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› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Really worried about Theo -please help!
Theo’s very suddenly acting strange. He has been hiding in his giddy house for the last couple of hours and won’t come out. He is very jumpy when we try to touch him. He won’t eat his veggies or take his fav treat but he wolfed his breakfast this morning so this is very very sudden. I felt his tummy it doesn’t feel bloated – gave him a massage anyway which he wasn’t objecting to. He has toiletted this morning but probably not in the past few hours. He’s currently hiding under my table – possibly a little hunched but not massively I feel like I could be just being paranoid.
As some of you know we’re trying to get him to drop some weight – he’s lost 50g over the last 10 days or so but adjusted back to his new diet perfectly. He was acting normally this morning – if maybe a little more sleepy than usual.
What can I do? The vet is closed and I feel like I’d be jumping the gun by taking him in anyway. It’s just so sudden – he was his normally piggy self this morning now he seems frightened and won’t touch his veg! Please help we’re worried sick ?
Update: decided he’s definitely hunched. Shifting position quite often and very inactive although still cleaning his face ocassionally. Administered 0.5ml simeticone – he was going to mental I couldn’t get the other 0.5ml into him and gave him another gentle belly massage. Still not feeling overly bloated to me. Enticed him with fresh basil, strawberries and pellets – still not interested. Added pineapple juice (fresh unsweetened) to his water bowl as he is shedding at the minute. I know this is probably a myth but I’ll try anything at the minute
How is he doing now? Has he eaten or pooped yet? If not, he really needs to see a vet. Rabbits have to eat within 8 to 10 hours or they are at higher risk of falling into Stasis. If hes been more tired than usually and his diet has changed, perhaps his old diet was weaned off too quickly for his stomach
Ah, yes, if he is shedding that could be causing the unhappiness too. Will he let you brush him?
My nethie is shedding again and has been overly rude the past few days to me and his bond mate. Hes noticeably less grumpy after i brush him for a good hour or two. Perhaps it would help Theo feel better as well?
You didn’t do anything to him between breakfast and when he started acting weird? And when I say “do anything”, I’m not thinking anything bad. Just things that HE thinks are bad. LOL Like if I groom Wooly or cut his nails or give him medicine or do anything to him that is for his own good, he will behave much like how Theo is behaving right now.
Otherwise, I agree. He could not be feeling well because of shedding. He could also have a tummy ache without the presence of obvious bloating.
Nope he’s just been chilling out all day. We’re very good with brushing him and stuff but I agree it could well be the shedding making him act off. Still no real improvement – he still won’t eat or poop. Close to 12h since he had his pellets this morning and not 100% sure if he’s had any hay since. He was given his veggies at 6 as always and he hasn’t touched them. (It’s 9pm here). We rang the emergency vets and she told us to bring him in immediately – currently on our way (my poor wallet but mainly my poor baby !! )
Theo – what news ? Any joy ? ((( Come on Theo )))
Oops just seen the timeline – sorry – it’s just its the 17th over here already !
Vet confirmed my poor little guy is in early stages of stasis. She said she should hear approx 8 gut movements per min but Theo only had 2ish and they were only light gurgles so his gut is definitely slowed. She gave him metacam, 2 motility drugs and fluids and sent him home with us to monitor and feed about 2mls critical care every hour. If he’s still not eaten or toiletted in the morning we have to take him back so she can do investigations into a blockage. He is looking a little more relaxed now but still no eating or pooping. He’s drank a little water. We’re so worried about him it’s gonna be a long night
Well that’s good that he’s got meds…. see if you can entice him again with any of his fave treats or juices or fresh grass etc etc.
Good luck overnight – I’m off to bed here but the USA lot (and Aussies) may be able to keep you company
((((( Poopy vibes for Theo )))))
PS : Got any roses handy?? That’s the only thing Zou felt like eating post-op…. petals, leaves, stalks…. good luck !
Thanks Vienna – he’s got fresh basil, coriander and strawberries to try and tempt him. Fingers crossed
Poor Theo! Im glad you were able to find a vet to work on him asap rather than having to wait for your normal vet
((((((healing vibes))))))
Still no eating or poops. His poor little belly sounded like a washing machine when I was giving him a light massage. Some gargling going on too hopefully that means movement. Gonna give him more simethicone if I can
Oh, theo. I hope he feels better soon! Healing vibes!
WE HAVE POO I REPEAT WE HAVE POO!!! ???
Yay!!! I don’t post much but was just reading this- I’m so happy for you! Poo is the first sign of a return to normal. It can take up to a week for their appetites to fully return, just so you know! I had a bunny who used to get gas and go into stasis. Very scary, I know! I think you can begin to relax a bit now though. Hopefully he will start nibbling on something soon!
Huzzah!!! Very glad to here there is poop! Hopefully the little man will only get better from here on
Oh poor little Theo! You must be relieved he is now toileting. Sending {{{vibes}}} things continue to look on the up and up. I wonder if he detected something that humans couldn’t that stressed him?
He is still improving – definitely has his fighting spirit back when I’ve been trying to syringe feed his critical care!
I wonder if this is all to do with what i posted about a few days ago. Long story short was that when we were on honeymoon we boarded Theo with a rabbit- specialised boarding kennels and he came back having nearly ate his entire 2kg food bag and gained 0.5kg (he only weighs just over 2 normally) we’ve slowly brought him back down to his normal pellet amount over the last 10 days and he readjusted fine at first. Do you think this could be caused by that? I’m in half a mind To send the boarder a little email
THANK YOU FOR POOPING THEO
Oh wow, incidentally Chito went through the same thing. He was shedding and usually the boarder gave him hay but throughout the four days he’s boarded it turns out no hay was given and he was only eating his pellets and had minimum exercise. When he got home, his poop was the size of a grape’s seeds
I’m happy to hear he’s kicking back! Hopefully he continues to fight. Do you have bene-bac in hand? It helps with Chito’s appetite somehow.
Healing vibes!
I don’t know if it would have anything to do with the boarding situation. I’ve had my rabbits seem absolutely fine in the morning then snub the food in the evening and act “off”. There hasn’t been a change in their routine and I’m not alway able to put my finger on what the issue was. I do suspect moulting and pre-moult can have them out of sorts.
Is he eating more hay now that his pellet ration is back to normal?
Happy to hear that he’s getting a bit better. What jerseygirl says reminded me: Breintje is in molt too atm, and he gave us a major scare last thursday. All the signs of gas/stasis, but it wasn’t that. He also refuses to be brushed in the first week of the molt, he’s too itchy to be touched and keeps grooming himself. Maybe the hairs that he ingested while grooming irritated his bowels? Could this be the same for Theo?
Yeah you’re probably right Jersey, just still so cross about that whole situation. It can’t have been good for his system gaining all that weight so quickly. He’s been eating loads of hay since we got him home and reduced down his pellets – more than usual actually. He’s never had any trouble like this before, even with his extremely heavy molt a few months back. I suppose we’ll never really know the cause just gonna be vigilant with this grooming etc over next few days.
His appetite is slowly returning he ate about 4 pellets this morning and has eaten a good bunch of basil and some kale- he seems to want greens more than anything at the minute. I’ve been wetting them to keep him hydrated and trying to keep him going with the critical care. No new poops in the last 9 hours though
It seems strange that a specailised bunny boarding home would not know to only give the daily amounts of pellets to a bun, following owners’ instructions….
In a dogs kennels or cats they would only give what the owners instructions showed…. every bun is different apart from unlimited hay, water & nose rubs … seems strange that’s all.
I agree Vienna, it is really strange. My theory is that he must just have been free feeding theo- and theo is a little piggy he’s not the kind of bun who would self regulate. He’d literally eat til he passed out. Can’t help but wonder if all the extra rich food has messed with his gut flora and contributed to this. Theo’s never had any problems with his tum before.
I would certainly send a ‘poo (another 4 letter word but it’ll be censored) sandwich’ email to bunny place.
A “s.hit sandwich”, means saying something nice, then something bad then something nice to finish it off with.
NO bunny boarding place should be feeding unlimited pellets….!! Mention to them that he had a nice time, obviously didn’t starve as he put on too much ‘holiday’ weight, maybe they should think about limiting pellets and look forward to coming again……
I dont think the GIstasis could be related so far after coming home, but they should know to get instructions from owners and follow it to a tee…. i guess they think eating lots is better for a bunny than not eating at all…. but stil*
l…..
I know I came back from hols and the cat was much bigger than I left her and my friend said, “she was asking for food! I guessed she must be hungry” !!! LOL
Sneaky puss, no harm done !!
Yeah I think I will do that. It’s especially bad in a bunny place with their little sensitive tums. I’ve only been a bunny momma for 7 months and I know you shouldn’t do that and he’s been running that place for years.
When should I begin to worry if he hasn’t pooped again?
I just wanted to update you to say that Theo pooped maybe 20 small but quite well formed poops half an hour ago and since has started to eat on his own again. Hopefully we will be over the worst with some more careful monitoring and tlc.
I really just wanted to genuinely thank everyone who replied to me here – this was my first bout of stasis with Theo and honestly it was terrifying I was so worried we would lose him last night when he was so listless and bloated. It was such a help to have you guys on hand to help me through it- Thank you!!!
Glad Theo is on the mend
You’re welcome, Theo’s Mum – that’s what BB is all about !
Glad to hear Theo is doing better!
You know, maybe the extra weight itself was weighing on his digestive system. Then it just took one little thing to trigger a slowdown? Hmm…. it’s definitely something to file away for future reference. And maybe he should go elsewhere to be bunnysat. =\
So glad he’s doing better!
Definitely don’t board him with that man again.
Agreed. I’ll also be switching boarding places. I used to be confident with my usual place but yeah, things that happened changed my mind!
I’m so thrilled to know theo poops a bit better! Keep on going, little man!
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › Really worried about Theo -please help!