Introducing bunny to my bedroom - not eating?

[lloorren]

Cotton has full run of the first floor of the house (well, we did block off the kitchen and stairs) and she is litter trained to her cage. I recently set up my bedroom (upstairs) and vacuumed it up, organized everything. I started to bring Cotton into the room twice a day for a little bit at a time in order to let her wander around and get used to it, but even though she spends most of the day downstairs, she hasn't been eating as much or touching her greens. Is this just a temporary shock effect that is normal with rabbits introduced to new places, or should I suspicious that it's something unrelated?

 

[JBun]

I wouldn't think bringing her for a visit in your room would put her off her food, unless there was something in your room itself that could upset her, but it is possible. It would probably be best to keep her in her usual area for now and keep a close eye on her eating and pooping. Have you noticed any other changes of behavior or signs of pain(teeth grinding, frequently changing positions, sitting hunched up, acting uncomfortable, eye squinting)? If her behavior doesn't go back to normal after a day or two, or she stops eating and pooping, you'll need to get her to your vet right away.

 

[lloorren]

Thank you for the response. For now I'm keeping her downstairs until she starts eating normally again, it's been such a long time since I've moved her anywhere so I don't really remember the things I should expect. I massaged her belly twice today just in case she had gas, he poops look small but pretty much normal, she's going pee and she'll nibble so she's not completely on an empty stomach, she's also been chewing a lot more on paper. She has papery fluff bedding that she's had for years and a couple times I've seen her eating her fluff this time? She's on her same usual diet

 

[JBun]

Ingesting paper products isn't a good thing. It can be a sign a rabbit needs more fiber because of a slow gut, and the ingestion of the paper can sometimes lead to a blockage. Do you feed your rabbit hay? Do you have apple or willow branches you could give her to chew on? Will she still not touch her greens? You do need to make sure that she is getting enough water and food or you may need to start syringe feeding(as long as she is still pooping).

You could try giving some infant gas drops for the gas. Dosage for simethicone is 1-2cc every hour for three hours, then 1cc every 3-8 hrs as needed. But if she isn't really eating, you should probably get her to the vet.

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

 

[lovelops]

Ingesting paper products isn't a good thing. It can be a sign a rabbit needs more fiber because of a slow gut, and the ingestion of the paper can sometimes lead to a blockage.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

No, but then again, they have a mind of their own.

I can add this to the list of things my bunnies have eaten along with the paint, carpet, soap, chocolate, etc.

I gave them the cat house, and guess what? Lady already ate half the roof off of it when I dozed off and took a nap!!! I looked at it and I was like What the heck? Was there an earthquake or something? How is the cat house missing half the roof? Then I see Lady with paper sticking out of her mouth that matched a sticker we put on the roof. Question answered...

I think also she was accustomed to eating/chewing on paper and cardboard when she was with her prior owners..because when I took up every piece of paper I was promptly bit over and over again until I gave her a piece of printing paper to shred and nibble on.

I started to give her a lecture on the dangers of paper eating and how it could wreak havoc on her intestinal track and cause me to take her to the emergency vet for surgery... and I stopped in mid lecture as she happily kept chewing on paper..and it reminded me of the speech from the Sarah Bird book, The Boyfriend School or the movie they made from the Book, Don't tell her it's me:

Lizzie Potts: No! Annabelle! Don't play with the space heater coil. Piglet, if you breath gas it will tie up all your available hemoglobin and there will be none left for oxygen transfer. Your lips and nail beds will turn cherry red and you'll die of carbon monoxide poisoning. I like to acquaint her with consequences.


I started to go into details such as the above but on paper eating and damage to her tiny little Holland Lop body and my husband stopped me saying, Your talking to her like she understands what you are saying. I think the limit of her vocabulary is NO, YES, LADY, Good Girl...
anything else and you are on your own..

Sigh.. so until I can get her to stop eating the paper off the magnets on the fridge and all the church notices, I will just have to deal with the fact that Lop loves eating paper the same way models like eating cotton balls soaked in orange juice as a meal...

Vanessa

 

[Imbrium]

because when I took up every piece of paper I was promptly bit over and over again until I gave her a piece of printing paper to shred and nibble on.

...

I started to go into details such as the above but on paper eating and damage to her tiny little Holland Lop body and my husband stopped me saying, Your talking to her like she understands what you are saying. I think the limit of her vocabulary is NO, YES, LADY, Good Girl...
anything else and you are on your own.

Hah, she laid down the law!

I honestly suspect they understand FAR more than they'd like us to realize. On numerous occasions, I've talked to Nala like a human and seen a response that suggested she knew darn well what I was saying. They may not be able to understand English word for word, but they seem to intuit an awful lot from tone and body language.

 

[Imbrium]

I will just have to deal with the fact that Lop loves eating paper the same way models like eating cotton balls soaked in orange juice as a meal...

LOL, I somehow missed that very last line earlier... hilarious

 

[lloorren]

She has a vet appointment at 4:30 today, she's still being very peckish but I make sure she eats at least a leaf here and there. She never has wanted to touch any kind of apple stick before, she just picks em up and throws them. She always has fresh hay, I never see her eat it but I just assume that she does when she's having her meals. Her poops are coming out smaller and very hard and I noticed her straining a lot in her litter box, so I'm really freaking out that it is some kind of blockage. I took away the paper and things that she was chewing on, shes not getting as many treats and I haven't taken her back in my room since. I am scared. I hope that it is something that can be treated in a similar way to what JBun said

 

[JBun]

Since she's still pooping then she doesn't have a blockage yet, but small hard poop does mean there is a slowdown that can quickly turn into a blockage if not corrected quickly. That's good that you took the paper away, as her eating that isn't going to help at all, and could actually cause more problems. No sugary starchy treats, is a good move as well, as starches further slow down the digestion. Best thing is dark leafy veggies(preferably non cruciferous) and LOTS of grass hay. But you do have to ensure that your rabbit is actually eating it.

It sounds like getting her to the vet at this point is a good idea, to prevent it turning into full blown GI stasis. It's likely your vet will give you a gut stimulant, metacam for pain, and a syringe feeding mix. Please let us know how the vet visit goes.

http://rabbit.org/sluggish-motility-in-the-gastrointestinal-tract-2/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

 

[lloorren]

She got a shot of B12 and it must've been just what she needed. I still keep my eye on her because she lost weight and idk how fast we can get her to gain it back. She always gets timothy hay and we just got some rolled oats, but now I'm thinking put her on alfalfa to plump her up??? Or just keep to her previous feeding habits (3 chunks of her greens a day - mustard greens, parsley, dandelion greens, mint, swiss chard, and then a blend of dried fruits and a raisin mix with timothy kibbles at night) She's been on our diet for a long time without complications, so we haven't pinpointed what may have caused it. My theory is that chocolate somehow got on the floor or something since we got chocolate candies for CHristmas???? though I think if that was the case I'd have found her stash