Franz went to ER again…

[cactuspancake]

I was leaving for a road trip a few cities over after having my car jumped as well, and then Franz pooped a single giant cecalberry in his box and nothing else all morning. His tummy was hard and visibly bloated. When I touched him there, he frowned and lunged at me. I decided to take him to the ER… Right before I put him in the carrier, he hunched in the corner and made soooooo much poop… Some watery diarrhea and the rest all cecals! It was sooooo stinky I almost barfed and it was a big mess. At the vet they put him on te critical status and he went from needing iv and x rays to laying over a hundred more poops in the office, all good this time, and we got to take him home on just some motility drugs! Lol he was so happy when he pooped all that out! His belly was squishy and he looked good. I’m now supplementing his diet with crit care but I was so happy I cried because I didnt want him to keep having to go to the ER and be a sad sick bunny ive decided that Franz is kind of bad at being a bunny lol… He pretty much doesn’t do anything he’s supposed to, like lounge around, eat hay, he pees everywhere in his room not just the corners… And he sucks with his girlfriend poor Franz. He used to pee all in there and then the other day I found like 20 light dried pee spots cleaning his rm. D: I used natures miracle on spots the week before… Only a few old ones… And then he went nuts peeing!

[Monkeybun]

Poor bunbun. Hope he pulls through alright.

Another lesson here though, to make sure he eats hay. Hay hay and more hay, even if he gives you lip about it! It’s what is good for him!

[Huckleberry]

Poor Franz! Glad he managed to go from stopped up to a Super Pooper! I love his little pic in the avatar, he looks adorable. Has he been neutered? When Huckleberry wasn’t eating hay, I assumed she just didn’t like it but after taking her to vet and getting a long lecture about how important it was, I decided to be more firm with her. I cut back her pellets to the minimum amount and switched to Oxbow. I also started giving her other kinds of hay, like orchard grass. Now she goes crazy for hay, she sits next to it and thumps “More yummy stuff!!!!” Have you tried other kinds of hay, maybe he is just not interested in that flavor.
Good luck with him!!!!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

AWww poor Franz I’m glad he’s feeling better! Sounds like he had a lot of poops in him but good he could get it going.
Ditto the hay-you gotta find a hay he’ll eat-for his teeth and his tummy, it’s so important. Have you tried alfalfa-just to get him eating it? Most bunnies won’t turn that down and then you can mix another kind in after they start eating hay again.

[RabbitPam]

That’s a very scary episode, so I’m glad he’s OK now. Did the vet say what caused this odd starting/stopping digestion? I’m glad he’s on the critical care, and I agree with K&K about trying hays until he likes one. I also thought you might tempt him with alfalfa cubes as a snack treat. Does he like to chew on stuff? If so, you can get hay based chew toys, and Timothy treats are made out of ground hay, so healthy treats daily might be a way to sneak in the hay.

[cactuspancake]

I think I’ve honestly tried everything. He does nibble on hay but the amount of hay he eats in a day compared to Jasmine is crazy. Jasmine will eat a handful of hay out of my hand in a minute, and it will take Franz a few days to eat that. I’ve tried every hay out there including hay from local farms and the HRS. He nibbles on timothy hay cakes, oxbow long strand, so I keep putting those out. I mix his crit care and put some pellets in there and he noms it up. Sometimes he doesn’t eat his hay for a week and sometimes he’ll eat half overnight. He will seriously starve himself to death rather than eat hay. I didn’t give him more than a tablespoon of pellets for two months and only hay, and he weighed around two pounds. He was incredibly unhealthy. I can’t force him on hay because it doesn’t work for him. I think he’s anorexic in a sense honestly. Then when I did that he stopped eating altogether. I decided to feed him more pellets to bulk him up and the vet agreed he was too skinny. Now he weighs 5.88lbs, even though he’s supposed to be 9 1/2, it’s better than 2! As long as his poops are healthy, he’s eating SOME hay, and I can’t feel his spine, I think that’s all I can really do for him honestly. He started binkying again after a few months of nothing, and he’s so healthy looking now. He just had that diarrhea incident for about 4 hours so for Franz I think we’re doing ok. Doc said prolly just not enough hay caused it, and told me to bulk it up by giving him crit care and a motility drug to keep it moving.

[mocha200]

have you ever tried these kind of hay?
I found this web site by typing in ” small animal hay” on goggle and they looked good. the hay I linked was hay mixed with herbs that I thought might make him eat some.
http://sweetmeadowfarm.com/hay_timothyorganicherbs.html
This is kaytee plus hay. you can choose from: carrot, marigold, mint, cranberry, and mango
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+17311+22172&pcatid=22172
Also have you tried oat hay? I have herd bunnies love it.
http://store.binkybunny.com/mini-ha…re-p8.aspx

You could also try this hay topper that BB sells
http://store.binkybunny.com/bunny-bouquet-hay-topper-p118.aspx

[cactuspancake]

I did actually make a trip out to sweet meadow farms and ended up with 6 40oz. Bags of tim 1st cut thinking bunnies would be bunnies and eat hay! I’ve tried botanical hay sand mountain grass mixes as well. He just doesn’t like it I guess. I’ve mixed dried papaya and pellets in and he just picks it out. Won’t touch alfalfa. He won’t even eat the grass outside! He does eat the wheat I grow for him though. I got “white winter wheat” from out farm share and I grew some and both bunnies like it. I’m going to grow a bunch of different hay things in the yard to cut fresh and give it to them. It grows so fast!! So far that’s really it. Thanks for trying but I’ve really tried with this little guy.

[Zombie-Sue]

I hope you find some hay that works. Unfortunate that he doesn’t eat it anyway… you’d think he’d learn! Poor little guy.

[RubyRain]

I know each bun is different but my Leo wouldn’t eat hay either and I couldn’t figure out why. My other bunny would eat tons of hay. I tried timothy hay and orchard grass and different cuts of hay-nothing. He’s eat his veggies and pellets but just a few pieces of hay-literally-in a week.
Then I got him neutered and he’s eating hay like crazy. It’s so strange! I have no idea why the change but I’m happy about it! He’s also the one that won’t his veggies unless you leave him alone, it’s like he needs privacy to eat. Silly bunny.

[lashkay]

Did you try KleenmamasHayloft.com ‘s 3rd cut timothy? My buns are picky hay eaters too, but go for this stuff. You can read the reviews by lots of people with picky eaters for this hay on the website.

[lashkay]

Oops, sorry, Cactuspancake the link I gave for Kleenmama’s didn’t work. Here’s the right one:

http://www.kmshayloft.com/catalog/product_reviews.php?products_id=116

After trying this stuff, I’m a firm believer that every picky bunny has his, or her, hay! The trick is finding it.

[Ashley&Bing]

Bingley was really resistant to eating hay for a while. Someone on BB told me to just give him only hay for a few days, with water and no pellets to get him eating the hay when he was hungry. At first, it seemed like it was abusive! I felt so so terrible. But after a while, Bing gave in and ate his hay. When I did this, I used a variety of hays and the ones that were really popular with other hay-rejecters like Orchard Grass and mixed it with sweet timothy hay. After two days, I slowly added his pellets and veggies back in and he continued to eat the hay in enormous amounts. He is the kind of bunny that won’t eat anything until he knows what it tastes like…which makes things difficult! But maybe you could try this? In the long run, even though this seems mean to do, the importance of hay in a diet overshadows the few days of tough love..

[cactuspancake]

Bingster: I did that and also when he was at the bunsitter’s place she only gave him a tbsp of pellets twice a day for 3 weeks (+ unlimited hay and some veggies) and his spine was sticking out an inch after that. He really doesn’t give in… he just nibbles a bit. I’ve tried 8 types of hay so far.

I’m ordering 3rd cut from that kleenmama place and some bluegrass/alfalfa. Also I ordered a minibale of orchard from the BB store. If Franz doesn’t eat it, Jasmine will!

[Ashley&Bing]

Oh wow. Maybe there is something that tastes sweet that you can spray on the hay? Like diluted juice or something to tempt him?? Idk.

[Otti]

Also cactuspancake have you tried oat hay? Binkybunny sells this golden oat hay that Sammy LOVES, and he also loves their three-hay blend mini bale (blue grass, timothy, orchard) and the Kleenmama’ 3rd cut timothy.

Just was going to suggest oat hay since you haven’t mentioned it… maybe he’ll go for that!

[cactuspancake]

I’ll try some after I try the three kinds comin in the mail. He won’t touch oats though. Jasmine likes oats.

[Otti]

Yeah, I think you’re doing your best and that’s all that you can do. You should just keep trying different types as often as is financially possible and in the meantime the critical care will hopefully help to supplement his hay intake … Vibes to Franz!

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