Old bunny guy still isn't eating...

[gentle giants]

My geriatric bunny with the tooth problems is still not eating on his own. He will take small nibbles of creamed corn, and a couple of bites of banana, but no matter what I do with the pellets, soggy slurry, dry crumbly stuff, anything to soften them, he won't touch them. I have also tried canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, pureed carrots, pureed banana, applesauce, etc.

The small nibbles he takes are when the pain medication is working at it's best, during middle of the day. He has an appointment with oneof the best vets around here for Saturday, which is the soonest I can get there, it's an hour away. What I am worried about is-could he be at the point where he has just given up altogether and wants to cross the Bridge? I am hoping that it is just pain from the wreck of his teeth that is causing him not to eat, cause that's fixable. I don't know whether I should be trying to get him out and play with him more, to mabye give him a little more zest for life, or if it's best just to let him rest and de-stress between doses of meds. He is getting Bene-Bac, Pen-G, vitamin B, plus getting all his pellets syringed to him.

 

[Maureen Las]

I really think that you are doing a great job with him. I would just keep doing what you're doing and let him rest as much as he wishes. he's probably uncomfortable.

 

[Strongheart]

Have you tried Critical Care? Rabbit vets should carry it or you can order it from KW Cages. It comes in different flavors though I find that the favorite for oldsters is the original anise flavor.

Poor baby! I find that Pen G dose can be hard on them. I took one bun to one hospital and the dose they gave me seemed really high, then I took her to another vet and the dose they gave me was really low in comparison. I find the higher dose tends to cause enterotoxemia. Do you know his weight and what is his dose?

I find that different vets have different opinions on doses. And it's just that, an opinion. I have lost two buns to enterotoxemia due to too high a dose of PenG.

And then the same two places had totally different takes on how much metacam (meloxicam) to give. The one who gave a high PenG dose gave an incredibly low (useless) metacam dose. And the one who gave the low PenG dose, says it's ok to use a much higher dose of metacam. Frankly the vet who gave the high metacam dose and low PenG dose is the one who I've had much more successes with. The other vet used to not even give girl buns pain meds after being spayed. If you can imagine...

Anyway, I hope your boy feels better soon.

 

[gentle giants]

He wieghs 6.15 pounds, and his dose is 0.5ml. Metacam is 0.6.I haven't gotten the CC yet, because I have no $$ to spare. I will be able to scrape up enough to take him to Dr. Welle, barely. If I have any emergencies vet care wise after that, it will have to go on my already large credit card bill.

 

[Strongheart]

Aw I hear ya. Times are tough all over. Bunnies are so expensive! I have parrots too and I used to think they were expensive LOL. NO bunnies are the most expensive.

That dose sounds the same as what my fave vet would give. I hope it makes him feel better. I used to doubt NSAIDs but now I am starting to appreciate them. Used to be I always wanted torbutrol for the bunnies but the vets don't like that, says it makes them dopey and not want to eat. I found the exact opposite, relaxes them and they get the munchies.