Help! Not eating after losing nail

[Rufus]

I wrote yesterday about Rufus losing one of his nails yesterday. I took him to the vet straight away and he gave him a pain killer injection. Straight after the incident he was eating heaps and he kept eating last night.

This morning though, I gave him his salad and he didn’t touch it. He’s also not touching his hay. I got him to eat a craisin and one strand of hay but apart form that he’s just sitting there staring at me. I’m not sure if I’m being paranoid or if he’s sitting in a funny position. He also ate a tiny piece of plastic bag yesterday so I’m worried that even without the nail incident he could have a blockage. He seems to have eaten/pooped over night, how long should I give him this morning before I take him to the vet??

[tanlover14]

Do you know the injection was called?

Do you have Critical Care to force feed? If you don’t you can always sprinkle water over them and mush them up to make them go into a syringe easier. I typically mix carrot juice and pumpkin in to make it more appetizing. Has he been drinking water?

Try feeding fragrant herbs that will help entice him to eat. I do believe some pain meds can make appetites decrease. I would give your vet a call though and ask for advice as well. They may be able to explain more about the drug and it’s potential side effects (if decrease in appetite is one) and give you advice or a med to counter act that such as Reglan.

[Rufus]

Thanks TL! I’m looking at the bill and it says it was a Metacam injection. I checked with the vet that it wouldn’t decrease his appetite because I was worrried about making sure the plastic bag went through. Ugh! I feel so bad for the little guy.

Since I wrote the first post I changed his litter tray and he’s done a couple of smallish poops. I just went out and he’s eating some salad so I’m feeling a lot better. He seems to have drunk some water overnight. He’s not a huge drinker generally and he seems to drink most of what he needs in one or two goes. The salad he’s eating is really wet though. He’s only peed a little since I bought him home from the vet yesterday afternoon though. Do you think I should wait a while to call the vet? And just keep up my crazy vigilance?

[NewBunnyOwner123]

If he’s eating now and pooping I’d just continue keeping close watch to make sure he is continuing to poop, eat, and drink and save the stress on him with another vet appointment. He sounds like he is making a recovery.

[jerseygirl]

Ditto^. This morning might have been a bit of stress reaction.
Hopefully he’ll get his bounce back soon. (((Rufus)))

[jerseygirl]

p.s. I had one of my buns lose the dewclaw while I was in middle of cutting it. So I know the awful feeling! He was a champ about it & the nail eventually grew back.
Try relax.

[Rufus]

Thanks guys! He’s eating hay and pellets now. Not quite back to himself but heading in the right direction.
JG – I just felt so bad! I think that’s why it was so easy for me to enter panic mode this morning. I’m also really stuffed up with a cold so my head is a bit cloudy. He’s licking it a bit but he’s putting weight on it ok now. It was bleeding a tiny bit yesterday but the vet said he should be ok without antibiotics since he’s an inside bunny. Did your bun need antibiotics?

[jerseygirl]

No. It bled a lot at the time but not after. I just made sure to change his litterbox more frequently to keep it things dry and clean. They do good job cleaning it too.

I think I used medipulv powder on it. Its available in pharmacy & supermarket and it contains chlorhexidine. Not totally necessary but it’s handy stuff to have around anyway.

Hope you recover quickly also. It definitely effects how you deal with things when you’re sick. Don’t worry too much about Rufus. He’s probably put out of his routine because you’re home lol. Bet he’s lapping up the attention though.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad your bun is feeling better now

[tanlover14]

Glad to hear he’s doing better!!

[Lady Cardinal]

Losing a nail is the worse. I had a fright yesterday morning when I found blood on Annabel’s mat. I rushed her to the vet and it turned out she had ripped her nail on her hay mat. She was all good and I had taken her mat out. I thought I was going to have a heartattack. Lol

Glad to hear your bun is okay.

[Rufus]

Thanks everyone!

I think he’s doing just fine. I do want to check the spot where it got pulled off to make sure it’s not infected but he won’t let me get too close. It looks fine through the fur though and it doesn’t seem to tender. Should I keep trying to get in there and part the fur to look more closely? It was hardly bleeding at all when he did it and I’m keeping everything very clean and changing the litter box often.

Being home sick is driving me crazy! I can’t stop checking on him and checking how much he eats/drinks/poops after the scare yesterday. At first he was pretty thrilled with all the attention but I think when I go back to work tomorrow he’ll probably be relieved!

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