distressed rabbit

[toby7]

hello all i need some advice, for the past 3 daysmy rabbit is hardly eating, he has had bits of carrott and lettuce butnot much, ive noticed he`s sulking and obviously something isnt rightwith him im now thinking of taking him 2 the vets later , ive broughthim into the house inside a box to keep my eye on him ....he`s 3 yrsold well looked after. He is urinating ok but not pooing much at all .also he`s making a strange noise with his teeth ...like grinding them...if any1 has experienced this with there bunna can they help me plsas im really upset and dont want to see him like this.

 

[lyndsy]

I beleive grinding of the teeth is a sign of pain, I would definatly take him to the vet.

I hope all is wel, keep us up to date.:?

 

[lanna21974]

 

[JimD]

Sounds like a vet visit may be necessary.

When a bunnie grinds it's teeth it can be an indication that they are in pain.

There may be some things that you can do for him at home, but 3 days of this might be starting to stress him.

~Jim

 

[Fergi]

It sounds like your bun may have a blocked G.I.tract. This can be quite dangerous in rabbits. I would suggest givinghim pumpkin, pineapple, papaya tablets etc to try to dissolve theblockage. If you are still not seeing good amounts of poop a trip tothe vet would be the next step.

Make sure he stays hydrated, offer him anything that he might want to eat, veggies are high in water so are good at this point.

I will bump up an old post called G.I. Stasis, it has a TON of useful information for a situation like this.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Fergi's mom

 

[Carolyn]

As Jim said, definitely get him to the vets.Don't delay. You might try reading the website listed underGI Stasis in the Cheat Sheet for Rabbit Care at the top of thisforum. Keep us posted.

I'm sorry to have met you under this situation, but welcome to the forum.

Please keep us posted as to what the vet says.

-Carolyn

 

[toby7]

many thanks for your reply to my question,unfortunately thumpa my 3 yr old bunny had to be put asleepdue to him being dehidrated and weak ...i had the choice to have himexrayed and operated on but due to him being weakthe vet toldme his chances of survivle were 20% max .....obviously im devistatedand the hardest thing ive ever had to do in my life was to leave himand kiss him goodbye. at least i know he`s no longersuffering



bradd x

 

[Carolyn]

I'm so sorry,Bradd. That's horrible.



-Carolyn

 

[toby7]

cant explain the feeling inside of me right now.....the look in his eyes though told me he wasnt right and i just hopei made the right choice



bradd

 

[JimD]

I'm so sorry Bradd.Don't second guess the decision you made.

He's over the Rainbow Bridge now.

He's happy, healthy, and will be waiting to see you.

Binkie free little fuzzie one!!

~Jim

 

[toby7]

thanks jim means alot m8



bradd

 

[Pet_Bunny]

So sorry Bradd about the bad news. Youmade the right choice. Your bunny should be happy now atRainbow Bridge.

 

[JimD]

You may find some comfort at the Rainbow Bridge site...

http://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm

:~( Jim

 

[becc_boland]

Dont doubt your decision, you did the rightthing, your bun is no longer suffering. You'll see him again one day.Right now he's hoppin around in bunny- heaven with all his littlefriends. His body may be gone but his spirit will remain in your heartforever.

Im really sorry to hear about your loss. If theres anythin at all i can do for you dont hesitate to ask.

Becc

 

[Richtgirl]

I would take him to the vet, it sounds like GIStasis to me. Are his poops becoming real small? Hopefully your vetwill give you some pain meds and motility drugs. If your bunny is notdrinking very much water, you may need to give him sub Q fluids throughhis skin.

 

[Richtgirl]

Sorry I posted before I saw that your bunny was put to sleep. I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[toby7]

thanks for your kind words becc, still cantbelieve he`s gone ...i couldnt sleep for crying all night ...lost mybest friend and the worst thing was getting up this morning andnormally seeing him in his hutch happy as larry and hungry ....im nowin 2 minds ...do i get another or not , i mean there wont be anotherthumpa and i dont know if its the right thing to do. what do you think?



bradd

 

[Carolyn]

I know what you mean about being undecided ongetting another. I was too after I lost my first rabbit, butI did get others and they give me just as much joy. Each oneis so special.When my first rabbit died,that's when I really studied about how to prevent problems, looking forsymptoms of trouble, and getting ideas on different ways of treatingthem.

My vote would be to get another, but only you know what you can handle.

I'm so sorry you're in this pain right now. I've been whereyou are and it's the worst. Yes, I agree, seeing the emptycage, food bowl, toys, is terribly depressing. I feel sobadly for you, Bradd. I'm truly so sorry.



-Carolyn

 

[toby7]

im still shocked as to how he became ill...ilooked after him so much cleaned him out ev day fed him morn and nightetc.....if i were to get another what would you reccomend as to theprocess ..i.e starting from hay to get , what foods you would reccomend, toys even, obviously im kinda blaming myself for not spotting anythwrong at the right time which may have saved him , from yourexperiences what are stress signs and happy signs. sorry to be a pain



bradd

 

[Carolyn]

You're not being a pain, Bradd.

There's a lot of answers to your questions. Would highlyrecommend you by going through theCheat Sheet for RabbitCare post at the top of this forum.

To help keep them healthy, you have to have a good amount of airventilation/flow, fresh water, keep them out of drafts, protect themfrom the weather - (be sure to check out the posts "Keeping them warmin the winter" and "Keeping them cool in the summer".)You want to keep their stress levels down, so other animalstaunting them has to be kept in check and things such asthat. The change in weather can stress them out.Some say that if they aren't in a routine, such as if they don't gettheir food when they're used to it, it can cause stress.Being in pain causes stress. If they have a companion that isconstantly bullying them, they can quickly become stressed.All of this has an effect on their heart and how well their immunesystem functions.

It's hard to say what caused the death of your rabbit without havingtests done, but one way to try to figure it out is what the symptomswere. You might have a look at the GI Stasis postmyself and Lanna pointed you to earlier in this thread, it's link is inthe Cheat Sheet post. Some of the symptomssound like that, but as I said, it's hard to be certain and I wouldn'twant to say it was that for sure without medical records.Dehydration can quickly kill a rabbit, so you really need to be surethat they don't become dehydrated by syringe feeding them.

Do a search on Toys in this forum and there's a list of posts that willappear. As to food, a good rabbit pellet should have at least12% crude protein and 18% or more of crude fiber. Somesuggested brands are Purina, OxBow, Heinold, Buckeye, BlueSeal. Fiber is extremely important in helping their systemmove, and although most of the brands above have enough fiber in them,some like to add hay to help scrape their system clean of furballs.

Feed can go bad after a few months, so some choose to freeze theirpellets. If you don't have the means to freeze it, just makesure you put it in air-tight containers.

Can't think of anything else at the moment, but again, would highlyrecommend you look over the websites, book recommendations, and notesin the Cheat Sheet and do searches for certain topics you'd liketo query.



-Carolyn