Rabbit not drinking

[suburbanfarmer]

Breed: German Angora Hybrid

Sex/Ageoe/1yr

I bought this amazingly goregous doe from a breeder 5 days ago. She came to me hopefully bred. (I am a spinner and need more to spin) There have been a couple of things that have been hapening since then

(1) First I thought she might have wool block because her poops were alternating small and large. So I gave her insane amounts of Timothy hay (which I always give, I just gave her more) I also gave her Papaya,which is suposed to help break down the hair in the intestines. I also gave her a small amount of Bunny LAX to help things move. This seemed to work great. Her poops look big and beautiful.

(2) I was looking her over and I found a large laceration on her leg (about the size of a silver dollar) The breeder shaved her down for me and I am thinking she may have cut her. It is not deep and looks and smells ok, but it is large. She is not very tame, so I have had a really hard time trying to care for it without stressing her. I do not want her to loose the pregnancy. I have kept it clean with saline. She is using the leg fine and there is no puss, but it is open and red (not bloody). It doesn't seem to bother her. She doesn't lick at it. But she is very skiddish.

(3) Today I realized that while she has been eating like a champ and very energetic; her waterbottle has not been touched in 2 days. I gave her a bowl of water with a bananna in it to tempt her, but she knocked it over. Like I said, she is still quite peppy. So I am at my witts end here and need some advice. How can I get her drinking and keep her happy and healthy through this pregnancy and beyond?

Thanks so much

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I would see a vet for the cut, really. It sounds like your doing a great job w/ that, but it may need seeing by a vet. Don't want an infection. Poor girl, and they are experts at hiding pain. So, she could be in pain and you just can't see it.

I use a crock that is attached to the cage for water bowl. That's what I would try, I always hated the bottles, every one I had leaked, ugh.


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[/align]In the meantime, you might want to syringe some water.

Best of luck w/ the little one. If u need a pic of the crock, let me know.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

I took her to the vet yesterday, but was not satisfied with the help there. They took her as a drop off and stapled the wound ( which was good) But when I asked about the hydration problem, they had never assessed her for that and didn't even offer water while she was there. I took a bag of sub cutaneous fluids home and gave her some last night. This morning she still hadn't touched the water. I will try your suggestion with the water. She just doesn't seem interested at all. I am getting really desperate. She is still in good spirits though and she doesn't appear sick in any way. I don't know what to do. ray:

 

[luvthempigs]

I would put fresh water in the bottle but also put a heavy large crock with water in it and hopefully she will drink out of one of them eventually. If she was used to drinking from a bowl she may not be familiar with how to drink from a bottle.

For now though you could try giving her some romaine lettuce (rinse with water first so that it's wet) She would be getting some fluid that way.

 

[luvthempigs]

Maybe you could add a little unsweetened juice (apple or grape maybe) to her water and offer it that way (just for a day or two and change often so it doesn't spoil) It may entice her to drink. I would leave a plain water and a flavored one so she can choose on her own.

Just want to add that I am not an infirmary mod so you may want to wait for one of them to come by and give the thumbs up or down on my suggestions

 

[tonyshuman]

A lot of good info already has been said. I would offer her Pedialyte in a second bowl--it's tasty and really good at rehydrating bunnies without having too much sugar.

I'm not a big fan of that vet for both the staple reason and the not offering water. Staples aren't my first choice, in fact they're probably my 4th choice after surgical glue, dissolving stitches, and normal sutures. In any case, what's done is done. Just keep an eye on the staples for skin tearing around them.

Is she eating veggies at all? Is she peeing ok? If she's eating a lot of veggies she may just be getting her water from them.

I'm not a fan of the rabbit or cat laxatives because they're oily which can be detrimental to get the furry poos going through the intestine--water usually is the best bet to get things going. If you need to keep giving her sub-q's, then that's ok, but offer the bowl and bottle to see if she prefers one, and keep an eye on the output.