Please help bunny not eating

[Cazarty]

My house rabbit became unwell on Tuesday, she wouldnt touch her hay or food, we took her to the vets where she stayed until yesterday, the vets have been given her meds and have syringed feed her, i have her home now btu she still wont touch any food and i cant syringe feed her as she is too strong, all she keeps doing is trying to eat the walls in our flat and the carpets so i have kept her locked in her room. She also had passed and food until she came home and she has done a few poo's now. Im a bit upset that the vets did not do any blood tests or scans on her belly. Im going to see how she is today and if no better will take her to another vets. Has anyone else had any experiances like this? Any help or advise on how to get her to feed is greatly appreciated, please help.

 

[Fluffball]

Did the vets check her teeth? Do you know if they did anything while she was there?

Is there anything she will eat? greens? fruit? treats? Anything at all?

Does she look like she wants to eat but can't?

Is she acting any different from how she normall does, other than lack of appetite?

Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Cazarty]

Thanks for replying.

The vets sid they checked her teeth and could not see any problems with teeth or any ulcers etc. they didnt do anything else with her other than 3 dif types of meds, baytrll, Zantac and Metocopramide, i think there appetite stimulators.

befroe we took her to vets we noticed she was not herself, she just laid there looking sorry and then weed on the carpet in the living room which she dont ever do. But since she has been home she is just her happy livley self but she keeps eating all the walls and carpets like a mad woman, she has always liked trying to eat all those things but not like she is now. Tried feeding her veg, pellets and hey but wont touch anything she just turns away from them, she took a little bit of parsley last night, i have put some fresh hay in her litle house where she is now resting and cleaning herself, also i put a few pellets in there, i will keep an eye on her

 

[ra7751]

Is your vet rabbit savvy? I don't think I would use any of these drugs at this point. Baytril is an antibiotic....and antibiotics can cause major GI issues under certain conditions. And an antibiotic should not be used unless there is clinical signs of infection such as pus, inflammation or high body temperature. I do use an antibiotic with certain gut issues under limitedconditions but it isn't Baytril. Zantac is used in people to reduce acid and prevent gastric ulcers. While gastric ulcers are a concern in rabbits with GI issues, the gut is naturally acidic and the beneficial bacteria requires a proper pH in order to survive. If the good bacteria starts to die off, things decline rapidly. And metaclopramide.....that is nothing short of scary. That is a gut motility drug that is often given to rabbits to stimulate the GI tract. That is an old school treatment based on inaccurate information. None of my vets (all are teaching vets a a major vet school and teaching hospital) will use those type drugs. There are two motility drugs and they cause harsh contractions in the GI tract. They are very painful contractions...and if there is an ulcer, the force of the contractions will rupture the ulcer. I think this drug is used in cats a lot....and at one time, the general feeling was that cats and rabbits should be treated alike....so very wrong. I am not a vet....but I can assure you that no rabbit in our care will ever, under any cirucumstance, receive any GI motility drug as long as there is a breath of life in my body....and if someone does that to one of my rabbits after I die..I will come back to haunt them. I think you see that I am totally without exception opposed to using gut motility drugs in rabbits.

I think by some of your statement in your post that you don't have full confidence in your vet. The "treatments" your rabbit is taking is not finding the root cause of the concern. You need to find why she is not eating and correct that. Is it a gut issue? Could be. What is her diet...precisely? Does she get unlimited hay? Is is possible she ate something she shouldn't have that has caused an impaction in the gut....carpet is amajor issue when it is eaten. Is she dehydrated? Does she have a dental problem? Just looking at the teeth is not the way to go. Those molars are very difficult to get a good look at with an alert rabbit. It could be a molar root issue which is visible only on x-rays or MRI. It could be a small piece of hay wedged between her teeth and is causing discomfort...much like a kernal of popcorn will do to us. We have seen rabbits with ulcers under their tongue (usually related to improper diet). Is there an impaction in the gut? A skilled rabbit vet can palpitate the gut to feel for impactions or possibly fatty tumors...and an x-ray might be in order.

I am very concerned that your rabbit is in stasis....that term technically means a suspension of normal activity. The guthas slowed down(or stopped....a crisis known as ileus). I suspect that since you mentioned your rabbit has been eating carpet that this is the root cause of her concern. I can tell you that this is a life threatening situation. If she has ingested carpet fibers....they will impact the gut. The gut will not move and that builds toxins in the body. It is vital to get that gut moving....and stop her from eating carpet. While some buns do eat carpet...it is usually a sign of either an improper diet, a bored bunny or both. An x-ray should tell the tale here. If it is carpet fibers...the first response should be hydration by sub-q fluids. I have also had success in combining the fluids with fresh pineapple juice given by mouth. Since the impaction will contain all sorts of things...including a dehydrating mass of mucus.....it needs to be rehydrated to hopefully start moving. While there is no clincal proof that pineapple juice works...it gets high marks from me as we see and treat many gut issues in our rescue. The thing is that it much be fresh juice...directly squeezed by hand from a real fruit.

My suggestion is to find a real rabbit vet as quickly as possible. If the carpet is the issue, it should be treated as an emergency. This will require expert work to overcome. If this is being caused by carpet fiber impaction in the gut....if it doesn't respond to hydration therapy, the only other option is surgery and GI surgery in a rabbit is extremely risky. Time is everything with an issue like this.

Randy

 

[Cazarty]

Thank you, i thought this was wrong with the vets giving her all this treatment but nothing that is actually doing any good or helping her.

I have just been with her again and laid with her and massaged her belly then after a while she got up and ate some pellets which is the first time i have seen her do this. She is very happy in herself and did a little binky. I am going to see if i can get her to eat more and am keeping her locked up out of reach of carpet. if no improvement in a few hours im going to take her to another vets which i know is Savvy. I dont think it is coz she is bored that she eats carpets, she always seems very happy with our company, she has the full run of the house which is ully carpeted and so i guess she see this as hers and hers to chew and play with. She has lots of toys which she plays with too but just loves chewing things she shouldnt. She always has fresh hay and food and water, she is drinking water and has been to the loo quite a bit.

 

[Cazarty]

Well i have been sitting with her and massaged her belly for a while and she has now eaten some pellets and a bit of parsley and greens. This is really good news as i have not seen her touch anything, i am going to keep popping in every half hour and do the same thing.

 

[ra7751]

Greens are good. My buns like dandelion greens in these situations. Many times with stasis, a nice round of greens and some run around time will get things moving. Offer a buffet of greens including parsley, dandelions, romaine lettuce and some kale. Once she starts pooping regularly....I would offer her some canned pumpkin....not the pie filling...the canned pumpkin. And if you could find a probiotic that contains a bacteria known as Lactobacillus Casei would be a good thing. Here in the US, I like a product called Bene-Bac. Some may suggest yogurt....not good for a rabbit.

And do whatever is needed to prevent her from eating carpet....that is never a good thing.

Randy

 

[Cazarty]

Thanks, yes she has greens parsley, i have looked everywhere for canned pumpkin but cant find it here. Heard quite a bit about it, will try looking for it on net, but could do with it now.

As for the carpet, i am not going to let her have the run of anywere with carpet, which is only her bedroom, she does not have a hutch but a big room with a house where she sleeps, i have put just newspaper in her house, she did have a blanket but i have taken that away.

 

[Marietta]

Sorry, I just saw this...I can't add anything to what Randy said, his posts are always awesome. Hydration, feeding, constant gentle tummy massage, motion (running, playing) helps the intestines move. How is your bun doing now? Any better?

Marietta

 

[Cazarty]

hi, i have mnaged to feed her some greens and some pellets. She is drinking too i will keep an eye on her tonight to see if she keeps eating. I have give her lots of tummy rubs which i think help

 

[Pamela Moses]

we found giving bubbles pureed baby food that had pear and pinapple in helped him called frutapura from co op

 

[Marietta]

Hi, Cazarty! How is your bunny doing today?

Marietta