post-neutering help

[galamiel]

Hi there, I’ve been lurking around for a while and reading other threads and now I’m the one that needs help My roommate and I took our 8 month netherland dwarf in to get neutered at possibly one of the only decent rabbit vets around where we live… it was an hour drive and he was very upset but we had to do it so he wouldn’t continue to be all over our little 4 month old girl bunny we rescued. The surgery went fine and his genital area looks REALLY good, but he’s been refusing to eat. We’ve seen him nibble some hay and I just saw him take a few sips from his water bottle this morning but that’s about it, other than that we’ve been trying to syringe feed him critical care but he hates it SO much that it takes two of us to feed it to him, one to hold him down and open his mouth and the other to use the syringe. We also syringe fed him some water this morning just to make sure he wasn’t getting dehydrated. We even tried offering him some of the juvenile food instead of his adult food because he LOVES the juvenile food, and even some little pieces of bananas and raisins, but he was not interested.

Our vet sent us home with some pain medication but our baby never really acted like he was in pain so we thought it might have been hindering his ability to feel that he was hungry and took him off of it, but no go. He is also kind of moving his mouth around in a mouthfeel movement (not grinding his teeth at all, there’s no noise, its more like kind of a chewing movement) that I worry might be from us syringe feeding him, although his other bunny mommy says he sometimes does that when he is bored.

He is not lethargic, he still runs around and digs and chews cardboard and I felt his belly and it still feels soft and doughy as usual, but I worry about him not eating and I wonder if anyone has any tips on getting him to eat? I read some people advised vegetables and herbs but he has not been on vegetables before and I worry that that might hurt him more than it helps.

As for his poops, they’re very small and strange shaped, and I’m not sure how many he’s done recently.

I called the vet this morning and all they recommended was to continue syringe feeding him the critical care and water unless we wanted to bring him in and I am not yet sure how good of an idea the hour long drive would be considering how much it stressed him out last time.

We are first time bunny parents and we’ve had him for about six months and this is our first big worry we’ve ever had with him. Thank you so very much for any help!

EDIT: he took a little nibble of food (maybe a pellet or two) and a few nibs of hay and sips of water shortly after I posted this, not sure if this is a good sign or not but he does not seem to be uncomfortable. He is flopped down in front of our little girl’s cage and still does toothpurrs when we pet him.

[RabbitPam]

You didn’t say exactly when he got neutered. The first 24 hours they always lose much of their appetite, and come around to food gradually. I’m sure the syringe feeding stresses him out, but if the vet said to continue, I would do that for today. I’m sorry you have a long drive, because usually it’s a good idea if there’s anything out of the ordinary after a neuter to bring bunny back in for the vet to examine. Stay in touch with your vet, call as often as you want to (they should be available to you by phone for post-operative discussion for free) and let the vet decide if she needs to see him. Much of his behavior sounds OK, but bunnies can get worse fast, so stay alert to negative changes. And stick with simple, soft foods. Don’t worry about pellets or fruits. Just lettuce and critical care, hay and water is fine for now.

[galamiel]

He was neutered on the 18th, so it’s been about 46 hours since we brought him home. He has continued to only be nibbling on hay but has started drinking more water, which is a relief. We have been keeping in contact with the hay. Is lettuce okay to give him if he hasn’t had any before? If so, are there any recommendations on what kind of lettuce we should give him for his first time? He also just did one of the cecotrope poops and only ate half of it, but it was a relief to see it because we were worried he wasn’t able to poop at all.

[Roberta]

Pam is quite right, if it has only been a day and he is eating a little just give him a quiet place to rest and monitor him.. Small poops the first day is normal.. Try some nice moist herbs like basil, parsley and coriander to help get him hydrated… Watch for hunching and tooth grinding…

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