Odd behavior today.

[whitelop]

Today, Ellie has been really lethargic. Shes been laying on a blanket the whole day pretty much. She hasn't really eaten many pellets today either.
I just went and sat with her, she gets up to see me but then when I walk away she lays back down.
I put a bowl of hay near her to see if she would nibble, she took a strand. I saw her eat a pellet or two and I gave her a bite of apple and she did eat that.

Our kitchen is really cold usually, so she could be cold. Shes laying on a thermal type blanket, so its keeping her warm. Could she just have a chill?
I felt her stomach, it feels normal not tight. I'm not sure how much shes pooped today though, since I didn't clean the litter box today.

Other info, shes a little over a year old, a 4 lb or so Dutch. Free ranges in my kitchen all the time. Eats Manna Pro pellets, about 1/2 a cup a day(I know thats a bit too much), unlimited hay and water. She gets some fruit, but not many veggies or greens.

It just seems out of the ordinary for her to be acting like this. I'm being a bit paranoid now, but I'm worried.

I know its vague! I'm worried about blockages. Thats my worst fear for her, since she has eaten so much crap in her life. But she still poops normally!
I have noticed in the last week or so, that her pee has been REALLY white when it dries; I didn't know if that was normal or not?

Any help? Ugh, this is so vague.

 

[Mariah]

I think the first thing you should do is clean her litter box to see if she's pooing. That would be the first tell tale sign that something is really wrong. If her tummy is upset she could be going into stasis which is a bunny emergency. With my buns, I usually give oval (simethicone) at the first sign of a tummy upset. My little kiwi is very prone to these as she has a very sensitive GI system. You can get that over the counter at a drug store. I have other meds at well, but your bun would need to see a vet for those- cisapride & metacam.

If she's not eating at all, you could try force feeding some critical care to see if that would help.

Overall, first step, see if she's pooping or not, that will tell you a lot with what you need to do.

I'm sure someone here will write very shortly with some other suggestions for you.

Keep us posted please, & good luck

 

[JBun]

Oh no! Not Ellie

Rabbits in colder environments actually eat more food, so it is a bit concerning. Have you tried giving her some simethicone? Also try some leafy greens. Then you want to clean up her area and clean out her litter boxes, so that you will be able to see if she is pooping. Maybe instead of putting her regular litter in there, line it with newspaper, then you can put some hay on top of it. This way when she pees, you can pull up the hay and look at the pee on the newspaper to see if it looks thick at all, or if there is anything odd about it. Some chalkiness is normal calcium secretion.

You may also want to either bring her in a warmer room or warm up a rice pack for her. Usually when these things happen, a rabbits body temp drops, and they won't really eat and shouldn't be fed if their body temp is low. So you want to warm her up or make sure she is warm, and then try and get her to eat some greens or hay. I would avoid sugary foods, and even many pellets, because if it is a GI slowdown, sugars will contribute to it. Hay and leafy greens are best.

I find metacam helpful as well. I know aspirin can sometimes be used too, but I haven't ever used it though.

Tummy massages can help and encouraging her to hop around a bit too. I wouldn't suggest force feeding unless she seems to be pooping ok, as force feeding can cause complications if there is a complete blockage. But do encourage her to eat leafy greens and hay. And try some simethicone.

 

[Imbrium]

Is she still pooping at least some? If so, she doesn't have a total blockage and it's safe to try at-home remedies for stasis/pre-stasis symptoms. The fact that she's at least eating some is a good sign, but if it's not much then you may need to syringe-feed her some Critical Care or pellet slurry to supplement what she's eating on her own... and of course if her appetite isn't back to normal in the morning, definitely get her in to see the vet. Also, have you tried simethicone yet, in case it's gas? (dosing is 1-2 cc every hour for 3h, then 1 cc every 3-8h as needed if it seems to be helping)

It's also a really good idea to give her some pain meds if you can - metacam if you have it/baby ibuprofen, baby aspirin or low dose aspirin if you don't. Dosage info: http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm [oh, and don't forget to tell the vet how much of what you gave her and when if you end up needing to go].

As for the pee, is it only white after it dries? I'm not 100% sure, but I think if that's the case, it's not cause for concern... if it's thicker/fairly white *before* it dries, that can be a sign of bladder sludge (excess calcium).

 

[whitelop]

I just gave her some simethicone. She didn't want to take it from the syringe and tried to box my hand, so I put it on the floor and she licked it up.
When I went into the kitchen to give her the simethicone, she was drinking, then she went and chewed on her box. My DH said she was eating pellets just a minute before I went in there.

I'm going to clean out her box in just a few minutes. Hopefully she'll hop in and poop! Its about her normal time to get in the box and eat a bunch of hay.

I don't have any pain meds suitable for her, unfortunately.

She just went into the litter box and shes eating hay. I put some fresh hay in there for her.

I don't know if this has anything to do with her not feeling well or whatever. But she stretches A LOT. I've seen her stretch like 10 times in the last hour or so. Is that normal? She stretches the front half first, with a yawn and then stretches the back half, with a little back arch in there. Is such frequent stretching normal? Is it because she hasn't really gotten a ton of exercise today?

 

[madisonl702]

My baby had this too. He died today

 

[ladysown]

white pee is a sign of too much calcium in the diet. You're going to have to look at what is causing the calcium build up. What are you feeding that has a lot of calcium in it??

 

[whitelop]

The only things that she eats are Manna Pro pellets, timothy hay and a small piece of apple a day. Like a thumbnail sized piece of apple.

 

[GardenSpots]

The stretching sounds like she has gas. Could also account for the lethargy. Might take a couple of doses of simethicone.

 

[zombiesue]

You could try the HRS recommended diet of mostly vegetables or even a pellet-free diet. Some people who have rabbits with bladder sludge problems have noticed improvement by reducing dietary calcium, and there's certainly a lot of dietary calcium in pellets. The HRS has a list of vegetables by their calcium content: http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-5/calcium.html You should probably consult a vet if you're able to and are worried about her, ideally before making any serious changes for what could be a sick rabbit.

However, I think it could just be HER. I have a rabbit, Tank, who has always had milky white urine. Always, since I got him. It's been about three years. I tried pellet free and kept the dietary calcium as low as I could. It didn't make any difference. It's still milky-white. I suppose it will be for the rest of his life. He's nearly 8 now, maybe it's an age thing? Anyway good luck.

If you're having trouble getting her to take her medicine, one thing that really helped me when Tank had head tilt was to mix it with a spoonfull of sugarless applesauce. Don't know if I'd recommend that for a bun in possible GI stasis though. Maybe someone else can weigh in.

 

[whitelop]

Thanks for link. I know all about the calcium stuff. I had a rabbit on a pellet free diet, she did well until she went to get spayed and she didn't make it out. I think, now after it being over a year, that her being pellet free weakened her. So thats why, my rabbit now eats pellets. I've been slacking with the fresh veggies because, well I don't really know. I guess maybe because I went so overboard with my other rabbit with feed her 6 cups of greens a day and 5 different types of hay. I just didn't have the energy or the will to do that with Ellie. Maybe that has weakened her.

I gave her some more simethicone. She was eating and chewing on her box. Anyone who knows her though, knows that a belly rub probably isn't going to happen. She got grunty with me when I tried a little while ago.
We no longer have a microwave, to warm up a rice pad. Here, I thought I could live my hippy life with no microwave and I find that I DO actually need one sometimes.

I'm going to go sit with her to see how she is.
If she isn't any better by tomorrow, I'll call the vet and make an appointment for her.

 

[zombiesue]

I think you're trying to put too much blame on yourself. You're doing the best that you can. I think that lots of different diets can work, sometimes a rabbit might need a certain diet but most of them are hearty animals. Spaying and neutering is so routine now, my personal belief is that the rare rabbits that do die on the table often have some other hidden problem. I really doubt it was you or anything you could have done differently.

But anyway, it sounds like Ellie's doing better to me =) I hope it continues.

 

[whitelop]

Ellie seems to be back to normal this morning. When I came down, she was sitting in the middle of the kitchen, she gave me a head flick and scampered off. She knocked her hay box over, and was eating hay. I gave her fresh water, but I'm going to hold off on the pellets. I also just gave her another cc of simethicone, just in case.

I didn't clean her litter boxes out last night, because it was so late. But I'll clean them today. It looks like shes peed more and pooped more throughout the night.

As of right now, she's laying in her box rather than on the blanket. Box is normal! She's also been out and about this morning. Waiting for her apple slice, but I didn't give her any! Hopefully she's okay and was just having an off day.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[JBun]

Yay!!! I'm sooo glad she's feeling better this morning They're such a worry to us sometimes. But no apple OR pellets... you might have a bunny rebellion on your hands

 

[Chrisdoc]

Not little miss Ellie. Sound a bit like Bandy when he wasn't feeling too good. Simethicone and lots of hay nd leafy greens. She may not feel ike eating fora few hours so I gave some critical care. Just keep your eye on her, maybe you should try and get her moving a bit, it can help. I'll be watching here for news.

 

[Chrisdoc]

I can't get used to using the kindle so I missed the last page so glad she's feeling better. Don't we worry about our little fur balls.

 

[Mariah]

I don't know if this has anything to do with her not feeling well or whatever. But she stretches A LOT. I've seen her stretch like 10 times in the last hour or so. Is that normal? She stretches the front half first, with a yawn and then stretches the back half, with a little back arch in there. Is such frequent stretching normal? Is it because she hasn't really gotten a ton of exercise today?

Firstly, Im glad Ellie is feeling a bit better today. I know how stressful it is when you have a sick bun.

Secondly, I was wondering if someone could anwser what I quoted from whitelop. Not to hijack your thread, but Papaya has been doing this his whole life. To me he looks likes he comfortable, but could he have an upset tummy??? I ask now, because Papaya is slighly off.

 

[whitelop]

So shes back to laying on the blanket. I don't know if I'm over attentive right now because I think somethings wrong, but she just seems really off still. I know most of the day she's relaxing until the evening. But she hasn't touched the pellets I gave her this afternoon. I did give her a smidge of an apple to see if she would eat it and she did, but it wasn't normal attack the apple.

Her ears are really warm too. I don't know what that means or if it has anything to do with anything.
I called the vet and checked the prices. Unfortunately, my really rabbit savvy vet is out of town till Thursday, but the other vets see rabbits as well. So I think I might take her tonight, since they are open till 9 on Mondays.

I really hate when things like this happen.

 

[whitelop]

I made an appointment tonight to take her to the vet.
I don't even know what to tell them? I doubt I can afford xrays or anything like that. So I don't know what to do.

 

[JBun]

A good rabbit vet may be able to rule out some things, like an impacted cecum or blockage, with just a physical exam, though an xray is always more definite, but often a rabbit has to be put under GA to do it. It would be good to start off with a gut stimulant and metacam, then you can see if that helps her. You'll want to make sure her ears are checked, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the vet check her teeth too, if it can be done conscious, without a GA. Also if you don't have any critical care mix, you may want to get some in case she stops eating altogether and you have to syringe feed her.

Let us know how the vet goes so we don't worry about little Ellie.