Sick Bunny?

[Wrinkle nose]

Hello, 

I’ve been reading posts for a while, but this is my first post! 

I’ve had Hazel for almost a year, she’s about 6 years old. Yesterday I noticed she was very lethargic, and shes not as excited about her food as she usually is…she loves her food…she’s been eating, but eating very slowly, and almost awkwardly, and not finishing her food. 

She also has maybe a runny nose? It seems to be clear, but moist every time I put my finger under her nose, but I haven’t noticed any sneezing or having trouble breathing. 

Soo I’m wondering at what point should I be taking her to the vet? Should I wait and see if she gets better? 

[Bam]

You can give her baby gas drops (simethicone) and see if that helps her appetite. Sometimes buns get gassy, and that is painful for them. Gas drops are not taken up into the body, they act locally in the intestine. There’s no hard scientific evidence as to its effectiveness in rabbits, but many of us owners use it. You give 1 ml per hour every hour for three hours. By then it should have helped, but you can keep giving 0.5 ml every 2 hours for a while longer. You can also do a light tummy massage like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=JnuxGLa2regH

Is she eating hay? How much of her food does she eat? How is her poop? If you clean out her litter box you’ll be able to keep track of the amount, size and consistency of her poop. Poop can give many valuable clues. Is she shedding? It’s not uncommon for rabbits to get GI problems during a heavy molt. If you see poop connected like beads on a string, she’s ingesting too much loose hair and you should brush her. Hair can cause a gut slowdown.

The moist nose could be unrelated. Sometimes a bun’s nose is moist for normal reasons, because they only breathe through their noses. Is the nose really runny, so much so that she gets wet under her chin or on her cheeks?

[Wrinkle nose]

She has maybe had a bit of hay, but not as much as she usually does..some of her poop is very very small, no hair on the poop, and shes not currently shedding.

I have stuff from the last time she had GI stasis…should I try that? I don’t want to be giving her medicine if its going to make it worse

[Wrinkle nose]

Shes also slightly tilting her head, and seems to be keeping the downside of the head ear down ..when she hops shes walking fine? I’m hoping I’m just reading to much into it..

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would take her to the vet if her poops are that small and she’s not eating much. She likely needs fluids and Oxbow Critical Care. With the mention of the tilted head, that is def a red flag for vet. Bunnies can go downhill very quickly. Better to not wait.

[Wrinkle nose]

So I took her to the vet yesterday, and she did the little kid thing where she was suddenly very energetic and moved more then she had all day. Vet didn’t seem too worried about her,checked her teeth, and told us to find some bene bac and try that and to keep giving her the pain medication we have for her.
Then this morning, she didn’t eat at all, no poops from the night, so we gave her another dosage of the stuff we got from when she was last in GI…hopefully it will work?
She hates the critical care stuff…she’ll just hold it in her mouth then spit it back up..we tried giving her water from a syringe so hopefully that will help a bit?

Any ideas on what I should do now? How long does it take the meds to work usually? Last time she only needed 2 doses plus what the vet gave her. I feel so bad when shes sick

[LittlePuffyTail]

she did the little kid thing where she was suddenly very energetic and moved more then she had all day.

I’ve had that happen a few times too. I think it’s the stress from the car and vet that gives them like an adrenaline rush.

Most bunnies don’t like taking the CC when they are unwell. But if she’s not eating at all, you will have to try to keep force feeding it. There are some videos on youtube that show the proper way to force feed a bunny. Great care must be take that bunny doesn’t aspirate.

I’m hoping she is doing better today. What medications is she getting? Have you tried simethicone? Benebac is to promote healthy gut bacteria, I don’t think it would be helpful at all in getting a bun out of stasis, unfortunately.

[Wrinkle nose]

She didn’t make it . We came home after work on Wednesday to find her. Looking back she wasn’t quite herself the last week or 2, but I just figured she was in a rut or weather changes. Maybe something else bigger then GI was going on.

[Bam]

I’m very sorry she didn’t make it. GI is a symptom, and the real cause can be so many things. It can be a sign of something really serious, and the fact that she didn’t respond to the stasis meds you gave her does point in that direction.

Binky free, little ****Hazel****

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m so very sorry.

(((((Binky Free)))))

[Author]

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