Red

[dquesnel]

I don't have much to add except that the choking does not seem too normal in any rabbit, let alone two. I will try and look up some info on that....

I had one rabbit that ate his pellets extremely fast, I was concerned about choking so to slow him down I put three plastic Easter eggs in his food dish so he would have to pause and nudge the toys around to get to the food. No choking issues ever ensued.

 

[Victoria]

Both rabbits choked. One died and one survived. Both times on pellets, symptoms the same both times only we could not dislodge it with Black. When Black used to drink he would make unusual gurgling sound and the vet said it was "infection at the back of his throat". we gave him antibiotics which did not help. We were told to bring him again but we could not afford it and then he died.
About 2 - 3 months before Black's death Red choked on pellets - the same way he was hungry started to gulp them down and then started to choke, froth from his mouth and nose and look up - thats what they do when they cant breathe. We tried to dislodge the pellets called "emergency vet" but none were available in our area only one about 1.5 hours drive away - definitely too long he would have suffocated. Then he went limp and started convulsing and somehow Robert (my fiance)managed to dislodge the pellets by pressure on his abdomen and then he scooped it out. The rabbit recovered within minutes and went for pellets which we then did not give. The we started giving small amounts of them. Then Black choked and the pellets must have gone too far down and we could not get them out. Robert felt there was something in his throat that made it much smaller - may be inflammation, may be it was a bit of plastic that Black could have also ingested because just before choking he got hold of a plastic bag with hay and chewed into it. I noticed that when Red drinks he also makes similar gurgling sound. It could be narrowing of his throat due to an abcsess or infection.

 

[Victoria]

Pellets are compressed hard things and rabbits usually (at least my rabbits) eat fast and gulp things that they see that they like at feed time. May be they were taken from their mother too young and have not learnt how to chew from her example...?! My rabbits when hungry or just if they get something tasty they like dont chew - they just gulp in as much of it as they can. The result is choking on hard compressed pellets. But true they could choke on dry hay too but they dont. Once Red a little bit choked on a piece of fruit but it dislodged it quickly I think it just got stuck to his throat rather than really choking. I am afraid there is a narrowing of the throat for both of them, dont know due to what. Because the vet examined Black not long before he died and said the exam was normal apart from blood test.

 

[Victoria]

Hi this condition still continues. The vets are just so expensive and we have been taking them all the time (Black that is Red has never been to the vet though) and the rats.
Could Pasteurella be just in one place - in or around the throat of a rabbit or does it have to be like URI with sneezes etc?
WHen the vet looked inside Black's throat he did not see anything there that is wrong, she felt its body in many areas for things I guess like abcesses or tumours and also looked inside his month and found nothing wrong; "very good teeth" she said. That's why I am not sure what to do with this one who has similar symptoms, we only be able toget to the vets on Monday (unless it is emergency).
Last night I noticed that his poo is very small and black in colour. He also was not very active.
I thought he was looking cold - he does not have much body weight and we have cold temperatures now.
So my fiance put a sheet around parts of its cage and this morning Red looks better.
We did not have any hay for a day or two and only gave him leaves of raddish, basil and carrots with tops, tomatoes and apples (just 2 slices of apple). Yesterday I bought him some lucerne hay to fatten him up. Is the reason that his poos are so small and black (usually they are brown) because we did not feed him hay for 2 days or is it because of something else (like lucerne is not good with him)?

 

[Victoria]

We still did not give him pellets because of fear he will choke. In the past we used to scatter the pellets around but after Black died I am too much afraid to see it choke and die in front of me that I just cant give him any. I give pellets to the guinea pig we have, we soak it in some water to soften them.

 

[tonyshuman]

The small poops could be due to not having hay or having lots of lucerne. Lucerne (alfalfa here) is really rich and can make the GI slow down.

As for the pasturella question, pasturella is just one of many bacteria present in rabbits that cause infections. Many of these bacteria can cause infections in many different places. For instance, an abscessed bite wound on the skin can contain pasturella, pseudomonas, staphylococcus, or one of several others, or a combination. Bunnies can also get streptococcus infections.

I bet you could give Red softened bunny pellets too, to get his weight back up. I have given pellets mushed up in water when a bunny didn't want to eat.

 

[Victoria]

We bought some pasture hay the good one (Oxbow) and now the poops are beginning to appear more usual in shape and colour. He did not like the lucerne either and did not eat too much of it. I was beginning to get worried.
Can the gurlging noise that he makes (and Black made) when drinking be an abcess in his throat? The vet did not see anything unusual in Black's throat. They have similar symtoms apart form peeing - Black did much more and drank more too. I want to give the pellets but ROb my fiance does not and says he will make me watch if he dies! I could not watch when Black died and ran off outside onto the street! I know it would not help but nothing helped him... so I just left.. sorry...

He does not mean it in a nasty way, itsjust because I did not deal with it well and not even seen his body and Robert buried him himself _ I could not approach the animal.. I was really in shock.

 

[tonyshuman]

I honestly don't know about the gurgling noise. It's a big mystery to me. I don't know why two unrelated (?) rabbits in the same house would have choking problems. I can only guess it's environment or food, and the food seems normal, and the environment seems normal too.
:?:huh

 

[Victoria]

they could related as were sold in one group similar aged rabbits in one cage