Not eating

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

Hey, Ollie my bunny who’s 2 isn’t eatting. He has had GI status once like a year ago. He also has overgrown teeth issues. We ground them down a month ago but the vet said a month ago he may need it again in the upcoming months. He is a polish dwarf and not the most active bunny. He typically plays down and chills or eats hay. He is a nervous bunny so he hides a lot when he’s out but he’s been getting better. Since this morning he has only eaten 2 bites of a strawberry. I have him in a separate x pen than my other bunny so I can tell if he is eating and pooping. He is just sitting in a corner with the occasional hop around. I don’t have any critical care because it went bad and we were going to order more. Is there a way to make some at home or something? Thank you.

[DanaNM]

How is he doing now?

You can make pellet mash by just mixing pellets with water and offer that to him (you can also mix in a little mashed banana or pumpkin puree to encourage him to eat it). If you need to syringe feed it, it works best to grind the pellets up a bit first because they tend to clog the syringe otherwise. Will he eat fresh greens?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I have syringed fed him the pellet, water and banana mix. I have found that he will eat some banana and some kale. He has been sitting by his water bowl with his dewlop in the bowl for the past 45 minutes though. He isn’t popping but is producing cecotropes. I’ve called all the pet stores near me but oxbow crital care is back ordered. I’m on the fence about taking him to the vet…

[Bam]

How is he doing now?

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

Hello,

sorry for replying late. I brought him to the vet last night because he started have diarrhea and clear jelly like substance. Unfortunately there was no rabbit savy vet open near me so we had to take him to a normal vet. Luckily we found someone who had at least seen rabbits before. They gave us critical care and meds to take home. They also hydrated him. They wanted 1,750 dollars for x ray and fecal testing so I was unable to pay that and we just did the meds. I’m 15 so I don’t have a solid job. He hasn’t improved since last night but also hasn’t got worse. I’m feeding him every 3 hours and if he isn’t better by tomorrow afternoon I’m taking him to our normal vet I think. I know diarrhea is life threatening though is it ok to have him at home?

[Bam]

I’m glad you took him in!

True diarrhea is alife-threatening condion, but it’s only true diarrhea if there is no solid or formed poop at all. I think the vet would have wanted to keep him for in-patient care if he was in a life threatening state.

Is he still having loose stools?

I too would take him to his regular vet if he doesn’t improve.

[DanaNM]

The jelly like substance indicates some gut irritation. And yes true diarrhea is totally liquid and is an emergency, but soft stools or cecal dysbiosis is not (although it’s still concerning).  1750 for an xray and fecal testing seems very high, ER prices are often much higher (for reference a similar service at my vet would cost around 600-700 and I live in a fairly expensive place). I do think you should take him to his regular vet. Hopefully the critical care helps him, some of his issues could be from not eating hay if his teeth are bothering him again.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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