HELP PLEASE! Female bunny not eating

[xxchelle]

This is my first post here, so I suppose I should introduce myself, but I'm too stressed to do that right now...

I'll try to give you all the information I can, hopefully someone can help me...

I have a 2 year old female lop eared bunny. She is spayed.

We *just* adopted her last week from the Humane Society here. They spayed her for us a week ago (Tuesday the 23rd of June), and we took her home today.

They told us she wasn't eating as much as they'd like after the spay, so they kept her a bit longer (we were supposed to take her home towards the end of last week). But they said they had vet technicians on site who were watching her every day, and her eating got back up to mostly normal, so they told me she was fine to go home.

We brought her home at 2:00 this afternoon, and she hasn't eaten or pooped since then. There are Oxbow rabbit pellets available to her, and Timothy hay. When I noticed she wasn't eating, I tried to entice her with a bit of Alfalfa, but that didn't work either. She has unlimited fresh water.

She's urinated three times since 2:00. It's now 11:30PM here. We have seen her drink.

I tried to bribe her with a pear slice, raisins, grapes, carrots, romaine lettuce, etc. and she was uninterested in everything.

Then I got out my blender, and tried to make a "bunny smoothie" of sorts, with some fruit, pellets, hay, and water. Then I tried to feed it to her through a large syringe. She would not eat that either.

I'm at a loss for what to do. Everything is now closed where I am, so I'm left with whatever I have at home. Tomorrow is a national holiday (Canada Day), and therefore everything will be closed. My husband and I are supposed to be going to a baseball game, then out to dinner with my parents tomorrow. I'm really hoping I can solve this by then.

There is a bunny-savvy emergency clinic near by that I could call, but I'm wondering if I'm just overreacting?

She is lying in the "frog position", which I don't think bunnies do if they're having pains from gas, so I don't think it's gas.

Could all this just be stress? Is it normal for a bunny to be stressed to the point of not eating for over 9 hours, or is there something more going on here?

Sorry for such a long winded post, I tried to include as much information as I could.

 

[Pipp]

Can you put your location in your profile? That may help with zeroing in on resources near to you.

I don't think this is an emergency, as long as she's drinking, I wouldn't worry about force feeding her.

It would be very helpful to see what her poops are looking like. Do you know her favourite treats?

None of mine like anything from a blender. Odd little things.

Is she exploring much? Watch for signs of lethargy. And see how her poops are looking over the course of the evening.

As long as she's drinking, she's not in any danger, but if she's still not eating tomorrow, you may need to give her some well-soaked Critical Care or the equivalent.

If you have or can get some canned pumpkin, she might like that, and its a great source of wet fiber.

I'll be watching for updates.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[xxchelle]

Sorry, I haven't filled anything in in my profile yet!

I live about an hour away from Toronto.

She's not pooping, so I can't give you any information about her poops.

I do not know her favorite treats, as I said, we just got her today.

She's lounging a lot, and not moving around much (she CAN move though, she hopped up the stairs when we had her out), and from what they told me at the Humane Society, she's a pretty lazy bunny anyways.

I have no way to get Critical Care tomorrow, as everything is closed

There's a 24-hour grocery store near us, so I might be able to go out tonight and get some canned pumpkin, but the only problem is they might close at Midnight, due to the national holiday tomorrow.

 

[Pipp]

Well, let me know your location, off chance we may have members out your way who have supplies on hand.

Otherwise you can soak the Oxbow pellets (or better yet the particles from the bottom of the bag) and give her some of that tomorrow, although it's better with a pro-biotic and vitamins. If you have any acidophilus or anything like that around, mix it in.

Another good product to keep in mind is Nutri-Cal. It's a paste for dogs and cats but the malt flavour works well for rabbits. (Seeing as you may be looking at an ongoing issue, you can get them after the holiday).

If you are in email contact with the people from the rescue/shelter/vet who may know what she particularly likes, it would help.

Do you know her history? How long the Humane Society had her? I'd like to make sure she was historically a 'lazy bunny'.

A lot of my fosters don't eat anything for the first 24 hours or so. Because this bun has a recent history with vets and the like, there isn't likely to be anything critical today or tomorrow, but by tomorrow night you may have to feed her, depending on if she poops overnight and what they're like and if she's still drinking.

You may also do well to get some Pedialyte, a baby rehydration thing, although a little Garotade might do in a pinch.

I find waving a piece of parsley in front of my buns nose to the point where they get mad and grab it will actually start them eating again.

I wouldn't get too worried yet.


sas :bunnydance: :goodluck

 

[Maureen Las]

the pumpkin should be pure without the seasoning for pie andI think it would be a good idea for you to try to get some while you can...

I am wonderiing if the humane society has sort of minimized her problem ....

It is really important for her to be hydrated so monitor her fluid intake . if she is not drinking well you can add a little juice to her water (apple , cranberry) to entice her to drink

I don't think that you can get this but I always seem to be able to get my rabbits to eat parsley if they are having issues ; if there is any way you can give her greens and not fruit that would help (if she has not been fed greens before then you need to give her small amounts at once because her body is not used to them. )

it is hard to know her 'normal:
because you have not had her long....

When the stores open you need to get baby liquid gas medication with the active ingredient of simethicone only. This is an extremely good over the counter medication for possible gas problems. even if she doesn't have gas this will not harm her. You can give her 1 cc every few hours up to 3 doses....
You also need to look for a probiotic for small mammals. It is called benebac here butI am not sure of the name in Canada; but it is sold at pet stores

the longer that she does not poop the worse the problems will become.

you may be surprised that when you go to bed tonight you will find poops in the morning as buns seem to like to torture us by waiting topoop until we leave them alone
Was she given alfalfa pellets at the shelter? ..if so she most likely will not like the oxbow ones. Usually you need to transition the rabbit from an alfalfa pellet to a timothy pellet as most of them get hooked on the alfalfa.

Another thing you need is a fresh pineapple ;

it often helps their GI tracts to syringe a few ccs of fresh only pineapple juice several times per day.

Iknow that you cannot get all these things on a holiday but am just preparing you for July2

let us know how she is doing?

 

[xxchelle]

She is drinking fine as far as I can tell. We've seen her drink.

I went to the grocery store, but they had already closed, and they're closed all tomorrow.

With the humane society having as many animals as the one we got her from does, it's hard to monitor each and every one. I did not really like the conditions they had her in today when I went to pick her up. She was on hard plastic, no bedding (they didn't want to use bedding because of her stitches, fine... but they could have put down fleece blankets, etc.), and she had no pellets in the cage. The water bottle they had hung on the side for her was knocked over, so the spout was nowhere near where she could reach it. Every other time I've visited her there she's been in an okay enclosure, so I wonder if they just rushed through a cleaning, or something. I don't know.

I'm not sure what kind of pellets she was on at the humane society. Come to think of it, I never saw her with pellets, only hay. As far as I know, the hay was Timothy hay. That's what it looked like, anyways.

I doubt she had been fed greens, shelters don't usually do this, as it requires too much work.

I've made a list of items to get on July 2nd. I am hoping she will start to eat before then. At what point should I call the emergency vet clinic?

Thank you so much, both of you, for all your help. I'm slightly less nervous now than I was before.

 

[Pipp]

You should be okay without the emergency clinic tomorrow unless she gets lethargic or has other symptoms other than anorexia (ETA: although that's with syringe feeding her something tomorrow if she's still not eating or pooping and reassessing tomorrow night).

The ER treatment would be sub-q hydration (under the skin), warmth (incubation) and likely antibiotics if they find she has a temperature or something else going on (which I would still watch for). Maybe pain meds.

If she's reasonably active, alert and hydrated, there isn't much more they can do beyond diagnostics and that's waaaay cheaper July 2nd if you can wait. I really have to assume the vet care she just came from would have spotted anything major like an infection.

If she is going into stasis, it may cause gas, so I agree with giving her simethicone gas meds if you have some. I use Ovol here, about a quarter tab of the berry flavoured ones go over fairly well and do the trick for my little guys.

Meanwhile, Kevin, aka Cyber-Wizard, is in Guelph and has also been treating an anorexic rabbit with Critical Care, if need be. Maybe if he's close enough and you really need some, you can see about purchasing/borrowing a little of his to get her through the day.

I'd still try and entice her with wet parsley, dandelion, grass, dill, banana... anything you can.

Keep in touch!

sas :bunnydance:

 

[xxchelle]

Thanks! I just might PM him if need be.

My aunt helps out with Rabbit Rescue in the area, so I'm sure she would know someone who might have a little extra Critical Care as well.

She's as active as I've seen her... but like angieluv said, I don't know her "normal".

I know my aunt uses Ovol, so I can always stop by her place and get some tomorrow.

Thanks guys! *breathes a sigh of relief*

 

[Pipp]

I should emphasize that at the first sign of lethargy, best to get her to the ER if they're bunny savvy.

Maybe your aunt has pumpkin and Pedialyte, too. Hydration is your best weapon.

My guys like munching at around 5 AM, so watch for consumption around that time.

Her tastes may depend on her pre-shelter history. I guess they didn't say where she came from? Barn/breeder bunnies tend to have alfalfa pellets, surrendered house bunnies may have timothy and veggies, feral strays will eat grass, etc.

sas :bunnydance:

 

[tonyshuman]

Also, what kind of pellet were they feeding her at the shelter? She may not want to eat because the pellets are different. There have been a lot of good comments already. I want to second the simethicone (ovol) and the water. Hydration is really important with the GI.

However, it's totally possible that she's just worried about the move. I like to give bunnies several hours alone in their new room after a big change, like moving or going to visit family. Give her some calm, quiet, and darkness, and that may help.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

How is Cinnabun today? Did you try and entice her withmore Alfalfa hay? My bunnies love oats (Quaker brand in the bag) because they are softer to chew. You should call the shelter and see if they have any suggestions or what foods they are feeding their rabbits.