Odd Behavior

[allyxoxo]

I have a five and half old female rabbit. Normally she always tries to run out of the cage to play whenever I go to give her food, and I let her run around the house for a few hours before putting her away. She had babies two weeks ago and she’s been feeding them and cleaning them. Today when I tried to take her out to let her play alone, she isn’t doing anything. She is just sitting in the spot I put her down in and she is breathing normally. I picked her up to look at her and see if her nails needed trimming, normally when I do that it makes her nervous because she knows it’s time to clip nails and she didn’t react. She just stayed in my arm and when she’s in that position, I see her breathing slow down and she starts tilting her head and body back, almost as if she is lifeless.

I’m very worried, she wasn’t acting this way yesterday and I’m not exactly sure why she would be acting this way. I’ve had her out for about twenty minutes and she’s just been in the same spot. I put her with the male rabbit that she mated with, because she is always more comfortable with him, and she just sat there while he tried cleaning her. When I tried to put her near her cage to hop into like always, she is just sitting on the opening of the cage and not moving. She has been eating her hay and pellets, and drinking water, but today she’s just being abnormal.

 

[Preitler]

I would see the vet asap. She might be in pain, for whatever reason. A rabbit just sitting there is something that triggers all my alarm bells. They hide pain so well, when we finally notice there isn't much time to waste.

Does she pee and poop normally? Can you hear any gurgling noises from her stomach, or does she relax when you give her a gentle tummy massage (by putting your fingers under her)? Well, a nursing doe quite likely would object, but it's worth a try.

When I notice a behaviour like that the first thing I do is giving them Simethicone (Baby gas drops, about 20mg, served on a little oatmeal or by syringe) and see if they like a belly massage, but if I can't confirm that it's gas and it doesn't help I'm off to the vet.

If I'm not sure the rabbit is drinking I give some water, also a way to get the simethicone into them.

 

[allyxoxo]

Her poop and pee look normal, and she hasn’t been making any noises and there isn’t any noises coming from her stomach. My boyfriend had filled her bowl with hay, and quite a lot of it is gone. I’m not sure if her babies ate it or if she did, I have noticed now her water and pellet
bowl has not been touched and is still very full. She’s moving a little bit when the babies are with her to get comfortable or to let them be comfortable. But she just does not seem to care or react to anything. She freaks out while I vacuum, like all my rabbits do, and I noticed while I vacuumed today she didn’t move or get scared like the other ones.

She’s only six months old now.. I can’t imagine why she’s acting this way now or what could have happened.

 

[hollyjayneee]

if she goes all 'floppy' take her to a vet imidiately, my rabbit went like this but her back legs stopped working and she had to be put down because it was too late, she was only 5 months its usually caused by a parasite called es

 

[JBun]

Take her to the vet immediately! She could have low blood calcium due to nursing. This is an emergency and life threatening.
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Hypocalcaemic_Tetany.htm
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[allyxoxo]

I took her to the vet, she has gastric obstruction. Unfortunately I didn’t have the money to pay for her to stay over night with them to help her, but they did give us the medicine and syringe to feed her the medicine. We got halfway done with the first medicine feeding and now I’m hearing gurgling in her stomach. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign or not.. and the vet said they can’t tell me over the phone.

 

[Preitler]

Gurgling comes from gas, that you hear it means that things are moving, at least a little which can be a good sign, but not necessarily. Did the vet specify what kind of obstruction?

Anyway, you can help her a lot with a tummy massage, or putting her on your lap and rocking her (I did that, after syringe feeding, for 15-20mins every few hours the last time), or seach youtube for "tummy massage rabbit video", there are several ways to do it.

Which medicine did you get? You can always add SImethicone (infant gas drops, there are a lot f brands), it helps to pass the gas.

Does she eat and drink anything? If not, you might need to syringe feed her to get her digestion going again. I would also give her some water .

 

[allyxoxo]

They didn’t, the vet just said gas obstruction and that she could feel the gas in her tummy and it could’ve been caused by stress from nursing her babies. She gave us Animal Oxbow Health - Critical Care, it’s a powder to mix in with water to feed her it through a syringe. But when we tried, she really didn’t want any and I tried using the syringe to give her water but she won’t take it. I monitored her food bowl and water bowl, they still haven’t been touched. She’s peeing a little bit but I haven’t seen her poop since two days ago.

 

[Preitler]

It is not a question if she likes it - she has to eat, or chances are high that this ends fatal.
Dress in thick winter clothes (I was still blue from her biting), and feed her, a little bit at a time behind her teeth. You may too get some bruises or lose some blood, so what, you have liters of it.
My rabbits are rather big, 8-10lbs, I put her on my lap , facing me, had her burrow her head under my left arm when she needed to. I never managed to make a bunny burrito (wrapping her in a towel) which others seem to prefer.
Patience, just a small pea sized amount behind her front teeth at a time.

This doe was not used to being handled, she wasn't a friendly doe, but she was never so sweet like after this ordeal. So, do not worry to anger your rabbit, she needs help now. The vet can only do so much.
Also, tummy massage, or rocking her on your lap. My fierce doe actually enjoyed that.


What syringe do you use?
You can offer her safe greens, like rose or apple leaves, narrowleaf plantain, yarrow. Most important thing is that she gets something in her stomach, you can mix the Simethicone with the Critical Care. CC is good stuff.

 

[allyxoxo]

We have a feeding syringe the vet gave us to try on her. I’ve been rubbing her stomach while trying to feed her the Critical Care, she’s been pooping but she’s not taking down the food or water. She’s just keeping it in her mouth when I’m trying to force it down her to eat. Her lips are getting more blue now and she’s whimpering when she’s trying to poop. I’m going to get the infant gas drops and use that with her medicine, I’m also trying to get some money for her to be taken to the vet so they can help more.

 

[Blue eyes]

Wait. Is the only thing the vet did was have you give her Oxbow Critical Care? No meds?

 

[allyxoxo]

Yes that was it. I was in the middle of helping her go to the bathroom right now and she twitched and held the position for a few seconds then cried/whimpered and now she’s not moving. She’s just laying on side and can’t sit up or move her legs or anything and she’s breathing normally but cannot move.

 

[Preitler]

Oh, my.

Uhm, she should have gotten fluids, or at least stimulant meds injected. I also gave pain meds (well, that were my hangover pills, Ibuprofen) and some sort of electrolyte powder the vet gave me.

If you didn't get pain meds:
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

Watch some videos about force feeding rabbits. I think she needs water most of all, apart from what she gets with the Critical Care. But she does need something in her stomach.

( I did edit above post several times, read it again)

How many kits are there? When did they get fed the last time?

 

[Blue eyes]

If her gut is completely obstructed, then feeding her anything (even Critical Care) can make things worse. Is she able to poo at all?

I'd suggest finding a different vet. Just feeding Critical Care is not a fix for GI stasis.

 

[Preitler]

They didn’t, the vet just said gas obstruction and that she could feel the gas in her tummy

Well, if there were another obstruction gas would noticeable too after some time I guess. Anyway, gas is the most frequent problem, and nursing does have such a huge amount of food passing through that I don't think it's very likely that something like hair accumulates and causes a block.

Were there any Lisa Simpson Necklace Poops recently?

 

[JBun]

I would get her back to the vet immediately. Blue lips and not swallowing are all both signs of a critical problem. Blue lips is from lack of oxygen and not swallowing often means the rabbit is declining quickly and could die.

I still think she has low blood calcium. Tell the vet you want this checked. She'll die if she has this and it's not treated immediately. Go to a different rabbit vet if you need to. In fact I would suggest finding a more experienced rabbit vet.

 

[JBun]

Let me emphasize that this is an immediate emergency.

 

[VioletRose]

I suggest you start a savings fund for future emergencies for any of your rabbits so that you have the money when it is needed for vital care, hospital stays, x-rays, whatever. This is a MUST for any animal owners.

 

[allyxoxo]

I know.. it’s just unfortunate because I had lost my job and had to use the money for bills. Otherwise I would spend thousands of dollars on vet bills for my pets. Thankfully the vet lowered the cost to an amount that worked for us and the rabbit is being looked at.

 

[Butterscotch]

How is your rabbit doing, Allyxoxo?? I hope she has pulled through!