No Poops Overnight After Neuter

[Sarah]

I took my rabbit Kovu to get neutered yesterday. The vet said he did great and was eating afterward and was a poop machine as usual. I got him home around 5:30 yesterday and have since administered two doses of 0.1 mL Buprenorphine (One every 12 hours). He has had access to pellets and alpha logs and regular hay and has nibbled but not eaten per say. He also wasn’t drinking water until this morning when I put a bowl of water in rather than his bottle. I gave him some greens this morning and he LOVES greens but he won’t touch them. His belly doesn’t feel hard but he hasn’t pooped or peed since yesterday afternoon. Is this something that can happen after neuter surgery when they’re on heavy opioids? I plan on calling my vet when they open.

[Bam]

Please do call your vet as soon as they open. Bupenorphine, as all opiates and in people too, can slow the gut down and I think Metacam is preferred over bupenorphrin for that reason. Your vets might want to start him on a motility drug and/or sub q fluids.

If a bun won’t eat after surgery, you need to syringe-feed it. You can use pellet mash (pellets soaked in water). It is very important that he gets sth in his tummy now. If you have someone to hold the bun while you are feeding him that makes it very much easier. Don’t put bun on his back for feeding, he needs to be sitting up.

[Penelope the Rabbit]

This happened to my rabbit too!! You should call your vet immediately otherwise you rabbit will go in GI Stasis like my rabbit did act fast.

[Reesebun]

My vet told me to force feed it after it gets fixed, because they will not eat on their own unless you re-start them by force feeding

[Mikey]

You will definitely need to syringe feed your bun until you can see the vet. As Bam said, its likely the medication your bun is on
@Reese, not with all bunnies. None of my boys have had any problems eating as soon as they got out of surgery. My Bombur munched on hay for a solid hour after his surgery before taking a nap

[Bam]

@Reese, that is true, most young males bounce back really fast after a neuter. There are exceptions though, so it’s good to be prepared. My Bam needed syringe feeding after his neuter and a hot water bottle to keep warm, but he was an adult when he was neutered. My other rabbit started eating like nothing ever happened the moment he came home, he was about 5 months old.

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