Bunny wont leave hutch

[kylo]

I have a holland lop rabbit who’s about 3 years. Last Friday he got his teeth drimmelled down because they were overgrown ( no abcesses or anything to worry about thank goodness), and he had pasteurella. Before the surgery he would sneeze a lot which I knew was abnormal for him, then It progressed to sneezing fits. He was diagnosed with pasteurella, and my vet gave us antibiotics and metacam. The sneezing has gone down a lot over the few days. As soon as we got home from the procedure Kylo acted like nothing happened. He pooped, peed, and ate fine on his own which was surprising because otherwise we would have had to syringe feed him oxbow critical care until he ate. He’s been acting just fine until today which is five days later. In his pen he has his hutch, and he never stays in it unless it’s to pee and eat. But all day he’s been hiding in the little hidyhole and laying on his stomach. He’s eating, peeing and pooping fine but I haven’t seen him drink water on his own so I give him the bottle and he drinks when I do that. It’s just really unusual for him to lay in his hutch all day, he usually hops around in the pen or chills in the corner. I know about GI stasis and I don’t think this it. He could be gassy from the antibiotics, but how could I help him be more comfortable? His last dose of the antibiotics was this morning, and he stopped the metacam today.

[Bam]

It is concerning when a bun’s activity level suddenly drops, so you need to keep a close eye on him. You can give baby gas drops (simethicone) in case this is gas – it won’t interfere with other meds. You can also give a probiotic to help his gut, antibiotics kill some of the good gut bacteria and it wont hurt to try and replenish them. It’s great that he’s willing to drink when you give him the bottle.

If there is gas, it’s good if you can get him to move around a bit. It helps get the gas out. You can also give a very light tummy massage and elevate his butt like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuxGLa2reg

If he stops eating and/or pooping, or if his appetite goes down, it’s time to call the vet.

[kylo]

Thank you for the response! Do you have an idea where I could get the baby gas drops and probiotics?

[Bam]

Baby has drops are sold in places like Walmart in the USA, it’s for human babies so you’ll find it on the baby shelf. Pharmacies of course also carry it. Main ingredient is simethicone, strength varies between 20 and 100 mg/mg but it doesn’t matter much what strength you get, it’s very difficult to overdose unless you actively try to.

A suitable and much used probiotic for buns is Benebac. Its sold in some pet stores, but it might be most convenient to buy it online. P

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