Smokies wont eat - RESOLVED

[dquesnel]

Hi I noticed you recently introduced oat hay to their diet. One thing I have noticed is that many rabbits I encountered do not do well with oat hay. I have no idea why, but for a couple it caused GI stasis.

I would give her all the wet parsley she can eat. If that is all she wants, that is ok. How is she sitting; hunched up like a loaf or more normal? If she is in the loaf position especially in the litterbox that definitely is a sign of gas. I would continue to treat with ovol regardless of whether it looks like gas or not.

If this came on really sudden, like a gas attack I am not always convinced that is all it is. Sometimes a bit of food or hair can get caught right outside the stomach or in a hairpin turn of the intestine, and the signs are really similar to gas but it is actually a partial obstruction. The more hydration she gets directly in the gut, the better the food can be broken down. If she hasn't pooped yet I would suspect this and wouldn't force feed her anything. If she will take the parsley though on her own that will do just fine. If her stomach doesn't feel hard or bloated at all, but more doughy you can try some gentle massage on her. Stroke down her belly towards her bottom, that helps to encourage food/gas to move out of the body.

If she hasn't pooped by the morning she will most likely need a radiograph done. Hope she starts eating long before then, best of luck.

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I only gave them a little bit yesterday.
It did seem to come on suddenly. She wasn't sitting her litterbox. In the Picture above is how I found her hidding out and not wanting breakfast. That's when I knew something was wrong.
I have her set up in my room in a spare cage. She has a bath mat down with some hay and big water bowl with Parsley and Cilantro. I haven't forced feed her anything. Haven't even left the house today. To worried about her.
I'll take a pic of her temp setup.

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

In her box

With a blanket over top, for some privacy.

 

[cheryl]

Aww come on Smokies...eat for your mum...

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

We did it :litterempty::litterhealthy:

Ok so we have poop, great right? Well yes and no. I just gave her, some pellets and she didn't goble them right up.

So I think Ill call the vet and see if I can still bring her in.

 

[Maureen Las]

I have had problems similar to this with Beau recently. I got childrens electrolyte drink and also got a fresh pineapple. I was syringing fluids for a few days ..sometimes mixing a few ccs of pineapple juice with pedialyte. I also gave simethicone but focused on hydration.

This went on a few days and finally I syringed pumpkin because i was concerned that he had not eaten much for a few days. I syringed pumpkin one evening and again the next morning and kept up the fluids and that seemd to to do the trick because he started pooping again and once he started pooping he started eating .

The vet can help you by possibly teaching you to do sub q fluids but you can syringe fluids yourself.


When Beau was sickI also was glued to the house hovering........ soas long as you are home ..syringe fluids every few hours.
The electrolytes in the baby electrolyte drink are going to make him feel better because when a bun is not drinking vital electrolytes like sodium and potassium are depleted and the bun feels worse. Try to got some of the baby electolyte drink... and a fresh pineapple for the juice.

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

I ended up calling the vet, they had an opening at 11 so we took her down.
She did have gas in her tummy and they think they might of seen something in her mouth like a piece of wood.
They are keeping her to sudate her and take a better look inside her mouth.
I get to go back for her tonight.
Smokies is 6 1/2 years old, wow time sure flies.

 

[tonyshuman]

Yikes! I hope they can figure out what's in her mouth! 6 and a half isn't that old--she's just middle age. Glad she started pooping again!

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Smokies is now home.

What the vets were seeing her mouth was just her tonsils, they were a little inflamed I think. But nothing serious.

They looked at her teeth and found points on the bottom ones but no ulcerations on her tongue or gums. So her teeth didn't need to trimmed at that time.

She ate lots hay to the vets before and after, she left them lots poops too.

They asked to keep her secluded for a few days to make sure she's eating and drinking well.

That's about all I can think of.

 

[Maureen Las]

Well it sounds like she pulled out of it OK which is good.

 

[cheryl]

I'm happy to hear that Smokies is doing so much better now

Give Smokies lots of nose rubs from me

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Smokies did good overnight.

Lots of poops. She ate some hay I tossed at her when I woke up.

Pellets are been eaten

Looks like everything is back to normal. :yahoo:

 

[Pipp]

Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears wrote:

What the vets were seeing her mouth was just her tonsils, they were a little inflamed I think. But nothing serious.

Rabbits have tonsils? :shock: I wonder if that's related to some of the 'throat abscesses' that have popped up in the past.

I did want to add that if these vets sedated her and didn't file her spurs, that's not great care. Sedating or anesthetizing rabbits is the hard part, the extra step of filing the teeth is the minor part. Waiting until the spurs actually are cutting into the cheek or tongue is usually only done to avoid have to sedate them all the time.

Anyhoo, just bumping this because of the tonsil thing.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Pipp, I understand your thoughts about not filing, but they didn't want her to feel any worse. The spurs were just barely there.
The vet we see is at the U of S where the specialize in Exotics. I trust her judgment 100%

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm not finding a picture of rabbit tonsils, but I did find some papers that talk about studying rabbit tonsils, so they certainly exist.