Diet for Rabbit

[meg33]

Hi everyone!

I have posted a few times recently about my bunny who hasn't been feeling well lately. She is a 5yo gray lop eared bunny who lives in doors and toilets on newspapers.

About a week ago, her left eye became runnier than it normally is so I started giving her her prescribed eye drops and pain meds that she uses. About 3(ish) days ago, I discovered her left cheek was swollen. I believe she has an abscess but of course I can't be 100% sure. She has an appointment with the vet on Tuesday .. this was the earliest our vet could see her as our vet is on vacation. Our vet is the only rabbit say vet in our area.

The past 2 days I've noticed she isn't having as many poops as she normally does. I'm concerned that she isn't eating enough because her mouth hurts. I'm wondering if there is anything I can feed her to keep her nourished until we go to the vet on Tuesday. I've heard that mixing her pellets with a little water to make a paste will work?!? I've also heard that unsweetened canned pumpkin will also do the trick?!? Are either of these things safe for my sweet girl? Any other ideas? I appreciate any and all tips and advice!

Thanks for all of your help!
Meg

P.S. I am going to call the vet back tomorrow and ask for an antibiotic. Is there a certain one I should ask for?

 

[oryctolaguslady]

A painful abscess can often cause a rabbit to stop eating enough. Unsweetened canned pumpkin is safe for most rabbits, yes, and sometimes you can tempt a rabbit to eat by softening pellets in a little diluted juice such as apple juice. There are also special formulasto giveill rabbits that help stimulate the appetite. One is called Critical Care, but there are others. If you can find a baby food that is just a fruit (bananas, apples, strawberries) without sugar added or a vegetable (carrots)without added onion or sugar, those can be safe in small amounts as well. The important thing is to get the rabbit to eat something.

I doubt a vet will prescribe an antibiotic without seeing the rabbit - is there any possibility a vet that is not particularly rabbit-savvy but who is willing to consult with a rabbit-savvy vet over the phone would be willing to see your rabbit tomorrow? I am concerned about the wait until next Tuesday - cheek abscesses can be agressive.

 

[meg33]

Thanks for your help! I am going to go to the store tomorrow and get her somethings to try and get her appetite built back up.

As far as a vet, I seriously doubt it! Our vet is the ONLY vet in our area who is rabbit savy and she is out of town and can't be contacted. I'm really worried about her!! She's had the swollen cheek since (well I noticed it) on Monday, called the vet on Wednesday and she can't see us until Tuesday afternoon.

 

[oryctolaguslady]

There are no other vets in your area that are NOT rabbit-savvy?

Sometimes a non-rabbit savvy vet willbe wiling to call a rabbit-savvy vet (even in another state) - I think there is a list of some rabbit-savvy vets willing to consult at a distance here on RO.

I do wish there was some way you could see a vet, any vet almost, becuase your rabbit most likely needs pain medication as well as an antibiotic or other treatment. Rabbits do not cope with pain well and often pain meds really help them. As far as antibiotics, I have a rabbit that had a head abscess that was successfully treated by a vet with a combination of oral Baytirl and sub-Q injections of bicillin daily for three days and every other day after that. That is a controversial treatment in some rabbit circles however, and not all vets are willing to prescribe it.

 

[Maureen Las]

You can take her pellets and grind them into a powder in a blender. Then you may want to use some pedialyte to mix with the powder to make a thin enough consistency to feed through a syringe; you can also mix some of the powder with pumpkin or feed pumpkin separately in a syringe. Sometimes I may add a little pineapple juice also; this would be "my recipe" ifI did not have Critical Care.

Actually you can mix the powdered pellets with plain warm water but sometimes it helps to make it tastier and the pedialyte provides electrolytes

You Probably want to order some Critical care ; most rabbits like apple /banana better than anise flavored

You can get it from Lambert's without a prescription if your vet doesn't have it

http://www.lambertvetsupply.com/Oxbow_Critical_Care_Apple_Banana_454_g-P44669.aspx


You are going to need an accomplished vet to treat an abscess as there may be problems with the teeth/ tooth roots and possibly dental issues will need to be addressed in order to treat an abscess . A good dental exam needs to be done with an x-ray as a visual exam of the teeth is not enough..the roots of the teeth need to be visualized
Antibiotics need to be sensitive to the specific bacteria cultured and in the treatment of an abscess a more powerful antibiotic is preferred (or a combo of drugs ) ; if the vet can culture the exudate that is a good first step.

injectable penicillin ( bicillin) , oral zithromax , oral chloramphenical are all powerful antibiotics . Some times zithomax is combined with bicillin injections. Since an abscess is an encapsulated infection you need an antibiotic that has the ability to penetrate into a deep infection.

Injectable Convenia is used off label by some vets for rabbit infections


What you don't want is what many vets prescribe initially and that is baytril. Baytril has been so over used in rabbits that bacteria has become resistant to it. My experience with baytril is that it may initially appear to be working but that the infection will later return with a vengenace.

Our forum list Of WV vetsis lacking but you could try to seek a university vet school if you do not have a really rabbit knowledgeable vet.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11638&forum_id=9

Let us know how it goes ....

 

[meg33]

Thanks everyone!

Just to clarify, my bunny IS on pain meds right now (METACAM).

I am going to go buy some pumpkin tomorrow to mix her food with to get her a little more food than she's been consuming. I'm not really worried about her electrolytes because she's been drinking and urinating normally.

Once again, thanks for all your help!