Syringe-feeding Pumpkin...

[Jenk]

My 3-lb. bun, Emma, has never been fed fruit before; I'm uncertain how much pumpkin her digestive system might tolerate, should I need to feed her some. Can someone please advise?

She's not been touching her hay in her cage overnight. My husband stocks her up, and I wasn't paying attention to how much was really left each morning; still, she ate thehay that I put in the litter box outside of her cage.

This morning, her manger's hay was untouched (i.e., she went 7.5 hours without hay). She had very few, dark, pungent-smellingcecals in her cage litter box.

This morning, I've given her some peppermint leaves and green-leaf lettuce. And I've gotten her to eat some pellets and hay. So it's not that she's stopped eating a variety of foods entirely. (I'm starting to think that she refuses to eat anything but 1st-cut hay.)

Jenk

 

[gentle giants]

What I do is give a cc or two, depending on the size of the rabbit, and mix in some unflavored Pedialyte to make it thinner and easier to squeeze out of the syringe. You can also use plain water to mix it with, if you want.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

When moulting, I have given pumpin on a plate and he eats it! I'd say I gave about 2 teaspoons full.You could try that as well, as to not "push" it on them, but let them "discover"it, haha. That really worked for me, I just kinda stuck it in there in hopes he'd eat it and he did when I went to bed, haha. So, that is a good thing,

 

[HoneyPot]

If your bun has such a sensitive stomach, I would be wary of giving her anything new - maybe a teaspoon on a plate to test it out as AngelnSnuffy said, but I would be hesitant to force feed her.

Is she eating everything else just not that hay you gave her? If she's eating other things, it's fine if she hasn't had hay for a bit - maybe try a different batch of hay - I've had to do that with my guys as well when they didn't like the quality of the hay I gave them - such picky little things they are.

Some people don't feed their rabbits hay at all, so it's not the end of the world if she hasn't eaten hay in a few hours as long as she is eating everything else and drinking water. She'll be fine until you get some new hay to try out on her.

Nadia

 

[Jenk]

I followed the advice of gentle giants and gave her 1.5 cc of pumpkin (mixed with a little Pedialyte) last night. She ate it willingly from the syringe. I'll likely give her another small amount today on a plate, now knowing that she likes it.

Thanks so much for the advice, guys. I'll continue to give her only a small amount of pumpkin just to offer her a little extra fiber and fluid (hopefully) without upsetting her digestion.

 

[gentle giants]

I'm glad it worked for you. I know Ben always loved it so much that when I would cradle him upside down like a baby and hold up the syringe, he would reach for it with his front paws and hold it like a baby with a bottle, LOL. It does work well to put it in a dish, too, if the bunny is well enough to eat on it's own, plus makes it easier on you.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Glad to hear she took it willingly. Did her stomach seem okay with it? I'll be interested to hear if she takes it from the plate.

 

[Jenk]

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

Glad to hear she took it willingly. Did her stomach seem okay with it? I'll be interested to hear if she takes it from the plate.

Well, that's a matter of guesstimation. After eating the pumpkin, she had two abnormally-shaped poops (formed, but misshapen). I don't know if that was strictly a result of the pumpkin, or due to her digestive issues in general. After that, though, I've not found other litter-box oddities.

I definitely plan to give her a small amount of pumpkin on a plate tonight. I'll let ya' know what happens.