rabbit won’t eat hay or pellets

[orsolya]

One of my pet rabbits, Clyde, refuses to eat his hay or his pellets. He is about eight years old.

There is also some blood in his urine and his stomach was very bloated and gassy.

He was never a big hay eater, but he did eat his pellets very happily until a few days ago.

He will still eat fresh greens. Today I tried feeding him fresh grass, he ate a few pieces but not many.

He is still drinking water.

Last Tuesday I took him to the vet where they injected him with liquids, did blood work, a urine analysis, bacterial culture, oral exam, and xrays.

The bacterial culture is still pending, but the xrays discovered that his small intestines are swollen. According to the other tests he is healthy, although his red blood cell count is somewhat low (but still in the normal range) possibly from age as well as because he is losing some blood in his urine.

The vet prescribed antibiotics, something to stimulate his intestines, and pain killers, in addition to forced feeding with critical care three times  day.

It’s been three days now of medicating and force feeding, as well as tummy rubs, and he seems to be doing exactly the same. He still refuses to eat hay or pellets, but continues drinking and eating veggies and any offered treats.He hard stool is normal but only a small amount. I didn’t notice any of the soft stools which they eat. He is still rather gassy, but less gassy then when I took him to the vet.

I feel very stressed out and worried.Maybe there is something that I am missing?

The vet warned that because my rabbit is in pain, he could go into shock very easily or he could stop eating altogether and go downhill very quickly. The vet recommended an ultrasound, but I’m not sure what this could accomplish other than put me into debt.

Is there any other tips anyone could suggest?

II would really appreciate it.

 

xoxoxoox Orsolya

[Monkeybun]

If he is in pain, metacam would help. It’s a pain medicine and an anti-inflammatory, which would definitely help him out right now. Did the vet check his teeth at all too?

[FluffyBunny]

Did the vet find any type of urinary tract/kidney issue? That’s the first thing I thought of when I read that he has bloody urine, especially with a bun his age. If he has a painful problem in one part of his body, it could be hurting enough that he doesn’t want to eat.

I agree with Monkeybun. If he’s in pain, Metacam might be all he needs to start eating again. You might also want to ask if you could give him some simethicone, which is an OTC gas relief medicine. That always helps my bunnies when they get gassy.

[Sarita]

I would not worry about the hay and pellets at this point if he is eating greens.

It sounds like your vet has prescribed a gut motility drug so no need for simethicone and pain meds and antibiotics. It can take awhile for the antibiotics to do their work.

I would follow up with the vet at this point and tell him your concerns though and see if he has other suggestions.

[orsolya]

The vet did check his teeth (I accidently wrote “gave him an oral exam” lol).

[orsolya]

His kidney is fine, but he may have a urinary tract infection… I will find out for sure when the bacterial culture results are in.

[orsolya]

Thank you so much for each of your replies xoxoxox.

[Sarita]

Did the vet see any bladder sludge or stones in the x-ray? Just wonder if that could be a possibility as well…just a thought…not sure if that would cause swelling though in the small intestines.

Hopefully the bacterial culture will give you some answers.

[orsolya]

There is some mucus in his urine, but no bladder or kidney stones were seen in the xrays. However, this doesn’t rule out the possibility of small crystals being present

 

I wish there was more that I could do to help my little love 

[Sarita]

I know, it’s hard seeing them in pain and feeling like you cannot do anything, but you are doing everything you can and hopefully he is on his way to recovery. Did the vet know when the bacteria cultural results would be back?

[dinahnow]

How did this turn out, please?  My 12 year old bun had an upset tummy, and advised to stop all carbohydrate treats including his muesli pellets.  But he tried a few ‘proper’ pellets, and decided he was not going to eat another one.  And he has also stopped eating hay, even though I’ve got about six top quality types to tempt him.  Going to get his teeth checked after Christmas, but for the last few weeks, all he’ll eat are ‘greens’.  If it’s not his teeth, did you find a diet that worked, based around greens?  Many thanks.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi, dinahnow and welcome to Binky Bunny. We ask members to please not reply to old threads (this one is from 2012) as it can cause confusion. Please feel free to start a new thread on this topic. Your question will also get more attention from current members. Thanks.

[dinahnow]

My 12 year old Mr.Grey (though going slowly silver grey now) – needed to come off his high carbohydrate treats of toast crusts/raisnis/.muesil pellets as he wasnot only overweight, but developed upset tummy/rumbling loud tummy a few weeks ago – cecal dysbiosis. So stopped treats and took away pellets, and bought lots of lovely top bags of hay over the internet, as he’d never eaten more than a few strands out of his full of hay litter tray (changerd daily/freeroam indoor bunny). Most of the time he ate all sorts of wild leaves I’d pick locally, and thyme/mint/parsley/romaine/kale/celery/tomato pieces.
But .. only eating greens has seen all that fat get used up, which is good in one way – but I’d hoped he’d eat hay or the top quality hay-based pellets I got him (3different sorts). No way. And he REFUSES to be syringe fed Oxbow critical care – he hates if. And I don’t want to really force him, far too stressful for him.
Simethicone and metacam have seen off the gassy intestines at last, and I’ve found banana is the only ‘high calorie’ food he can eat, and a few little bits of carrots. I’m wary of upsetting his flora again – his cecals are nearly normal again, though without even the hay in his old muesli foo, his poos are hard and very dark.
I’ve just bought a tin of 100% pumpkin to try, IF he’ll try it, and then like it.
Any ideas or experience of supplementing greens only diet for a rabbit? Many thanks.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi, Dinahnow. I’m locking this thread since it is old. I started a new thread for you with your question in the Diet&Care Forum.

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