Bunny seems agitated and frightened, along with not eating.

[fiver_dimples]

My bunny Fiver recently stopped eating yesterday, I stayed up all night hoping he would come out and eat. He was fine but he had stopped eating his greens and his hay, and wouldn't even bother eating a treat either. He's always hiding under his hutch and it appears he's scared of me. Whenever I push the bowl of greens to urge him to eat he gets mad and makes some weird noise. I've had him for about a year now, and when he was younger he went into GI stasis, but he survived, only with the help of feeding him baby food with a syringe, because he wouldn't eat.

 

[Preitler]

I would see a vet ASAP, not eating for a day and most likely being in pain is already an emergency. Sitting hunched up in a corner is not good.

What I do in such a situation:
Making them move. hopping also moves the bowels and can help to get things going. Or, if that doesn't work, I give a gentle belly massage for some minutes now and then, by putting my fingers halway under them from both sides, or by putting the whole bunny, facing me, on my leg.
I also give water with Simethicone by syringe feeding, to keep them hydrated and prevent gas buildup. I also hold the water bowl right in front of them.
This is what I do for first aid, there are other things I do when I have an idea what the problem is, depending on the cause - bloat, blockage due to too much ingested hair, etc.. - but I'm off to the vet at the first opportunity if it doesn't work right away, he has the better stuff.

To see if they would eat by themseklf at all I hold a little grass or favorite weeds against their nose for minutes, at one point they bite at it out of annoyance, and if there is any appetite left they eat it once it's in their mouth anyway.

Does he shed fur, if you pet him, do get more hair outr than usual?

 

[JBun]

A rabbit not eating for 12-24 hours is considered an emergency. If you have baby gas drops(simethicone), I will usually try 2-3 doses of that an hour apart, and if my bun isn't back to normal and eating again after that, I will get them to the vet.

It would be good to just go ahead and phone your vet to get an appointment for today, then if after baby gas drops your bun starts eating again, you can always cancel the appointment.

Info on GI stasis and gas drops dosing:
https://rabbit.org/gastrointestinal-stasis-the-silent-killer-2/

 

[fiver_dimples]

A rabbit not eating for 12-24 hours is considered an emergency. If you have baby gas drops(simethicone), I will usually try 2-3 doses of that an hour apart, and if my bun isn't back to normal and eating again after that, I will get them to the vet.

It would be good to just go ahead and phone your vet to get an appointment for today, then if after baby gas drops your bun starts eating again, you can always cancel the appointment.

Info on GI stasis and gas drops dosing:
https://rabbit.org/gastrointestinal-stasis-the-silent-killer-2/

Hello! sorry I didn't answer sooner, the first thing we did was get a syringe and natural baby food, along with baby gas drops, as you suggested. We're still moderating his behavior, we called the vet to see if they would prescribe the same medicine he got last time. He's still not eating on his own, but hopefully he'll feel better soon. Thanks for your advice!

 

[fiver_dimples]

I would see a vet ASAP, not eating for a day and most likely being in pain is already an emergency. Sitting hunched up in a corner is not good.

What I do in such a situation:
Making them move. hopping also moves the bowels and can help to get things going. Or, if that doesn't work, I give a gentle belly massage for some minutes now and then, by putting my fingers halway under them from both sides, or by putting the whole bunny, facing me, on my leg.
I also give water with Simethicone by syringe feeding, to keep them hydrated and prevent gas buildup. I also hold the water bowl right in front of them.
This is what I do for first aid, there are other things I do when I have an idea what the problem is, depending on the cause - bloat, blockage due to too much ingested hair, etc.. - but I'm off to the vet at the first opportunity if it doesn't work right away, he has the better stuff.

To see if they would eat by themseklf at all I hold a little grass or favorite weeds against their nose for minutes, at one point they bite at it out of annoyance, and if there is any appetite left they eat it once it's in their mouth anyway.

Does he shed fur, if you pet him, do get more hair outr than usual?

Thanks a lot for your advice! all is appreciated. This came out of nowhere, so I don't know what could've caused this to happen. He sheds really badly sometimes, there's enough fur falling off to make a whole new bunny! but on some days it isn't really that bad, when I have the time, I make sure I brush him, so far we've been feeding him baby food with a syringe to get the bowel moving. He's not extremely lethargic, and moves from time to time, but usually stays in the exact same spot for a few hours.

 

[JBun]

It's really not a good idea to be syringe feeding a rabbit until a vet has ruled out bloat and a complete bowel obstruction. Reason is that if a rabbit isn't eating due to bloat, syringing more food into a bloated stomach will increase pressure on the stomach, heart, and lungs, which will result in more pain, and could cause dangerous heart and lung problems from the pressure, as well as possible risk of stomach rupture.

If it's not bloat but a complete bowel obstruction causing the lack of appetite, syringe feeding will have the same result of causing increased pressure on a bowel that isn't moving, which could result in a possible rupture.

Until these are both ruled out by a vet, syringe feeding isn't advised. That's why it's so important to get into the vet that same day. Because a rabbit shouldn't go more than 24 hours without eating adequate amounts of food, and they can't be fed until a vet has ruled out those two things, either by palpation, xray, or both.

I should also mention that when you do start syringe feeding, human baby food really isn't the best alternative food source to be feeding. Critical care mix for rabbits it the usual syringe feeding food used. It has the nutrients and fiber rabbits need for health and good gut movement. Another alternative would be a plain grass hay pellet made into a mush.

Rabbits need indigestible fiber for that digestive tract to move and function correctly. People food like processed baby food, doesn't have enough of the fiber rabbits need, and is also usually quite high in carbs and/or sugars, which is not a good thing for a rabbit to be having even in normal circumstances. So when your rabbit is seen by the vet, the vet should be sending you home with the critical care syringing mix made for sick rabbits.

 

[fiver_dimples]

It's really not a good idea to be syringe feeding a rabbit until a vet has ruled out bloat and a complete bowel obstruction. Reason is that if a rabbit isn't eating due to bloat, syringing more food into a bloated stomach will increase pressure on the stomach, heart, and lungs, which will result in more pain, and could cause dangerous heart and lung problems from the pressure, as well as possible risk of stomach rupture.

If it's not bloat but a complete bowel obstruction causing the lack of appetite, syringe feeding will have the same result of causing increased pressure on a bowel that isn't moving, which could result in a possible rupture.

Until these are both ruled out by a vet, syringe feeding isn't advised. That's why it's so important to get into the vet that same day. Because a rabbit shouldn't go more than 24 hours without eating adequate amounts of food, and they can't be fed until a vet has ruled out those two things, either by palpation, xray, or both.

I should also mention that when you do start syringe feeding, human baby food really isn't the best alternative food source to be feeding. Critical care mix for rabbits it the usual syringe feeding food used. It has the nutrients and fiber rabbits need for health and good gut movement. Another alternative would be a plain grass hay pellet made into a mush.

Rabbits need indigestible fiber for that digestive tract to move and function correctly. People food like processed baby food, doesn't have enough of the fiber rabbits need, and is also usually quite high in carbs and/or sugars, which is not a good thing for a rabbit to be having even in normal circumstances. So when your rabbit is seen by the vet, the vet should be sending you home with the critical care syringing mix made for sick rabbits.

Fiver started eating hay for a few minutes last night, but stopped shortly after and refused it again. We couldn't set up an appointment with that vet on the same day, because the exotic vet wasn't there. So we stayed up all night moderating him, we tried to get the critical care mixture, but it wasn't in any stores local to us. Shortly after he started eating his greens by himself, so he must be feeling better! thank you for your advise, I'll make sure to always have the critical care mixture ready if this happens again, unfortunately we don't have many exotic vets here, so it proves to be difficult when it comes to this situation.

 

[Preitler]

If critical care is not at hand you can soak his regular pellets and make a paste with that, it works better when you put them into a coffe grinder first (the high rpm cutter type, preferrable one that can be sacrificed for that purpose).