acting normal but not eating, drinking, pooping or peeing.

[Miniimport]

Hi! First time posting. I love my bun (Pepper) so much!! I’m very scared and not sure what I should do if anything. So trying to get some advice and see if anyone has been through something similar.

My bun Pepper was spayed last Thursday (2/21). The procedure went good although the vet said it was longer and more difficulty than some of the recent spays he’s done. He said it’s because she is a very large (tall) bunny and she had a lot of fat they had to navigate around. Plus she is 3 1/2 years old.

First day (Thursday):
She was lethargic, not moving much. Not eating. No poop. She was peeing but it was on herself (because she was not moving much). Per vets orders gave her “Metacam” (for pain) and “Baytril” (Antibiotics).

Second day (Friday):
Less lethargic but still not herself. Not eating her hay or pellets. Not drinking any water. No pee. She started pooping but it was not solid. By the end of the day she started pooping very small pellets. She actually pooped a lot this day. They were just very small. Gave her her “Bayril” doses. Did not give her “Metacam” because she did not appear to be in pain. She was walking around, chewing her chew toys. Was able to give her a little kale, carrot stalks, spinach and carrots by hand but it only totaled 1/4cup. She is a 8 lb bunny.

Third day (Saturday):
Brought her to the vet in the morning. The vet thought it might be GI Stasis. He gave her a injection he said “it would help move thing along”. He also gave her a fluid injection. It must of been like 8 oz of fluid he injected under her skin! Went home. Still not eating pellets or hay. Not drinking water. Peeing but not as much as she did pre-surgery. Hardly pooping (like 10 small pellets all day). I was able to hand feed her some kale, carrot stalks, and carrot. It only amounted to 1/4cup total. By the end of the day she started acting like her old self. She was active, cuddling with me, chewing on her toys.

Fourth day (today 2/24):
Back to her old self! She was active, cuddling with me, chewing on her toys. She was even climbing on her cage! The problem is she is hardly pooping at all (like 5 small pellets) and only peed once and it was no more than a table spoon amount. She keeps going over to her litter box but nothing comes out. Still not eating pellets or hay. Not drinking water. I was able to hand feed her some kale, carrot stalks, and carrot. It only amounted to 1/4cup total.

I go back to work tomorrow so I’m worried! She is going to be all alone. Should I bring her to the vet again? I just brought her to the vet a day ago. She’s acting fine so I’m confused. She does not seem to be dehydrated. I did the skin elasticity test and her sling bounced right back into place. If I need to take off work to bring her to the vet I will but I just want to make sure I’m not being a over protective pet parent. Any advice is helpful THANK YOU!!

[Mm]

Can you syringe feed her some critical care? It’s not good for going almost food less for dyas

[Doodler]

I’m sorry your girl is still off.

Did you tell your vet that you didn’t give her metacam? I’m not sure what instructions the vet gave you but that’s really something she should have been given. In my experience most vets give a pain injection on the day of the spay that is good for 24 hours and the metacam starts on the day after. If she didn’t get an injection then it makes sense to start it the same day as the spay but she definitely should have gotten more the next few days as well. A lot of times we aren’t able to tell easily whether they are in pain. Bunnies hide this very well.

[Kiki]

I would give her the rest of the meds. It took Indie about 3 days to get back to normal but she is a lot younger. I imagine the older they are that it takes them a minute longer to bounce back. Syringe feed critical care, you can add some pineapple juice to the water to peak her interest , or maybe hay tea that everyone keeps talking about. Try a small piece of banana, that got Indie going. I hope she gets back to normal soon.

[Miniimport]

Thank you for the suggestion! Syringe feeding is going to be really traumatizing for her. I tried doing it a couple days ago and there was no way I could keep her still long enough. She kept growling at me. She hates being force feed anything. I found her at a park so when I got her she was already full grown. When I first got her I tried to get her used to me holding her and picking her up but she put up a big fight. I think she was already too old and had not gotten used to being handled when she was younger. If I did force feed her it would have to be a 2 people job and she would be kicking and growling the whole time. I’m ok with doing that if that’s what’s needed! I’d do anything for her! I thought about using the “rabbit burrito “ method but I’m scared she is going to kick and rip a stitch.

Do you think I should force feed her today? She is eating a small (1/4cup) of veggies on her own. She did pee a small amount (1/16 cup) and pooped (10 small pellets).

[Miniimport]

Thank you for your advice! That’s great info! What is hay tea? Pepper used to love bananas but now she won’t have anything to do with them now.

I stopped giving Pepper the Metacam because when I went to give her the second dose I noticed that she was acting like her old self. Because was acting like her old self I tried giving her veggies for the first time and she ate a small amount. At the time that was a huge improvement! I figured that the Metacam had warn off (because I had not given her the second dose) and if she was eating and acting like her self when it had warn off then maybe it was the Metacam that was making her sick. I told my vet all of this and he said it’s ok to stop giving it to her.

When I brought her in to the vet a couple days ago the vet told me to stop giving her the Baytril because he though that she might be one of the rare bunnies that gets sick to stomach on Baytril. I have not seen any improvement since stopping Baytril.

The other reason the vet said to stop both meds is that it got to the point that it was almost impossible to give her meds orally. I think this was because I traumatized her one night trying to force syringe feed her. She has never let me handle her or pick her up. When I try to give her syringe she kicks, wiggles out of my hands and growls at me. I thought of using the burrito method but I’m scared she is going to kick and rip a stitch.

[Author]

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