He needs to eat and not eating is worse than the stress when you feed him. Can you get someone to help you hold him while you feed him? If someone can hold him in his/her lap, you can gently hold the head and insert the tip of the syringe in the gap just behind his incisor teeth, just as you have been doing. Then you gently push the plunger so that he gets a small mouthful. Wait until he’s chewed and swallowed. Then repeat. Divide the daily dose of CC into 3-5 feedings (3 if he eats sth of his own, 5 if he doesn’t eat anything at all$. It’s normal for quite a bit of the CC to dribble out. After feeding-time you just wipe the excess off with a moist cloth. Hopefully he’ll want to groom himself as soon as you put him back down -that’s a good sign, if he does that.

It’s a little bit tricky to syringe-feed a bunny, but it gets easier with practice.

ETA: It’s actually a great sign that he fights you. It means he has good strength. A sick bunny that just accepts being syringe fed is a thousand times more worrying. Lying relaxed with his legs out and tiny binkies sound so very promising I suspect he’s starting to recover.

Please report back on how you are getting on!

Is your vet still open so you can run back today to see if they can administer his meds or show you some techniques? Usually you could hide the meds in some veggies or fruit, but since your bun is just a baby, unfortunately it’s not an option. Will he lick up the critical care some more if you put it on a plate?

Where did you put the syringe?
If you put it in the mouth behind one of the front incisors the bunny has to eat it. He can only spit it out from there, if you put a little mashed banana into the mix, it should make it tastier. The best thing is to stay calm and offer hay dipped in apple juice and water or veggies dipped in apple juice and water. Maybe offer tastier veggies like kale and give some herbs as well.
Good luck!

Oh oops I didn’t notice that you said where to put the syringe, sorry. But he seems happy so all is not over! ?

OK, 8 weeks? I thought they had their mum’s milk up until 10 weeks with pellets, maybe I’m wrong, I’ve only had adult buns, I’ll say my magic word and see if this lady can help you.

Ready? 1, 2, 3, ‘Bam’ sick baby bunny.

Oh bam replied whilst I was typing

It sounds great so far. A healthy bun should be adamant about getting “dirt” off of his fur. A long, good clean after a feeding is very good! And then he hopped around to you and sniffed your leg -again a good sign, a healthy young bun should be inquisitive.

As you might know, a bunny need to eat some of its poop. It’s a special type of poop called cecotropes. The bun should eat them right as the come out. I’m thinking that was what he was doing, and that’s really good too. This poop contains essential nutrients and is very important for the bun’s health. If it was just poop that had got stuck in his fur, that’s great too – buns should be very interested in keeping themselves clean.

Critical Care dosage for a 1 lb bun is 1.7 tablespoons dry powder per 24 hours. If he weighs less, give a little less. This dosage is if the bun eats nothing else. It’s good that you gave a little water in between mouthfuls. Hydration is important.

You’re not ruining your relationship. When I had to feed one of my buns CC 3 times a day for three weeks, it actually seemed to create a really strong bond between us. But that was when the whole ordeal was over – he was SO angry with me those 3 weeks of syringe feeding!!!

ETA: Charlie’s Angel, buns tend to be weaned at 5 weeks, or even earlier. They should still be with their mum and siblings until they’re 8 weeks. Dogs are also weaned and ready for a new home at 8 weeks, but cats should stay 12 weeks with their mums.

How is he doing now?

Get well soon!

You can give him water. but I’d hold off on food util you’ve seen the vet. There could be a blockage. Water will help soften that up, and a vet will probably give sub Q fluids, but you can’t tell if there’s a blockage without a tummy x-ray.

BTW, if he has trouble drinking, ask the vet if you can give him hay tea. Dutch vets prescribe it often for sick or recovering buns.
Hay tea is made by soaking hay in boiled water and letting the mix cool down to room temperature. The water absorbs nutrients from the hay, and many rabbits like the flavour. It encourages them to drink more. Hay tea doesn’t keep well though, change it daily.

I agree with Bam – tell the vet you’re not leaving without an x-ray!

I’m glad he’s nibbling! Water is key. Did he get sub q fluids?

I don’t want to give him as much CC seeing as he has been eating. Is this ok? I still want to give him water and his meds, and he seemed to like a bit of this carrot puree, so a tiny smidge of that mixed in with a bit of CC, but I don’t really want to force it anymore. Do you think this is ok? It just seems counter intuitive to force feed a bunny who shows signs of feeding himself.

I have to say, I agree with this. If he’s eating hay, that is fantastic fibre to get things moving. You can always ring your vet clinic to find out for certain if its okay to drop the CC feeds since he’s eating. Another thing you can do is still offer CC but mix it thicker and put it in a bowl in the hopes that he’ll eat it himself.
If he drinking more now that he is eating hay?

He does sound as if he’s more comfortable.

He also still really has quite a buldgy belly, and stuffing it full doesn’t seem to me to be the right thing to do… but thats just a gut feeling.

Is this the lower abdomen? The stomach is tucked up high partially under the ribs. If there is a tight round ball bulging out there, its a problem. But a rabbit would not be lying calmly on his bed if that was the case. So Im presuming it’s his lower abdomen where the rest of the GI tract is that looks bulgy. It can certainly look that way when they are lying stretched out. It may be he has a bit of gas there also. Rabbits normally allow you to massage this area if it is gas, as it gives some relief. At other times, they often won’t let you touch there. So if they allow it, it’s a good indicator that gas might be bothering them.

While I was syringe feeding critical care to my bunny, I followed every feeding with a few syringes of water, till I had fed him 2-3 cups of water a day via syringe. Not easy, but very very important. Fluid helps the food create the volume that It needs to pass through the animal. He hated being syringe fed, but he is now also the easiest bunny in the entire world to handle. He allows me to bath him, groom, him and trim his hair and clip his nails for up to 2 hours at a time. Without a towel. Hows that for easy to handle! Don’t worry about the bond. Like Bam said, it actually is easier after syringe feeding. He will learn that you didn’t eat him, and that you comforted him after the handling. Right now, you need to focus on water and critical care. How are you holding him – feet down, belly up, etc? A little practice and confidence will go a long way toward making it easier. Also – this is new for your bunny. So with a little time, he’ll be more accustomed to what you are doing.

You were asking if bunny will be OK because you had to feed him yourself, well. Olly had GS and nearly died, of course he didn’t like being syringe fed and one day I tried and he pushed it away from him and stated eating out of his bowl, I think rabbits remember that we or a vet helped them get better, because when Olly has to go to the vets he gives the vets and nurses bunny kisses and licks their face.