This can't be just a hairball...

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, Texas, USA
One year old male Holland Lop, not fixed, named Toshi.

He's been looking pretty bad off and on for three months now, and we finally took him to the vet June 27. The vet said it was a hairball, said to give free choice hay, a chunk of pineapple and something called Laxitone for five days((kinda looks/smells like syrup, it was supposed to get out the hairball)).

Well I left town on the 28th, and got back July 6th so I haven't seen him much. But today my mother called me in the room and he was hardly moving- which was what was happening before. He lays out with his head down, and won't look at you or pick his head up even when you reach in and pet him. We gave him a little more Laxitone, and some pineapple and he looks okay now, but I worry about him. He has been eating all his pellets, drinking some water and nibbling at his hay & pineapple, but he just always look like he's about to die. :(

TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS
I'm leaving on Wednesday to take two bunnies to a new home((a member here on RO)), so I'll need to know ASAP if I need to make an appointment for tomorrow.
AND my mother isn't so willing to take him to the vet again because the last visit was almost $100, and that, to her, is too much for a rabbit. I can pay for the appointment, yes, but I recently had surgery so unless she also thinks this is a problem she won't drive me to the vet. Thats why I am asking instead of making an appointment right now.

I have Laxitone and Critical Care right now medicine-wise, so if a solution can be done using those please tell me.
 
Yes, I would make an appointment. Only you can tell if something is not right with your rabbit, and it sounds like that is the case. Take him to the vet.
 
Mom said okay, but not for an emergency appointment.
Fingers crossed there is an appointment open tomorrow. :(
 
i would make an appointment too.
But also my vet suggested having your bun eat a little bit of vaseline. That fixed up the hairball problems for my fluffy rabbit very quickly. It helped better than pineapple for us. But then you gotta put a little in a seringe and get it straight into their mouth.
 
I read this over on bunspace.

Here is just a snip:

Also, some vets suggest Laxatone, Petromalt, etc as a preventative or treatment. Recent information suggests that these products may actually coat the dehydrated mass and actually keep it from absorbing water and being able to pass normally through the GI tract.

I really would stop the laxatone.


You may want to read this too:

From: Rabbit Hairballs: Fact or Fiction by Susan Brown DVM

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=484
 
There are no appointments today, and we don't really have the money for another emergency appointment because I just had surgery.

I'll try the things suggested- vaseline, canned pumpkin, & fresh veggies. We do have money for the grocery store.
 
Gave him a handful of veggies and 2 tsp((10 cc)) of canned pumpkin((on lettuce)), also used a syringe to give him 10 cc of water and 6 cc of gatorade for electrolytes. Going to watch him, and debating if I should have him moved to my rabbit sitter's house so he can be watched closer. :/
 
How is Toshi doing? You may want to check to see if she's having teeth issues. One of my lop has issues with molar spurs and just last weekend she stopped eating so we assumed it was statis. Took her to the vet and it was molar spurs which was becoming very painful for her.
 
I wold not be giving my rabbits gatorade, there is to much sugar in there and it can cause diarrhea. Instead try pedialyte (the stuff for babies) or better yet get some actual electrolyte for animals. I like a product called bounce back because it has dextrose in it to help them keep their blood sugar levels ok. My second choice is Vi-Tal but only use an eighth of a teaspoon in a gallon of water if you are going to use it more than 3 days.
 
I feel it is safe to give a solid update now, it has been over three weeks and with a little 'experimenting' I have come to a conclusion. :)

It was not a hairball, it is something that was either not in his pellets that he needed, or something in his pellets that he didn't need. Either way, pellets are a no-no now((only ten or so a day)). He has been on an all-vegetable diet since I made this post, and has been the healthy & perfect bunny he should be. I thought it was 'gone' at one point, so I gave him a little handful of pellets, but that night my mother saw him acting lethargic again. So pellets are completely gone, he's being raised like a 'real rabbit'. XD
Although now that it's not a hairball, we have no clue what it was/is. But he is healthy again, so everything is okay. :)
 

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