How long would it take for a rabbit to show symptoms of poisoning?

[Vh621]

So I’m not asking cause I think my rabbit was poisoned I was just curious, though I did have a bit of a scare last night, see lately I’ve been letting my rabbit Midnight roam free between my room and the hallway and normally I block off the kitchen because that’s where exterminators throw the poison for the roaches and mice but yesterday I decided to leave it unblocked because that’s where my dogs food, water dish and wee wee pads are so I left it open so he could come and go as he pleases and also cause during the day midnight usually just stays in my room and sleeps but I ended falling asleep and forgot that the kitchen was not blocked off and I woke up around 3:30 in the morning to a noise realized Midnight wasn’t in the room and I automatically new she was in the kitchen so I get up to get her out don’t see her think maybe she’s in this makeshift hidy house I made for her not there and realized she’s in the worst possible place in the kitchen, behind the dryer area where the back of the stove meets which is usually where the poison is thrown and where all the leave’s from my moms plants fall. So I get her out and I’m not sure if she ate anything, touched anything toxic or how long she’s been there, so I look behind the stove and thankfully no poison at all just dirt and hair and in any case I don’t think she even went that far back cause it’s kind of a tight space. So my next concern are the plant leaves which are all dried out so I start sweeping to see if I find any evidence of eaten pieces which I don’t find, I start to think that maybe she wasn’t even back there for that long. At this point I’m pretty convinced she was just on one of her adventures. Also I should mention Midnight is more of an explorer than a chewer, really the only thing she likes chewing are cardboard boxes and even then only when she’s board oh and apparently charger wire?. As far as eating stuff she only seems interested in rabbit type food or food humans eat??. So after an hour of being awake she was business as usual, eating and pooping normally running around and then later that morning she was doing normal Midnight stuff eating, binkying, trying to get places she’s not supposed to, bullying the dog??. So all this put my mind at ease but it got me thinking if your not sure if they ingested something toxic what signs to look for, how long would it take for the symptoms to kick in. Again I don’t think she would ever eat the plants because up to this point she’s never shown interest in them and she has gotton near them and ignored them but still I think it’s good to know this stuff. I never worried about it before because I really only let her out in my room but since lately she’s been getting more freedom her curiosity could end up getting the better of her.

[Vh621]

Wow did not realize it was going to be this long, sorry for the essay?

[vanessa]

I would have expected to see a reaction within 12 hours. That’s just my thoughts, but I don’t actually have experience in poison symptoms. Just thinking of how long for food to gt through the digestive system. It might even be a few hours. If your bunny hasn’t shown symptoms yet, I would think she is fine. I’m sure you are keeping an eye on her just in case.

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

I agree with the above post – my guess would be 12-24 hours.

[Dface]

From above I can see that things are going okay, but Im just going to write this anyway, for anyone in the future who might be unfortunate and their rabbit does eat something.
A rabbits digestive system takes 3 hours to fully digest,utilize and excrete whatever is ingested as a rule of thumb. This is considered very fast, and it’s why them eating is so important etc

So depending on the severity of the toxin you can see symptoms within the first ten minutes-three hours after ingestion, BUT if it’s a neurotoxin it can take up to 12 hours for it to have an obvious effect.

For future reference, the symptoms that are important to look for are weeping eyes, runny nose, labored or rapid breathing, or discoluration of the mucous membranes( so the gums and tongue) Discolration can range from: paler pink than usual, to completely black.(it’s good to know your rabbits normal gum colour before this though!)

Having vitamin E capsules and activated powdered charcoal is good for times like these. Activated charcoal is a powder you can mix with water and syringe feed -it has a huge surface area and helps bind dangerous chemicals to itself and gets them through the digestive system without them being absorbed at all.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and acts in disabling the production of damaging free radicals in tissues . it’s fat soluable so the cell membranes can be penetrated by it, which protects them from oxidative damage.
Simply snip the tip of a capsule and squirt it into the rabbits mouth (they like the taste) This can be done every 2 hours if the poison is severe. The activated charcoal is the same

Using the two in tandom has saved rabbits from severe cases of poisoning, obviously these treatments are the first action in order to give you time to get the animal to a vet, where they can administer fluids and start monitoring vitals. Bring a sample of the toxin(flower/plant/whatever it is) it’s easier to treat something if your vet knows what it is.

Waiting to see if your rabbit is poisoned normally means it will be too late.
Once the poison is metabolized it cannot be undone, and the chances of being saved are much lower. I would strongly strongly advice ANYONE who even THINKS their rabbit is poisoned to act as quickly as possible.

I dont mean to scare anyone, but without the ability to throw up, the rabbits system WILL process the toxin. I have known owners who wait until their animal was symptomatic before bringing them into the clinic and often they are gone on arrival.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Great info, Dface. Very informative.

Any idea where you can buy activated charcoal powder?

[Vh621]

Thanks for the responses everyone very informative? Yes Midnight is great being her usual troublemaking self? But yea it was pretty obvious to me rite away that she hadn’t eaten anything but the thought dawned on me that had she, with no vets nearby, opened at that time, I wouldn’t have had a clue about what to do. But this was very helpful and I’m definitely going to be more careful with those things. Also where would I get those vitamin E capsuls and and activated charcole? Thanks again?

[Dface]

You can buy both in most health shops or in some pharmacies!
The activated charcoal comes in tablets, that you just break open and mix into water(they make such a mess)
I think they also call it activated carbon in some places.

Haha that’s okay guys, I remember the absolute panic that ensued Yumi eating poisonous leaves, having a bit of a plan beforehand can deffo help.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Thanks!!!!

I’m pretty careful, especially as I have a toddler, everything is obviously out of reach but you never know what trouble bunnies can get into. Good to be prepared.

[Author]

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