Recovery from Spay

[Pluto]

Hello! I am new to the forum (and forums in general).  Our bun (6mo Mini Rex) was spayed a week ago, discharged later the same day with 2 doses of metacam. We went through syringe feeding Critical Care (painful for everyone). No luck with baby food or homemade green puree. Day 6 after spay, our bun is peeing and pooping fairly well (plenty of smaller pellets, esp in the morning). Can’t tell if she is passing cecatropes. Incision looks fine. Maybe a bit of swelling, warmth, but she is resting well, and energetic when she wakes. Gave a dose of baby Ovol yesterday on vet’s advice after giving her 12-15 clover flowers and dandelions the day before (too much of a good thing apparently).  I’m hand feeding someimes, she has little interest in self-feeding (at least that I can tell). Interested,  sometimes, in treat pellets. I’m trying to figure out:

1. if I should simply passively  ‘offer’ alfalfa, Timothy and Orchard Grasses, pellets and fresh leaves/herbs, or if I should be actively offering/hand feeding. I worry she isn’t getting enough (so I offer food by hand), although she has access to plenty and a lot of variety. She eats some of what I offer with enthusiasm, sometimes.

2. If I should continue supplementing with hand feeding, how do we get back to her self-feeding?

3. How much hay/pellets should I expect her to consume at this point (spay plus 6days)? Vet advised she should be restricted from full activity for another week, even though she nimbly springs like a gazelle to the roof of her enclosure if I turn my back during the day. Since she isn’t as active as usual, I don’t know what is needed to maintain her weight (pre-surg, approx 4.6lbs). Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

[DanaNM]

I am surprised that she still isn’t eating well at this point, and I also think you should have been given more pain meds. The shelter I volunteer at restricts activity for 14 days post spay, so you still should so make sure she can’t jump around or she could tear something.

Keep syringe feeding until her eating is back to normal, and keep offering favorite greens to try to trigger her to eat. If she will eat when you offer it by hand, keep doing that until she eats enthusiastically on her own. I suspect she isn’t eating as much because she is in pain, so I would request more metacam from the vet. Also mention to the vet that she hasn’t resumed normal eating yet.

. . . 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.  

[Pluto]

Thank yo for your quick reply DanaNM! Syringe feeding stopped a couple of days ago – she fought tooth and nail and wouldn’t even take water, she was so stressed by the sight of syringes.  I have been in touch with the vet daily (phone), I asked about more pain meds a couple of days ago, it was a no go. I’m wondering what a reasonable amount of food is for a bun that isn’t her usual tearing around, binkying self. Our next appointment is in almost exactly one week, to have her incision checked, her belly is warm in that spot and looks like she has a half pack of Certs under her skin. I have mentioned that she is not intiating food intake (pellets for sure, hay is hard to tell) She has a small warming pad which we heat up several times each day. She seems to rest comfortably and is very affectionate when she wakes up, so I am desperate to give her the best care I can without undue hovering.

[Bam]

It’s a bit difficult to say exactly how much food. My 1.5 kilo bun was prescribed 15 ml of critical care (mixed with water to a paste) 5-6 times per day when he was ill and couldnt eat anything else.

For a 2 kilo bun, Oxbow says 49 grams of dry Critical Care per day will cover nutritional needs. I think you can translate that into pellets and get a good idea of amount she needs. It’s obviously more difficult with hay because hay is a lot less nutritionally dense. Leafy greens like lettuce do not contribute with many calories, but they’re still good to feed because they are yummy and contain water.

The easiest way to see if she gets enough food is to weigh her daily. A variation of about 15 grams up or down is to be expected with that frequency of weighing, but you will still be able to pick up on trends. I weigh my bun in a bowl on digital kitchen scales. Write down the weight – it’s good to keep a chart or diary on food intake and weight etc when a bun is poorly.

I would hand feed her, when she gets her appetite back, she wont be asking to be hand fed anymore.

 

 

[Pluto]

Weigh-in is a good idea. Just gave 1.5ml of baby Ovol bc i could hear her insides gurgling and could see her skin along her sides rippling. Very distressing that I can’t physically bring her on right now. However she took a few good pinches of the shorter Alfalfa hay,

[DanaNM]

Some bunnies will also take CC willingly from a spoon or a plate, especially if it is mixed up pretty thick. You might try that if you haven’t already. Some bunnies like it more if it’s mixed with a little canned pumpkin, and adding some mashed banana will also help (but you want to keep an eye on how much so she doesn’t get too much sugar).

Bunnies that aren’t as active should still eat a lot, perhaps more because they have nothing else to do. Eating hay is something rabbits do when they are bored, so I don’t think it’s tied to being hungry from exercising (like you might see in a carnivore like a cat).

 

. . . 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.  

[jerseygirl]

Some gut sounds are not a bad thing but ovol certainly can’t hurt.

The movement you saw might have been the back-and-forth motion (Peristalsis) that the hind gut does to separate particles for the cecum. That is normal and something I’ve seen in perfectly healthy rabbits. Like a rolling motion in the fur at the lower belly area.

If you are seeing that, it’s probably a good indicator that her gut is starting to function as it should. How are her poops looking now?

[Pluto]

Thank you, Jersey girl.  So helpful and reassuring.  She had a lot of poops last night/early this morning – dry but caring sizes, not clumped together). Her ears are warmer today. She used me as her stepping stone to nimbly leap out of her enclosure, notwithstanding my efforts to minimize her activity. I found an article on bun tummy massage so I’m trying to be more deliberate in her belly rubs. I’m also topping off her Timothy in litterbox with Alfalfa (which she seems to prefer), so she’ll munch in there. Trying to wean from handfeeding, but want to see normal poop size before I stop offering food by hand…

[DanaNM]

Sounds like she is coming along. Do be gentle and careful with tummy rubs and her spay…. the normal area for tummy rubs might be painful for her, and she is still healing internally.

. . . 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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