Carrot, The sneezy bunny!

[Carrots Minion]

Hello,

First, a little about Carrot:

About 6 months ago, on a trip to the vets for my cat’s checkup, my 5yr old daughter saw, and immediately fell in love with a rabbit in the pet stores adoption area called “carrot”. We had some time before kitty’s appointment was due so I decided to ask the lady if we could see this “carrot” my daughter had latched onto, and i have to say, it was love and first sniffle for both of us. After about a month of buttering up both her father and mine (and many, many,many calls to the pet store to make sure no one had adopted our little guy), we got our way and soon we were ready to bring home our little sneezer. We were warned that he had some issues with sneezing that no vet could figure out and no anti-biotic could seem to cure.He had been hand-reared from 6 weeks old, and needed extra attention and special care. Undaunted, we signed the papers and brought home our little bundle of sniffs. Slowly he got used to us, and turned out he was more cat than rabbit. (I say this because he acts just like our Tom cat, who when he’s lazing about goes into what we call “flat pack mode” where he spreads out all limbs in different directions and looks at you like “pet me, peasant!”) 

All was well until about 2 months ago, when our little cat-rabbit came down with Snuffles, yet again and had to undergo a week of shots, trips and stress and all has been well since. Until last Friday, when i do believe i had a bit of a bunny-induced panic attack. Suddenly my strange, run-into-doors-at-full-speed bunny was completely different. When it was time for his nightly run in the living room, he was nearly un-responsive, huddled up in a ball, breathing like he had just won a marathon and not so much as blinking when his hutch door opened. I started to worry immediately and both my husband and I went right to the internet searching symptoms and anything we could do to help. First, we treated for overheating.. keeping him cool, wiping his ears with a cool damp cloth, camping him next to an icepack etc. and nothing seemed to be helping. So it was back to google desprately trying to find out what else it could be. I came across what i consider to be one of my worst fears when it comes to my little Care-Bear, Gastric Stasis. The symptoms fit. Hard, swollen tummy, huddled in a ball, not eating, not drinking, and when he let me pick him up ( which is a MAJOR red flag because he loathes being picked up) he let loose a heart breaking tiny squeal of pain. And my mother-brain went into overdrive. But our little trooper held on long enough to get to the vets office the next day, to which he was rewarded with shots, pokes, prods and oodles of stress. The vet advised us that he thought it was “time to call it a day” (in front of my 5yr old daughter) if he wasn’t eating, and hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours, there was little chance he would pull through.

Not being one to give up on a family member, the vet promptly received the “mother’s eye” to which he then launched into ways we could try to save our little soldier. the next few days were filled with playing “catch the ticked off bunny who hates being manhandled” and force feeding him meds, water and special bunny liquid food ( which the nurse assured us that every bunny LOVED and would gobble up, a prediction to which Carrot promptly said “NO” that would make grumpy cat proud) Now it is Wednesday and he is slowly returning to his old self. He is moving around, nibbling his seed blocks, drinking water and demanding attention and making my husband his personal cuddle slave. 

Now I am on high alert, and I am hoping for some help. Carrot is the first rabbit i have ever cared for, and i am completely freaking out that i am going to do something that is going to hinder his recovery in some way. He is eating Broccoli and seed blocks, but he is not touching his pellets and doesnt seem to be touching his hay much either. I understand that broccoli is not good to feed him in more than a few tablespoons a day, but i am afraid of him not eating at all when there is no broccoli left and I have gone to bed. By the time I have gotten up and taken the little one to school, a good 9 hours passes and sometimes more, because of chores and errands it is sometimes 12-13 hours before he gets his Broccoli again. Is there anything I can do to make sure that he is eating in those hours alone? He also has clumps of fur under his chin that look and feel very uncomfortable, and after much aggravation on both our parts, I have managed to get the larger knots out but he will not allow me to comb under his chin. he seems to eat more with less of the knots under his chin, and I am unsure how to get the rest of them out. I cannot pick him up, and i can forget about trying to turn him over on his back in a “trance” that other bunnies seem to fall into. My husband is telling me that he will get them out on his own, but the fur on his front paws is hard and matted as well from his sneezing. I am feeling kind of powerless here. Am i being an over-protective mother-bunny? He is also recovering from Head tilt from tumbling down the ramp in his hutch instead of climbing down, so i am afraid of being too rough with him to hold him to get the mats out. I know that a bunny’s skeleton is fragile, and since he is my first experience with bunny-kind, im unsure about what is and is not good for a rabbit. 

Are there any greens he can have that i would not have to worry about him getting sick on? Is there anything i can give him to make sure that this GI stasis never rears its ugly head again? Is there any other advice anyone can give me to make sure that my little trooper is in tip top shape? I thank you for reading my little worry-rant, and i look forward to any reply that i can get to help out my little care-bear!

[Stickerbunny]

o.O Your vet wanted to put him to sleep after only TWELVE hours of not eating? Geez. Both my rabbits have had tummy issues at some point, Powder went about 6 hours without eating and Stickers has gone up to 18 without eating. Stasis isn’t good, but it’s treatable. I assume the liquid food was critical care? And the medicine is metacam and perhaps baytril? How often are you giving critical care?

Has he had any other greens besides broccoli since you’ve had him? Broccoli can give them gas if it doesn’t agree with them, which can cause pain and make them stop eating. Lighter greens such as romaine lettuce (never iceberg) are better as a staple, with broccoli being rotated around. It’s probably OK to give him a small amount, but don’t over do it, the last thing you want to do is give him gas on top of the other issues. New foods have to be introduced very slowly, since it risks a tummy upset, so I am not sure I would want to introduce anything new until he’s better.

Also, what do you mean seed blocks? Rabbits should not eat seeds, it can give them digestive trouble and is extremely fattening.

The best thing for keeping guts moving in rabbits is hay – lots of fresh hay. You could try getting some orchard grass, or other types of hay to get him tempted to nibble. Stickers liked orchard when she was sick, I also gave her a little alfalfa one time when she was being particularly stubborn, since she likes that a lot. Alfalfa is too rich for adults to eat much of though.

May I ask what his regular diet is like? What type of pellet do you feed? What type of hay? How often does he get veggies and what rotation do you have?

Simethicone is also good to keep in your bunny first aid kit. Tummy massages can help them with the pain and uncomfortable feeling when they have tummy upset. I wouldn’t worry about trimming him right now unless it’s causing him pain/irritation, he doesn’t need the stress.

[Megabunny]

Well, I’m not the most knowledgable one here, so I’m in hopes others will join in. Kudos to you for all your hard work to save this bunny. Sounds like he is much loved.
Have you read the info. on this site about feeding? I’m not sure why you’re set on feeding broccoli. There are so many other greens, like Romaine and Kale that would be better for him. There are so many choices of safe greens to feed them, ones like broccoli that produce gas really isn’t necessary. And, of course, our favorite here is hay hay hay. At this one’s age, slow down on alfalfa and bump up timothy, orchard grass, oat hay. There are qiute a few choices.
When he’s feeling better, I’m sure a warm wet cloth on his feet, or setting him right into a shallow pan of warm water (if he lets you handle him enough) could help soften and clean the mats on his feet. Do you have a fine-tooth comb, like a flea comb. to work the mats off? That works well for my bunny sometimes.
I’m sure you’ll have others add things. That’s all I’ve got. I wish you luck. Sounds like you’re a devoted owner and glad to hear your hesitant hubby has turned into a bunny hugger!! I love seeing men turn to mush and hold a rabbit Ha ha

[Megabunny]

Oops You beat me Stickerbunny! Very thorough, though. Super!

[Stickerbunny]

Oh, one more question, how are his poops?

[Carrots Minion]

I am not sure what the food they gave us was, but he got up the energy to go the other way when he saw it coming. the other meds were Baytril, Emeprid and Metacam. I also snuck in a syringe of water every other time to make sure that he was getting at least some liquids.

We have tried a plethora of veggies on him, and of course his favorite is carrots. Before this he would not go near Broccoli, but on a whim last night the nurse we took him to see said that we might want to try it, as it would be gentle… I was lucky to have fingers left after the way he went at that right away. But i have been timid in giving him anything else in case it irritates his tummy.

The ‘seed blocks’ are not really seeds. it is a block of wheat, split maize, peas and apples/carrots. But to me it looks like the block of seeds you would feed to a Bird, and the name has kind of stuck, lol.

Right now he has the best oat hay from my local pet shop in town and i mix it with some of the Nature’s touch special mix from pets at home.When we got him, we were advised that any wood shaving/mass packed hays could have too much dust and aggrivate his sneezes. So his cage is cleaned out at least once a week with his ‘wee corner’ cleaned out nearly every day.

After these past few days, any time he sees me coming, he hunkers down and puts his front paws as close to his mouth as he can get them because of the syringe feeding. which is not helping my de-tangling efforts. I was getting the feelig that the knots were bothering him because every time i go to scratch under his chin (something he usually likes) he takes off running.

[Carrots Minion]

and right now, his poops are tiny little strings of black lumps stuck together, but they seem to be getting more common as time passes. Normally they are nice round little balls that my cats have decided are the best thing to play with since feathers.

[Megabunny]

I’m confused about who this “nurse” is. From what I’ve read, broccoli is anything but gentle for a bunny to eat. Maybe for people?? I don’t know But not buns

[Dobby]

I would remove the treat block right away. Grains and peas are not things that bunnies should be eating. They could be contributing to the problems he’s having. And apples and carrots should be given sparingly. Think of them as candy for rabbits.

I second leaving out some romaine lettuce, especially if he’s had it before you and you didn’t have any problems. If there are any other leafy greens he’s liked in the past, I’d leave some of that out too.

If there is an herb that he especially likes you might try sprinkling some of the dried herbs on his hay. It may make him more interested in the hay.

My rabbit hated me when I had to force feed him but he got over it and has lately taken to following me around the house. 🙂 Yours will come around once things are back to normal.

And poops of any kind are great! I hope he continues to improve.

[Stickerbunny]

Pooping means it isn’t a blockage, which is awesome.

If he’s had a lot of different types of veggies then some good ones that are gentle on his tummy would be – parsley, romaine lettuce, basil and cilantro. It’s possible he just ate something that didn’t agree with him. Did you have his teeth checked when you went to the vet? ANY type of pain can cause eating issues, so it doesn’t just have to be his stomach. Broccoli can be OK, but it’s not really gentle – though it is a favorite of my buns too for taste.

Stress, pain and any other issues like that can cause a bun to be lethargic and not eat very well. It happens sometimes when you own a rabbit. The big thing is to keep his gut moving, so enticing him to eat his hay would be good. Dried herbs and 1-2 pieces of dried fruit mixed into the hay can sometimes get them eating it. The fact he’s eating SOMETHING and also pooping means he has a good chance of recovery.

[Ellis's Mom]

Ellis gets very picky about his hay sometimes, and so we’ve tried a few different kinds. Timothy has been highly recommended by the shelter and by the vet, and it’s generally his favorite. He won’t touch oat hay unless he really needs something to chew on, but he gets lots of cardboard and has some wood in his cage, so that’s not very often. He’s enjoyed orchard grass and “botanical hay” (orchard grass with various aromatic herbs, like lavender and rosemary), so you might want to see if any of those appeal to him.

“Gentle” veggies for Ellis are mostly leaf lettuces (except spinach) and fresh herbs like basil. I’m not fond of cilantro, so we haven’t tried it. About once/month I cruise through the fresh produce section of the grocery store to see if there’s anything leafy he might like to try.

When we had to give Ellis medication and force feed him, the vet showed us how to wrap him an a “bunny burrito”. Basically hold him securely in a towel, tucked under your arm with only his head sticking out, but also sort of tucked so he can’t squirm. It’s easier if one person can hold him and the other feed/medicate him, so if there’s anyone who can help, even if it’s just holding him while you do the medicine and critical care/gruel, that might make things a bit easier on you and Carrot.

Hope some of this helps. We’re relatively new to bunnydom too and Ellis has only been sick once (so far, thank God), but I’m happy to share what little experience we have. Good luck. Hope he’s feeling better soon.

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