Rabbit Stopped eating food. Vets clueless...again.

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myrabbitbunnies

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I already have one poorly rabbit (see my other thread) now her brother has stopped eating. He's been taken to the vets where they say they cant feel anything and his stomach is empty. The poos he does do are coming out tiny and with a jelly like substance on them. He's had a bit of gas too.

He is drinking still (but no peeing oddly) and yesterday we managed to get him to eat some dandilion leaves, a tiny bit of hay and banana but thats it. The vets say he has a small lump on his tongue but its small and not red so shouldn't affect him. When he does eat he chews his food REALLY slowly like a child eating something they dont like. He won't touch treats he adores or his normal food.

Any idea as the vets have no idea.
 
Just from the first 2 sentences if your vet can't figure it out, he's a bit dumb.

mucoid enteritis - will cause the small poops, and the jelly covered poops. Can't help on treatment.
 
What did your vet check for? It could be many things: GI stasis, molar spurs, obstruction... Did he take x-rays?

The jelly like substance is because your rabbit has nothing in his stomach. Rabbits need to constantly eat to move their guts along, so you're going to have to help him. The gas indicates it could be GI stasis, but you want to rule out an obstruction too.
You need to keep your rabbit warm, and get him hydrated (do not force fluids or food if he is cold, he needs to be warm). If he really has gas, he should be on infant gas drops (simethicone); you can get these at any supermarket or pharmacy. If there is no obstruction, talk to your vet about syringing him Critical Care, to get something into his system.

Please read through these links:
Rabbit Not Eating: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=54059&forum_id=10

Dehydration: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=56785&forum_id=10

GI Stasis: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28622&forum_id=10

Teeth: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=472&S=5&SourceID=43

Force feeding: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=56833&forum_id=10

But, you also need to find a new vet. If your vet couldn't figure this out, your rabbits are not going to do well under his care.
Here is a link to rabbit vets in the UK. If they are not near you, get on the phone and call the closest ones and ask if they know someone in your area:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=15071&forum_id=9
 
Thanks for the replies. They said there is no point doing an xray as they can't feel anything. They've given us fiberplex, and told us to feed him baby food in a syringe. He is eating tiny amounts of grass and other bits but nothing of any size. It's like he wants to eat but cant.

They said his teeth are fine. They gave him a tummy massage and that released some gas. They also gave him something to break down anything blocking his stomach but they have not given us anything else for it. They checked his temperature and that was fine.

He's inside so is warm and is drinking. He's started peeing now but he still isn't eating much and looks very sorry for himself.

Although he is also running into things like shut doors and other objects head first which he has never done before.
 
does he look like he hasn't eaten? I still think it is what I wrote origionally. Try the childrens gas drops with him. It will help big time with it, and that helps relieve some pain.
 
He is losing weight as he hasn't eaten properly for a couple of days now. The vet said the mucus in his droppings was normal as he hasn;t been eating much. Looking into mucoid enteritis more now to see if there is something we can do. Will see what the UK equivalent for the gas drops is. Thanks
 
It is still concerning. Your vet would not be able to feel a hairball, so that is not accurate. Doing a tummy massage once, it is highly unlikely that gas was relieved.
If he is still gassy, you're going to have to continue the massages yourself and get him on the simethacone. Also, the fact that he is inside does mean he will maintain his body temperature.

Don't misinterpret what the vet said: the mucousy droppings is normal because he isn't eating - it is not normal to have. You have to get food into your rabbit asap. If he won't eat by himself, you will need to syringe him.

In any event, there was a lot of information in my first post. It would be a good idea to read through it to become better informed of what you are dealing with, but you have to be proactive and get your rabbit eating.

If you don't know what infant gas drops are, go to your local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist. He will be able to tell you.
 
myrabbitbunnies wrote:
I already have one poorly rabbit (see my other thread) now her brother has stopped eating. He's been taken to the vets where they say they cant feel anything and his stomach is empty. The poos he does do are coming out tiny and with a jelly like substance on them. He's had a bit of gas too.

He is drinking still (but no peeing oddly) and yesterday we managed to get him to eat some dandilion leaves, a tiny bit of hay and banana but thats it. The vets say he has a small lump on his tongue but its small and not red so shouldn't affect him. When he does eat he chews his food REALLY slowly like a child eating something they dont like. He won't touch treats he adores or his normal food.

Any idea as the vets have no idea.
Click to expand...

The small lump on his tongue could be causing him not to eat because he is in pain from it.

Your rabbit could be either in GI stasis or has bad gas. I am betting on the GI stasis because of the empty stomach.

Keep him hydrated and offer Critical care to him. It is soft and he might eat it.

This may have been said before but the vets that have no clue as to what is going on are not all that rabbit knowledgeable. If you can get to another vet, rabbit savvy,one that has a lot of knowledge about rabbits and has seen rabbits on a daily basis.

You can also get simethicone for the gas. It needs to be the infant kind and the main ingredient is simethicone.
 
Went to another vets last night regarding the other rabbit I mentioned in the first post and spoke about this one afterwards. They are going to see him tonight to offer a second opinion as they deal with rabbits more. They gave us some critical care (which the other vets did not) which we syringe fed him some last night and it seems to be passing through him okay. Still only wants to lie down and not eat anything else however.

He does feel very bloated so we'll see what this other vets says tonight as i feel they understand this more and how to treat it better than the other vets and what other car they can offer him.
 
Not managed to get simethicone yet, not that i can find it in the UK. Will ask the vets later. Small update before we go to the vets. He's started spitting out food/fiberplex we feed him. His tummy feels very big now and makes lots of noises but he is pooing. Lots of small smelly ones stuck together and his bum twitches constantly as if he is trying to pass something bigger.

So not sure if he has stopped eating because his stomach is full of food that cant get through properly or what.
 
any store carries human baby gas drops. id bet its the ME like i said. which u must be careful getting the stomach blockage to break can rupturn his tummy
 
Simethicone: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=15551&forum_id=10


I am sure babies in the UK get gas. I had suggested you ask a pharmacist at your local pharmacy to show you where it is. Haveyou spoken withthe pharmacistyet, if you can't find it in the baby aisle? Simethicone, infant gas drops..they are there.

Also, he is not eating because he is in pain. You need to get some kind of pain medication from your vet ASAP...

Please, I implore you, please read this: (copied from the RO Library)
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
You need to understand what GI stasis is and act quickly...


 
No matter what country itis the generic name of the gas medication is simethicone. You want to get the liquid drops for infants. Check the back of the packages for simethicone 20 mg. This is safe stuff as it is not absorbed from the intestinal tract.

Also get electrolyte drink for children ; sold everywhere for children who are vomiting and have diarrhea and vomiting ; it contains electrolytes ( sodium , potassium etc) which your rabbit needs

You can give 1 ml simethicone with a repeat every hour X 3 doses if he still feels distended.

I am also wondering if the bump on the tongue is bothering this bunny ??

Once a rabbit stops eating it is a"snowball" effect ; loss of appetite and GI stasis are symptoms of an underlying problem but take on a life of their own.

Once a rabbit stops eating he will deteriorate quickly; the syringe feeding needs to beconsistent You cannot just feed once a day and then hope for the best. The rabbit is dependent on you to get him through this

You can syringe canned pure pumpkin ( pie filling in a can with NO seasoning) also as that is easy to syringe. The Critical care needs to be mixed with more water than stated in the directions as it will thicken and if it not really mixed with a lot of water will dehydrate the rabbit more by absorbing fluids from his body

I handfed critical care to a newborn guinea pig whose mother had died for weeks. It was not easy but I found that if I mixed the critical care with water and then put it in a blender that it was much easier to get in a syringe.

In cases like this the vet can give an opinion, give you meds etc but the actual work is up to you and that is getting food in and keep the GI tract from shutting down/ and or allowing liver damage to occur from lack of food

The mucous in the stool is irritation from the beginning of bacterial overgrowth in the intestines . You need to get a probiotic for him also and give 1 dose


Rabbits generally do not like to be force fed I usually will try not to force a large amount at once but will feed small amounts frequently to prevent the rabbit from being stressed out

I believe that we have links on feeding in the library which I will post whenI can find them

 
Vets last night really helped. Turns out the first vets were clueless as they gave him a type of steroid injection. Which meant the new vet couldn't give him any pain relief. They and us were annoyed. They'd also given us stuff that wasn't really helping and ignored a whole bunch of other things. But they figured out another pain relief injection he could have instead. In fact they gave him some other injections, one of which was to to keep his hydration up.

The new vets told us his teeth are not too good with spurs on them. The original vet said his teeth were fine. But at the moment they cant tell if it is his teeth causing pain so he may have to have an xray on his teeth and tummy if things don't change.

They've also given us two medicines to give him twice a day. Sorry for the lack of details but i've not got them in front of me. I asked about the Simethicone and was recommended not to give them to him at this time. Yesterday he'd practically stopped eating but this morning was more alert and was eating grass and apple by himself. Still won't touch his grain at the moment but hopefully we can tempt him with other things. Will see how it goes over the next day or so and report back. The vet was happy to see him again today if he got worse but so far he seems better.

Really like the new vets, extreamly caring and medicine that cost £15 at all the other vets cost £2 here. No idea why but the first vet will now get no more business as they'd rather guess it seems than admit they don't know.
 
Another small update. He seems to be eating more now and is happier. He's sitting with his sister now than hiding in a corner and is more active. He's eating stuff like broccoli now as well as other fresh things and a tiny bit of his normal food and hay so hopefully he's getting better.

Thanks all for the advice.
 
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