Not eating very much

[Spring]

Well, Pepsi has had her first phantom pregnancy on Saturday. She built a little nest in her cardboard "hide away" when I came down there at about 9:00am. I gave her pellets when I went to go see her and she was acting normal, she had eaten her vegetables from last night and her pellets from last night (not sure about the hay because it was stuffed in a pile in the box).

On Sunday morning, she was acting normal, ate a tiny pit of pellets(maybe a teaspoon or so) and her normal amount of vegetables and hay.During the day she was her normal self too. On Sunday night, no more pellets had been eaten and she ate her bowl full of hay and vegetables like normal.

On Monday morning, still no pellets had been eaten still the hay and vegetables were demolished. On Monday night though, I found her stretched out in her cardboard box and wouldn't come out (She usually comes running to the door to sniff all over me). I looked in her box and she was all layed out and would get up and change position.She wouldn't come out when I shook her treat bottle. I saw her grinding her teeth a bit. I'm not sure if it's gas, but I'm keeping that possibility open.

This morning, she flattened her hay (not sure if she ate any, but if she did it would have been a small amount) and has not touched her vegetables. I went out at 7:00am when I woke up and picked her some dandelion leaves. She ate about half of each so maybe 1 medium sized one, but that's all she's eaten and it's 5:13PM now.

When I came home at 3:00 she was in her box and is still in there. She has put her shredded paper in front of her little door though, which is kind of scaring me a bit because I think she's trying to hide or something.

I've read not eating can be tied into phantom pregnancies but I just want some other opinions. Very sorry this is so long. Just don't want to miss something that might be important

Many thanks!

 

[naturestee]

Stasis can be brought on by stress, and phantom pregnancies are stressful. You'll need to treat her for stasis, though. Can you give her some gas meds?That would probably help some. So would keeping her warm-I've found that extra warmth often helps a rabbit (or me) feel better). Try to get her to eat and drink some. If she won't, you might want to start syringing fluids and a little food into her. You probably don't need to start that right away-you can see if gas meds and warmth get her eating again.

Oh, and is she pooping?

 

[Spring]

She seems pretty warm in her box (it's warm in there even when I put my hand in there because it has all the paper and everything plus is was a fairly warm day). Should I still but a warm towel in there? She's been in her box, should I get the box out? She can get away from me when I try to bother her with feed hoping she'll take a nip at it. She drank last night, because I saw little strands of hair in her water (a good indication that she's been drinking). There were about 1/3 her normal poop this morning and she's added probably 10more poops in the day. They are very dark and only a bit smaller then normal. I don't want to stress her out because if I were to give her gas medication, I would have to get her out or can I do it from her cage? She hates being out of her cage :S.

She's been hiding in her box and I really want to get her out because I can always get her eating something in the past if I bug her enough with vegetables waving in her face, but when she's in her box she can dig in her paper and I can't get to her. Should I take her box away?I'd feel a bit better if she took some more foods. I went out when my mom went to go grocery shopping and bought some celery leaves (the vegetable I've had most success with her eating in the past).

Her stomach feels a bit doughy feeling, but she's very feisty. She's never usually feisty but when I went to pet her when she was near the door of her box she boxed me with her paws and took a nip at my hand so I don't want to invade her "personal space". I'm also wondering if removing her box will get her more aggravated if she's being hormonal with this phantom pregnancy?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Spring]

I'm crying right now. I went down there and I swear she looked like she was dead. She was on her side, almost on her back withher paws on her tummy and her head on the floor and her eyes half closed. I'm scared to death right now. She got up when I came in the room and sat up. What's wrong with her? Out of all her other cases of stasis like behavior this ones scaring me the most.

 

[Pipp]

I'd definitely give her the gas medication,asap. If she is being bothered by gas, it will work wonders. Have you got a bunny-savvy vet close by? She needs to be seen by one.

Is it possible their may be a problem with the pellets? She may have stoppedeating them for a reason.

I'd give her canned pumpkin and fresh pineapple juice if she likes those things. For one thing, if she has a tooth problem, it's something she doesn't have to chew. If she hasn't been drinking much, Pedialyte can be a lifesaver. It's sweet, shemay like it without having to force her.

If it is gas or stasis, getting her running around would be good, as would a tummy massage.

And when she is lying down in her cage, Naturestee's idea of a sock filled with with rice and microwaved would be good.

Let us know how she is, I'll keep watching this thread. (Sorry I didn't see it earlier).

sas

 

[naturestee]

How's she doing?

 

[pamnock]

She really should be taken to the vet's for blood work. Although phantom pregnancies are not unusual in healthy does, they can also be brought on by cancer of the reproductive organs or glandular tumors.



Please let us know how she's doing . . .

Pam

 

[Spring]

Last night, I tried teasing her with celery and I thought she'd started eating it but she was just biting chunks off and spitting them out (her teeth are fine the last time I went to the vet the vet said her teeth were perfect, so I think she just didn'twant to eat it and wanted it out of her face). I gave her some lukewarm water and she drank it. I sang to her and she was closing her eyes on my shirt so I just gave her a pat. I woke up this morning and she was still in her box lying down. I spent about an hour trying things to see if she would take anything. Not her favorite treat, not celery leaves, not dandelion, not apple. I gave her a warm towel last night but she just put her paws on it. I also gave her one of my shirts last night that I'd worn that day so she could smell me (don't know why I did it).

She hasn't eaten anything, she's pooped a bit but not only maybe three or four little droppings. I think she as gas because this morning she was lying flat out and her tummy was flinching a bit and she was grinding her teeth. She also had a gurgle sound when I put my head near the opening of her box.

My mom went out to watch my brothers rugby game and she said she would pick up simthecone on her way home (I wanted her to get it so I'd have it sooner but she said Pepsi can wait a bit because she didn't want to waste gas going to the store and getting it then coming home then going back again :X).

How much should I give a 2.5 pound rabbits? 2 cc? If she doesn't take it, should I try adding a bit of metacam to it? She loved metacam and went crazy trying to get it. If so, how much should I give her. I was thinking about giving her it to help with her gas pain but I wanted to make sure it'd be alright. Is it just a myth metacam decreases there appetite?

Thanks!

Also, just a note about the cancer, she's only a bit over a year and a half old. I thought it was extremely rare for rabbits that young to get it? Or am I wrong? :S

 

[Pipp]

Spring, that bunny really has to go to a vet NOW.

She sounds really sick. Give her the Simethecone asap, I think it's about .5 cc's (half a dropperful), and you can do that every hour for three hours I think.

But call a vet now, hopefully you can still get her intoday.

sas


PS: You can't give her any Medicam without food. It has to be taken with food.

 

[naturestee]

Agreed. Give her the gas meds(directly in the mouth, don't bother with trying to convince her to take it) and get her to a vet.

Metacam decreases appetite in some rabbits. Most are fine with it AS LONG as they get it with or just after food. I used to mix it with pumpkin. Or you can force feed a little pumpkin or pellet slurry and then give the Metacam.

 

[Pipp]

Can your mom pick up some Pedialyte when she gets the Simethicone? It's sweet, she might like it as much as the Medicam, and she really needs the hydration.

sas

 

[Spring]

I do want to get her to a vet, ifit was up to me she would have been to the vets as soon as Inoticedher not eating,but my mom is kind of stubborn and thinks she can just get better and some gas isn't an emergency, even after I show her all the sites about the dangers of GI stasis. Being only 13, this is hard for me because I want to get her some help but my mom doesn't want to spend another $200 for a vet bill, even after I insisted I would pay for it.

I'm going to see if the simthecone helps, keep my fingers crossed. I just reheated her blanket and she just went downstairs (at least she's moving more). If the simthecone doesn't work, I'm going to demand that she HAS to get some help from a vet.

So frustrating even after showing her about how gas can lead to stasis that can lead to death very quickly she still doesn't understand how bad Pepsi needs treatment. This is killing me.

 

[Spring]

She's still drinking warm water and I cleaned out some pee in her box. I just went down there to check on her and did the skin grab thing the vet did to see if she was hydrated and it bounced right back. She's also drank water on her own, because I refilled it after she drank a bit of the warm water and there's bits of hairs in it now.

 

[naturestee]

Do you have feeding syringes? You can get them for babies from the pharmacy. You'll need to get her to drink something (like Pipp said, flavored Pedialyte works well) and if she won't drink you'll have to syringe some into her mouth. Hydration is very important. She also needs food. She doesn't need much, but she does need something. Mash up her pellets with water, pumpkin, Pedialyte, whatever she likes, and feed a little through the syringe.

You can try massaging her belly, too.

That's really rotten that your mom won't help you with this.

 

[Spring]

Yes I have a small syringe that came with themetacam and a large syringe. I'll try again with the vegetables and I'll try that pellet mash. She's never had pumpkin before. Should I try with some oats? I stopped giving her it because I think she had a reaction to it (her private area went all red). I'll try syringing her some water and the pellet mash and vegetables until my mom comes home. If she'll let me I'll try rubbing her belly.

I'll try adding some tiny sliced apple to the pellet mash. I'll try a few things then get back to you.

I hope she get's better. If I loose her half my heart will be taken away as well . She's my whole world.

 

[Pipp]

Well,one of thereasons for rushing her to the vet's (aside from trying to find out what's causing the problem) would be to get her fluids, so if she's drinking on her own, that's really good. (I'd still recommend the Pedialyte).

Another reason was that if she's not easy for you to handle, you'll need their help. But it sounds like you're doing everything right!

I've had Simethicone work miracles on bunnies I thought were goners, it's really made a difference, so here's hoping it will pop her right out of it!

It would be good to get her moving, as well, especially if she won't let you do the tummy massage. Do you have an area you can block off?

sas

 

[Spring]

I got her running up and down her ramp with bugging her trying to get her to eat with some celery leaves then she got annoyed and went into her box. She seems to have perked up a bit because when she was me coming with the bowl of vegetables she sort of sat up a bit strater and turned her head to look at me instead of being in her book and looking like she's in her own world.

I'll see if I can get her out. It's really hard for me to pick her up and handle her because she hates it. If she wanted to, she could use her ramp to come out but she hasn't gone down. I'm happy about her getting out of her box and moving a bit around the cage.

I'm hoping some simethecone will work with her. If it doesn't I don't know where to turn :S. I'll try syringing it when she's still in the cage, but I'll have to toughen up and get her out if she doesn't take it (I hate getting her out when she doesn't want to because she struggles and gets all stressed out then I feel horrible but it's for her own good).

If the simthecone doesn't work I'll try the pedialyte.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Spring]

Amazing news! I tried to give her a dandelion leaf and she took a small bite, then I think she decided she liked it and took another bite then just started ripping it apart and then dropping it. (her teeth are fine I'm certain... just to say again). I'm so happy this is the most interest she'd had in eaten for the last day.I'll go down there in about 10 minutes to try again. At least she's improving, even if her progress is tiny.

When I saw her take the first nibble I was so close to tears!

 

[Pipp]

Did she actually eat the dandelion?And if she's showing interest but not actually chewing it, that still very well could be a sign of a molar problem. Maybe try her on soft foods like banana and grated carrot just to see.And maybe make up a pellet slurry.She really has to eat and drink, time-wise, it's getting critical.

Great that she's perked up, hopefully the munchies willfollow! (If not, I'm afraid you're going to have to insist).

Did you give her the Simethicone?

sas

 

[Spring]

Hi! Sorry, just a note on how Pepsi is doing!

Ok, well last night I was crying trying to get her to eat something,feeling worthless as a bunny parent. My mom couldn't find the simthecone "oval" stuff soshegot some gripe water.I gave her that, but it did diddly squat.This morning still nothing and I was so worried I threw upand haven't eaten untill an half hour ago. (I don't take stress very well..). My mom was getting worried about me and started to take the rabbit thing seriously at that point.

Well, I asked my mom if we could look around for simthecone and see if we could find it and we did. I got the oval kind. I gave her about 2cc of it, because I didn't know if she had gotten the 1cc in her. I held her in the towel singing to her and massaging her belly for half an hour. I could be just imagining it, but it felt like the kind of bloating her tummy was going away. I also felt this weird almost vibrating feeling when I was massaging and then it went away then I moved lower then got it back in my stomach where she was gently against. She was very calm in the towel. She wasn't breathing hard or anything. She must of liked the taste of the simthecone, because she took it almost willingly.. note the almost .

Well, I put her back and offered her some celery about half an hour later, no luck. Tried to give her some carrot tops and badabing bada boom crazy munching rabbit! She then took a few long gulps of water (I've noticed, my rabbit doesn't lick the water like dogs do, but slurps it!) and went to her bowl and took a few more half carrot top parts.

I'm uncontrollable being happy. I couldn't stop crying every time I thought of loosing her. I'm so overwhelmed with joy!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! Pepsi thanks you also but is a little grumpy aboutme having to not be the nice mommy and make her come out to give her the medicine. I'm going to say this again.. I'm crazy with happiness! Now, I just have to wait for the poops to come!