Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE Bunny Heimlich Maneuver

Viewing 10 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • LittlePuffyTail
      Moderator
      18092 posts Send Private Message

        Every bunny owner should study this.

        A while back, I had read instructions on how to do the Heimlich maneuver on a bunny that is chocking but I found it hard to picture what was being described. Problem solved:

        Bunny Heimlich Manuever complete with Pictures

        http://www.bunspace.com/groups/topic?tid=9871

        Obviously, this is to be done only in emergency and with extreme caution. Hopefully, no one here will ever have to use this info but if you do, it may save your bunnies life.


        Additional information 5/4/16 : http://www.vgr1.com/choking/


      • Bam
        Moderator
        16834 posts Send Private Message

          Thank you! It’s good know what to do in such a situation.
          I’ve never thought of this problem with bunnies, but I once had to make a Heimlich on my dog when she choked on a bone. Way easier though because she’s not fragile like a bunny.


        • bunnnnnnie!
          Participant
          1491 posts Send Private Message

            This is great info, and I think similar to the heimlich for human babies?

            Zeus was choking on a piece of hay once, he was wheezing and coughing and it was very scary. I was able to pull out the strand, but honestly I think when I grabbed him to hold him still I was so scared I squeezed and kinda dislodged it!!!


          • Tessie
            Participant
            1231 posts Send Private Message

              Thank you so much, such great information to have!


            • Deleted User
              Participant
              22064 posts Send Private Message

                EDIT – Just read my previous post and I realized as much as I was posting about being scared (terrified), it was more about a human than a bunny ! & I don’t want to distract from the importance of the ‘Bunny’ Heimlich Manoeuvre, so have overwritten this and am encouraging everyone to be aware – it happens to bunnies toooooo!


              • MayaConsuelo
                Participant
                396 posts Send Private Message

                  Hi everyone, I know I haven’t posted on here in years. But I wanted to reply to this thread so it becomes active again. Today Mr. Bun-Bun started choking on pellets. Although I was completely panicking, I had literally just read the original Bunspace post on how to do the Heimlich on rabbits, thinking I’d never need it. I’m not sure if the Heimlich maneuver itself actually saved him (I didn’t see any big chunk fly out) or if he would have dislodged it eventually – but he wasn’t breathing when it first happened, was making gagging noises and greenish partially digested foamy food was coming out of his mouth and nose. After doing the Heimlich as shown in the photos a few times (somehow without hurting him, the maneuver itself must be very stressful to rabbits) – and also opening his mouth and sticking my fingers to try to scoop anything out, he was able to breathe, although was breathing very raspily. So PLEASE look over the info, you never know when you’ll need it! I took him to the emergency vet to make sure there was nothing still stuck in his airway, and apparently he’s fine (although he still looks pretty stressed and hasn’t eaten anything yet.) Phew, what a scare! I’m still in shock. He has been in perfect health this whole time (he’s going to be 5 this summer) – although the emergency vet did say he has some tooth issues which I haven’t noticed, they may need to be filed down later. Hope everyone else’s bunnies are doing great!!


                • jerseygirl
                  Moderator
                  22338 posts Send Private Message

                    Oh Maya, how scary! So glad you were there and able to help him. Happy to hear the beautiful Mr Bun-Bun is ok.

                    It’s so good the E-vet picked up on possible teeth problems. Not good that he might have them, but just that it was checked out. Teeth are so often the culprit.


                  • LittlePuffyTail
                    Moderator
                    18092 posts Send Private Message

                      That must have been so scary! I’m so glad he’s okay!


                    • MayaConsuelo
                      Participant
                      396 posts Send Private Message

                        Thank you! And thanks for posting great information like this. Mr. Bun-Bun barely ate any hay for 3 days, but he was eating his greens and treats like banana and raisins (this happened last Wednesday and I couldn’t get a follow-up visit until Monday). He was picking at his food and it would take him half the night to eat his bowl of greens instead of 10 minutes – probably because his throat still hurt. It was a really traumatic and horrible experience that would surely have been worse if I wasn’t prepared for it. He is 100% back to normal now though, and we went to the vet to get his teeth filed down (first time he’s had that done.) Other than that the vet said he looks great, phew what a relief!! And I’m breaking up the pellets into smaller pieces (I had noticed this batch had some longer pieces) and spreading them out so he can no longer inhale them!


                      • LittlePuffyTail
                        Moderator
                        18092 posts Send Private Message

                          Glad to hear he’s back to normal. I wet Bindi’s pellets now so he gets them as a mush. He inhales them and got them stuck in his throat a few times which was very scary for me. Some bunnies think they are vacuum cleaners!


                        • bunnytowne
                          Participant
                          7537 posts Send Private Message

                            I saved this in my favorites so I know how to f ind it quickly if I forget what to do

                        Viewing 10 reply threads
                        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                        Forum DIET & CARE Bunny Heimlich Maneuver