Rabbit is eating lettuce, little hay, not drinking very much, and NOT POOPING AFTER BEING SPAYED

[~Lavender~]

Hi! My rabbit Clover was spayed Yesterday (May 4th), didn’t eat too much the first day (she was tired and I didn’t have the lettuce she wanted apparently), but she had a nice serving of romaine lettuce this morning, and maybe an hour ago? I even gave her some more a few minutes after based on something I read, And still hasn’t pooped. She won’t eat her pellets, and she will take treats. I’ve seen her nibble on hay, and she hasn’t drank a lot. Quite little really. She is VERY STUBBORN about syringe feeding so please don’t try to give me that as a solution. I tried hand offering her a wet pellet right after a wet treat, and she didn’t take it. I did attempt to syringe her some water, but she bit the thing, she flinched back twice when it touched her mouth, and started squeaking at me which is like a half grunt. I’m not in my room with her rn, but I’ll be down in like an hour and a half. It’s possible there will be poop by then, but I’m starting to get concerned. Please help. Thanks in advance! =)

 

[~Lavender~]

UPDTAE: So I came down about an hour after this forum was posted, she went pee again (I think for the third time since her surgery), BUT STILL NO POOP! I will be calling her vet in the morning if nothing has changed.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Did the vet give you any Metacam? Pain is causing her to not eat, which is why she is not pooping. I can already tell that you know it is dangerous if a rabbit doesn't poop, so please find a way to syringe feed her. You may need to bunny burrito her, put her on a slippery floor so she can't run (see video), etc. but PLEASE syringe feed her some Critical Care so she doesn't die during the night. After you syringe feed her, remove all the pellets and treats from her diet until she is eating lots of hay.

 

[~Lavender~]

Did the vet give you any Metacam? Pain is causing her to not eat, which is why she is not pooping. I can already tell that you know it is dangerous if a rabbit doesn't poop, so please find a way to syringe feed her. You may need to bunny burrito her, put her on a slippery floor so she can't run (see video), etc. but PLEASE syringe feed her some Critical Care so she doesn't die during the night. After you syringe feed her, remove all the pellets and treats from her diet until she is eating lots of hay.

Thanks for responding! Yeah, I was not given any pain meds. I don’t have critical care either. The vet is very rabbit savvy, but mentioned nothing about meds. The receptionist told me on the phone a few weeks before the appt that the only additional charge that could occur would be whether the vet recommended pain meds, but when I picked her up, he did not. She is eating. I’ve seen her eat some hay, quite a few times, but I haven’t been home most of the day. And she’s eating plenty of lettuce.

 

[~Lavender~]

Unless she’s found some way to get to her dissolvable sutures, or eating some of the extremely small pieces of hay on that bed, I think she might be eating her cecotropes!! (I don’t think I spelled that right-) she just went into her litter box and started eating some hay, but I still have yet to see physical poop.

 

[~Lavender~]

UPDATE: I have physically seen poop!! She is doing good now. Eating more hay than before, drinking water rn, (still didn’t drink that much water, but I was glad to see her voluntarily drinking), grooming herself a lot, stretching, chewing on her favorite ball toys, and chewing/tooth purring ig while sitting? She got some rubs on her head from bun mom, and she’s acting more like herself.

*thankfully, no emergency vet call or critical care was needed*

 

[JBun]

I'm glad your bun is improving. It's always a stressful time until they start eating and pooping again. Just fyi, a vet that doesn't prescribe pain meds following a rabbits surgery, particularly an invasive procedure like a spay, isn't considered a very rabbit knowledgeable vet. A rabbit in pain won't be inclined to eat.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
I had one rabbit that would only eat leafy greens for the first 48 hours after his neuter. So that's what I kept feeding him. He wouldn't eat much at a time, so every hour I would just keep giving him more greens. It was enough to keep him fed and get his gut moving until he was feeling well enough to eat hay and pellets 2 days later.

 

[DQueen00]

Hi! My rabbit Clover was spayed Yesterday (May 4th), didn’t eat too much the first day (she was tired and I didn’t have the lettuce she wanted apparently), but she had a nice serving of romaine lettuce this morning, and maybe an hour ago? I even gave her some more a few minutes after based on something I read, And still hasn’t pooped. She won’t eat her pellets, and she will take treats. I’ve seen her nibble on hay, and she hasn’t drank a lot. Quite little really. She is VERY STUBBORN about syringe feeding so please don’t try to give me that as a solution. I tried hand offering her a wet pellet right after a wet treat, and she didn’t take it. I did attempt to syringe her some water, but she bit the thing, she flinched back twice when it touched her mouth, and started squeaking at me which is like a half grunt. I’m not in my room with her rn, but I’ll be down in like an hour and a half. It’s possible there will be poop by then, but I’m starting to get concerned. Please help. Thanks in advance! =)

My rabbit is named Clover as well! And he just had surgery to remove an abscess. He hardly ate anything the first day and mostly slept. He nibbled at some hay but that was it. I really didn't want to have to syringe feed either. We're on day two and he's eating his hay and some pellets but refusing fruits, veggies and treats which are usually his favourite! His poops are soft but I hear that can happen after surgery. I think as long as their energy levels are good, the eating and pooping will eventually get back to normal. It could also be the pain meds and antibiotics that upset their stomach. Just keep offering food. The vet said you don't have to worry about "healthy eating" for the few days after surgery, as long as they're eating. So keep offering a variety of foods and hopefully your Clover will eat and poop like normal. I hope both Clovers get back to normal soon!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

For the past 18 years, all our rabbit-trained DVMs scripted pain med following their surgeries.

The link @JBun posted is extremely beneficial for newbies. Did the vet or clinic provide an invoice with the pre-surgical pain meds administered?

I see your location is FL but not a specific city. I know of rabbit rescues in FL who could lend their personal recommendations / referrals on a rabbit-savvy DVM or clinic. There is a DVM in our area that word-of-mouth experiences have urged others not to bring their rabbit there.

 

[~Lavender~]

UPDATE: I have physically seen poop!!
**Oh my I forgot to post this last night!!**
This was around 1:08 last night. Meant to post it then but apparently didn’t. Oops haha

 

[ArtistChibi]

UPDATE: I have physically seen poop!!
**Oh my I forgot to post this last night!!**
This was around 1:08 last night. Meant to post it then but apparently didn’t. Oops haha

The important thing is that she's doing better.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Hooray for marbles!

 

[~Lavender~]

UPDATE: I have physically seen poop!!
**Oh my I forgot to post this last night!!**
This was around 1:08 last night. Meant to post it then but apparently didn’t. Oops haha

oh my word. I was so dead that night I didn’t even realize I did actually post this- and posted it again

Thanks everyone for the help and support! I know it seems like they aren’t a rabbit knowledgeable vet, but this vet WAS recommended by my local rabbit rescue. They even got me a voucher to get a done cheaper!! I know it seems odd no pain meds were prescribed, but I honestly think it worked out fine in the end. And she wasn’t in too much pain considering she was eating plenty of lettuce and some hay. She was better within like 36 hours. Regardless, all that matters is that she’s doing great now.

 

[~Lavender~]

Clover is back completely to her normal self, and is sweeter now! She’s already improved on her behavior. Before the surgery she was extremely territorial and would lunge and grunt. Especially if I went into her space. But now, we don’t have an issue. ❤