Eating Toys!

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

@rabbitmummy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
80
Reaction score
3
I gave my rabbit two plastic hoops to toss around but in the morning she had chewed, eaten and swallowed a large chunk of it! I'm really worried its going to get stuck in her stomach even though she chewed very small pieces... Please give me some advise!

Thanks😊
 
Are you positive she ate some and it's not just buried under hay or in some other weird place? Bunnies typically seem to know better than to eat plastic - mine chew up their coroplast (corrugated plastic) floors constantly but leave behind little bits of plastic. Failing that, if she did actually swallow some but they were very tiny, odds are high that they'll pass through without an issue.

The first thing you should do right now is go clean out her litter box (as in dump everything; also sweep or w/e in her area if she leaves a fair amount of strays). This is crucial, because if a problem (ie blockage) *does* occur because of the ingested plastic, the first sign that something is wrong will be finding little or no poop in the box - by getting rid of all the pre-existing poop ASAP, you'll be able to easily gauge how much pooping she is (or isn't) doing today.

Don't freak out if she goes 2-3 hours or something without pooping - sometimes a totally healthy bunny doesn't poop much for a couple hours and then leaves a huge pile ;). 8-12 hours without eating and/or pooping is the cut-off where it becomes a medical emergency... so probably 4-5h with very little pooping total is around when it's time to get concerned.

Also, if you notice a sudden lack of appetite, that can be another sign of impending GI tract issues. As a note, many at-home potential remedies for GI stasis (in particular, syringe feeding) are NOT safe to try when a blockage is suspected - that can actually make things far worse!

As long as she's eating and pooping normally, all is well... otherwise, you definitely want to get her in to see the vet ASAP.

:pray: I hope she's ok!
 
Are you positive she ate some and it's not just buried under hay or in some other weird place? Bunnies typically seem to know better than to eat plastic - mine chew up their coroplast (corrugated plastic) floors constantly but leave behind little bits of plastic. Failing that, if she did actually swallow some but they were very tiny, odds are high that they'll pass through without an issue.

The first thing you should do right now is go clean out her litter box (as in dump everything; also sweep or w/e in her area if she leaves a fair amount of strays). This is crucial, because if a problem (ie blockage) *does* occur because of the ingested plastic, the first sign that something is wrong will be finding little or no poop in the box - by getting rid of all the pre-existing poop ASAP, you'll be able to easily gauge how much pooping she is (or isn't) doing today.

Don't freak out if she goes 2-3 hours or something without pooping - sometimes a totally healthy bunny doesn't poop much for a couple hours and then leaves a huge pile ;). 8-12 hours without eating and/or pooping is the cut-off where it becomes a medical emergency... so probably 4-5h with very little pooping total is around when it's time to get concerned.

Also, if you notice a sudden lack of appetite, that can be another sign of impending GI tract issues. As a note, many at-home potential remedies for GI stasis (in particular, syringe feeding) are NOT safe to try when a blockage is suspected - that can actually make things far worse!

As long as she's eating and pooping normally, all is well... otherwise, you definitely want to get her in to see the vet ASAP.

:pray: I hope she's ok!


Thanks, this really helped... she's eating and pooping fine *relief* she's definitely eaten it because if she didn't the pieces would stick to her new white blanket as the plastic was bright blue. Thanks so much for your time and effort writing up all this information!!!!
Thanks☺️
 
No problem, I'm just glad she seems to be ok! I would continue to keep an eye on her poops for a bit longer, since it hasn't quite been 24h yet.
 
Back
Top