Sick Bunny Help

[DustBunnyPaws]

My three month old lop-eared boy Bucky came down with diarrhea the night before Thanksgiving. I had gotten him from a breeder, and he seemed perfectly healthy. I’ve had him for about a month and he was fine until then. I cleaned his cage once a week, and changed his food and water everyday. I let his out to hop (with supervision) every day. Hearing that diarrhea can be fatal to bunnies, I rushed him to the vet. I got him back today and gave him his medicine (he has to take three types-one at two pm, and two at two am). I gave him his medicine, but he has hardly touched his hay and hasn’t gone near his water or food. He was chattering, also, in a not-good way. Any suggestions to get him to drink, or should i just syringe water him? Extremely stressed, I’ve been living off coffee for the past couple days and I’m worried sick. I’m very new here, so I’m very sorry if I do something wrong, but I NEED help.

[tobyluv]

If your bunny still hasn’t eaten on his own, you will need to get some food into him. Do you have Critical Care? If not, you can mash up his pellets and mix them with some water, then force feed him with a syringe. Critical Care is easier and has more vitamins and nutrients, but the pellet slurry will work too. Since he is only 3 months old, you might not have been giving him any greens yet, but if he is used to eating them, provide him with a favorite, and sprinkle some water on it to give him extra liquid. Rub it against his mouth and nose and maybe it will entice him to eat. It’s good that he is eating some hay, keep encouraging him to do so, by putting out fresh handfuls. If he doesn’t want any greens, or they aren’t in his diet yet, you can give him some water in a syringe.

When you say he was chattering, do you mean that he is grinding his teeth? If so, he is likely in pain or discomfort. Did the vet give you any pain medication, such as Metacam? You may need that. Also, make sure that he is warm enough, in case the chattering is due to being cold.

I hope that the medicine will start helping him and he will be better soon.

[LBJ10]

Did the vet diagnose him with anything? Did he have diarrhea or was it more like poopy butt (squished cecals)? What are the medications that the vet gave you? I’m asking because it will help us help you better. I agree with what Tobyluv said.

[Bam]

Tobyluv gives you excellent advice, just want to second that. And LBJ of course. 

You need to eat something yourself first of all, your brain can’t work properly without fuel. So eat something, anything really, or it will be much more difficult for you to help your bunny. And your bunny needs you to be strong and cool-headed now.

As Tobyluv says:

It is dangerous when a bunny doesn’t eat. So he must eat. By syringe if you have to. Insert syringe beteen his front teeth and back teeth, there’s a wide gap there. Make sure he swallows , don’t push too much food in at one one time.Make sure he sits up when you syringe him anything – in your lap or on a table, just put him on his back. It’s traumatic for buns and it makes it harder to swallow. 

Fluids are important. Again, you can syringe water. Young animals get dehydrated fast. Did he get any subcutaneous fluids at the vet?

Pain-relief is also important. Teeth-chattering means pain. Pain aggravates any condition. If you have a pain-killer for him (metacam), it will lower his body temp as well as take away pain. So keep him warm, wrapped in a blankie or in your knee with a blankie on him or if you have a hot water bottle he can have in his cage (but he must have space enough to move away from the heat-source if it gets too hot.)Sick buns are prone to get too low body-temp, which is dangerous. 

This condition is serious since he’s so young, I’m guessing he has a parasite or bad bacteria, (coccidia, or bacterial enteritis) and definitely needs proper treatment. A bunny that gets proper treatment can be fine within days. Sending so many healing-vibes for him. Please keep us updated.

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