Bunny not taking the move well

[degrassi]

So Gimpy is now 10yo and he doesn't take change well. He usually lets me know he's upset by stopping using his litter box or a change in poop size(goes small and/or tear drop shaped). So about 2 weeks ago I moved out of my parents house and into an apartment. I was worried how he'd take the change. He wasn't too happy with me moving all my stuff out of my room and I left him at my parents house for about 2 weeks. I wanted to get the apartment settled before I moved him over and him to calm down from me moving my stuff out. So this past weekend I finally moved him over. I setup his cage exactly the same way and I put him in the kitchen so he'd see me all day as he's used to me being around all day, his cage was right next to my computer/tv before in my room.

So I moved him all in and put him in the cage. He jumped into the litter box and hasn't moved in 2 days. He's been eating a bit of hay and looks perky. I moved his food dish and water over to where he can reach it from his litter box as he wasn't going down to eat or drink from them. So today I also moved him out of the litter box to see his poops and found a big clump of pasty, sticky poops stuck to his litter box grate. So I cleaned it up and then checked him over. He had a clump of poo stuck to his tummy which I cleaned and his tail. He was ok with that but did pee on me, so at least he is peeing, lol.

So my question is, is there anything I should be doing? He is eating a little bit and drinking. Should I be syringing critical care to get more food? I'm worried something like that might stress him more. I've just been trying to leave him be, talk to him and give him some pets when I walk by. I know it will take time for him to settle in I just don't like seeing him stressed out. I"ll definitely be checking his bum now daily that I know he's having issues. Poor little guy, he's such a grouchy old man thats stuck in his ways.

 

[majorv]

I'm sure others will chime in, but I would keep pushing the hay more than anything else. Do you have any probiotics on hand you could give him...something to help level out the good/bad bacteria in his system? Considering his age, you don't want to delay very long

 

[degrassi]

I don't have any benebac anymore but I do have people probiotics(has like 10 strains in it). Can you use people probiotics?

After cleaning him up this morning he seems a bit better. He's come out of his litter box a bit and was chewing on his cardboard box. I sat by his cage for a while and watched him eat some hay. He's now taken to peeing all over the foam flooring so I've had to wipe up a couple pee spots already before he steps in them. Haven't seen any poops yet since cleaning his litter this morning but at least he's still eating and now moving a bit.

 

[JBun]

If the probiotics are non dairy, they may be ok. Dairy based probiotics can sometimes cause more GI upset.

I agree that grass hay would be the best thing for him right now, but you also need to make sure he is eating at least a little bit of food during the day, or at some point you may need to result to syinge feeding if his appetite doesn't improve, but that should be a last resort to avoid stressing him more. Try and spend some time sitting with him too. It should help him feel more safe and secure with your presence. Also keep an on his poop, for any changes besides it going back to looking normal.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Since your dealing with an elder bun, you could try some alfalfa. We just had to get Molly's teeth trimmed for the first time, at 14, so we had her on critical care and softened her pellets for a week. She's scarfing her hay and food now and every thing is back to normal.

 

[degrassi]

So far I've seen him eat a bit of pellets and some hay but I still don't see any poops since this morning when I cleaned his box. He is at least now coming out of his box and onto the floor. He still looks ok, perky and interested when I come up to his cage. Hopefully he starts pooping soon

If I don't see any poops later I'll go buy some different hay and see if that helps. I"m worried about alfalfa though as he is also prone to calcium in his urine. I've tried orchard in the past and he seemed to like it. Right now he just has straight timothy.

 

[JBun]

Yeah, for sure keep an eye on him not pooping. I got a new boy bun last year that wasn't used to being around people, and got really stressed being in a new home. He started getting soft poop from the stress, then stopped eating and pooping and ended up with GI stasis. I had to give him meds and syringe feed him for almost two weeks, before his eating and poop was normal again. So the stress can cause major gut problems with rabbits, and creates a bacterial imbalance which can lead to digestive problems, so it's something you will want to closely monitor. Watch to see if he starts pooping soon, if not, watch for signs of discomfort and pain, like sitting hunched up a lot and not moving around, changing positions frequently and repeatedly, eye squinting, loud stomach gurgling, or teeth grinding. Pull the pellets for now, as the sugars and carbs will just contribute to the gut imbalance at this point, and encourage hay eating and dark leafy greens, either ones he's used to or red/green leaf lettuce or romaine, or parsley. I've had the most luck getting a rabbit that has stopped eating, to start eating leafy greens before they will eat anything else. And now that he's not pooping it will also help keep moisture in the gut and possibly help stop a blockage from occuring. But avoid cruciferous type of leafy greens, as those can sometimes cause gas and digestive upset. Also if he drinks out of a bottle, offer a water dish, and keep an eye on his drinking. And if he will hop around and explore, let him. Moving around will help get his gut contents moving.

Calcium in rabbits urine is a normal thing and is how they get rid of excess calcium, and usually isn't a problem unless your rabbit is prone to bladder stones or sludge. But even then I would be reluctant to introduce alfalfa at this time if it isn't something he is used to, as alfalfa can sometimes cause digestive upset when not introduced gradually and starting with small amounts, into a rabbits diet. So sticking with a non grain grass hay is definitely the better choice right now.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

 

[degrassi]

He's eating a bit more and I haven't seen anymore mushy poops. There are some "normal" but still smaller poops in his litter box this morning.Definitely not his normal quantity though. Hopefully its the start of going back to normal. I'll keep watching him.

Gimpy has had prior issues with bladder sludge and at his last urine test(in the fall) it was really high in calcium and crystals. The vet said to keep him away from high calcium foods but all he gets now is timothy hay and a timothy pellet so its hard to reduce his calcium intake anymore. He doesn't get any veggies as he gets diarrhea when I feed them, even in small amounts. So he's always just been on pellets and hay with the odd little piece of carrot or banana as a treat maybe once a week. He also doesn't even touch parsley or cilantro. He'll eat the odd carrot top when I have them in the summer. He also drinks out of a bowl

So I guess its good he's still eating a bit.Its not as serious as the times he stopped completely and I had to force feed him. I'll try to see if I can encourage him to eat more. Sometimes he likes when I hand feed him as he acts like its treats, lol.

 

[degrassi]

Well Gimpy ate only a little bit of hay last night and no pellets. Haven't seen any poops since yesterday. When I checked him this morning he hadn't touched his pellets or hay(that I could notice, the hay pile looked the same). There were no poops anywhere. So I gave him a little piece of romaine which he did eat. I wanted to check if he'd eat at all. I then syringe fed him 1tsp critical care mixed with 3tsp water. He wasn't too happy about it and he ended up probably wearing half of it. But he did eat some of it.

He's now trying to clean himself off as his chin is dirty from it and hopped into this litter box. I'll have to see if he goes to the bathroom or not. I"ll try feeding him another tsp before I leave for work.

Also, I went to 3 different petstores that usually carry oxbow orchard grass and none of them had it, or really any hay except a few bags of timothy from a different brand. No idea why there is an oxbow shortage here so I was unable to get him different hay to try. I'll go after work to one last place, hopefully they have something.

He's still acting ok. Perked up when I came into the kitchen this morning like normal.

 

[degrassi]

Well its been 6 days and he's still not eating much. Yesterday there were a couple small poops after I gave him about 20mls of critical care and he ate half a leaf of romaine lettuce(he's eating it so I figure its better then nothing, even if lettuce has caused him mushy poos in the past). I did see him eat a tiny bit of hay, only a few pieces before bed. Over night there was no poops and it didn't look like he'd eaten. Today I gave him another 1/2 leaf lettuce and 15mls of critical care. I haven't seen him eat any hay yet but I was away at work for the afternoon.

He isn't looking super sick like he has in past episodes of GI troubles. He's still alert but is pretty much sitting in the same spot or in his litter box. He still has a lot of fight in him when I try to syringe feed him the CC and his tummy felt normal, not bloated or hard.

I"m not sure what to do. I guess just keep syringing the CC and hope he starts eating. I know if I take him to the vet they won't do much except give him fluids like they did last time and told me to force the critical care/benebac. This has been happening more frequently these past few years now that he's older and he's always come out of it after a couple days. Its never been this long

Do you think its ok to feed him more greens even though he's not used to getting them? He is eating the lettuce when I offer it.

 

[JBun]

Well, when I've had rabbits in stasis or not eating or pooping, I give mine greens cause it adds moisture to their GI, which helps prevent/break up a blockage, and helps get the gut contents moving. I would much rather see a few soft poops from feeding leafy greens, than not seeing any poops. I try and stick with ones that seem to cause less digestive upset for rabbits, so no cruciferous type greens, and mostly green/red leaf lettuce, romaine, parsley, carrot greens, and cilantro(since I've never had it cause problems for any of my rabbits). So I would say that if it's between him not eating much on his own and little to no pooping, and feeding a little bit of leafy greens and him maybe getting a little bit of soft poop, and as long as it doesn't cause gas problems, I would feed some greens. You don't want to overdo it though and feed too much.

But if you can't get him to eat very much on his own, you may need to be feeding the critical care more often. Also make sure to syringe water too, if he isn't drinking much on his own.

 

[degrassi]

Well its been over 8 days and I think he's starting to come around. Yesterday he started eating a bit more and finally had some tiny poops. Over night it looks like he ate a small handful of hay and maybe a few TBSPs of pellets. There are now more normal looking poops in his box.

I can't believe he last so long without taking a turn for the worse. I just hope he continues to improve.

 

[JBun]

If you can, try and get him eating more hay than pellets. That will help more than anything, to help get the poops back to looking normal. I know that can be tricky as you can't just make him eat more hay on his own, but try and encourage it more than the pellet eating. You mentioned that greens had caused digestive upset in the past. If you are still feeding some to him and have been feeding them to him this whole time he hasn't been eating much, you are going to want to make sure that they aren't what is causing this continued lack of appetite. If they are causing stomach upset at all, it could be what is causing him to not want to eat for so long. Just something to pay attention to.

Glad to hear he's eating a bit more and pooping.

 

[degrassi]

No, I hadn't been feeding him greens at all when this started. This bout of not eating was triggered by moving him to my apartment. I did end up feeding him about 1/2-1 romaine leaf each day this week. He doesn't normally get greens at all as its caused mushy poops in the past. By tuesday when he hadn't eaten or moved i thought I'd see if I could at least get him to eat some lettuce. He ate it no problem but still wouldn't touch his hay. So i figured a little bit of lettuce was better then no food in his gut at all. He seemed ok with a small amount but like I said he pretty much got less then 1 leaf/day. He hasn't had any lettuce since saturday morning.

He's eating more hay then pellets right now but at this point I'm just glad he's eating and I dont' have to force feed anymore. He hated it and it was probably stressing him out more.

So far so good. Since coming home from work i've seen him eating a bit of his hay,

 

[JBun]

I was just a little concerned that the lettuce might have been causing upset and prolonging the initial lack of appetite that happened from the stress of the move, but it sounds like his eating is slowly picking up, so lettuce doesn't seem to be causing any issues. I'm glad he's steadily improving.

Rabbits are such sensitive little animals. I brought a new rabbit home and kind of went through something similar, except my bun got full on stasis from the stress of a new home. I was hand feeding him for two weeks, til he finally stabilized and his eating returned to normal. I know what a relief it is to finally see them eating on their own and pooping again.