Tarragon ill - really worried

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Rowan

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We started bonding Tarragon and Flopsy two daysago and it seemed to be going well, just mounting each other andrunning around but no fighting. Last night Tarragon refused his treatand this morning we weren't woken by the noise of him crashingeverything in his cage. He refused his treat again and most of his foodwas still there, he just sat in the corner of his cage. I examined himto see if I could see any sign of an injury he might have got unnoticedsomehow, and checked his teeth but there was nothing visible so I triedletting him out to see if he was just depressed about not being withFlopsy but he didn't go near her cage just went under my daughter's bedand stayed there. After watching him for a while more I called the vetand took him down for an emergency appointment - he would choose theweekend - It wasn't my usual vet but he seemed to know what he wasdoing. He gave Tarragon a thorough check, eyes, mouth, teeth,temperature, and felt his stomach area really carefully, he couldn'tfind anything wrong at all, he said he looked in very good conditionand was healthily alert - but that was because he doesn't see mybeautiful hyperactive boy normally. He said the not eating wasobviously a bad thing and gave me stuff to syringe into him every twohours and to bring him back if he went downhill at all over theweekend. When we got home he was shivering. He's drunk loads since wegot back but not interested in eating anything at all. I've put a hotwater bottle well wrapped up in the corner of his cage where henormally lies in case it's just that he was cold from the high windslast night (our house is verydraughty in windy weather). Doesanyone have any suggestions at all about what more I could do and whathis problem might be? I'm so worried about him right now, I just can'tthink what's causing him to be like this

Thanks

Kate
 
What did they give you to give to him?

The only thing I can offer right now is, keep on doing whatyou're doing like a good mommy. Try to get him to eat anything: hay,pellets, raisins, carrots. Basically anything to keep his systemmoving. It's very good you brought him in right away, you are veryresponsible.

Keep us up to date on what's going on. It's so frightening when one of our babies is ill.
 
I just lost half this post when I tried to send it......

This is the post that Buck is referringto as far as Tucker's experience and Carolyn's advice.http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=2532&forum_id=1&highlight=GI+Stasis+and+tucker

Carolyn has always referred people topage 10 but I didn't see pages this time for some reason, may just be afluke. This same treatment saved Sebastian when we wentthrough the same thing. It's crucial that you empty his litter boxright now and then pay very close attention from now on to how much heis pooping and peeing. I kept a very detailed written record because itcould be a long couple of days. I wrote down every cc he was forced todrink and every poo he dropped. :?You must keep him hydratedand keep his system moving. The pumpkin/pineapple treatment workswonders. I also think the nutri-cal is largely responsible for thequick recovery. If I understand correctly it has many of the nutrientsthat are necessary to keep him alive at this point.

If you don't find the exact directions in the post I referred you to,let me know and I'll give you details. Good Luck, we are praying foryou.

RaspberrySwirl

 


That is odd, RaspberrySwirl, how they wouldn't display the wholemessage. Perhaps it has something to do with the search engine, butwhen I checked out my Topics, it wasn't in there either.

Thanks for finding it for Kate. You're 100% right - the treatment notesare on Page 10. Think I'll print out that page myself just in case itever does get lost.

Thanks again, Raspberry!

* * * * * *

Kate,

How's your little one doing today? I hope you followed Raspberry'sadvice in cleaning out the litterbox so that you can get an accurateaccount of how many stools he's passing and how they're different fromthe normal size ones. Are they small, black and hard? Did he have a lotof cecotropes before he went into this? They don't always have a lot,but it's definitely a warning sign that Tucker puts out beforehand.

Keep us posted. Thinking and praying for you and the little guy.

-Carolyn
 
Thank you all very much for your advice towardsmy little boy. It's so good to be able to come somewhere where peopleunderstand just how precious a rabbit can be :). The vet did check histeeth (and just about everywhere else. Oddly enough, and it only justoccurred to me, he didn't check his ears). He's had no drooling ordribbling or excess caecotropes or any signs at all that he's beenfeeling off colour in any way until he refused a treat last night, andTarragon is usually first in line scrabbling at the bars for anythingresembling a treat. That's why it was such a shock to find him as hewas this morning. The main reason I was so fast taking him to the vetwas that I wonderedif he might have an abcess that I couldn'tsee or some sudden infection. He had hardly touched his food fromyesterday - he usually saves it and eats it overnight - and there werealmost no poops in his cage (It gets cleaned out every afternoon) Hewouldn't even turn his head to look at all the treats I offered him,and he is usually overwhelmed with excitement by them. He didn't drinktill after I got him back from the vets and then he just seemed to wantto keep going back to his bowl and drinking five or six times withinabout a half hour but he still wouldn't even look at food of any sort.He wasn't impressed by my giving him a heat pad in the corner, hedidn't do anything except hop off it when I put him on it but hisviolent shivering gradually stopped. He had one syringe fed meal, andneither of us were in a hurry to do it again! so I thought I'd wait andsee for a while. About mid afternoon (a couple of hours ago for thoseof you on a different time zone) he suddenly leapt up and went roundhoovering up all the pieces of carrot and raisin I'd left round hiscage to tempt him before he sat down again and as of about twentyminutes ago he started tucking into his food as if I'd been starvinghim for weeks. The food the vet gave me by the way was Science RecoveryLiquid feed for small herbivores. He's still not pooped but he's peedquite a bit and I'm hopeful that now that he's eatingagainthe pooping will follow. Unfortunately living in such aremote part of the UK canned pumpkin hasn't even been heard of in myshops, not even in the autumn :(.

I've spent the day trying to think of every possible reason for whatmight have caused this and I just can't think of anything :?. I didwonder about a hairball but the vet didn't think that was likely afterhe'd examined him. As I put in my first post I wondered at first ifstarting to bond with Flopsy and then being separated was causing himemotional problems, but I don't think so. I just don't know. Butthankfully at the moment he seems to be on the road to recoverywhatever the cause was. Thank you for all your prayers, I have greatfaith in their power to help, and he's had quite a few said over himtoday.

With love

Kate
 
Kate,

I'm so glad Tarragon is eating and feelingbetter!!!! I hope he continues to recover. I'll keep him inmy prayers.

Lanna
 
Kate, I was really worried when I first read yourpost. I am pleased Tarragon has started eating - has he poopedyet? Perry occassionally has days when, for a few hours, hewon't even look at food. It will start at breakfast time and that isusually when he dives into his food bowl. The first time it happened, Itook him straight to the vet, and, like you, they couldn't findanything wrong and they gave me science recovery as well. However,before I managed to give him a dose, he was eating and was fine. Thishas happened a couple of times since, and he has always got better onhis own. Perhaps Tarragon was just feeling a bit 'off'. I hope so, andhope he is better now. Let usknow. Jan
 
Thanks again to all of you, Tarragon is back tohis usual self and long may he stay that way :D. I can't tell you howmuch I appreciated all your support while he wasn't though. I feel abit foolish now he's running round as if he'd never been doing anythingelse, but also incredibly lucky that that is exactly what he is doing:D. If I'd known my wicked bunny was going to make such a quickrecovery I wouldn't have put up such a panicked post. Still I live andlearn and I've learned a lot today about what to do if it ever was moreserious - hoping not!

Love

Kate



Hi Luvabun

Yes Tarragon is pooping now and he does seem completely back to normal,for the last couple of hours he's been as lively and noisy as ever:D:D. He's always been the 'bad boy' of the bunch but I love thatlittle rabbit so much. It's reassuring to know that Perry has had dayslike that too, though I hope Tarragon doesn't make a habit of it :X.

Love

Kate
 
Kate - I'm glad to here that Tarragon is better now, I bet he gave you quite a scare!

Science recovery is very good we always have some in for when our smallfurries get sick and stop eating. It is a nightmare giving it them withthe syringe, all the animals who I have given it to have hated thestuff.

Vickie
 



Hi Kate,

Can you buy NutriCal? It's supplement that is geared towards cats anddogs, but it's very effective with rabbits - especially if their systemslows down and they're not eating. It provides them with the nutrientsand vitamins they need, boosts their immune system, and can increasetheir appetite. You might want to look into it, and if you can't buy itwhere you are, you can probably get it online.

So the vet said the teeth were fine?

I'm glad that he's back to himself. Thank Goodness! Keep an eye on himand let us know how it's going. Thoughts and prayers will continue.

By the way, oats have plenty of fiber in them as well and rabbits love them.

:)

-Carolyn
 
Kate, don't youdare feel silly for posting about that boy! It's only for watching soclosely that good bunny mommies are able to save so many of theirlittle ones when they really need the help. :)We are allhappy that it was a quick thing, whatever that thing may have been. Sohappy he's back to his good ol self!

RaspberrySwirl
 
Vickie -whatever's in that ScienceRecovery (and there seemed to be a pretty comprehensive list of goodstuff) they definitely forgot to make it tasty for rabbits :p. I canlaugh today about getting it down him, but maybe we should write andsuggest raisin and carrot flavour packs :).

Carolyn -Thanks:). He's totally back to normal waking meearly this morning by crashing his food bowl around to say it was timefor his morning treat, and climbing the bars with anticipation when Iwent in (my daughter's a teenager and either sleeps through it orignores him at that time). Yes the vet said his teeth were very good. Ican't buy NutriCal locally but especially after yesterday's scare I'mgoing to see if I can get hold of some somehow. I'll try Tarragon onoats again, he wasn't keen when I gave him some the days after his op,but I'll give it another go. The other rabbits all love them so I thinkI'll start giving some to them all regularly.

RaspberrySwirl - Thank you :).

Love

Kate
 
Sometimes one of mine ignore the treats he begsfor. He doesn't shiver, but does slow down oneating. It seems his poops may be smaller than normal, but heshares his pen with his bonded doe so I just guess. By thenext day or two he is back to his normal self begging fortreats. I just keep a close eye on him for a couple of days.



Ed
 
I'm glad Tarragon is doingbetter. Nepo stopped eating hay and pellets before, but it was becasuehe was filling up onoats because he had soft poops ( oats are good toharden poops).
 
Rowan wrote:
I can't buy NutriCal locally but especially afteryesterday's scare I'm going to see if I can get hold of somesomehow.


Kate...If you cant findnutrical anywhere else....There's an online store I buy mine from.

BUNNYRABBIT.com

I know she (Pat Vanecek) ships overseas but I'm not sure about UnitedKingdom. There is an email address on her site and you could email andask.

Lanna
 
Kate, It's great Tarragon is back to 'normal'. Iknow how you feel - when Perry picked himself up so quickly,I felt thatI had panicked over nothing. Still, rather do that than leave it toolate... Give all your babies a big cuddle from me:) - Jan
 

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