Barley N. Hopps
Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone. My almost 6 year-old Barley, a regular European black rabbit who was once a feral baby rabbit at the university, has had repeated bouts with ileus and is well on his way of having it again unless something changes. He's been examined carefully every time and had his teeth checked and x-rayed, but nothing can be seen.
About a week ago he started making a lot of noise eating, sometimes pawing at his mouth as though something was caught in his teeth, and drooling excessively. After a few days of this, and seeing that his appetite was waning, I got him in to see our city's leading vet, who is also a bird/exotics expert. Barley has been thoroughly examined with several different sized scopes, x-rayed and has been given antibiotics and pain killers. As well, I've been trying to syringe feed him and, despite the fact that I've had to do this many times with him, this time he's not swallowing most of what I syringe in but either lets it drool out or he works it out.
He's hungry and tries to eat on his own, but seems only able to get a few mouthfuls in and he's suddenly shaking his head and pounding his front feet and salivating. Sometimes he gets very aggressive and races off to attack a cardboard box or something. He's getting about half his daily allotment of greens in, maybe a tsp of pellets, and a few whisps of hay. I'm only about to get about a tbsp. of CC into him at a feeding, three times a day.
The vet said he would email a veterinary dentist on the mainland and send along Barley's x-rays so see if he can see something that we're missing. In the meantime, I'm at my wit's end because we're also dealing with a sick chinchilla and his care is landing mostly on my shoulders because my daughter has to work full-time and is also going to school.
I'm attempting using a 1 ml syringe for Barley. I've cut the end off and smoothed it to make the opening wider, and I'm thinking to try mixing his Critical Care with mild herbal mint tea next feed. Maybe he'll find it more palatable.
Has anyone else ever run into something like this? Any ideas on feeding? He hates pumpkin, and I don't want to add sugar to his gut issues by adding fruit juice, which he's never taken to anyway. I'm doing sub q every day for fluids, and he's still leaving goodies in the litter box - not much and they're small, but he's still "going".
Any help, ideas, advice... would be gratefully accepted!
About a week ago he started making a lot of noise eating, sometimes pawing at his mouth as though something was caught in his teeth, and drooling excessively. After a few days of this, and seeing that his appetite was waning, I got him in to see our city's leading vet, who is also a bird/exotics expert. Barley has been thoroughly examined with several different sized scopes, x-rayed and has been given antibiotics and pain killers. As well, I've been trying to syringe feed him and, despite the fact that I've had to do this many times with him, this time he's not swallowing most of what I syringe in but either lets it drool out or he works it out.
He's hungry and tries to eat on his own, but seems only able to get a few mouthfuls in and he's suddenly shaking his head and pounding his front feet and salivating. Sometimes he gets very aggressive and races off to attack a cardboard box or something. He's getting about half his daily allotment of greens in, maybe a tsp of pellets, and a few whisps of hay. I'm only about to get about a tbsp. of CC into him at a feeding, three times a day.
The vet said he would email a veterinary dentist on the mainland and send along Barley's x-rays so see if he can see something that we're missing. In the meantime, I'm at my wit's end because we're also dealing with a sick chinchilla and his care is landing mostly on my shoulders because my daughter has to work full-time and is also going to school.
I'm attempting using a 1 ml syringe for Barley. I've cut the end off and smoothed it to make the opening wider, and I'm thinking to try mixing his Critical Care with mild herbal mint tea next feed. Maybe he'll find it more palatable.
Has anyone else ever run into something like this? Any ideas on feeding? He hates pumpkin, and I don't want to add sugar to his gut issues by adding fruit juice, which he's never taken to anyway. I'm doing sub q every day for fluids, and he's still leaving goodies in the litter box - not much and they're small, but he's still "going".
Any help, ideas, advice... would be gratefully accepted!
