Diet after spay surgery

[syl]

Hello! Sylvia got spayed 3 days ago and still seems to not be eating very much or drinking any water at all. yesterday i took her back to the vet and they said her temperature was healthy and the stitches were healing well, but to syringe feed her critical care. i’ve been doing that, but she absolutely hates it. now, every time i reach to give her head rubs she whines and boxes. it’s a little heartbreaking. she’s gradually eating a bit more, but shows no interest in any greens other than cilantro (her favorite), her pellets, and she maybe eats a handful of hay per day. however i haven’t seen her touch her water, but the vet injected her with fluid yesterday, i feed her the cilantro wet, and clearly the critical care is mixed with water. my question is, is this very small appetite normal this long after surgery? is there anything i can do to get her to eat? is there any way to make force feeding a more pleasant experience for the both of us? i don’t believe her poor appetite is due to pain, for she has been getting pain medicine and she hops around a little bit (acting fine, just sleepy). any tips or personal experiences would be great!

[jerseygirl]

It;s good she is moving around.
It’s possible it’s the pain med itself that is affecting her appetite. It can be a side effect. Also, some individuals can be more sensitive to them then others.
What pain med were you given? Do you do one dose a day?

When my rabbits are off their normal food (and normal favourites) I’ve found they will go for more natural forage food. I normally start with willow and roses, rose leaves and twigs. Fresh grass, plantain, thistle, dandelion are also accepted by them.

[syl]

that’s what i’ve been wondering, since i feel like that may be why she’s acting slightly more dull than usual. however, she was trying to open her cage door last night and was acting fairly active. she’s on meloxicam, one dose a day. i give it to her in the morning. last night it looked like she pooped a pretty good amount, and they all look large and round so i think she ate more last night! the little bit of pellets i gave her and the 3 leaves of lettuce are gone (also she ate a lot of cilantro), but i’m still worried she’s not eating enough hay and drinking enough water. thank you for the input!!

[Bam]

It’s really great that she’s eating and pooping and seems fairly active. For a girl it can take more than a week to get back into normal eating habits. It’s normal, as long as she eats and drink enough to make poop and pee. It can be 2 weeks before poop is back to normal.

If she takes a turn for the worse and stops eating or pooping it’s time to contact your vet again. But it sounds to me like she’s doing well under the circumstances. It is after all a big surgery.

[Author]

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