sick bunny?

[juju]

hi can anyone help? my cilla is about 5 yrs old now and has been off her food for 3 days now. she seems to be drinking but not eaing, she cant seem to be able to hold dandelions in her mouth to eat, checked her mouth and cant see anything, also round her mouth is wet and the inside of her front legs? totallt baffled cos when shes out in the run she seem fine in her behaviour but when shes back in her cage shes really subdued? going to ring vets on monday, but can anyone help me and my baby?:sickbunny:

 

[KeltonB]

I had an issue similar to this once, turned out to be a spur on the bun's tooth that made it too painful to eat. The vet had to file the tooth down and all was well. I'm concerned it's been three days since yours hasn't eaten though, as that amount of time could lead to GI problems.

 

[JBun]

It sounds like her teeth to me too. It would be best to try and get her into the vet before Monday, if you can. I'm concerned as well, about her developing stasis due to how long it's been since she properly ate. If you can't get her into the vet right away to have her teeth checked, it would be a good idea to help her get food and water, even if you need to syringe feed it to her. Do you have any recovery food? If not you can soak her pellets in warm water until they are soft and mushy, then try to spoon feed it to her. If she still won't take it, you will need to syringe feed it to her. You'll probably have to blend it in a blender for it to be smooth enough to syringe feed it without it clogging the syringe tip. If she isn't drinking much, you will need to syringe her water too. Make sure to syringe the food and water slowly, giving her a chance to chew and swallow, so she doesn't aspirate any of it. Not being a vet, I can only make a guess and suggestion as to what is wrong and what might help. The best thing would be to get her to a rabbit vet right away, and get her properly looked at.

 

[juju]

we have to trim her teeth ourselves quite regulary as she isnt a fan of hay . we trimmed her teeth the other day to see if it helped but it didnt, going to try and get her into vets on monday. her teeth arnt aligned properly so have to be trimmed quite often

 

[JBun]

It is most likely sharp points on her back molars that is causing the problem, not her front incisors. When the molars get sharp points, they can start to cut into the tongue and cheek of the rabbit when they chew. With your rabbit having incisor tooth problems, it is probable that there is also problems with the back molars as well.

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

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Sounds like molar spurs to us too. Try soaking some pellets to make them softer. We just had to get Molly's teeth all done as she wasn't eating as she's 14 and we thought it might be time for the final visit. They checked and trimmed all her molars. She started out gobbing up mushy pellets and we got her some alfalfa too. She's back to normal now and chows down on the alfalfa.

 

[tonyshuman]

Not eating for 3 days is usually an emergency. Maybe she is sneaking some food while you aren't looking. I would offer her greens, and a slurry of pellets softened with water. She needs to be seen by a vet ASAP as usually 24 hrs without eating is an emergency. It is probably her back teeth as others have said. Many bunnies with front teeth problems also have back teeth problems, but it is hard to see them. Dental x-rays may be necessary as there may also be infected tooth roots (abscesses) related to the bad teeth.