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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Suddenly sick Bunny!

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    • lexyrose
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         yesterday when i got home from work, my bunny was lying in his water bowl. he is very listless, won’t move, won’t eat! in the morning yesterday he was fine, totally normal.  

        today he seems even worse. $*&!. the vet isn’ open. i don’t knwo what to do.


      • jerseygirl
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          You need to find a emergency vet. If you have a few options, ring ahead and see which one has a vet on with some rabbit experience. But right now, any is better then none. {{{Vibes}}} for your boy.

          ETA: one thing you can do is check if his ears feel much colder then usual. If so, wrap him up and keep him close to your body to get some heat to him. Even a heat pad would be good. Then get him seen somewhere. 


        • RabbitPam
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            I’m just reading this now. Were you able to get him to a vet? Jerseygirl is right – he needs to be seen immediately. Even if you have a cat/dog vet that is nearby and open, a trained vet can help in the case of an emergency, or at least determine if you have an emergency on your hands. Do not delay. An internal issue, usually relating to their digestion, can be very, very serious.

            Keep us posted.


          • lexyrose
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              I was able to take him to the emergency vet. She said that he had a very low body temp, and a firm distended belly, and that she was very concerned. She just called me, and said that she couldn’t distinguish if it was an obstruction through the x-ray, and that his belly was full of gas and fluid. She gave me the option of bringing him home after she took some of the fluid out of his belly and just moniter him, bringing him to the emergency clinic if i needed. She told me she wants to go ahead an anaestheitze (sp) him, and take the fluid out, do another xray, to have a clearer picture. I went ahead and did that! even though this is getting very expensive. Why bring him home and have to rush out to the emergency clinic if he is going downhill again. What should i do, or have done? Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with him?


            • Dee
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                I’ve never heard of taking fluid out of a rabbit’s belly, but I’m certainly no expert. Has the vet said that this is GI stasis? It sounds like it- in that case they should keep the bunny on a heating disc/pad to keep him warm, give sub-Q fluids, pain meds and- if there’s no obstruction- a motility drug to get their stomachs working again. Is this vet rabbit experienced and do you trust her? That’s very important- if not you should find a better vet and transport your bunny immediately if possible. I had a similar experience with my bun, BunBun- he got terribly sick in a matter of a few hours. I rushed him to the vet and they were able to save him, but it was very scary. Although I was terrified to bring him home, it seemed to be the best thing for him. Sometimes they do better in their own surroundings. Of course if they are very ill this isn’t always possible.
                Rabbits are very fragile and get sick very quickly- many times there is nothing that we could have done to prevent it. And even with fast and competent care, treatment isn’t always successful. You have done the best thing by getting your bunny to the vet quickly- there was no way you could have predicted this happening. I pray that your bunny gets better- I’ll be thinking of you. Please keep us posted!


              • RabbitPam
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                  If it were my bunny I would much prefer to have her in the care of the vet than risk a ride home, further illness and another mad dash to the vet. This way he is moments away from additional treatment, so I feel you are doing the right thing for him. Whether it’s the correct treatment is only something another vet could know. If you want to have him stay where he is for the weekend, then call his regular vet to consult or offer an opinion (or another option) on Monday morning, you can do that also. You certainly won’t hurt the feelings of either vet and when it comes to bunnies, they usually don’t mind learning from each other.
                  Hang in there. {{{{{Hugs}}}}}


                • jerseygirl
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                    It sound a little like bloat.   Please be aware, I am not attempting to diagnose. Just sharing some info that may be useful. I think you did absolutely the right thing by leaving him in their care.

                    Do you know how they took the fluid from his belly?
                    In cases of bloat, they do decompress the stomach of the excess gas. It might need to be done more then once. I believe it’s done by catheter and not by needle to the stomach. Here is an article from a rabbit owner & rescuer. It has some info on a protocol to manage bloat that a vet developed. You might want to share it with the vet treating your rabbit. It may help them confirm or exclude bloat as being the problem. I’m not sure how up to date it is but it’s the only article I can remember that deals specifically with bloat. Somethings better then nothing IMO.  The vet treating him sounds to be on the ball. Fingers crossed!

                    http://www.bunnylu.org/bloat.html

                    I think there is a better awareness amongst rabbit owners of GI stasis then there is of bloat. Bloat is something I’d like to learn much more about! 

                    Continuing {{{vibes}}}


                  • lexyrose
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                      He’s home! I think it was bloat. The vet took out some fluid and gas with a catheter. They took more x-rays, and can’t conclusively determine if it is an obstruction, but he started pooping again, so they said it was doubtful. He spent the night in the emergency clinic, and i picked him up this morning. Since being home, he’s been munching on his veggies. The vet told me to stop giving him raisins. But now, i don’t know what to give him for treats. What could have caused this? He ate a huge piece of chard that morning, and i don’t typically feed them chard.
                      They gave me 3 medications to give him; Simthecone, metronidazole,and metacam. It’s difficult to get him to eat it.
                      Thanks for all your help!


                    • jerseygirl
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                        The vet took out some fluid and gas with a catheter

                        Phew!
                        So glad to hear he is home. I’m surprised they gave you simethicone! I thought that was just one of those “home remedies” we use.
                        He might take a while to be interested in food from all the stress. Plus some meds depress appetite and if he was given fluids he might be feeling full. Give it some time. Did the vet give you and idea of when he should be eating by or when to bring him back in if needed?

                        Hope he continues to improve!


                      • lexyrose
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                          He’s been munching his veggies, here and there. Hasn’t touched any of his pellets. They said bring him back this evening if he is acting strangely. His regular vet wants to see him tomorrow, if he still seems under the weather. if not, she wants to see him Friday.


                        • jerseygirl
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                            Veggies is good. Fibre and fluids in them. It’s strange but pellets are often the last thing many rabbits go back to eating when recovering.
                            If you notice he starts to decline, get him warmed up and give the metacam then call the vet. The meds won’t do much if their temp becomes too low. So getting them warm and managing pain is important. This is just from what I’ve read about bloat and stasis.


                          • lexyrose
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                              i just read that article on bloating that was posted. sounds exactly like what happened with seymour,my bunny!


                            • Dee
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                                I’m so happy he’s home and doing better! I don’t have any advice- Jerseygirl and Rabbitpam had excellent advice, as always . But I do remember that with BunBun, although he had GI stasis not bloat, it took over a week for him to be eating with his normal enthusiasm. He was really picky when he came come from the hospital, only nibbling on things that he normally wolfed right down. I just kept offering him all his favorites and pushing hay on him constantly. I learned on here that that kind of “teasing” the bunny with a strand of hay, running it by his mouth and waving it in front of him, will sometimes get them to eat. It worked with BunBun most of the time. I know it’s very stressful after they get so sick though. For the longest time- still, actually- if bunBun refuses food, I literally go into panic mode- my stomach turns over and my heart starts pounding. And I was always feeling his ears too- his ears have always been freezing when he was ill.
                                I hope Seymour’s recovery is quick and crisis-free! {{{{{{{{{{healing vibes for Seymour}}}}}}}}}}


                              • lexyrose
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                                  thanks! i just wish i knew how to prevent him from rebloating in the future. some articles are saying it’s genetic.

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                              Forum BEHAVIOR Suddenly sick Bunny!