Potential GI and strange behaviour

[Deleted User]

The last time I saw my rabbit eat was more than 12 hours ago, and she was quiet and inactive in the day. After realising she hadn’t eaten for a few hours, I gave her a tummy massage and put a hot water bottle with her. I couldn’t get her to eat anything. I didn’t want to syringe feed her as I’d read that it can make some tummy issues worse, i.e. an impacted bowel.

This morning I opened the hutch (I have two house bunnies who live in my room and have free run when I’m home/awake) and she ran straight out. She turned around a couple of times and then flopped. And then got up. Sat hunched for a while, ran to a new place, rinse and repeat. She normally sits up if I come near her, but I managed to stroke her and massage her tummy whilst she was flopped. Needless to say I was worried and I brought her to the vet.

The vet said her eyes are normal, she can feel some formed poops in her tummy but her temperature is a bit low. She has had a shot of a painkiller and something to get her bowel moving. I’ve fed her one syringe worth of critical care, and given her a 1.5ml dose of zantac. She is out of the hutch and still doing running somewhere to flop before sitting up for a while and then moving again. I’m worried she’ll get cold as I have a laminate floor and she only appears to want to lie on that, not a rug or the hutch. She doesn’t appear to be uncoordinated. She still hasn’t eaten, drank or pooped, but I did hear one loud tummy noise, and it’s been 2 hours since we got back from the vet and I syringe fed her. She’s had a bad tummy bout once before, about a year ago, and that time she had poopy butt and just didn’t move at all, and her body language was totally different, so I have no idea if I’m dealing with the same thing or something new, it’s just so weird. 

She is 18 months old and spayed.

Any advice or shared experience would be appreciated. 

Edit: after posting I found a very little wee in a corner, which looked normal.

[Bam]

I think you can syringe her some more critical care. Make the mixture runny and make sure she swallows. You do not want her to breathe in food or water.
That she moves around might mean she can’t get comfy in any position, which often means there’s gas. Baby gas drops (simethicone) can help with gas. It’s bunny safe and widely used in bunnies. Very gentle tummy massages ever hour or every 2 hours might also be helpful. The gas needs to get out, and if it does she’ll be significantly relieved. Sometimes you can smell the gas, you can very rarely hear it.

[Deleted User]

Thank you Bam, I think you were right as she is much improved today. She had lots of tummy massages and I kept her warm in a blanket. She sat with me for hours (very unusual) and I could hear her tummy going nuts! And I did as you suggested and syringe fed her a few more times, and she finally pooped in the evening, and then had some nice watery veg.
I just hadn’t seen the constant flopping behaviour before, so what you said about being uncomfortable made a lot of sense. Silly gassy bunny. So happy today. I was so worried.

[Author]

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