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 HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Need some advice for a recovering bunny…

Viewing 10 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Memarie
      Participant
      93 posts Send Private Message

        Hello everyone!  It’s been a long time (two years, in fact).  I’m really happy to see that things are going well and the forums are still so active – there’s even a lot of familiar faces! 

         Ok.  So I have a problem.  I am feeling very frustrated and at a bit of a loss as to what to do… Sorry in advance for all the text!

        On Halloween my fiance and I adopted an almost 3 year old lop bunny, Molly, from our local humane society with the intention of eventually bonding her to Benton, our established bunny. She was super sweet and friendly from the start, and settled in quickly.  Things were going great until I noticed she was leaving her night droppings all over her cage… in the middle of the day!  She would be fine in the morning, evening, and overnight.  But in the afternoon I would find cecatropes all over her pen’s floor.  I took her to the vet at the shelter for an exam and was told it was likely dietary related as rabbits have delicate stomachs.  I had asked during adoption what her diet was in the shelter and mirrored it when I got home, hoping to gradually adjust it to match Benton’s.   After a thorough examination the vet said I was doing the right thing but perhaps slow down with the diet progression as this was the likely cause. 

        This was a Thursday and I immediately re-adjusted her diet accordingly.  By the end of the weekend her “diarrhea” was about the same but I was also finding uneaten cecatropes in the morning.  Monday morning Molly didn’t come running out to greet me and was disinterested in her breakfast, only halfheartedly picking at it (she’s been a piggie since we brought her home).  I called my actual vet and went in.  After informing the vet of the situation and having a second exam completed, my vet came to the same conclusion but noted some gas in the belly.  She gave me some medications for discomfort and to help with the gas, and told me to just give hay and pellets until her stomach settled.  That night I gave Molly the first dose of medications (which she took no problem) and went to bed relieved.

        Overnight she didn’t poop.  Or over the course of the entire next day and night.  She also continued to not eat and was very listless.  I called the vet first thing Wednesday and they had me come in ASAP.  Apparently her gut had stopped working (stasis?). They gave her a shot to “jump start” her gut, subcutaneous fluids, and some critical care.  Then they returned her to me and said to keep with my current medication and hay/pellet regime, but to give critical care if she doesn’t eat.  Finally yesterday and today she started leaving small, misshapen droppings in the morning (i only see them in the morning unfortunately) but the only food she eats is still critical care when i give it to her 3x per day (as per the vet).  My last dose of medications is tonight and, while her mood seems to be improved and she’s becoming a little more active again, she’s still not eating on her own or pooping very much.  I’m going to call the vet tomorrow to ask what the next step is, but I am just so worried.  I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before and feel lost.  Does anyone have any advice?  Does it sound like she’s getting better? Does it take awhile, even with medications, to get her appetite and poops back to normal? Anything I can do to encourage eating?

        (Bonus picture of the patient after a feeding of critical care)

         


      • Digmo31353
        Participant
        4 posts Send Private Message

          I’m currently going through the same thing with my Mocha. I don’t have much advice except to say just make sure that they have easy access to their food sources. How is she doing with the critical care? Is she struggling when you try to syringe feed her?


        • Roberta
          Participant
          4355 posts Send Private Message

            Bam and I have just gone through this with ) Yohio and Pascal. It’s a long slow road, weeks later and Pascal is OK only getting back to normal. I have spent weeks getting excited over small mishappen poo deposits as it is better than no poops at all. Atleast Paz never stopped eating entirely unlike Bam whose Yohio decided to stop eating and pooping. Just keep up with the treatments, cc, simethicone and lots of moist greens and hay. Keep changing the litter tray so you can monitor progress, male sure they keep moving and tummy rubs twice a day.


          • Bam
            Moderator
            16835 posts Send Private Message

              As Roberta says, it can take time. I syringe-fed CC to my Yohio every day for 4 weeks. There were days when I felt he was on his way to getting well, so I skipped a CC-meal – a few hours later he’d have fell back and just sat under my bed, hunched up, very angry and refusing to take even a pumpkin-seed.

              His underlying problem was with his teeth, but even after the vet ground them down, he wouldn’t eat so I had to keep up the CC and the simethicone and the probiotics. I also mashed baked pumpkin and fed him. Many rabbits like canned pumpkin, unsweetened, it can sometimes get them back to eating. I also gave tummy rubs. As Roberta also says, keep the litter-box clean so you can see when there’s poop and pee.

              I hope your bunny will be fine eventually, just as Yohio is now. It’s very stressful to have a sick bunny.


            • robyn and 'tipps'
              Participant
              90 posts Send Private Message

                How is Molly doing? ((( Molly)))


              • Memarie
                Participant
                93 posts Send Private Message

                  Thanks for the advice everyone!! I spent time reading through other forum posts before I made mine so I saw that this seems to be a common problem. I hope everyone else’s bunnies are feeling better! I also really appreciate your suggestions. I’m still not entirely sure what Simethicone is but it seems like something good to keep in my rabbit emergency kit… Which I will definitely make and keep on hand in the future for situations like this.
                  Anyways I am VERY a happy and relieved to report that Molly seems to be doing much better! I was feeding critical care 3x daily, offering unlimited pellets/hay, helping her exercise (she seems to likes tag), and giving tummy rubs. I popped into my vet’s clinic Saturday to pick up more critical care and talk to the staff. They said the droppings were a good sign and to just keep up what we were doing. Now it’s Monday morning and not only did she leave a TON of relatively normal looking droppings all over her cage (too relieved to care she’s not using her litter dish properly), but she ate almost all the pellets I left in her cage overnight – and that’s with a critical care feeding at midnight! She’s also back to her cuddly and sweet self
                  The only thing I am unsure of now is when to start re-introducing vegetables, as both vet #1 and #2 thought her problem was related to her diet (mostly that I was progressing it too quickly with vegetables since she had come from the humane society, and before that the street, and before that whatever her previous owners gave her). But the vet said to start slowly with a leafy green and work my way up from there.
                  Thanks again everyone for the advice and well wishes!


                • MK
                  Participant
                  751 posts Send Private Message

                    I had a bunny who’s stomach was very upset by anything more then a celery leaf. The manager of the House Rabbit Society branch here said to start with a couple leaves of parsley for a week, then three leaves, etc. So I agree with the vet, introduce them slowly. You may want to wait until she is eating normally again before introducing them.


                  • Memarie
                    Participant
                    93 posts Send Private Message

                      Thanks MK! That’s pretty much what my vet said, emphasizing the need to go slowly. Despite the return of her appetite and semi-normal droppings I’m going to wait a few more days until I think she’s stable. Especially because, while I’ve seen her eating her pellets, I haven’t really seen her eat much (if any) hay and that concerns me. Patience seems to be an important skill when bunnies are involved!


                    • Bam
                      Moderator
                      16835 posts Send Private Message

                        Great to hear that she’s doing so much better!

                        Patience is key when it comes to dealing with rabbits. It’s good for most people I think, to practice patience. It certainly has been for me.


                      • drwil
                        Participant
                        191 posts Send Private Message

                          Our bunny Taylor had the exact same thing with loose stool and cecatropes. Then the stasis, recovery followed by ravenous hunger.
                          The stasis acted like a reset of her system no more loose stool.
                          One local breeder (who knows a lot and never breeds more rabbits than she can “home” and never culls rabbits) said to cut back on greens like lettuce.
                          The rabbit may beg for fresh veggies but too much can cause diarrhea.


                        • robyn and 'tipps'
                          Participant
                          90 posts Send Private Message

                            Great to read Molly is on the mend! (((Molly))) Excellent news!

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

                        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Need some advice for a recovering bunny…