Appetite not normalized post spay

[Deleted User]

Hi all, 

So it has been two days since Ophelia was spayed. The first night she would hardly eat anything until about 3am, which was 15 hours after surgery. She wouldn’t touch the hay and would only take a few bites of herbs that I offered her. She absolutely refused to let me get the syringe close enough to give her the metacam the first night. As far as I can tell, she has not had any water since we have been home. I gave her a bottle and a bowl. That being said, I have even tried syringe feeding her water with a little bit of no sugar added apple juice but she still won’t take that. She pretty much still only wants to eat fresh herbs and lettuce, she will nibble at the hay but she isn’t eating much of it. Should her appetite be back to normal by now? She eats all of the lettuce, herbs, pellets that I give her, but she just isn’t eating much hay. Her poops are still coming out smaller than normal, but she is pooping consistently and they are just smaller and darker than normal, nothing else strange about them. Last night I came home from work to check on her and give her metacam and she just let me stick it right in her mouth and she took it all. She has been chewing her cage bars all afternoon to the point that she chewed the white coating off, so I have let her out now to have some roam time. She seems completely normal, she is doing bunny 500s and binkying around, but I just wondered if I should be concerned that she is not drinking water or just continue to give her watery veggies like lettuce until her appetite normalizes. 

Thanks! 

[Deleted User]

Also, I forgot to mention but she is still urinating often as well, and it is normal color and consistency. She is very active and grooming herself.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Are you able to get Oxbow Critical Care? If you get the Apple Banana, a lot of bunnies like it and she may just eat it off a plate if you mix it with water. Or you can try making a mash with pellets, water and a very small amount of apple juice. Or maybe you could try a different type of hay. What are you feeding now? Orchard or Oat Hay are favorites with a lot of bunnies and may encourage hay eating.

My Bridge Bun, Olivia, took quite a few days to eat normally after her spay.

[Deleted User]

She won’t let me come near her with the syringe. I am feeding timothy hay, she actually only likes the “bulbs” off of oat hay and she doesn’t eat much of orchard grass. I may get some alfalfa because I know its her favorite to encourage her.

[Bam]

If she pees, she’s getting enough fluids. When I give my Bam lots of greens, he barely touches his water. I just empty out and refill his bowls every day, the water level is always the same. But the state of the litter boxes makes it very clear that he’s peeing like a good boy.

I think it sounds like your bun is on her way to recovery. Their tummy and appetite can be a litte off for 2 weeks after a spay. The small dark poops you are seeing just means she’s eating less hay, hopefully she’ll go back to hay eating soon. My Bam’s favorite hay is oat.

It’s actually a “good” sign that she’s fighting her meds and the syringe. You always want to see a bit of fighting spirit in a bun. A sick bunny just sits there and takes it.

[Deleted User]

Ok I have been told that they should be back to normal eating after 2-3 days, which seemed really fast to me. She’s eating more hay now. Maybe she was stressed by being in the cage, because she’s been so good since I got her that I’ve never left her in the cage, she’s had a whole room or free range of the whole apartment since she came home with us. I let her out last night and she seems to be eating more hay now, out of her normal litter box. Perhaps because she is not used to being fed in the cage she didn’t want to eat out of the rack. I kept it on the ground so she didn’t have to reach for it but maybe it was just unfamiliar for her. She actually seems to be back to normal this morning, she’s running around and doing binkies and coming up for pets and licks. It’s funny because I was sitting there watching her before work and I was still worried that she wasn’t drinking water and didn’t seem to be eating and I said “Corbin I’m worried buns not eating enough and she’s not drinking” ….then she hopped into her cage and started drinking for a few minutes from the water bottle and then went on to hoeing down on some hay. It’s like she didn’t want me to be worried lol

[Deleted User]

Oh I meant CHOWING down on hay not hoeing LOL

[Author]

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