NIbbles Acting Odd

[mdith4him]

OK, here's the rundown:

Nibbles was acting his normal self this afternoon: eating hay, pooping, ate all his dinner (greens), and ate some treats (papaya). This was all around 6-7:30 p.m.

Around 9, I got in his pen to pet/play/whatever. He was in his box, which he usually isn't at this time of night. He's been pretty quite since dinner. I pet him a bit, but he didn't seem to respond much (no teeth chatter, no laying head against the floor of the box like he usually does). Offered him a piece of hay, didn't take it (usually he eats it, or at least will take it and drop it). Offered him a papaya tablet (loves these, always takes them!), but he didn't take it. Offered water, sniffed it, but didn't drink any.

Got him to come out of the box and felt his tummy. It felt soft and cushy (not hard, like Crispin's when he had his GI stasis). As soon as he came out of the box, he scrunched himself in the corner of his pen. I picked him up (which he doesn't like, had to chase him a bit as usual) to check under him--nothing unusual (no cuts, injuries, etc. that I could see). When I put him down he immediately hopped under one of the shelves in his pen and scrunched himself in the corner. That was 5 minutes ago and he's still there. He never just sits in that corner (it has all his shredded paper bits that he likes to play with, but he's not playing).

The poops in his litter box look normal, but I haven't seen him in the box in awhile (over an hour).

Does this sound weird to anyone else? I'm hoping he's not developing GI stasis like Crispin did in September, but a lot of this is like what Crispin was doing. We were able to take C in to the vet immediately that evening, but obviously it's too late for a vet visit tonight. If this does sound bad to you, what can I do to help him through the night? I've got some of C's left over meds and critical care if necessary. I also have some pineapple juice, but it's the left over juice from a can of pineapple rings (is that okay to give them)?

Thanks for any help I'm just a worried bunny mama ray:

 

[mdith4him]

We just gave Nibs 1cc of simethecone (left over from Crispin, still w/i the expiration date of course). He's in his pen, still scrunched in the corner. His ears are chilly (again, unusual for him), so I've given him some extra blankets to snuggle in.

I think his belly is still feeling normal. Maybe not quite as squishy as it was earlier? I don't know if it's getting harder or if it's just my worry creeping in to my "diagnoses."

Any thoughts?

 

[JBun]

It's definitely concerning. Can you tell if he's pooped anymore or eaten? Have you introduced anything new into his diet? Have you tried giving him any greens? Sometimes they'll still eat their greens.

If you can't get him into the vet tonight, keep up with the simethicone 1cc every hour for 3 hours, then 1cc every 3-8 hours as needed. If you have metacam, then that would probably be good to give too. And if he's not eating anything or drinking, then syringe feed the critical care and also water. Keep food in him and keep him hydrated. If he seems to get worse you may want to get him to an emergency clinic.

 

[Imbrium]

if you don't have metacam, you can use baby aspirin, low-dose aspirin or baby ibuprofen. dosing info - http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

if he doesn't eat any more at all, I'd definitely try a little critical care.

you can also offer him a little bit of canned pumpkin (PLAIN stuff, not the pie filling kind) and/or some fruit or squash flavored baby food... not a whole lot, as these foods are sugary - maybe 2 tsp or so. these things could also be mixed into the critical care to make it tastier.

canned pineapple juice can help a bit with dehydration, but it would need to be fresh in order to assist with potential GI issues.

if you have any probiotics, you could give him a dose of those. my Gazzles was acting "off" this weekend and eating sparsely when she's usually a little piggy. I dosed her with simethicone at first and when that didn't get her back to normal, I gave her another dose and some metacam. then yesterday I remembered about probiotics and gave her some - she's back to normal today.

 

[mdith4him]

Thanks! He seems to be better this morning. He's eaten some of his pellets (though not as many as he typically does) and was jumping around when he saw me come out to the living room. It doesn't look like he's eaten much hay or drank much water overnight and I can't tell that he's pooped all that much.

Could he just have had some gas in his tummy? After I gave him the meds last night he started chewing on some cardboard and a few pieces of hay.

Hubby will be home today and can keep an eye on him. Hopefully he's feeling better and we can avoid a vet trip.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Sometimes ours are just off for a bit with no rhyme or reason. Still a cause for concern and we monitor closely just because things can go bad so quickly. ray:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

Sometimes ours are just off for a bit with no rhyme or reason. Still a cause for concern and we monitor closely just because things can go bad so quickly. ray:

Yep, Ripley just did this too about a week or 2 ago and the next day seemed totally normal.

 

[mdith4him]

Here's the update on how Nibbles has done today (from the hubby, since I was at work until about 30 minutes ago):

He ate all his pellets from his bowl (plus a few extra hubby gave him by hand). He's eaten a bit of hay and drank some water, but much less than usual and only when offered it by hand. He's been pooping and peeing, but again, not as much as usual. His poops are a tad on the small side, but nothing super tiny. He's also chewed on a hay cube a bit. Hubby said he slept during his normal times and didn't seem to be as cold as he was last night.

I bought some apple juice at the store, so I'll try adding that to some water later tonight to see if that encourages him to drink more. I also thought that maybe a different type of hay would encourage him to eat more hay? We just have the standard Timothy hay, but I can run to the pet store and pick up a bag of something sweeter (he's had and liked orchard hay in the past).

We'll be giving him his veggies in a bit for dinner (he's not quite awake yet for the evening). I'll let you know how he responds to those.

Thanks again for the help