Ideas for syringe feeding?

[Bunny mommy Michele]

 Hi all,

My (almost) 10-year-old Dutch rabbit went to the vet yesterday to have her teeth trimmed.  She’s had it done a few times before, but this time was different in that she had a pretty bad infection in her mouth.

The veterinarian took care of her teeth, and prescribed 2x day Baytril (antiobiotic) plus 2x day pain meds.  In the past, when she has gone through this she has been fairly cranky the first day but always came around and ate later.  However, while she will lick at and swallow the medicine, food isn’t going anywhere.

Today I finally tried syringe feeding her critical care mixed in with canned pumpkin and even baby food applesauce and banana.  She licked the applesauce maybe twice, and then has turned her nose up at the rest.  When I try to syringe feed her I just can’t seem to get her to swallow any at all, and I know getting her to eat is critical at this point.  I even tried syringe feeding just applesauce and that didn’t go over well either.

So, my questions are:  any ideas on what to possibly try to feed her that tastes good and she’ll be interested in?  Do smaller (medicine size) syringes work better for getting into her mouth and making her swallow?  Any idea how long she’ll be turning her nose up at food?  I know it was probably a fairly painful experience so just curious if anyone has experience in when their bunnies started feeling better.  She didn’t take any longer to recover from the anesthesia than in the past.  Should I also try and syringe feed her some little bits of water?  She doesn’t seem to be interested in water either.  Also, about how many cc’s should I be trying to get in her?  The critical care says 50cc per pound of rabbit and I’m lucky to get one cc anywhere near her!

And yes, I’m open to taking her back to the vet to get food in her if necessary. Just would rather use it as a last resort since it doesn’t have the comfort, smells, and bunny mate of ‘home.’  In any case, she’ll be going there for sure tomorrow if things don’t turn around quick.

 

Thanks for your help!

Michele

 

 

[Sarita]

Yes, definitely use smaller size syringes rather than the large ones they give – I use a 1 oz syringe. What you want to do to fill the syringe is take out the stopper and fill the syringe with the larger one and then put the stopper back on.

[Bunny mommy Michele]

 Thanks, Sarita.  I will try that.  I had a hunch that might be it since she takes the medicine just fine out of the smaller ones.

Should I try to syringe some water carefully into her or just wait and see if syringing in food is enough?

[Sarita]

Here are some recipes as well:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/recipies.html

homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/herbiemushballs.html

Also can you get the fine critical care?  It’s called critical care fine grind and sometimes this works better than the regular grind.

[Sarita]

I would just try the food first – I’m afraid she may aspirate with the fluids.

Ask the vet too about showing you how to do sub-q fluids.

Sometimes after a dental procedure it can take a few days to get back to normal, especially if she has an infection. Also I think our seniors may take a little longer to recover too. But do keep the vet updated on her situation.

[Bunny mommy Michele]

 Thanks for all the suggestions, much appreciated.

I will look for the critical care fine.  That’s a good idea.  

She’s healthy enough that she will come out of her hidey-hole to see where ‘mean old mommy’ is and then run back in again.  I will try out some recipes and see where I go with that.

I feel better about it taking a bit longer for a recovery.  I just didn’t want her to suffer too much and not eating on top of having a sore mouth just adds to the pile of issues.

Thanks!

[jerseygirl]

Was she sedated for the procedure? Sometimes the meds and even the pain meds for aftercare can effect their appetite and tums.
I hope she comes good for you!

[Bunny mommy Michele]

Jerseygirl,

Yes, she was sedated.  Her molars needed to be trimmed as well, so I fully imagine the combination of the infection, the sedation, the stress of the teeth trimming, and being an elderbun all added up.

Using the smaller syringe has helped a lot, thanks so much!  I think that was the key.

When I realized that her healthy mate didn’t even want to touch the mush stuff and he’ll eat anything, I figured that I couldn’t expect a sick bunny to be interested in it.

[Author]

Messages