Thank you, Mikey. I feel so badly, because I have always jumped the gun on bringing the buns to the vet, and I did that a few times with Precious. She had frequent belly aches, and they were always gas. Each time they Xrayed her belly, pronounced her clear of blockage and sent me home with Metacam and Critical Care. I also always keep simethicone and ranitidine on hand. The only thing I don’t have subQ fluids, and of course, IV meds like Reglan. I learned that I could get Precious through her episodes without the stress and expense of an immediate vet visit. That last time, though, something went wrong. The usual treatment didn’t work, and by the time I began to worry about how long it was lasting, my regular vet was closed. So I stayed up all night with her, and she seemed like she was just about to start eating and pooping. She was staying warm on her own, hopping around, grooming herself, and once in a while she would go to her hay/greens and almost eat but then stop. I even listened with my stethoscope for belly sounds- they were diminished by not silent, and they started to pick up at about 4-6am. Now I wish I had just taken her. Although who knows if it would’ve helped- when I did bring her to my vet, she sent us straight to Tufts, where they delayed treatment for FIVE HOURS. I think that if she had a chance after my delay in taking her, that took it away.

I wish I could do it over. I’m trying to let go of the guilt but it keeps coming back to me. Maybe if she had gotten really aggressive treatment, IV Reglan and fluids, right at the crucial time, maybe she would’ve lived.

I am not feeding any pellets right now. I’m going to order some new pellets, and until then Luke can do without them.

The only thing I can think of is that we got 3 new boxes of hay in the past few weeks. It is really fresh and smells great, but I wonder if there could be some type of weed in it…? I’m going to email the place and ask, although it’s a small business and I think they would’ve sent out a warning if they heard of any illness or if one of their bunnies got sick after eating it. To not let Luke eat over $120 worth of hay, and completely start over with hay seems crazy but it would be worth it if that was the culprit!

If anyone has ever had an experience with buns getting sick from hay- or pellets- please let me know! Sorry for the long posts- I try to keep them braid and still end up going on forever.

Thank you so much, Mikey and Bam. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but this morning Luke was not eating again. I grabbed him, gave simethicone and did belly rubs. I could feel huge bubbles or something moving through his belly, but it just wasn’t getting better. He was breathing hard and kept panicking and trying to claw his say our of my arms. I have him Metacam but that didn’t seem to touch it. All I could think of is a blockage, or some horrendous infection that causes bloat. I rushed him,to my old vet, since Im so disgusted with my former regular vet and Tufts. He immediately took him,and began Xrays and treatment. He said he doesn’t see anything that looks like a blockage, so he’s giving Reglan Iv, fluids, force feeding Critical Care. He is sending him,home with me at 12:30 with Reglan and Critical Care. I have a little Metacam on hand and can call if I need more.

I’m stopping at the store for Pedialyte and Benebac and fresh greens. This is just crazy. I’m only using the be and new hay that came in after Precious died. If its the hay, it must be the other hay that they had before the,new shipment. I am really scared that I will lose Luke.

I’ll keep you all posted. Thanks so much!

Oh yeah- I found a clumped together string of Luke’s poop full of fur, and a peice of my couch bitten. That could be the issue, but he chews on,everything and doesn’t eat it. So that COULD be it, and just crazy timing, but I don’t know…

Thank you so much for your replies, Mikey, Bam, Dface and Fluffykins. You are all making this more bearable to get through!

Lukie is doing pretty well ☺ He’s eating hay as we speak, and has pooped!!! Yay!!! He actually went a couple hours after arriving home from the vets- so just like Precious, he went well over 12 hours without pooping. Yet his situation seems so much different. He was in an insane amount of pain this morning, I was sure his stomach was rupturing as I held him- yet it was not even blocked or even in complete stasis. And there was Precious, nonchalantly grooming herself and hopping around, with her stomach obstructed. I don’t get bunnies at all.

When we got home from the vet, Luke wouldn’t come out of his carrier. I took him out and put him on the floor, and he just crouched there shaking. I was so scared that he was in worse shape than before. His belly even felt hard and like there was a lump in it. But I made myself stay calm and put the blanket over him and did very light belly rubs, and he stopped shaking and his belly relaxed and I felt movement, but he wasn’t reacting painfully. He wouldn’t leave my lap for the longest time though, and Luke normally hates being held!

My vet send me home with Reglan- well, metoclopramide tablets. They are split into 1/8ths. I crushed one and gave it to Luke in water with a dab of maple syrup (the honey I have is ancient). He didn’t like it at all, is very stressed, as I knew he would be. However I felt that skipping the dose just because he’s eating and pooping would be foolish. He could go back to the way he way before and then I would be furious with myself.

Hopefully things will improve steadily from here. I’ll keep you all posted- thanks for listening!!!

Thank you all for your support ☺. I can’t tell you how much it helps!

I’ve noticed my bunnies are often tolerant of being held when they are sick too! It’s usually a sign that has pains have passed when they begin,to struggle to get down. They are so intuitive and smart.

Lukie is doing OK today. I’m nervous because he is not better than yesterday. I was hoping that I would see some real improvement in appetite and pooping quantity today, but he hasn’t pooped since early this morning and is still only eating small amounts of hay. He will eat kale, apples and banana pieces, and oats too, but if course I need to be careful not to feed to much sugary fruit, and I just gave him maybe 8 oats, really just to see if he would eat them. I’m too afraid that they will have a binding effect on his tummy. If anyone knows differently, please let me know, but I’ve always thought oats were a real junk food for bunnies, to be given in tiny bits of at all. He has eaten some cecals though, which is great! And has not left any laying around- also good.

I gave him 1/8 tablet of Reglan this morning, 0.6 ml of Metacam, and about 5mls of Critical Care a2nd pumpkin, plus a little plain water. It’s hard to tell if he’s in pain- he was doing this little chomping thing with his mouth earlier that he doesn’t do normally, so I gave him the Metacam.

I’m thinking that he should be getting more Reglan maybe- 1/8 of a 10mg tablet is only 1.25mg, and I thought I saw that rabbits get 1mg/kg tid. Of anyone has experience with Reglan (metoclopramide) dosage, please tell me what your bunny gets! I won’t do anything different on my own, but I could at least call one of my vets and ask. Also, I was reading that new research shows that Metacam should be given to rabbits at a higher dose than previously thought- 0.5mg/kg rather than 0.1-0.2mg/kg. I did see it noted on one website that it CAN be given up to 1.5mg/kg- quite a leap from the lowest dosage! So confusing. I want Luke to have enough meds to be effective, but of course not too much.

He is also grooming himself A LOT, not in one particular place really, but it’s driving me crazy because he’s molding a bit and he doesn’t need to be ingesting more hair!! I can’t stop him though, although Im making sure to give him massages and grooms to get the loose hair off.

In about an hour I’m going to give him some more Critical Care and pumkin and water. I hate chasing him and picking him up and making him eat and drink, but he’s actually pretty good about the feeding, doesn’t mind the Metacam, and LOVES the simethicone. I guess I’ll give him a dose of that too, unless it can be given with Raglan?

Oh, I’m response to Bam and Mikey regarding the hay- thanks for the info!
I thought it over and since the hay comes in a variety box of 4 different hays, plus was received in 3 separate shipments, it doesn’t make sense for it to be the hay. I still check it carefully, but they get such a huge mixture that it would be hard for them to get much of the “bad” hay, if there was any.

Bam and Louisa, I think you’re right- Luke misses Precious. He spent the first couple days after she died sitting under “her” kitchen table. She lived in the kitchen, Lukie in the living room and my bedroom, although I swapped them back and forth for variety.

Does anyone else struggle with deciding to syringe feed their bunny, or let them be, when they are eating a bit on their own? It seems to upset Luke so much, but I’m afraid he’s not eating enough to get his tummy going. Ugh, so stressful.

Sorry- double post!

Thanks, Mikey ☺!

I’m pleased to report that Lukie actually ate some parsley and cilantro, which he refused all day! He has also been nibbling his hay. I syringe fed him about 15ml of Critical Care and pumpkin and gave him a dose of simethicone at about 5:00. Then I gave him a nice belly massage, which he tolerated quite well. He actually started licking my arm at one point! The only rabbit that every did that to me was my wonderful BunBun, my first bunny.

I’m just leaving the meds as is. I regret not giving Luke the Reglan a little earlier when I syringe fed him though- now I have to catch him and scare him all over again. Poor baby. But I’m afraid to skip it, because if I do and then he stops pooping or eating, I’ll be kicking myself! I’ve been frightening myself by reading up on Reglan/Propulsid, so now it makes me nervous to give it if it’s not absolutely necessary.

Well, I’m off to see if Lukie has emerged from his litter box yet. Hopefully he’s done some nice poops! And I thought I was obsessed with my rabbits’ poop before… ?

Again, thank you so much to everyone who has replied to me! ☺

Thanks again, Mikey ☺- I so appreciate you’re helping me through this!! Yeah, Lukie is a very sweet bunny. He was born in a shelter and was a year before I adopted him, so it took over 8 months for him to even let me pet him!! Since he was so mistrusting, it was extra amazing to have him get so loving. He even slept on my pillow at night for a while! Until he realized that roaming the house was much more fun ?.

Luke is doing well today, but we have a really scary experience this morning. At about 5:30am, I gave him some dandelion greens, which he had refused up until then, and he inhaled them. But then when I told him to eat his hay, he turned his back. It was time for his randitine, so I gave him that, simethicone and about 6ml of Critical Care, pumpkin and water- plus maybe 5ml extra water. Well, it must have been too much all at once with the dandelion greens, because afterward he got terrible belly pain. I think it was gas because I could feel big bubbles moving through his stomach. It was almost as bad as the pain that made me rush him to the vet yesterday morning. I gave him a dose of Metacam and just sat there holding him with his bum elevated, praying for him to feel better. He was breathing so fast I thought he might die. Even though he had just pooped, I was starting to have horrifying thoughts of a sudden obstruction, and me pushing Critical Care in there (that haunts me about Precious, thinking she may have been obstructed while I was syringe feeding her). Finally – probably really only 10 minutes later- the pain let up and he squiggled to be let go. He went and groomed himself, looking very offended, and then was munching on hay within the hour. Crazy.

He also seems to have decided I am no longer his favorite person. The past 2 nights he has slept next to me on the couch so I could cuddle and pet him, and generally wanted to be near me all the time. After the ordeal this morning, I’ve gotten bunny butt, the bunny version of flipping me off (flicking of the hind feet), and general looks of disgust when I offer him hay (although he’ll eat it if I’m not watching). He does accept greens and banana from,3 though ?. I think he might be getting back to his old self. I really hope so!

I have to work overnight (10pm-8am) tomorrow night and I’m already worried about leaving him. My husband will check on him, but doesn’t know how to pick him up or medicate him. I might start a thread asking what everyone else does about work with sick bunnies? I work with developmentally and physically disabled people, some completely bedridden, and it’s tough if someone calls out because our residents need to be cared for no matter what.

Sorry for the usual endless post!