Not sure if she's sick or not....help?

[Audrey]

We got our Flemish Giant, Chloe, abouta week ago and when we got her, she was TEARING through her food... was filling up her food and hay dishes every morning and evening...but over the past few days i've noticed her eating has gone down ALOT...normal???

She's been eating bits of her hay and food, but only about a quarter of what she was eating...she seems to be drinking alright but she hasn't emptied her food bowl more than oncein the past fewdays...

 

[tonyshuman]

A few questions:
How old is she?

What brand is the food? Is it the same brand she was eating before she came to you?

Does she eat hay?

How is her fecal output?

Any other changes in behavior?

How does her belly feel? Hard? Doughy?

 

[Audrey]

around 10 weeks, she's eating Kaytee FortiDiet...no i dont think it is, but i'm not sure...
She eats hay on a regular basis, but not quite as much in the past few days as in the past week or so...
she seems to be pooping alright (less obviously) but the consistency seems normal
I can't really tell if she's having changes in behavior since we've only had her for about a week and she's still settling in...
Her tummy feels firm, but squishy if that make sense...

 

[tonyshuman]

She might have gas. I would try a gas treatment protocol. This includes 1mL of baby simethicone liquid per hour for 3 hrs. If she's big, as I assume she is because she's a flemmie but not sure, you should give 1.5 mL (I'd say for a bunny more than 8lb). I'd also offer pumpkin puree (not pie filling--just pure canned pumpkin) and pedialyte. You could also syringe feed here these things if she won't eat them.

Did she get any new foods recently? Anything sugary?

You can also give her a heat source and belly massages.

 

[Audrey]

nothing really out of the ordinary...she eats carrots, which i know she probably shouldn't at her age, but her previous owners were already feeding them to her so i figured it would be ok...

baby simethicone liquid?

 

[Audrey]

she's ben laying around more, but like isaid, i'm not sure if its because she's sick or because shes just settling in...

 

[tonyshuman]

If she's acting tired, that would be a bad sign--like lethargy.

Simethicone is the active ingredient in most gas medicines. The easiest way to give medicines to a bunny is via an oral feeding syringe, so the baby formulation of gas medicines is easiest because it is liquid. I buy store brand, usually, but there is a brand name version, called Mylicon. Just look in the baby medical section of a grocery or drug store.

I would also try to find some probiotics, like Bene-Bac or Probios. They're available at pet and farm stores, respecitvely. They restore the proper gastrointestinal bacteria.

 

[Pipp]

Is she doing binkies and racing around every once in awhile? Flemish are couch potatoes from my experience, but they certainly have their moments.


sas :expressionless

 

[Audrey]

ok, so she may have just been backed up lol
while i was at the store getting the medicine for her, my roommate was watching her and he said while she was out exploring,she peed and pooped ALOT
all in one pile, about the size of a baseball
and then she did a binkie lol

i'll probably give her the gas medicine just in case

 

[Audrey]

yeah, she has been laying around for the most part, but gets spazzyand runs about for short periods of time still

 

[tonyshuman]

That sounds better. Sometimes the stress of a move can make their GI systems go out of whack for a bit.

 

[Audrey]

i gave her a little bit of canned pumpkin mixed with the gas medicine and she ate it up, and shes acting like she feels better, so i guess we go it cleared up lol

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

tonyshuman wrote:

That sounds better. Sometimes the stress of a move can make their GI systems go out of whack for a bit.

I witnessed that first hand when I had Sooska's Winston and Vega here. They came a way in cars. I saw mushy poos about the third day, I asked Haley about it, and indeedI was right to think it was from stress and a move. It was short lived.

Pushing water, hay and pumpkin are great things to do!

Is she still doing better?

 

[Audrey]

we've gone to the opposite now :/
before she was backed up and not pooping, but today i noticed her stool are very very soft...
i have a feeling its the pumpkin that upset her tummy, but were keeping a close eye on her

 

[tonyshuman]

Some probiotics can help--I always give them to my guys after a stressful event.