-bac is the most common brand)
~ Syringe feeding (not recommended if you suspect a blockage, but in your case I'd try it since the lack of poop is probably due to the lack of eating). The best syringe-feeding option is Critical Care for herbivores (sold by some vets, pet stores and/or feed stores). The second best option involves running pellets through a coffee grinder to powderize them, then mixing with hot water to get the right consistency. If you don't have a way to grind the pellets, put some in a coffee cup or something with some water and heat in the microwave until they're soft enough to mush up. You can get a syringe at most pharmacies (or the pharmacy dept of a grocery store).
This is a great video on how to safely syringe-feed a rabbit.
~ Make sure you're also syringing extra water (or better yet, flavorless pedialyte - make sure it doesn't have any artificial sweeteners in it) to help hydrate your bunny.

Again, though, your rabbit is exhibiting all the tell-tale signs of GI stasis, which (when untreated) is probably the #1 killer of pet bunnies. It really, truly is cause for an immediate vet visit.
 

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