Mystifying Ailment - RIP

Hi Everyone. My almost 6 year-old Barley, a regular European black rabbit who was once a feral baby rabbit at the university, has had repeated bouts with ileus and is well on his way of having it again unless something changes. He's been examined carefully every time and had his teeth checked and x-rayed, but nothing can be seen.

About a week ago he started making a lot of noise eating, sometimes pawing at his mouth as though something was caught in his teeth, and drooling excessively. After a few days of this, and seeing that his appetite was waning, I got him in to see our city's leading vet, who is also a bird/exotics expert. Barley has been thoroughly examined with several different sized scopes, x-rayed and has been given antibiotics and pain killers. As well, I've been trying to syringe feed him and, despite the fact that I've had to do this many times with him, this time he's not swallowing most of what I syringe in but either lets it drool out or he works it out.

He's hungry and tries to eat on his own, but seems only able to get a few mouthfuls in and he's suddenly shaking his head and pounding his front feet and salivating. Sometimes he gets very aggressive and races off to attack a cardboard box or something. He's getting about half his daily allotment of greens in, maybe a tsp of pellets, and a few whisps of hay. I'm only about to get about a tbsp. of CC into him at a feeding, three times a day.

The vet said he would email a veterinary dentist on the mainland and send along Barley's x-rays so see if he can see something that we're missing. In the meantime, I'm at my wit's end because we're also dealing with a sick chinchilla and his care is landing mostly on my shoulders because my daughter has to work full-time and is also going to school.

I'm attempting using a 1 ml syringe for Barley. I've cut the end off and smoothed it to make the opening wider, and I'm thinking to try mixing his Critical Care with mild herbal mint tea next feed. Maybe he'll find it more palatable.

Has anyone else ever run into something like this? Any ideas on feeding? He hates pumpkin, and I don't want to add sugar to his gut issues by adding fruit juice, which he's never taken to anyway. I'm doing sub q every day for fluids, and he's still leaving goodies in the litter box - not much and they're small, but he's still "going".

Any help, ideas, advice... would be gratefully accepted!

It does sound very much like a dental problem. Was his mouth physically examined by the vet? I don't think organic matter shows up well on x-rays, he may have an abscess in his mouth or even a painful bit of food stuck somewhere. Poor Barley! I hope you find out what's wrong soon.

Has he had his mouth and teeth examined under GA, not just a conscious exam? If dental problems such as overgrown incisors, molar spurs, elongated tooth roots, abscesses, and infection have all been ruled out with a visual exam under GA, as well as good xrays, then my next thought would be some sort of problem in the throat. It could be something causing a partial obstruction making it difficult for your bun to swallow, or it could be something like an infection in the throat causing pain when your bun swallows. I know of one bun that had a mysterious illness for a year with odd head and mouth movements, that no vets could figure out. Then a rabbit specialist I believe scoped the rabbits throat and found that there was a scratch in the throat that had developed a fungal infection. With the symptoms you are describing, it does sound to me that it could be an issue with the throat. It's possible that it's something a chest xray may pick up(if you haven't had one done already) if it's some sort of mass pressing on the throat, but if not you may need your buns throat scoped under GA, for the vet to get a look at what might be going on in there. Another test that may help the vet figure out what is going on, might be an ultrasound.

Unfortunately if there is some sort of obstruction in the throat, then any food is going to be difficult for him to swallow. Soft food like leafy veg and critical care, are probably going to be the easiest things for him to swallow for the time being. Could you try a different syringe feeding mix if he doesn't like the one you are using? Or maybe use a slurry of his pellets instead if he likes those?

Has your vet tried an anti inflammatory to see if that helps at all? Have gut motility meds been tried to see if it has any effect either?

Thanks for your replies, whiskylollipop and JBun!
He's only been examined while conscious but he behaves just like I would if there was something stuck in the back of my mouth or my throat. I described it all to the vet and he's looked as far back as he can while Barley is awake. I'm taking him in again on Tuesday morning (unless something happens and I run in sooner) and I'll ask him about checking him over thoroughly under GA.
I just got about a tbsp. of CC in made with the herbal mint tea but I don't think it made much difference. It was the old usual CC though, and not the extra fine grind and it did go down slightly easier, but that might've been on account of using a sawn-off 1 ml syringe. I watched a YouTube video of someone cutting off the nib of a syringe and filing it down. Works great! I'll try mixing up something using his own pelleted food though. He might accept that flavour a bit better.
It's all terribly stressful and worrying! I'd sure like this cleared up once and for all. Going through syringe feeding and medications every few months is too much - too much stress and too much expense! I can't believe how much I've paid the vet!

I've tried looking in a rabbits mouth with an otoscope and you only really can see a glimpse before the rabbit moves, So hopefully under GA they will be able to really study his mouth longer and find the problem—fingers crossed!
I'm having a similar problem only not quite as bad. Food wise I've been using a coffee grinder to grind up concoctions for my little rabbit who is refusing to eat anything other than pellets and I think he has a tooth issue too. He has already had a bout with wool block and he needs more Fibre so I am grinding up grass and hay, but he won't eat it until I add a little bit of banana, or apple. Today I discovered he would eat it if I added a piece of fennel. So my tip is try some fennel.
Sorry you are going through this, I know how exhausting and frustrating it is.

Hi squidpop, and thanks for your reply! Barley is in the vet's office today as he WILL NOT swallow any Critical Care at all, hasn't pooped in over 12 hours and is generally doing very poorly. They are doing a GA examination and will also grind down any teeth that aren't perfectly right. The vet said initially that there was one molar that looked slightly long but he didn't think it would cause so much trouble. Maybe Barley is just ultra sensitive to it, I don't know, but he'll correct it. I asked him to check down his throat too, maybe try x-raying different areas or ultrasound. At this point I'm probably looking at another horrendous bill, but I'm beyond caring. Either find out what's wrong and "fix it" (I know that sounds simplistic) or maybe I need to have him put to sleep because he's suffering, and if there's nothing they can find, he'll have a miserable and painful death before long unless something changes. I'm just sick about it and keep getting all weepy but I just don't know what else to do.
I hope your little rabbit perks up soon. It really is an awful, helpless feeling when they won't eat - or can't. Fennel is a great idea. I can smell it in the Critical Care. I've been trying to avoid adding much fruit to Barley's food so as not to give him gas from the sugar. I've been giving him Ovol (simethicone) so hopefully the little bit of fruit he does get once a day won't have an adverse affect. Even last night, he absolutely relished his little bit of banana at bedtime. Sheesh. It's like having a sick kid!

I hope the vet is able to pinpoint a cause for you and Barley. It is really awful to have a bun not eating, and so stressful. It's quite possible it is just the one molar that is causing all this. I've read many accounts of rabbits that will stop eating just due to a small spur on the tooth. And then sometimes there is a back tooth that is causing the problems, that the vet can't see in a conscious exam, but finds the offending tooth in a more thorough exam when the rabbit has a GA.

Wishing all the best for poor Barley. Please let us know how it goes.

One thing with future use of Critical Care. Some rabbits HATE the anise flavor, in which case you may have better luck with the apple-banana.

Best wishes for Barley, let us know how it goes, hopefully they can find the cause and correct it.

If your veterinarian is indeed an exotics specialist they should be able to pass a nasogastric tube or place an esophageal tube that would allow you to get food into him without him actually having to swallow it, but I don't know if he's at that point yet.

Thanks for all your posts! The vet gave Barley a sedative so he wasn't completely out but wasn't quite aware of what was going on. My daughter happens to be volunteering at this clinic for the Vet Assistant course and she said it was actually funny to see 6 people working on Barley. He had to be restrained by about 4 people, then there was the vet and a girl holding a light. The vet found a small hairball in his throat which we removed and apparently a bit of blood came with it so I wonder what was the deal there?! He also worked on any possible offending teeth. This was sometime in the afternoon and it's now 9:00 pm and Barley is still very dopey. I tried feeding him a couple hours ago but he's still only swallowing a very small amount. I suppose his mouth and throat are a bit sore, but I did give him his dose of painkiller. He goes back in the morning at 9:30 for an appointment I made last week. He left one lone poop in the litter box awhile ago. He's so terribly lethargic, I'm really afraid I'm going to lose him. The vet did say something about tubing some food into him. Maybe he'll do that tomorrow. Fingers crossed he snaps out of this funk soon. Sometimes he really comes alive - right when I want to go to bed. I've hardly slept for days which doesn't help. He must be feeling so rotten, poor little guy. Oh, I've tried the other flavour of CC and he hated it. Usually, when I've syringe fed him before, he was okay with the regular flavour stuff - not crazy about it, but I could get a good amount into him before he really refused.

Managed to get a couple tablespoons of CC into Barley last night before I went to bed which made me feel better, enough that I actually got about 5 hours of sleep! Took him back to the vet this morning and told him what was going on and he said they really had to put him through the wringer yesterday, clamp his mouth open, hold his tongue out of the way... and so he's probably a bit sore today, and last night he might still have been dopey from the sedation. I've been trying to feed him about every 3 hours today since he's only eating very little. Also he's on Cicepride because his tummy was gurgling something fierce. He's made some little deposits in his litter box today though, so that's hopeful. He ate his spinach overnight (a small handful of baby spinach) and a tiny piece of kale this afternoon, but he's still drooling like crazy. And now I'm having to put drops in his eyes because they're all swollen and gunky, either from the stuff they stuck his eyes shut with yesterday, or I'm thinking he's washing his face and his messy saliva is getting into his eyes and infection is setting in. He's still on antibiotics, but has run out of painkillers now. It's all I can do to hang onto hope that he'll ever be normal again! He seems so incredibly miserable.

My heart goes out to you and your bunny, it sounds so hard, but I think its a really good sign though that he ate his spinach and kale on his own. Sending healing ((((((vibes)))))).

Thanks squidpop! He can use all the healing vibes you can send! X0

I'm guessing that the x-ray didn't show anything wrong with his teeth?

It's not good to know that he's still drooling, there's obviously something going on but it's hard to say what it is.

I'm heartbroken to say that I had my Barley put to sleep last night after wrestling with it all day. It was taking me an hour to get 2 tbsp. of CC into him, his eyes had got all infected, either from the stuff they stuck them shut with for his sedated examination or from his attempts to clean up all his saliva, he was miserable, in pain despite the painkillers, and was having strange little bouts of teeth chattering, stretching his neck out and breathing loudly. I'm afraid I just couldn't take it anymore. I've hardly eaten or slept since this all started. I've pulled him through 2 bouts of GI Stasus, and that was easy compared to this - this was inexplicable, the vet was stumped, and between Barley and a sick chinchilla we're also dealing with, the vet bills mounted up to over $1,000. I feel selfish, like I didn't give him enough time to recover, but it really didn't look like he was headed that way and was suffering, and I was suffering right along with him. I can't tell you how much I'll miss him - but you're all rabbit-lovers and will know. Thank you all for your kind support and caring. XXOO

Very sorry for your loss ��

I'm so very sorry you had to let him go. You tried your best to sort out what was going on with him and it sounds like he wasn't doing well after his GA, and the kindest thing was to let him go.

Thank you stevesmom and JBun. I really appreciate your sympathies. It's been an awful day. :bawl:

I'm so sorry (((((hugs)))))).

:bigtears: