How do I administer meds to my fragile bunny??? Plz Help!

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Farmer Steve

Farmer Steve

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Denton, Texas, USA
My bunny was just spayed yesterday, and I'm having trouble getting her to drink and take her medicine. She's munching a little hay now and then, but nothing really substantial. I'm really worried though because she won't drink anything. I've even tried apple juice. She needs to take her pain medicine so she won't lick at her wound, but turns her head when I come at her with a syringe. I've tried putting it in juice and water, but nothing. If anyone has ANY suggestions, I'm all ears.:?
 
If it is the taste of the medicine she is objecting to, then you can try to mix it with something she will eat. A teaspoon of canned pumpkin or baby food (pure fruit, no sugar) is great for disguising the taste of yucky meds, and provides hydration as well. Or you can hollow out a piece of banana, strawberry, etc. and fill it with her painkillers. Mush it around a bit with your fingers to mix it in. If she likes Critical Care, you can mix the meds in with that.

We have the best success here with baby food, especially if we 'match' it to the taste of the meds. Baby food that contains banana will work best at disguising the taste of banana-flavored Baytril, for example.

If it's simply hydration that you're worried about, serve her her salad soaking wet. Pedialyte is safe and effective for rabbits. You can even soak her hay in water, just be sure to discard the uneaten stuff (and wash the dish) after a couple hours, so it won't get moldy.

You can also make a mash of hay and pellet dust (the stuff that settles to the bottom of the bag), mixed with water, and see if that appeals.

One more suggestion - if they gave her metacam, give the bottle a good sniff. The stuff they use for bunnies is usually honey-flavored, but the cat/dog type is chicken-flavored. It is possible they gave her the wrong type, and that's why she is turning her nose up at it.

Is she pooping? The stress of the travel, vet visit and surgery can bring on stasis as well. If she is not pooping, then by all means call your vet - the emergency number - and let them know what is going on.

Best of luck to you and Nibbles.

 
I'm going to get her to the vet in the morning. I finally got her to eat some cilantro, and I managed to get a little medicine on it. She seems to be a little better. She's eating a little more, but still not drinking:grumpy: Thank you for all the suggestions. We've been trying all day to get her to eat, drink, or take her meds... and 15 minutes after I post, she takes her meds (at least 1/2 - 3/4 of them anyway) I hope my little Nibbles is Ok... She just looks so ragged. (comparatively) Thanks again guys!
 
Stasis is a leading cause of death in bunnies, but is also completely treatable if the bun parent is aware of the symptoms. So you must familiarize yourself with them. If caught and treated early, it's not a huge deal, but you literally have only hours to recognize the symptoms and deal with it.

Best article:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

So again, is Nibbles pooping? I'm thrilled to hear she is eating and taking in some fluids, but is she processing them as well? Is she pooping? If you don't know, dump out her litterbox now, refill it and monitor it carefully for poop. None- big problem. Poops smaller than normal - problem. Poops connected by a hair-like substance (often called a string of pearls) - problem.

If poop is normal, you are okay to wait until morning, especially now that she is taking in foods/fluids. If not, she may have a blockage, and that is an emergency.

If you have input and output, though, please don't worry too much. A spay is major surgery and she is going to react. Us human females normally take up to six weeks off work for the same thing. Of course she is going to feel bad the next day. And week.

I don't want you to ignore major symptoms, but don't worry unnecessarily either. Yeah, I know that comment is not helpful. But she just came through a major ordeal, it will be a few weeks before she gets back to normal.

Just let us know the scoop on her poop, and we can advise you further...


 
I'm an idiot, I should have said that if Nibbles is in stasis, the vet can give her a few drugs that will make her digestive system work again. Normally, they give two - one works on the upper digestive system, one on the lower. They are Cisapride and, er, something else...

If Nibbles is dehydrated, they will also give something they call Sub-Q. This is sub-cutenatious (I totally butchered that spelling). That just means 'under the skin'. IE they will put in an IV system to get fluids right into where she needs it most. Do not panic if they do this. It's very temporary, and is just used to rehydrate quickly. At most, it's a few hours to a day.

However, this is all emergency meds, and none of this applies if she is eating and pooping normally. Still, prepare yourself for the worst case scenario, which means you would have to leave her at the vets for a few hours.

This is only worst case scenario. Nibbles is so lucky she has such a concerned dad.


 
Thank you bunchobuns. She's pooping now fine, but earlier before I got the meds into her she was pooping just little malformed runny poops... and not many of them. I could tell she was in a lot of pain. She was just bunched in a corner, staring off into space, and when I went to pet her, she'd jump like I surprised her. (Like she was preoccupied w/ pain) Since the meds though, she's eating (not as much as normal, but much much better), she grooming herself, and moving around a lot more. She still won't drink anything, but I've fed her wet greens. Something's better than nothing, anyway. Thanks for your concern. I love this forum and the wonderful bunny lovers who are always willing to help.
 
If Nibbles won't drink you can syringe some pedialite into her. I got the apple flavor and once the syringe was in Becky's mouth she would lap at it like she was thirsty, but it was too much effort to drink from her bowl. The first couple days after a spay are rough. Hang in there.
 
Don't worry about the drinking as long as she's eating and pooping. A little shaved carrots and apples will help add some moisture to her diet. If the poop appears normal, she's hydrated.
 
pamnock wrote:
Don't worry about the drinking as long as she's eating and pooping. A little shaved carrots and apples will help add some moisture to her diet. If the poop appears normal, she's hydrated.
Click to expand...

I agree here. Picture yourself coming out of surgery the more stuff is being forced on you the more stressed and aggarvaited you will be. Just make sure she has fresh water and keep an eye on her.
 
Any update on Miss Nibbles? Sounds like you did a great job getting fluids into her through greens, etc. and that she was starting to come around. If you are still managing to get her pain meds, fluids and food into her (and the appropriate stuff is coming out), then she should be bouncing back soon. She's lucky to have you watching over her. We are sending healing vibes her way.

 
It is normal for a rabbit to be off food and fluids after spay surgery; it is usually due to both the trauma of the surgery and also the anesthesia . By the 3rd day they usually come out of it ; pain medsdo help andwet greens is the first thing the shelter buns will eat. I have syringed pedialyte if they are not drinking

A newly spayed bun with irregular eating drinking and pooping for several days post op is normal and should not be treated as a case of pure stasis as in Dana Kremepls article.
 
This is a tad late, but perhaps good for future reference.

There was a bunny, Shale, on another forum who went through a very tough spay and refused to eat or drink after her surgery. Shale's parents would put water through a straw and let it go drop by drop into Shale's mouth.

As feeding pain meds and antibiotics, this is what the people at the vet's office taught me as a way if you're having trouble feeding and they're struggling with it:
1. Sit on the ground with your knees bent inward, as shown like the picture below
2. Tuck your rabbit's body, in the same direction as yourself, in-between your legs (bunny butt closest to your crotch and head further away)
3. Bend downwards slightly and feed medications through syringe
​
[align=center]
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I hope Nibbles is well now!
 
I'm sorry if my advice was incomplete. I offered the best I could in the middle of the night to a bun in crisis. Now that you have had time to heal, evaluate, etc... how is Nibbles doing?
 
Thanks so much, Mrbunny. I didn't know if we had a bun in crisis after a spay, or a bun in stasis after a spay. I've had both, so tried to cover both with 'is she pooping'? It's really great that Farmer Steve came back on and let us know she was pooping, so we could get to the real problem.

I fully believe she is okay now. Her daddy came on here because she was in crisis. He's not around any more, so I believe the crisis passed.

I'm a big advocate of spaying, especially for pet bunnies. I see it as an investment in their future health. I know it costs a lot, but it pays off in so many ways. Cancer treatment,even if it just helping them through the pain until the end, costs more than a spay in my town.

Farmer Steve did absolutely everything right. I just hope the next time a bun is in crisis, a far wiser person than I is up and awake to answer the questions...

MrBunny's advice is terrific for all of us who have to administer medication, crucial or not.

Angieluv's advice was dead on too. But at the beginning of the thread, we didn't know if she was pooping. So hence the questions about stasis. I've seen it after a spay, I've also seen them react well like Angieluv says. I didn't suggest to treat it as stasis until we got the scoop on the poop. However, stasis is something all of us as bun parents must be aware of. So if Angie and I managed to educate a bunny slave on it, more power to us all.


In future, though, be aware of what Angieluv says. Major surgery is exactly that. As I said above, it takes humans a long time to recover, don't expect your bun to bounce back.

So decreased appetite, mobility, etc. is a factor after this surgery. As Angie says, don't panic. But please look out for things like lack of poop. Like Angie said, it's trauma. Be there for your bun.
 
Copied and pasted directly from Bunspace admins for a better description:

Yep, the "go on your knees" method is the best we found. "Park" the rabbit butt first between your legs so the head is at the knees. Now you can close your legs a little to give a tight fit. You can push the head gently on one of your knees (the other side of your "feeding hand") and then insert the syringe about half way down the mouth on the side.

Rabbits have front teeth and molars. In-between is a huge gap. So going from the side, almost to where the lips/skin ends is the best spot to put the syringe. Angle the syringe so it squirts towards the back of the mouth. Rabbits have no gag-reflex, which means once you get the stuff to the back of the throat they will swallow, no matter what.
 
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