HELP! My 7 month old Holland Lop was neutered yesterday and now he won’t drink water!

[Roxygirl]

Hi there,

I’m really hoping someone can help me out!

I took Heffie to the vet yesterday to be neutered and didn’t get to pick him up until about 6:45 p.m.  We got home around 8 by the time they got him into his carrier and gave me instructions.  By 10 p.m. he had not eaten anything since he had come home but did sip a little water.  I had left some basil out for him (his FAVORITE) in hopes that he would want to eat in the middle of the night.  When I got up at 5 this morning to check on him, he had eaten the basil leaves that I left out for him and a small piece of apple.  He had pooed and peed overnight, though his pellets are smaller than normal.  He also sipped some more water from a bowl (he usually uses a bottle)and I gave him his dose of Butorphanol (.075cc) for pain and 2cc of Azithromycin (antibiotic).  I gave offered him some water again at 10 a.m. and he had a few more sips.  That is the last time he drank any water and it is now about 7 p.m.  He has eaten some banana slices, some more basil, and a few small pieces of apple, and nibbled a little on some alfalfa this morning, but he has not pooed or peed since this morning. 

I called the vet around 1 p.m. because I was expecting him to be eating his timothy pellets and drinking water on his own by then (he still hasn’t touched his pellets, he’s only eating fruit and vegetables and only when I offer them to him) and the vet said that his behavior was not abnormal and was glad that he was at least eating.  She recommended decreasing the dose of his pain medication down to .05cc as it is also a mild seditive and that it was possibly sedating him too much.  He’s due for another dose in about 2 hours but I’m getting really worried that he hasn’t had any water since this morning.  What should I do?  I don’t want him to become dehydrated.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I hate seeing my kiddo like this.  🙁

[Isabelle]

I really have no experience or much knowledge about this, but if the vet gave you a syringe to feed the medicine, could you use that to try and put a little in his mouth, maybe to encourage him to drink?

[Roxygirl]

Thank you for the advice! I just called the emergency line for another vet that takes care of rabbits for a second opinion and she advised holding off on the pain medication for a few hours and seeing if he perks up since it’s also a sedative and that it is not uncommon for animals to eat and drink a lot less when even mildly sedated. She advised not forcing him to drink water with a syringe at this point so that he doesn’t accidentally breathe it in (but that was going to be my next step, so thank you for your suggestion!)Since I posted, Heffie finally took a few small sips of water, peed, passed his cecotropes, and started devouring spinach. His skin still has good elasticity and snaps back to shape when i pinch it, rather than staying in a tent, which is a sign of dehydration, so I might be overreacting, but I’m his mom, its what I do. I have an appointment scheduled with a different vet tomorrow just in case he hasn’t made any improvements by morning. Thanks again for your response, I really appreciate it!

[lashkay]

When I had my Buddie neutered, he would not eat anything except just a tiny bit of apple until the next day. I got him home from the neuter around 7 pm and it wasn’t until around 4 pm the next afternoon that he would have a few pellets. My vet did say to call by the next morning if he hadn’t eaten or pooped by then and I did and the vet suggested bringing him in for oral syringe feeding as he might be dehydrated. I declined and he did drink some water and was pooping and peeing and then at aroun 4 he came out of hiding and ate about 13 rabbit pellets. Since you’re concerned, I would talk to your vet and make sure he’s satisfied with what’s going on. Since he eats the basil, I’d really soak the basil with water and give it to him and he’ll get some water that way. Red and green leaf lettuce (not iceberg tho!) italian parsley and cilantro are often popular veggie choices he might go for and again, you can rinse them well in water before giving them so he gets the water.

[lashkay]

Heffie what a cute name! Welcome! Have we seen some pics of Heffie yet?

[Roxygirl]

Thank you for the info and advice Lashkay! I have been rinsing Heffie’s basil really well and I prepped some more veggies for him an hour ago and he promptly snatched 3 or 4 leaves of spinach on his own! He was supposed to get the next dose of his pain medication an hour and a half ago, so I’m keeping an eye on him to see how he’s handling not being on the pain medication and if he will perk up and try drinking water on his own. I offered him the water dish again when he was done with his spinach and he is taking a few sips so I feel a little better, but would like for him to be drinking on his own and eating his pellets.

I’m glad you like his name! 🙂 It’s actually kind of a funny story. I got Heffie for my husband for his birthday 4 months ago. We had a neighbor that breeds bunnies and had offered us one. Well, I thought I had picked out this adorable Harlequin colored sweet little girl (our neighbor has a lot of experience with rabbits and was completely sure this bunny was a girl.). My husband and I thought it would be cute to name our bunny after a Playboy Bunny and so we named “her” Holly Madison.

Then the vet called me yesterday to let me know that the surgery went well and that Holly actually had a few extra parts that we hadn’t noticed before and that Holly was actually a boy! After we got over our shock, we decided that we would call him Heffie, after Hugh Hefner so he doesn’t have to be embarassed by a girly name and it kind of sounds similar to Holly, so hopefully he won’t be too confused!

Heffie is not a huge fan of being picked up and HATES being put on his back, so we don’t pick him up much or put him on his back unless we need to, so this is why we didn’t realize he is a boy.

I haven’t posted in pictures just yet but I surely will soon! 🙂 I’m so glad I found this site and forum, everyone seems so nice and helpful!

[Monkeybun]

Damp veggies also give them water, so he may just be getting enough from them right now, too My buns drink alot less when i give them well watered veggies

[Beka27]

Rabbits will typically eat veggies and hay before eating pellets after having surgery, so the fact that he’s eating veggies is very good and not at all uncommon. It may be a few days, even a week, before he’s eating his pellets like normal. Keep an eye on him closely. It sounds like he’s in great hands.

[Roxygirl]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give you an update on Heffie. I got up every 2 hours last night to check on his pain level and food and water intake. He seemed to not be in very much pain each time and the last time I got up I caught him going for water on his own! He had also eaten the veggies, a small bit of alfalfa and few pellets that I had laid out for him overnight and seems much more alert and like his normal self without the pain medication. Whew, what a relief! I’m still going to continue to monitor his food and water intake, but I feel more confident that he’s making a good recovery.

Monkeybun and Beka27, thank you for the advice. I feel a little more at ease that what Heffie is experiencing is not uncommon and that he is going to make a good recovery. 🙂

[lashkay]

That’s great to hear! I’m glad it’s just taken him a little time, like it took my Buddie, to “catch up” to your expectations. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things. Btw, a tip I heard on this forum, I THINK it’s RabbitPam’s, forgive me whose-ever it was, is to lay a mirror at his feet when he’s sitting and hold a treat or a pellet – a piece of basil? above his head, when he stands up to snatch it from you, look in the mirror for a picture of his stitches and now the healing process seems to be going. Useful especially since you say you don’t like to put him on his back, he doesn’t like it.

That’s a cute story of how he got his name. I’ll watch for pics soon. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things.

[Doe of Chai]

From reading the forum it sounds like everything is going good. If you ever run into a similar situation of Heffie not drinking, add a shot of real apple juice to his water bottle. The taste encourages drinking.

[Doe of Chai]

From reading the forum it sounds like everything is going good. If you ever run into a similar situation of Heffie not drinking, add a shot of real apple juice to his water bottle. The taste encourages drinking.

[Roxygirl]

Thanks so much for all the help everyone! Heffie is our first bunny and there aren’t a lot of “bunny folks” that I’ve found here in Hawaii. I did end up taking Heffie in to the vet this morning just to be sure. I’m glad I did because they thought he might still be a little dehydrated and gave him some Sub Q fluids. The vet said his incision looked great with minimal redness and no swelling and said it would probably be best to discontinue the pain meds and antibiotics unless he seemed to be uncomfortable or in case of infection.
Despite being rather indignant about having to get into his carrier again, Heffie’s been a little more perky all day and even snatched some apple pieces out of my hand and ran across the room with them to be sure I didn’t steal them back before he could eat them. 🙂

I still have to put his water in front of him to encourage him to drink and he’s not using his bottle again yet, but he started eating some timothy pellets today too. I’m going to try the apple juice trick and see if that will pique his interest in water a little more.

Thanks again everyone, it’s so nice to have support and new ideas to try!

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