Another bunny refusing to eat post

[blossomisabun]

My 1-year-old Jersey Wooly, Blossom, decided to stop eating abruptly on Sunday. My beloved rabbit Carl, previous to Blossom, died very painfully and traumatically from GI stasis, screaming in my arms and I am still traumatized by the flashbacks. So when a night passed and Blossom still hadn’t eaten, refusing even his favorite little chunk of banana, and I could tell none of the poop in the boxes was his (also have a young female lionhead) I called the emergency vet yesterday morning.

With Carl, I chose to just treat and he died only a few hours after leaving the vet, so I choked out the credit card and agreed to diagnostics. When we arrived his temp was 99 but they got it to normal quickly with warm IV and it stayed up. X-rays showed no obstruction. His teeth are in great shape. I did not do lab work because of the budget and the vet felt they weren’t warranted for a young rabbit.

So now here we are at home, yet another night having passed, dealing with force feeding Critical Care and dosing metcam and famotidine, and he still won’t eat. He’s acting normal, hopping about the house when given play time. I have separated him from his friend, who is right next to him in another kennel so they can still lay next to each other. But he WON’T eat.

There have been no changes at all to anything in his life, so I can’t see this as stress induced. His diet hasn’t changed. He has no injuries. What else could be causing this? I am only able to force feed him all day today because the whole state (Texas) seems to have shut down for Ice-aggedon. 

Thoughts?

[Muchelle]

I’m so sorry to read about what happened to your Carl. About Blossom, what was his normal diet before this happened? Maybe we can pinpoint some food that upset him? Also, did he suffer any strong stress? (other animals, loud noises, loud guests…)

[blossomisabun]

Definitely nothing out of the usual. All his same foods. All the same human and animals in the house, with no guests, noises or anything. I’m fairly certain he ate as usual Sunday morning but noticed he refused Sunday night. He was scheduled for grooming for the first time yesterday and we were joking that he was wise to it, but when he was still refusing Monday morning, I knew he wasn’t going to the groomer and to the vet, instead.

[DanaNM]

He might need a different motility medicine. Depending on which part of the gut slows down, different meds can be effective.

I would call the vet and let them know, and bring this up. I’m not familiar with the one you mentioned, but cisipride and metaclopromide act on different areas of the gut.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

You can combine metclopramide and famotidine, or give metclopramide instead of famotidine. As Dana says, different motility meds work on diffrent parts of the GI canal.

I don’t know if Jersey Woolies molt, but GI trouble is rather common when a bun enters a biggish molt. But sometimes you never find out the reason, esp if it is an isolated occurence.

[blossomisabun]

I can’t get out today because of the icy roads, I have to go back to work all day tomorrow, and we’re headed out of town on Saturday, so this is definitely adding even more stress to the situation.

Jersey Woolies do molt and he had a TON of mats removed yesterday at the vet since we didn’t make it to the groomer, but his xrays showed no masses or blockages. I had been concerned over that or over a rug he had torn apart a few days ago but the vet said there is no sign of anything internal.

[Deleted User]

There could be some other cause for him not wanting to eat, besides dental or GI issues. After Bombur’s neuter he stopped eating, and we discovered his neuter site was starting to become infected. If he’s in pain in another part of his body or he some other issue going on, he could stop eating due to that.

[blossomisabun]

That actually did happen to Blossom after he was neutered. He chewed on the area so much he irritated it and it become big and inflamed. Once that was taken care of, he began eating again right away. That was in June. We didn’t find anything on him that could be causing pain yesterday, but she did prescribe the metcam just in case there is something and to help with possible pain of pooping again.

[DanaNM]

Ugh, that must be so stressful.

I would keep pushing fluids (you can add extra water to his CC), encourage movement, massage his tummy and along his spine.

Has he pooped at all?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bunny Bride]

First off I am so sorry to hear about what you went through with Carl, it does sound very traumatic. My 1 year old lop is also in stasis right now so I can imagaine how scared you are. Keep giving the critical care, unfortunately I could not get my rabbit to take any at home. I did have him hospitalized at the ER vet for a little over 24 hours, not sure if that was helpful or not. I don’t know if that is an option for you, but once the weather there improves you may want to consider it if things aren’t improving. I have had mine home for almost 3 days now and progress is very, very slow. I definitely would recommend the Reglan (metclopramide) that others have mentioned. After giving a dose or two of this, my rabbit began eating small amounts of hay and lettuce on his own which he was not doing. Still no pellets though. The Cisapride seems to help with encouraging him to poop, so you may want to try that too. I know its hard right now since you can’t get to the vet.

As far as the cause, I really can’t help because at this time I believe mine to be stress related from an initial vet visit for a check up. That night he stopped eating. So if you can’t think of anything that stressed Blossom out then maybe a good evaluation is needed to find the underlying cause. Like others, I’ve seen a lot of dental cases that led to it.

I’m still not out of the woods myself, but feel free to message me if you need to talk or have any questions. Sending good thoughts to Blossom for a speedy recovery, please keep us updated.

[blossomisabun]

There have been very few, very small poops, from overnight. He has not gone at all today, nor will he eat or accept water or CC by syringe. Further evaluation is not really in my budget. Yesterday was not in my budget and created even more financial hardship to an already difficult situation in my house. When everything is going well, these 2 rabbits are not any more expensive than our cats, but this is not one of those times.

[DanaNM]

Progress can be very very slow at first with stasis… I’ve heard it called “like trying to jump start a train”.

Some bunnies will take CC more readily if it has canned pumpkin mixed in, so if you have any on hand you can try that as well.

Please do keep trying to syringe feed… even if he only eats a little bit it’s very important to keep him eating.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bunny Bride]

I understand, it is super expensive when they get sick. Does the stomach feel hard, do you think he is gassy? Mine didn’t drink water for the first day back from ER. But of course that can’t go on for long. Is Blossom doing any teeth grinding sounds? Mine is, not sure why at this point. I know it can mean pain.

[blossomisabun]

Blossom is very suddenly eating and drinking again this morning like there was never a problem. This is when I wonder if I overreacted and spent WAY too much on the vet, or if the meds and forcing the CC every few hours for 2 days got things going again. I feel like I can’t let my guard down but at least he’s eating.

[Deleted User]

I don’t think you wasted your money. Stasis can kill a bun in no time at all. Meds and everything you’ve done in the last two days definitely was necessary and I’m sure it explains the improvement.

Glad to hear Blossom is getting better, but you’re right not to let your guard down so just keep an eye out

[DanaNM]

I don’t think you overreacted! I think the treatment worked!

Way to go Blossom!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bunny Bride]

Great to hear Blossom is back to his old self! Yes definitely you did the right thing, like everyone said this can be deadly if not properly treated.

[Bam]

Great news about Blossom! As the others have said already, stasis is serious and needs thorough attention. It’s definitely not a wait-and-see thing.

[Author]

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