New bunny not eating or drinking water

[Becknutt]

Ruby was adopted from the shelter, and came home last night after having her spay surgery yesterday. I know that is a lot to go though all at once, having a new home and surgery, so I may be over reacting.

The vet said she could not have food or water until after 9pm last night. I returned her food, timothy hay, and water bottle to the cage last night before bed, and as of now 2pm today she has not eaten any pellets or hay. She also has not drank any water.I did give her some greens, which she ate about 1/4 cup of and 1 raisen.

I'm concerned with her not drinking water. She did pee oncelast night, but as of yet no poop. (sorry for being graphic)

Please set my mind at ease! At what point should I be concerned?

Here she is:

Estimated 1yo New Zealand White

I also offered her a baby carrot, which she did not eat but did not want me to take away.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I'm so happy you have her and she's just so pretty!!!!

I've seen where a lot of does tend to go about 24 hours to 36 hours generally before they even touch their food. Do you have oats? I have always thought that is the ultimate favorite of most bunnies and you could give her a few little pieces of that to see if she would take it. My rabbits aren't always fond of carrots - so that's not a suprise.

She only had her surgery yesterday and has peed. Sounds like she's ok - just give her a little time.

She looks pretty alert!

 

[tonyshuman]

[align=left]i have only rarely seen my rabbit drink (maybe once or twice, and i've tried bottles and a crock).
[/align] he gets his water from veggies, which i give to him wet. the vet said this was fine, since veggies have a high water content. he hasn't had any problems, even in hot weather, for the 6months i've had him.
so don't worry about not drinking unless she's not also eating veggies. i'm sure part of the problem for her is stress, surgery, etc, but it's possible that Ruby is just a non-water-drinking bun, like my Tony.
other people have better things to say and more experience with surgeries, but i just wanted to let you know that not drinking water is not out of the ordinary for a healthy bun.

btw she is BEAUTIFUL and i just want to reach into the screen and pet her!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I wonder if Tony can see his water? I know some of them have real problems up close and since water doesn't have much of a smell......

Bo likes HUGE water bowls too - like the dog's. He will go to that and drink and drink. He has a crock and a bottle. I fill his little crock 2x a day and sometimes he'll drink about one whole one - cup to cup and a half.

 

[Becknutt]

Thanks guys, it makes me feel better to hear someone else say its ok. I tend to overreact on things like this.

Thank you for all the compliments, she is gorgeous and a sweety. I've been petting her nose and she has moved around the cage seveal times, so she is alert.

With the carrot, I offered it to her and then went to take it away when she didn't want it and she took it and put it there next to her. When I reach for it she moves it... so I think she wants it just not right now. lol. or she doesn't wantme to have it. I don't know but it wasfunny.

 

[naturestee]

There's my girl! :heartbeat:

Do you have the the same brand and type of pellets she was getting at the shelter? She might be nervous about trying something new.

Did they send any pain meds home with her? She's probably pretty sore and could use some. She might also like something warm to snuggle with, like a rice-filled sock heated up in the microwave.

I would also try offering her individual strands of hay, she might eat them if you make them look special or if you annoy her.

If she doesn't start eating soon, get some Nutrical (squishy food supplement made for cats and dogs) and squish some on her foot. She'll have to lick it off, and then she'll get a bit of calories, plus B vitamins for energy. Some rabbits like the taste. Mine don't. In fact, I've found it's wonderful way to force mine to eat because they'll eat anything to get the taste out of their mouths, LOL!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

What a gorgeous girl!

Um, the vet doesn't exactly sound rabbit savvy to me. Food and water should NEVER be withheld. Especially after surgery, I don't understand that at all:?. Normally, they will try to tell you not to feed them before surgery thinking that rabbits can vomit from the anestesia, but since they can't, food and water should never be withheld.

She should come around soon. Why don't you try syringing her some water, you don't want her to get dehyrated. If the surgery was last night, she needs water syringed if she's not drinking on her own. If she's nibbling that's good and you should start to see more.

Did you get any pain meds? She definitely needs pain meds as this is an invasive surgery, and without them could contribute to her not eating anything or drinking water for that matter.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Yeah - I kinda wondered about the no food thing.

Anyhow - I agree - sometimes Bo will eat hay if I give him strands at a time.

Too funny about the carrot!

I bet she's going to be full of personality!

 

[Becknutt]

I did try offering her single strands of hay, and I tried laying them near her.Shes not 100 % sure about taking food from me yet. Though the raisen I gave her as a test she snatched right out of my hand.

The shelter did not send her home with any pellets, and I didn't think to ask what type they used. In the last few minutes I got her to eat two pelletsfrom my hand. I think she is coming around.

The vet was a small animal only vet, who the shelter works with regularly. This shelter takes a lot of the area buns that other shelters don't. So I thought they would have a good vet. He told me that they do not offer pain meds for rabbits. When I first brought her home, it was only about 3 hours that she did not have pellets or water. I did leave the hay in there during that time. Is there something I can give her for pain? Maybe something I could get at the feed store?

I will try the warm sock filled with rice and syringing her some water and let you know how it goes.

 

[Becknutt]

Ok so she didn't seem to like the snuggly, but it did get her up and moving and while she was on that side of the cage I tapped the ball of the water bottle a few times and she started drinking, so one less thing to worry about.

If anyone has any tips for what I can do to comfort her pain, I would appreciate it.

Thanks again.

 

[Bassetluv]

Baby aspirin might not be a bad idea if you weren't given anything from the vet for her, and you think she's experiencing discomfort (many rabbits will not eat if they have pain going on). I used to give my rabbit Raph a half an aspirin when he showed signs of pain. I also found that one thing he never refused to eat, even when feeling ill, was oat groats. A few groats in a dish might perk her appetite a bit if you have some. If she doesn't start eating on her own you could try syringe-feeding her a slurry of pellets mixed with water, though from the sound of it, she will most likely begin eating pretty soon. (Not sure if others would recommend this, but I also found that a couple of craisins were good for enticing Raph's appetite too.)

She's a real beauty...congrats on your new baby!

 

[naturestee]

Although aspirin shouldn't be given when recovering from a surgery because it is a blood thinner. That's why you are supposed to take it if you have a heart attack. Baby Ibuprofen could work. I've heard Tylenol is bad for rabbits so stay away from that.

 

[Becknutt]

I don't have baby asprin, but I think we have the low dose 82mg bayer we give to the dog. I don't know if thats the same so I think I'll hold off on giving it to her and see if she perks up with some oats. I'm pretty sure we have some..but I don't know how old they are...

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Really not sure if you should give the Bayer, and yes that is aspirin.

Can you call the vet in the morning and request pain meds for her? I suppose Metacam would work, let me do some looking for you for what you should ask for that's better than that. (Unless someone beats me to it.)

 

[Bassetluv]

naturestee wrote:

Although aspirin shouldn't be given when recovering from a surgery because it is a blood thinner. That's why you are supposed to take it if you have a heart attack. Baby Ibuprofen could work. I've heard Tylenol is bad for rabbits so stay away from that.

aaack...I'm so glad you posted that, naturestee! Something I didn't even realize. :foreheadsmack:

 

[Becknutt]

I did request it from the vet that spayed her and he said they do not offer any pain meds for rabbits. I suppose I could call my vet, and ask for it. Do you think they would do that?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Becknutt wrote:

I did request it from the vet that spayed her and he said they do not offer any pain meds for rabbits. I suppose I could call my vet, and ask for it. Do you think they would do that?

I would certainly try my darndest! Good Luck!

How is she acting now? Has she eaten any more or drank anymore, have you syringed any water to her?

 

[tonyshuman]

not to hijack the thread, but
Bo-

I wonder if Tony can see his water? I know some of them have real problems up close and since water doesn't have much of a smell...... Bo likes HUGE water bowls too - like the dog's. He will go to that and drink and drink. He has a crock and a bottle. I fill his little crock 2x a day and sometimes he'll drink about one whole one - cup to cup and a half.

so i'm not sure. he has *intentionally* tipped his water bowl twice when i was bugging him. however, i thought you might be right, so i gave him a big bowl of water, and put some mushy banana on the edge and some apple pieces in it so he could smell it. he ate the banana and apple, but it doesn't look like he had any water. i think he can see it, but doesn't like to drink.

and to becknutt, it's good that she's drinking. there definately are pain meds for rabbits. if you have tylenol, you could cut a pill up and give just a little to her. maybe cut a normal tylenol into quarters?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

tonyshuman wrote:

if you have tylenol, you could cut a pill up and give just a little to her. maybe cut a normal tylenol into quarters?

Tylonel bad for buns. If you did have a pill she could have, it would have to be crushed, mixed with a little water as a paste, but thinner and syringed.

 

[tonyshuman]

[align=left]AngelnSnuffy wrote:

tonyshuman wrote:

if you have tylenol, you could cut a pill up and give just a little to her. maybe cut a normal tylenol into quarters?

[/align]

Tylonel bad for buns. If you did have a pill she could have, it would have to be crushed, mixed with a little water as a paste, but thinner and syringed.

oh oops. tylenol bad for buns. i got confused about which one.
cut up an ibuprofen instead?