What should I feed OJ?

[Lippy]

So, we took OJ for his castration on Tuesday followed by the worst two days I have ever experienced!  He came back from the vets a bit quiet (wouldn’t you be?!) but he wouldn’t eat… we tried everything but he wouldn’t eat anything.

So, we went back to the vets and they gave him some more antibiotics and some gut stimulant and told us this would work.  But, he’s such a stubborn rabbit he still wouldn’t eat.  He had a tiny bit of lettuce and some broccoli but that was it.  Although his appetite for paper never seemed to reduce!

Back to the vets we went again where they told us to try syringe feeding him… well OJ was having none of that I can tell you – he hated it and just spat it out all over the place…

Back to the vets YET again where they gave him some more stimulant and some more pain killers.  Sat up until 2am tempting him with food (the lounge floor became a gourmet restaurant for rabbits) and I am glad to say that he is now eating something.  However, he’ll only eat lettuce, a little bit of hay, his wicker bin and straw/willow mat and some locust bean treats.  This doesn’t strike me as a particularly balanced diet.

He used to eat nuggets and muesli (which I know people say isn’t good but he only ate the squashed peas, sweetcorn and other corn bits and he loved it) but now he won’t touch it.  So my question is – what can I offer as an alternative to bring up and maintain his weight as he’s lost quite a lot over the last two days?  We have tried carrot, broccoli, cucumber all things he used to love but he’s not interested.  I’m just worried that he’s not getting all of the vitamins etc that he needs. 

[Spacehopper]

Sprouts? Bumface LOVES his Brussel Sprouts, might be worth trying if you haven’t already. Something that always gets him munching no matter what are “Mark & Chappell Odour Care Treats Small Animals”, as soon as he smells them he appears, almost taking my hand off to get to them! Good Luck!!!!!!

[Faye Perry]

Have you tried carrot tops? or radish leaves? or dandelion leaves?  what about a strawberry?  I remember my first bunny after her spay, didn’t eat anything for a while, so off to the vets we went for the stimulant.  Our kitchen floor was the same as yours… food everywhere!!  She was stubborn too but i remember the vet saying that it didn’t really matter what she ate over the first few days – so long as she ate.

Battenburg cake (I know its not supposed to be for bunnies) but she would always go mental for it whenever my husband ate it, so she had small portion of that, along with carrot tops and strawberry.

My two buns now didn’t really go off food at all – bunnies can be strange things x

Good luck!!!! x

[MooBunnay]

Hi!

I had the same problem with a couple of girl bunnies right after they were spayed.  They only ate very small amounts of things and only treats for about 3-4 days…it just took them awhile to get back into eating regularly.  The fact that OJ is eating SOMETHING is a great sign anyways, is he pooping? The girls did nt have regular poops for awhile, but at least we knew the digestive system was still moving along OK.

Our tricks for the girls were:

1. Cilantro – We would break the stems and then feed it to them because for some reason the stronger smell with the broken stem seemed to tempt them even more

2. Apple in the Water – The girls were not drinking water either, so we put apple juice in the water to make them drinkg something

I think that he will probably return to normal soon, it was very smart of you to take him to the vet…all the rescuers I know told me that if the girls would not eat anything I would have to take them to the vet ASAP.

Also, we had to syringe feed, and would stick the dropper right into their mouth and drop a little bit of food in…our rescue friend said to make sure to do this while they are right side up, not on their backs, is that how you were doing it?

[LillyBear]

The same thing happened with my bun when she was spayed… I had to hand feed her… shove it in her mouth and hold it there until she would swallow.. although most of the time she would take it and spit it on the side. My dr. gave her Baytril to prevent infection, and researching that I realized it is an appetite suppresant.. eep. It took about 3 to ware off for her.. but then she started eating more little by little…

[dmh426]

When Sophie was really sick I put pedialtye or gatorade in her water. It tastes good and will keep her electrolytes up and her hydrated. As far as food, Oats are high in calories and easy to eat and bunnies love them. I put pills in raisins to try to coax her to take her medicine. It sounds bad too, but if you are depserate, try an apple slice with peantubutter.

With the syringe feeding, did you try the “bunny burrito”? It’s wrapping your bunny up tightly in a towel so that they lay in your arms like a baby with their tummy up. It’s easier to control a bunny this way and there was some posting about it a while back. FInd that post!

[BinkyBunny]

You’ve gotten some great advice Lippy.  How is OJ doing today?

[Lippy]

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the advice!! OJ is now eating fine – it just seemed to take a couple of days for him to eat anything other than lettuce, but now he just can’t stop which is great. Now all I have to do is get him to forgive me – I’m sure I can see a look of anger in his eyes every time he looks at me because I was so mean making him go the vets so often

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