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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.

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Forum DIET & CARE Miso has not drank for 4 days!!

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    • miso's mom
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        My rabbit miso has not drank in 4 days. we were gone on vacation for 2 weeks and typically she is a cage free bun in my apartment so my sister in law i suspect strongly had her caged the entire time even though she said she took her out i dont believe it.  

        what ever long story short we come back, first two days she starts acting funny hiding and what not, we figured she would be mad, then her eating decreased (this was a week ago) then she stops eating and drinking, i take her to vet and she said partial milid GI stacis.  they gave her SUB q fluids and sent me home with them to administer them.  I was given pain meds and the GI stimlant.  so she immediately started eating hay or her own, slowly as of yesterday started eating greens. oh and since that day at the vet which was 3 days ago she is back to her usual self, hopping being cute, coming out …no signs that she is not feeling well, except her pooping is still low, she doesnt pig out on her veggies like she typically does and she DOES NOT DRINK WATER.

        Its so frustrating bc its one step forward two steps back. I have done EVERYTHINg to entice her to drink, the water bowl, the pedialyte, force feeding, pumpkin, the apples in the water dish, the wapple drops in the water, NOTHING. she typically drinks a lot overnight and now nothing not one drop.  its so frustrating like how can she go 4 days with not having one sip of water.  yea yea i know she can get it from other sources like sub q and what not, and veggies but she typically drinks a lot and pees a lot…. Even if shes hydrated she should get thirsty by night time bc we administer it at 7 am (50 mls) , so by 10pm she SHOULD be thirsty she is a very thirsty bun, and she barely eats wet veggies… 

        has anyone gone through this? I actually cried over this yesterday because i am so frustrated… she acts normal but she doesnt in terms of apeptite and drinking. oh and yes i do give critical care….


      • Bam
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          It can take quite some time before a rabbit completely recovers from stasis issues. A month is not extremely rare.

          That she’s acting like her self is a very good sign. I have little experience with bunnies getting sub q fluids, but I know one member here had trouble getting her bunny to drink while he was still on sub q fluids. Is she peeing like she should?

          You could give your vet a quick call and ask if she needs to drink more even with the sub q fluids, if they think she does, you could syringe her water if she absolutely refuses to drink voluntarily. You seem to have tried every trick in the book. If you rinse her veggies in water just before you serve them so they’re dripping wet, that may get more fluids into her. But perhaps you are already doing this.


        • Sr. Melangell
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            As for her not drinking could you give her a bowl of water if she has a bottle? Olly didn’t drink when he came here, he had a bottle in his cage and never went near it, so my friend said they are ground animals and some like a bowl rather than a bottle and Olly drank a lot of water straight away, he then tinkled and it was a funny white colour and only a few little stools. (Poops) (Olly is a rescue bunny, ill treated by his last owners, wrong foods and things thrown at him.) I went to talk to a man in the pet store who told me that Olly probably had a water infection from dehydration and suggested a bit of cabbage and give him some pineapple, next day he was OK.
            If Olly isn’t eating I offer him a strawberry or a bit of banana, if he takes that, I know he is OK, but sometimes I have to tell him its for him, because he is a bunny that gives me a lot of love even before I give him his dry food.
            Has something scared your bunny? A loud bang, some shouting whilst she was out of her cage? It could be that if you feed her outside her cage she is frightened something is going to happen again and she might prefer eating in her cage and being covered up.
            I hope she is OK soon.


          • LBJ10
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              I agree about the sub q fluids. She probably just doesn’t feel thirsty. As long as she is peeing okay, then I wouldn’t be overly worried.


            • miso's mom
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                @bam, i mean she is peeing not a lot but she is, as i said basically she is a bun who drinks a lot of water typically so she typically pees a lot. the sub q fluid is so minor its like 50mls a day so she does seem to bee a lot less but she IS peeing. I did call the vet and they said that i could try syringe feeding her but she literally spits it out, she doesnt even want to lick it she lets it drip out of her mouth. she is so picky and stubborn. and what i do is i do rinse them and in between i spray them with cold water from a spray bottle to keep them always moist n fresh. i am so frustrated. from what it appears she hasnt pooped since last night but again, she is hopping around and being so happy and her normal self no signs of being sick…

                @pinky i did put a bowl, i put lots all over the house, i even put floating chuns of apple to entice her and no she doesnt care. she also doesnt know how to drink from a bowl because she is a bottle drinker. she goes up to the bowl smells it and runs away. i also put pedialyte in a bowl and no she doesnt want that either.

                @LB i hope you’re right. 🙁


              • LBJ10
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                  Does she seem adequately hydrated? You could always delay giving her the sub q fluids to see if she decides to drink on her own then. Sometimes we see something similar with force feeding. Bunny is being filled up with critical care and such, so they don’t feel hungry enough to eat pellets on their own. Sometimes the person will hold off on the force feeding a little bit to see if they can get a hunger response before continuing to force feed.


                • Bam
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                    Have you done tummy rubs? It often gets things moving. This is a good video, but if your rabbit isn’t as compliant as this rabbit is in the vid, you could sit her in your knee while you do the rubbing.

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbyC6CWbm5M


                  • miso's mom
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                      How do i know if shes hydrated? well, were on day 5, still not a sip of water from her bottle, i left a bowl but i dont know if she had any throughout the night. I doubt it because she has never drank from a bowl and i dont know if she would know what to do. I wish the person i bought her from told me to change her to a bowl, and told me a good diet to keep her on. I didnt learn the best things to feed a bun until i spoke to the vet who is a bun specialist. So far i delayed this morning giving her the fluids as you suggested. she DID eat some greens last night on her own, baby greens mixed variety. her poop is still very tiny little pebbles though i am not sure if thats normal. I am thinking of doing x ray tomorrow if she doesnt start eating and pooping more. she is still acting absoutely normal which is a huge relief.

                      @bam yes i do give her the rubs, she hates it. She is such a picky bratty bunny, she is totally not comoliant she tries to jump onto me so i can stop or run away but none the less i have been holding her down while she is completely freaking out and trying to lightly palpate and massage her belly 🙁

                      My question is, is it normal to not drink from her bottle for 5 days now????? has anyone heard of anything like this? refusal of water for this long?


                    • Sarita
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                        My rabbit rarely drinks water – just a few sips here and there. He drinks from a bowl which I clean and refill daily and I’ve only seen him drink a few times a few sips.


                      • miso's mom
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                          i understand but my bun drinks A LOT and from her bottle, she has never used a bowl she comes up sniffs it and turns her back on it. :-I


                        • LBJ10
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                            Doing the skin “tent” test doesn’t work very well in rabbits since their skin is so springy. It usually doesn’t tent unless the bunny is severely dehydrated. You can look at her pee though, dark and concentrated urine suggests dehydration. Some people say their eyes will appear sunken as well.

                            I don’t think what you are experiencing is unusual. If she is eating greens and getting sub q fluids, she probably isn’t going to feel compelled to drink water. You said she has pooped a little, which is better than nothing, and you said she has been peeing.


                          • Bam
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                              In winter my bunny Bam drinks his 200 ml/day. This time of year he gets plenty of freshly rinsed leafy greens, and he doesn’t drink from his bottle or his bowl at all. He pees like he should though. So drinking depends very much on what the bunny is eating (and in your case of course the sub qs).


                            • Bailey&Alec
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                                DON”T CRY ANYMORE… YOUR BUNNY IS WELL!

                                You’ve been to the vet, gotten sub-Q fluids, and Miso has already recovered to the point of eating, producing pellets, and being active again (nothing is as heartbreaking as the ‘facing the wall’ lethargy – the shutdown bunnies go through that is the last sign before it’s too late). What you are now describing is instead a bunny coming back to health!  
                                  
                                I literally signed up just to answer you…

                                I went through this with Bailey and he did not drink for nearly a week after sub-cutaneous fluids, motility drugs, pain killers and antibiotics. But, if your bunny is eating fresh greens again then she is getting a lot of moisture. If bunny is producing pellets, then the gut is working and moving again. Only when this isn’t happening is your getting more water into her critical. Bunnies that aren’t eating need water syringed or subcutaneously. Sub-Q fluids save lives! But your little Miso has plenty of water now and is letting you know it by eating.

                                Miso may also be eating many of her own pellets (restoring her gut biome) and so you may not see as many pellets lately, but if you see some pellets and they look decent, this is all very encouraging. You did everything right, and did not delay getting to the vet. You saved Miso’s life!

                                I cried over Bailey for days (and I am a 40 year old male, who never had, nor envisioned, wanting or loving a rabbit) when Bailey had his stasis event, and I was terrified at not being able to decipher any real solidly informative info (sometimes even from the vet) but with that experience I tried to become as expert as I could. (I have also now found thankfully some vets I trust.)

                                If bunny is eating, active, and producing reasonably sound pellets, you are out of the woods. Eating fresh greens will carry bunny through with plenty of moisture until normal appetite and thirst resume. It will take time. I think for Bailey it was about a week to start drinking water like normal. I could check my notes. I know I was very concerned about it. But he was eating again, and seeming better, so I stopped worrying and trusted the sub-Q fluids and fresh greens were moisture enough. It was scary, but I wasn’t going to force it if he was improving otherwise. If Miso is not eating (even a little) that would be serious. When bunny stops eating, literally syringing her with water can be urgent. If bunny is well enough to be eating this is not such a big concern and all the force feeding and syringing can be more stressful than good. I’m sure your dosing Miso with regular meds is stressful enough.

                                Also, I would stop using pedialite. You no longer have a hydration emergency. Plain water is best, or lactated ringers solution when hydration is critical. If you are putting anything in Miso’s water this could be discouraging drinking. Stop the pumpkin and other stuff if you haven’t already. Those are pre-vet, home-remedies for stasis and not helping anything if bunny is back to eating and not showing pain, unless your vet advised force-feeding for some reason.

                                It’s time to get Miso ‘back to normal’ with her diet and watering – just put out her normal things and let her go at her own pace. Feed at the regular times and throw out what she doesn’t eat. Her appetite will get better slowly. She doesn’t need extra watering. If she stops eating again then you can start worrying again.

                                Let me round this out with a few words of what I learned from Bailey about stasis generally.

                                First off (though you see advice to the contrary everywhere) fruit is not necessary in a bunny’s diet AT ALL. This was hard for me to believe, but some bunnies with regular recurring stasis were found to live perfectly well once all fruit and even fresh veggies were removed from their diets. Timothy hay and quality pelleted food being all they need for the rest of their happy lives. When Bailey went through stasis the second time, he only wanted hay and pellets for a good time after (building the level of crude fiber back up), which I worried about until I found published veterinary advice saying that this was more than sound as a complete whole life-diet and actually recommended for rabbits with recurring stasis. Bunnies know this. When then are sick the first thing they want back is hay, not the junk food. Ironically it may have been my desire to give Bailey a variety (which humans are always advised to eat) of fresh things in his diet that caused the gastro-intestinal upsets. Variety is bad, consistency is good. Don’t be afraid of fresh greens, but do start to be wary of fruit.

                                Bailey (let me know) and has come back to eating his ‘salads’ and carrots (with enthusiasm) but I no longer give him ANY fruit. I used to think he needed it. Bunnies don’t, and sugar is the real danger for them. Many rabbits tolerate the ‘suggested’ diet that is offered everywhere – and they certainly crave it – but is not necessarily the best for bunny health. My new vet has actually said – all he NEEDS is hay. The rest is nice, but not necessary. When I protested with ‘but he really loves all that stuff, and lets me know he wants it’, the vet said, ‘I love french fries, but they are not good for me’. If your bun is getting sick you need to figure out what it’s from. Bailey still gets more carrots than he should out of me, but not fruit, not any more – and (may it continue to be so) we have no more stasis events.

                                Miso may have been stressed, mistreated, over or under-heated, over or under-hydrated, or just fed wrong. Be careful how much fruit, sugar, and starch you (and your caretakers) feed. A little fruit once a week as a treat if you must – but in terms of nutritional health, none at all is perfectly fine. Some carrots and bowls of greens are probably safe for most all buns, but I really believe fruit is a danger for many rabbits.

                                This is a soon to be healthy bunny:

                                ” …she [Miso] immediately started eating hay or her own, slowly as of yesterday started eating greens. oh and since that day at the vet which was 3 days ago she is back to her usual self, hopping being cute, coming out …no signs that she is not feeling well, except her pooping is still low, she doesnt pig out on her veggies like she typically does and she DOES NOT DRINK WATER.”

                                Take it slow and try not to worry. Your vet visit saved her life. And the most critical part was her subcutaneous fluids.

                                Best wishes,

                                Bailey & Alec


                              • miso's mom
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                                  @Bailey & Alec, you’re so sweet for typing all this out. i am so glad you went through something this similar, i know its ridiculous how a little BUN has turned my family upside down. same with my husband, he didnt care or watna rabbit and now he is texting me from work on updates, didnt sleep last week with me staying up to check on her… its amazing how they get under her skim ((((UPDATE ON MISO!!))) vet told me to remove pellets, keep her variety of lettuce as well as leafy greens LOW on calcium, i did exactly what u said, i expermineted on dif greens and therew away what she isnt interested in ! she LOVES LOVES CARROT TOPS AND DANDILIONS!! she is like literally eating almost back to normal!! HAY AND GREENS ONLY. no veggies NO treats NO FRUIT! and she has a HUGE sweet tooth. Her pooping is majorly inicrased, she is peeing normal, eating slowly but surely more and more every day, hopping around being her usual playful naughty mischevious bunny self, the ONLY thing i would say is that she has STILL NOT DRANK WATER. I DID buy a squirt bottle and every 45 mins i go up and squirt her greens with a thick water mist so they are NONSTOP very dewy and moist….so iknow she is getting her water source majorly from that…..

                                  vet said, no more sub q no more medication, no more critcal care, she said to let her be and this no drinking is a transient period.

                                  again she sems to be peeing normal and several times a day, maybe not as before tons but before she would drink a ton from her water.

                                  I am SO glad to sign up here its so nice to have support from others, this is so stressful and my family and friends dont understand ….

                                  THANK you to all those who responded! i literally sat here and read everything with my husband word for word and discussed it lol ….

                                  @BAM and @LB i took her off sub q as someone here suggested to try to see if she gets a thirst, well she hasnt but i HAVE mojorly changed her diet with wet wet greens which i never did before so maybe she is getting water source from that, because her pee is of normal consistency and she seems to pee a fair amount.

                                  I DID put water bowls throughout the house and her cage as well, she just doesnt touch it, but everything else seems like its getting back to normal …its so weird, maybe this is the NEW miso 2.0 version, more wet greens very little pellet and lots of hay.

                                  i am SOOOO happy to to type right now and look at her on my right and see her eating this moment…

                                  thanks guys so mich 😀


                                • Bam
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                                    I’m so glad she’s doing so much better!!! Do you want me to delete your empty post?


                                  • miso's mom
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                                      yes please delete posts, i tried so hard to post a picture of miso and it didnt work, and thank you!! 🙂


                                    • Bam
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                                        You can post pictures by writing the post, submitting it, clicking edit. Then click attachments and upload a file. They file musn’t be bigger than 500 Kb. Then click insert and submit again.

                                        It would be nice to see a picture of Miso!


                                      • miso's mom
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                                          Update on miso, everything is back to normal however STILL not a sip of water from bottle or bowl. will she ever drink again? she still is peeing normal but it baffles me because she was a very thirsty bunny before and would wake us in the middle of the night from drinking so much water….any waysi couldnt post a picture but here is a link to her image

                                          https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne…e=55F09C7C

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                                      Forum DIET & CARE Miso has not drank for 4 days!!