Bunny not eating or drinking after eye surgery

[Yingandyang]

Hi everyone My bunny Yang had to have his eye removed yesterday and I am one concerned bunny mama.he has nibbled a tiny bit of greens,only passed 2 droppings that I can see and won’t drink anything so isn’t peeing.its been about 22 hours since his surgery and I’m concerned that he won’t eat or drink at all! He is well bonded with his brother Ying but because they like to clean each others faces the vet advised me to separate them for a few days and I feel like that may have a lot to do with him being lethargic aswell.can anyone give any advice? Thanks in advance.

[Wick & Fable]

Eating is very important for a rabbit in recovery, so if he hasn’t eaten yet, definitely force feed critical care so he gets strength to recover! It’s natural for any rabbit to be a bit weak after a major operation, so they may not want to eat, but they need to so they don’t fall into gi stasis.

Did you get pain medication, just in case he’s in pain? Pain is a huge deterrent to eating and moving.

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.

[Wick & Fable]

The separation may be a good idea so his bonded mate doesn’t irritate his surgical sites. Neither rabbit doesn’t understand what has happened, similar to a newly neutered rabbit, so they can do things that irritate and infect the site. Would maybe seeing each other through bars help?

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.

[Yingandyang]

Hi thanks for your reply.i fed him the critical care last night but he turned away after 5ml and it would be too painful for him to pull at his face to get his mouth open.after 27 hours he still hadn’t drank water except for a tiny syringe that I’d gave him.he was given painkillers which he took fine but I’m not sure if they’re strong enough so I took him to the 24hour vet and they are keeping him until he’s eating better on his own,I called this morning and they said he’d nibbled at kale and hay a little bit during the night but they were syringe feeding him every 4 hours just to be sure.and he seemed pretty energetic so they have stopped syringe feeding and are going to call me late evening to collect him as long as he continues eating and drinking unassisted.in the meantime his brother seems to be getting a little frantic and has only eaten half of what he usually does so the sooner Yang is better and home the sooner Ying will be okay too!

[MCW]

Is he on pain relief?

[Yingandyang]

Hi yes he’s on metacam.he stayed at the vets for 2 nights where he’s been syringe fed and eaten a bit more by himself.got him home today and put him back in with Ying and he’s been happy running about and had a bit to eat.the vet has him on pain relief,anti biotics and something for his stomach so I’ve given him those and put him in the hutch for the night.he has a checkup tomorrow then I’m happy to leave him in the enclosure with Ying.im just pleased that the bond between them hadn’t broken!
N.b he is NOT pleased to be back in the hutch!

[Author]

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