Terrified.

[Flashy]

Ok, brief background, for the past few days Cloud has been eating less, yesterday he hardly ate anything, and only did a few poos. But he is totally fine in himself.

He is also moulting, so I'm thinking a hair problem. He did do a very hairy poo about a week ago, but I haven't see anything since.

Today he did a lot more poo and ate about a third of an apple, I was happy and fine. Then I saw that his most recent poos were very small, and also he had a sausage shape poo. so I thought that I would syringe feed him a watery pellet slurry to get some food and water into him.

I was feeding him, and we got about 2ml of slurry into him (or on him) and then there was a small blockage, so I pressed a tiny bit harder, and obviously the pressure just pushed it out because it sort of exploded whilst in his mouth. He ate it and didn't seem unduly bothered, but I'm terrified it's gone down into his lungs. How would I tell if it had? He didn't cough, his breathing is normal, but how long does it take to show?

He seems fine in himself. when I put him back in the run he took off running around, and is now sitting having a mega clean after being sprayed by Sky.

I'm terrified. Please help.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Flashy]

He is running around like normal, and being very normal, he was interested in a new piece of apple, but didn't eat any.

Would it have started to show by now if it had gone down a lung?

The syringe was not pointing down his throat, I think it was pointing at the roof of his mouth because I was taught, for obvious reasons, never to point it straight backwards.

He did carry on and eat a bit afterwards, but not much.

Sorry, this is garbled panic taking over. :?

 

[rabb1tmad]

I just tried 3 times to reply to this and it kept logging me out :grumpy:.

Anyways, I'm sure that Cloud will be fine. As far as I know if you get stuff in the lungs the reaction is instant - the same as choking as a human. You didn't point it straight backwards so that's good. I always point it sideways across the mouth so if something like that happens it ends up decorating the wall!

Keep an eye on him but RELAX, I'm sure he'll be fine x

 

[Butterfinger]

Well, I've never had anything like that happen, but I'm pretty sure you would have some kind of reaction from him if it went down a lung. He would probably at least show some resistance when it happened, and cough.
And since he's running around like normal, it seems like he's just fine to me
But I'm not an expert, so probably some of the breeders will be able to tell you something more detailed.
Good luck
~Diana and Butter

 

[JimD]

I'm not sure how they would react to aspiration of some slurry....or how long it would take to show symptoms.
You may want to put a call in to your vet for some advice.

I remove the syringe from their mouth, if it gets blocked, and try to clear it.....and that's why I have slurry & pumpkin stains on the ceiling.

I finally took the largest syringe I had and drilled out the tip so the slurry could flow through easier.

 

[Flashy]

Thanks guys.

Yes, I normally try to aim in the cheek, but a wriggling bunny burrito is incredibly unhelpful for having good aim.

And yes Jim, you are right in that I should have taken it out. I know that, I just had absolutely NO idea this would happen. I have syringe fed a fair few rabbits with varying different things and this has never happened, and it's never going to get a chance to happen again. Don't worry, I do learn from mistakes.

It was nearly an hour ago now, and in that time he has eaten another chunk of apple, and seems very normal and fine. But I will keep a close eye, and if anything chances my hands will be on that phone. I knew with babies it showed pretty instantly if they aspirated (I think that's the right word) it, but not sure with adults.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[tamsin]

He'd have gagged if he inhaled in and possibly sneezed it out his nose. If you had the syringe sideways you should be fine, any spare would dribble out the side. There is quite a gap between the front & back of the mouth in an adult rabbit so syringe feeding is less dangerous than a tiny baby

 

[Flashy]

Thank you very much that's a good thing to know. He showed no signs of that, and today he is fine. He has eaten a lot and done a lot of decent poos too

Thank you for the reply (and thanks to everyone else who replied too).

 

[Aliena]

If it had gone into his lungs he would have choked/coughed straight away or he would have sneezed. Same as a person does when their food/water goes down the wrong way.

 

[pamnock]

Oils aremost dangerous. A little slurry down the lungs probably wouldn't hurt anything.

I watched a rabbit die after aspirating mineral oil - a horrible site.

Pneumonia can develop in the lungs days or weeks after aspirating some types of liquids/solids.

For the record - I strongly advise against using slurries. Nutri Cal is a far superior option and you have to give less. Less stressful and more safe for the rabbit.

Pam

 

[Flashy]

I don't intend to go near a slurry again, lol. But we can't get nutri-cal over here, I remember searching anywhere and everywhere for it when someone on here needed it a while ago, but couldn't find anything.

So, just to clarify, slurry shouldn't hurt him, even though some other things can have a bad effect weeks afterwards? Sorry if that sounds stupid, I just wanted to clarify what you said.

 

[pamnock]

It could result in aspiration pneumonia, however, he may not have actually inhaled anything. Aspiration generally causes at least some momentary distress and coughing or gasping.

Pam

 

[Flashy]

Ok, thanks

He didn't show any distress at all, he just ate it, there was no coughing, no pause, or strange noises, nothing really untoward, it was a comment my mum made that made me panic, not anything he actually did.

Thank you