My Rabbit has Stopped Eating

[Jaiyla]

Also, thank you so much Boz for the welcome! I am very glad that I came here for such great help.

 

[JimD]

Go with plain water if you prefer....bottled is best.

I've never heard of Pedialyte causing problems, unless it got aspirated into the lungs. Forcing any liquid must be done gently and slow enough that the bun doesn't breath it in.

He'll be getting liquids from eating the veggies, too!

It sounds like he's doing better. Eating and drinking on his own is a very good sign.

Now we wait for the poops.

 

[Jaiyla]

His stools have been small and black - but he's been producing some. I gave him a half a leaf of lettuce, a bit of parsley, and one baby carrot this morning. I don't know how much of the veggies I should be feeding him? He's eating it with the critical care food on his own. Any suggestions?

 

[Maureen Las]

it sounds like you haven't fed veggies to him before so you can't give him large amounts at once but I would still give him some .. if you have fed veggies you can give him a larger amount
give him a little every now and then throughout the day

plain water is not as good as pedialyte but flavor it with pineapple juice and he may like it better.


keep up what you're doing ; you're doing a good job with him

keep it going as he's not out of the woods yet

can you give some info re. the pedialyte as I never heard of any problems with it at all..I am using a generic brand right now with one of my own.

 

[JimD]

How are things going?

 

[Jaiyla]

A lot more stringy-like droppings. That's good, right?

 

[JimD]

It means the hair and stuff is passing....yeah that's a good sign!!!

Is he drinking on his own?
Is he eating any hay or pellets yet?

 

[Jaiyla]

So now he's just being a fussy eater. He's drinking on his own very well. He will not touch his pellets nor hay - I got nervous when he didn't really make a mark in his food overnight and gave him romaine in the morning. He chomped it down like there was no tomorrow. Later on at night I had noticed he still didn't eat much and he was nibbling on his bedding. I mixed up a little bit of critical care and put it in his dish - he came running and munched it all up within seconds.

Why won't he eat his regular food? Should I keep feeding him the critical care or let him eat his regular food on his own? I'm not sure if he's just being fussy or ??

Thanks in advance.


Edit: He is far beyond being forcefed, I have not been doing that for days. Whenever I put the critical care food in there, he eats it willingly(and happily!)on his own. Just didn't want you guys to think when i said "i keep feeding him" thinking i was forcefeeding.
Also, I have tried soaking his regular pellets and mashing those up as well. He sniffed it and hopped away. Then he kept standing up on his two feet smelling the air, probably waiting for more critical care!

 

[Maureen Las]

Geez that's hard one!
He is pooping and drinking and normal except that he wants critical care instead of pellets and hay
I would mix some of his dry pellets in with the CC but....

I think that he needs to get full dental exam as it's possible that it is easier for him to eat softer food

 

[dquesnel]

:yeahthat: dental can be a possibility here for sure. If it hasn't absolutely been ruled out, I would bring it up to his vet again.

HOWEVER- some rabbits after a bout of GI stasis are picky for a little while over food. One of my guys had constant GI slowdown all summer, and he would only eat a couple of his favorite foods and leave the rest. Their gut takes a little while to recover. If he has/had hair in his tummy he could still be feeling full from that, and only selecting the food he likes best. Your rabbit is trying to eat his bedding because he is craving fiber.

What you want to do is get as much of that hair out as possible and hydrating him will do that. I would keep giving him all the critical care he wants to eat for now (really wet it down), and all the romaine he can eat (if he has had large amounts of it before). It is likely that as he passes more hair in his poops, he will begin to feel better and eat more of his normal diet. Adding the fresh pineapple juice (just a wee bit) to syringe feed to him may help break up the mucous holding together that hair.

Sometimes it takes a while for them to recover from a GI episode, believe me on that one lol. My guy took months to recover
:time: and he still has acute 'episodes' no one can explain still, but is otherwise very healthy. Keep doing what you are doing because I think as long as he is hydrated he will continue to improve.

 

[Jaiyla]

Good news: I had spoken too soon.



He's back to drinking normally on his own and had eaten up his timothy hay and pellets! The little guy is finally back to normal. Thank you to everyone for your help and support, Spitfire appreciates it as so do I!

 

[Maureen Las]

Glad to hear that spitfire is better....