Our vet has Smokey on Critical Care. I started it today and have given him about 1 syringe full three times a couple of hours apart. He will only take the 1 syringe and then he totally refuses it. The vet just said to follow the directions on the package, but I'm wondering what you guys do as far as how often you feed it and do you get up in the night to feed it or just give it during the day? Also, any tricks to get them to eat it? I'm happy he will at least eat some, but it's not the amount recommended on the package.
How do you feed Critical Care?
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whitelop
Morgan
Trying smaller doses of it helped me, and a smaller syringe. I know the feeding syringe is huge and sometimes thats daunting for a rabbit, but I found that a small eye dropper type syringe was better for Ellie to eat with. It took forever to feed her, but it was easier to get that syringe into the side of her mouth for her to eat. Using a small syringe I was able to get about 20cc's into her. I also made mine a bit thinner than they recommend so it would flow better.
Wrapping your bun in a bunny burrito and putting him on a table or something thats about hip height, so you can press him to your side and put the syringe in the side of his mouth. I put Ellie on my washing machine and that was the right height for me.
Hope you're able to get some critical care into him! What flavor is it? I got the anise flavor from the vet and thats a terrible flavor.
Wrapping your bun in a bunny burrito and putting him on a table or something thats about hip height, so you can press him to your side and put the syringe in the side of his mouth. I put Ellie on my washing machine and that was the right height for me.
Hope you're able to get some critical care into him! What flavor is it? I got the anise flavor from the vet and thats a terrible flavor.
I tend to water mine down too, to a thick soupy consistency so they are also getting more water, but not so thin it's dripping everywhere and running out of their mouth.
If the bun is still really sick, then yes I'll get up at night to feed as you want to keep them hydrated and their digestion moving. I will feed smaller amounts more frequently, every 4 hours to start with. Then as they get better and are eating more on their own, I will feed less and not get up at night.
Because every bun responds differently to syringe feeding, sometimes it just takes practice and figuring out what works best for your rabbit.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW0Taz0MFWE[/ame]
If the bun is still really sick, then yes I'll get up at night to feed as you want to keep them hydrated and their digestion moving. I will feed smaller amounts more frequently, every 4 hours to start with. Then as they get better and are eating more on their own, I will feed less and not get up at night.
Because every bun responds differently to syringe feeding, sometimes it just takes practice and figuring out what works best for your rabbit.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW0Taz0MFWE[/ame]
Last edited:
woahlookitsme
Well-Known Member
For Gunner I fed him 30cc three times a day and followed it with 30cc of water. Gunner weighed about 4 lbs when he was sick. We had the apple and banana flavor. Gunner loved getting his meds and was easy at first. When he started to feel better he didnt want me to syringe feed him and would start eating it from a bowl.
The consistency I would say had a cow patty quality to it. Thick enough to cake but thin enough to run through a syringe.
The consistency I would say had a cow patty quality to it. Thick enough to cake but thin enough to run through a syringe.
Thanks for your reply. The vet gave me small 6 mL syringes so they are probably more like the eye dropper ones you mentioned. The last two times I fed him today he took two for a total of 12 mL. I found that making it thinner worked better for me too. I think it's anise flavor, although it doesn't say so on the package. It just smells like licorice to me. He seems to like it. I kind of squirt it onto his tongue as he laps it up.
missyscove
Christina - Moderator
This depends a lot on how thick you make it. I don't know what's wrong with your rabbit but if it's GI stasis usually they're dehydrated too so making it thinner won't hurt as they're getting more fluid that way. Most buns do seem to prefer the apple banana flavor over the anise and I have a friend whose rabbit ended up toothless (though no one was sure why) and lived off of just critical care which he ate willingly from a dish. If he's just on critical care for a day or two and doesn't get the full amount or if he's also eating anything else, then it's not as much of a concern, but if he's on it long term obviously you want to make sure he's getting enough calories every day to keep his energy levels up.
Also remember that rabbits and their GI tract are designed to eat basically all day long so I believe frequent, smaller feedings are better.
Also remember that rabbits and their GI tract are designed to eat basically all day long so I believe frequent, smaller feedings are better.
Good to know they can eat it from a bowl too. I'm gonna try that.
Smokey was not eating, peeing, or pooping over the weekend and has an eye infection. The vet said he was at the beginning of GI stasis, but he didn't have any blockages so we are just trying to get things moving again as we treat the eye infection. I do think I will keep up the smaller, more frequent feedings, but the last time I fed him he did take all of the 2 syringes I made for him, 12 mL total, so I'm going to try filling up 3 tomorrow and see if he takes it all.
