Help! Not Eating Much,Gas?

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PaGal

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Thumper is about 1 1/2 years old. He is fed pellets and all the hay he wants everyday. Long story short he was getting veggies/herbs till he had a period of soft poops. That was months ago and he has been fine, just haven't started him back on veggies/greens yet.

He hasn't been wanting to eat today. I have given him gas drops once an hour for three hours. I'm not sure he has gotten the whole dose each time as he seems to hate it and fights me syringing it so he has worn some.

He is drinking water on his own. He has ate one basil leaf that I offered to try and get him to eat something. I had to run to the store for more gas drops and veggies. When I got back he ate a few sprigs of parsley. I also have romaine lettuce but he hasn't touched it.

He has pooped and peed but not his normal amount. He is mostly laying around but he has moved occasionally, chinned a few things, will groom occasionally. No teeth grinding that I have heard and has been laying in the meatloaf position or with his chest on the ground while the rest of him is stretched out and his head on the floor which is a normal resting position for him.

My questions are, should I allow him to eat as much of the greens as he is willing to or should I take it a little slow? I know they have to eat but could too much make his tummy worse? Would it be better to offer smaller amounts more frequently or should I just make him a large bowl?

Also, the simethicone (gas drops) I originally had said nothing about flavor but the ones I just purchased say they have natural berry flavor. Can I give him the drops with the flavor?
 
If he's been off greens for a few months now I wouldnt try to give them to him if he isnt feeling well. Cilantro is one thing that wont upset the gut and is really good for getting things moving. Try some unflavored pumpkin with a little bit of his pellets. If he's still nibbiling and drinking on his own with normal posturing I wouldnt start panicing just yet. (Like I'm one to say dont panic!) Perhaps a visit to the vet wouldnt hurt. In particular have his back molars checked out. Franklin had little spurs developing, nothing major, but it was enough to throw him off his feed.
 
I'll occasionally have one of my rabbits not feeling well for no apparent reason. Nothing new introduced and no poop problems. Sometimes I think that they may get a weed or something in their hay, or eat a crumb off the floor, that causes a stomach upset, that will most often go away after a few hours. I'll end up giving 2-3 doses of the simethicone and a dose of metacam, with water and a little food if possible, and usually within 3 hours they are back to eating and feeling better. I'll also pull pellets for the first part of the day, and slowly work them back in the next few feedings, as I want my sick bun eating as much fiber as possible, to help with the gut motility. I also don't feed treats, but will continue with some greens. Since Thump isn't used to greens any more, it's probably best not to give him too much, and stick with really basic ones like cilantro, parsley, and leafy lettuce. As long as he is eating even a little on his own, and pooping a little, he'll probably start feeling better in a few hours, but if the pooping and eating stop completely for several hours, I would take him into your vet.
 
Agree with just keeping an eye on him for now and trying to encourage him to eat some hay if you can. If he is at least moving around a bit and eating a few things I believe he'll be fine. If he stops moving around though and just sits in one place and stops pooping etc, then I would definitely be concerned. I would wait it out a little bit and see how it goes :)
 
Thanks all. I'm still worried sick but he still is eating occasionally and not completely lethargic. Maybe it seems worse to me because he had been extra active the past few weeks. I just want Thumper happy and healthy. He deserves it with the joy he brings me.
 
You are the best judge of how he's doing since you know him best. Sometimes when you catch a GI event like this early, you can manage to get through with gas meds, pain meds, pedialyte, and probiotics. Sometimes an office visit with the vet will ease your mind and/or they can give sub-q fluids that can really help. Sometimes it takes a few days for things to turn in the right direction again. We just went through some gas/stasis that wouldn't resolve without motility drugs, force feeding and IV fluids in both cases, although for one we tried over several days to avoid the IV fluids. A lot of good advice has already been given. If after 24 hours you aren't seeing him improving, and his eating and pooping aren't normal, it may be worth taking him in to the vet. If you can get a non-emergency appointment sooner, that would be even better. Emergency appointments are at least twice as expensive and some vets do have Saturday hours.
 
It is always hard to know when to take them to the vets as there is always the chance that the added stress can make the problem worse.
 
Awe I am sorry to read that Thumper is under the weather, I was just giving Zero his Cisapride and Simethicone and was thinking of the day I rushed him in with stasis. His entire GI system was so gassy it was crackling, just stroking him was like popping bubble wrap. He was eating normally in the morning, I saw fecal poops in his litter box, he was binkying that morning, at noon he didn't really want his dose of Simethicone, and leisurely ate critical care which is totally unlike him. We were at the vet three hours later,fluids, meds, and another couple hundred dollars later i got to bring him home again.

He still loves his meds thank goodness because he gets them everyday. I digress. Hydration, hydration, hydration is all I think about with my horse and with Z. Will he drink any pedialyte? Does he prefer to drink from a fresh bowl of water? What temperature does he seem to like? Zero cannot resist a fresh drink of warm water so I was emptying and refilling his bowl four to five times a day to make sure he was drinking. I believe it is probably what saved me from a huge hospitalization bill to have him on IV fluids.

I sure hope Thumper feels better soon, Zero and I will keep you guys in our thoughts. Eat lots of hay buddy and drink water, you'll be better in no time.
 
Thanks all! He has seemed a little better today but not back to his usual self. He surprised me earlier in the day because he seemed more willing to eat but then he slowed down. I'm hoping some of it is because of the time of day, the period where he is less active and such. He just used the litter box, peed some and dropped the most poo I have seen although still small.

He has been drinking water throughout the day. Not every time I offer it to him but frequently. He has a ceramic bowl which I have been refilling with fresh water throughout the day and yes taking the bowl to him. He'll mostly drink it then but doesn't seem inclined to get up and go to it himself.

Oh yah, I wish he would stop eating cardboard and wood and eat his hay! It's funny but the other buns seem more subdued. I am still extremely worried and it took all of my courage this morning to check on him. I left him loose in his room last night as he's not being active enough to keep us up or get into trouble by trying to escape his room. I also thought that if he did decide to move around that might be good for him plus he didn't seem to want to be in his cage so maybe he's more comfortable on the carpet.

He was in one of his boxes this morning so I couldn't just look into his room to do a check. I need my buddy to get better!
 
Can't offer much advice since I'm not good at dealing with ill bunnies just wanted to say that I really hope Thumper gets better soon. Also I wanted to say that I'm going through something a bit like Thumper with Ash. Today he was flopped out and looked a little uncomfortable so I went over and felt his belly and it felt a little bloated so I went online and did some research and I read to get a lot of fiber in them and to let them out for as long as possible to get the gas moving so I did. Ash went and lied down under a chair and kept lieing there I looked around and saw some of his poops, they looked very small. So I got a bunch of hay and handed it bit by bit to him. He ate a couple strands but than wouldn't wat any more of it. So than I went in the fridge and got out some wheat grass and I soaked it under some water just to get some more fluids in him. When his sniffed the wet wheat grass he started eating it like it was so good tasting. He ate almost all of it and after that he bounced up and started running around everywhere. Since then he's been running around and resting than getting up again and running around and than resting. His belly still feels a little weird but he's been hopping around and eating hay and now his poops look normal so I'm hopeful. Unfortunately I don't have any gas drops or simethicone on hand to give to him but so far he seems to be doing pretty well. We'll see how he's doing tomorrow. I'm going to be scared to check on him. Right now he's hopping around in his pen. I really hope he's okay! And I hope Thumper continues to improve. I just don't know wether to give him pellets or not. He seems to be wanting them a lot but I odn't know if he should be eating them right now. Help from anyone wold be appreciated.
 
I just wanted to give an update. Thumper is doing a lot better today. He has eaten quite a bit of parsley and romaine which is all he would touch for a few days. Today he ate as lot more than he had been, he also ate hay which he did not touch for two days. Lots more poo today and it is bigger than it had been the past two days although not as big as normal yet. I have never been so happy to see poo trailed all across a room as I was today!

He is also acting more himself. I saw him flopped today which he hadn't been doing and he went nuts for my legs this evening. He also ran into his cage when I got pellets for the little buns.

Thank you all for your advice and support. I will continue to watch him closely and at least during the week I can get him to the vets if needed.
 

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