Possible Furball

[blake12345]

Hey,

Im new here and have a question about my little fella.

I was away for a few days and my little brother (Aged 12) was looking after my rabbit and he noticed he wasnt eating or popping. He did some research and found out he could have a furball and he then saw something about laxatives. He said all he had was a human chocolate laxative. So he gave him a very small amount.

What is this going to do him? Will it hurt him or be dangerous?

Im just a little worried that it may cause a problem or something

Thanks Blake

 

[plasticbunny]

How long has he been not eating/pooping? Is he drinking water?

 

[plasticbunny]

There are mixed views about laxatives. First of all, I've never heard of using human laxative at all so it may be dangerous or it may not. Normally cat laxatives can be used with rabbits, but there is some belief that the laxative will coat the blockage and stop it from absorbing water and therefore breaking into passable pieces.

Here is a good read on GI stasis: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Is your bun showing signs of being bloated at all? Can you hear bnormally loud noises coming from his stomach?

 

[Watermelons]

You can give her pineapple juice to help break up the hairball (if there is one), or cat hairball remover (malt flavour... i dont think bunnys appreciate tuna). Its a little late to do anything about the people laxative, just stick to critter ones.
Please have a read of this Stasis thread in our library.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

 

[blake12345]

He is still eating but just not anywhere near as much as he use to. He use to come up to the cage and snatch the snow pea out of my hand and he would spend 10-20minutes with his head in the food bowl and he just isnt doing that anymore. He has been like this for about 4 days. I think he is still drinking water. I have mixed abit of pineapple juice in with his water because he wont drink it by itself.

He seems to be a little bloated. I have sat and massaged his stomach and made him run around to try to help loosen up his digestive system.

He is still running around the house and explorer and being obnoxious so im not to worried at the moment but I think a trip to the doctors is on the cards for the little munchkin just to make sure he is all good

 

[Watermelons]

Guess I should say welcome to the forum

A check up trip never hurts.
Try offering special veggies/herbs like extra Cilantro which is great for gas and the digestive system. I dont know but is Critical care available over there (made by Oxbow)? Green and silver pouch of powdered food at the vets for herbivores. I like to wet some veggies and sprinkle critical care on for critters that will still eat something. Plus its something really nice to have on hand if you ever need to force feed, it smells good too.

How old is your bun? What are his teeth like? have you ever had issues before?
Does it look like hes loosing any weight?
try and get a weight on him now (kitchen gram scale) and every morning until he seems back to his usual self.

Pineapple juice can be syringed right into them, few cc/ml's a day, its acidic enough its supposed to help disolve/break up hairballs, however kitty hairball remedy (it always costs more when they slap a bunny picture on it) is easiest as most bunnys will happily lick it off something. My turdlets think its a treat and I offer some squeezed into a little dish every so often.

 

[plasticbunny]

If he's bloated, that can cause pain and he will stop eating altogether. Try to get some baby gas meds and follow the dosage in the article I gave you. It will not hurt him at all, even if he doesn't have gas.

A vet trip may not be necessary but might be worthwhile to do a thorough dental check. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[tonyshuman]

Definitely gas meds for the little guy. I hope the chocolate isn't causing any problems--it would make him hyper and increase his heartrate. Probiotics can help too, as well as wet veggies (if he's used to eating veggies), but stay off the snow peas. They're a bit sugary. Leaf-like greens, more like lettuce, parsley, and cilantro would be good instead. Veggies in the broccoli family (kale, cabbage, cauliflower) can make gas worse sometimes. Dandelions or grass are good too, but be careful you don't get them from a place that wild bunnies frequent since you're in Australia and wild bunnies carry serious diseases there.

The gas meds will contain simethicone as the active ingredient. Avoid ones that have other ingredients, especially antacids. You can give up 1ml/hr for 3 hrs if you find the liquid baby meds, and 1/2 tablet every 3 hrs for most of the tablet kinds. Some bunnies will eat the tablets because they are tasty.

 

[blake12345]

Well just thought id let you know i gave him some cat furball/laxative stuff and he is now drinking eating and pooing like a little trooper! Im happy that he is all back to normal. I just need to take him to the vet to get his fur and skin looked at. Its coming out with dandruff kinda stuff on the end and we just noticed last night that he has a bald patch appearing on his back and his skin is rather dry. I have a feeling he may have fur mites.

But anyway thanks for all the help

Blake