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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.

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Forum DIET & CARE Toki ate a bunch of his fur!

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    • toki
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        So I just groomed Toki, and collected a bunch of his fur on the floor in a pile. My family then called me outside but I came back within about 2 minutes. However when I came back I found Toki standing on the pile of fur chewing it and most of the pile has disappeared! He has never done this in the past! He has plenty of hay and toys to chew on, and I only just gave him his greens about an hour ago. Why did he eat his fur pile? Should I take him to the vet? (I immediately gave him lots of his favourite hay and will continue to give him lots of it until I see all the fur pass through.)

        Update: Toki had enough of his hay so I tried feeding him some nuggets. He never turns nuggets down, but this time he wouldn’t even come towards me when I opened the bag. All he did was sit up, then lie back down again. I even brought them up to his face and he didn’t take any.


      • Muchelle
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          I can’t tell about the fur eating, but be sure he keeps eating plenty of fibers and drinking water to help pass it through. My vet said it’s safe to use products to help the fur go down smooth (he mentioned “lactulose” for cats, but I didn’t do much research…), so maybe if it was a bunch of hair do call your vet and ask if it could be beneficial to give Toki something like that. Keep a close eye on the poo and on his belly, if you feel any hard lump below his sternum rush to the vet immediately!


        • Luna
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            Was it a big pile? It’s hard to say whether or not to take him to the vet right now. On the one hand, you could give him some time (and plenty of hay and water) to pass the fur and there might not be any issue. On the other hand, now he is acting different by not eating his nuggets and the ingested fur could cause a blockage. I would at a minimum call the vet to see what he/she says.


          • toki
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              Yes it was quite a big pile. He has only just started shedding again. I piled the fur onto one paper towel, so it was about that big. I think he ate about 70% of it. I do have some papaya tablets, would those help? I would feel his belly but whenever I touch it he runs away, he’s a skittish bunny. He is moving around a little bit now, cleaning his face and grooming his paws. If there is a blockage what signs should I watch out for?


            • Muchelle
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                I’ve read in several that papaya is useless for blockage, but I never used so I don’t have any first hand experience. For my bun there were no signals when he got his furball, he just went from alive to almost dead in the span of a night. If Toki ate that much, do call the vet and ask about trying maltose or bringing him in for a physical checkup


              • toki
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                  I called the out-of-hours vet (it’s midnight here), and she said to keep an eye on him and bring him to my normal vet in the morning. She told me I could come in to the emergency centre but a consultation alone is very expensive. She told me to encourage him to eat and perhaps blend his nuggets with some water to help him eat them. I will keep a very close eye on him all night. Thankfully I will be awake from now until morning so if anything happens I’ll be able to whisk him to the vet immediately.


                • Muchelle
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                    It’s gonna be hard staying up most of the night, but it’s for the best <3 Good luck, I hope nothing happens and all of what went in comes out!


                  • toki
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                      Thanks Muchelle, it shouldn’t be difficult since I’m a night owl anyway haha. I have just got off the phone with a second vet (from the PDSA centre) who also advised me to call in the morning at 8:30 if he is not better. She told me to tempt him with his favourite food and even some digestive biscuit! I do have some biscuit so perhaps I will leave some out for him. I told her that when I was putting nuggets up to his mouth, he was pulling away and pushing my hand away. She said not to force food on him because it is stressful, so I’m just going to leave out a bunch of open nugget bags and treat bags and hope he gets peckish. At the moment Toki is lying in his sand box, flopping around and adjusting himself, trying to get comfortable. Thankfully he ate a bunch of hay right after the fur disaster, so hopefully that helps push it through.


                    • Muchelle
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                        Pay attention to how he lays, if he’s chilled or if he’s kinda spreading on the ground, pressing his belly (a bit like with belly discomfort). I don’t know about digestives… wheat and milk is not good for buns :/ For sure veggies would be good cause they’re watery!


                      • toki
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                          I wasn’t sure about biscuits either. I probably won’t end up giving him any. He is flopping onto his side a lot and he keeps sitting up then lying back down. I also just saw that he has peed while laying in his sand box. He’s never done that before, so I’m thinking that’s not a very good sign.


                        • Muchelle
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                            Try to feel his stomach… I guess it’s the only way to know if the fur is passing or if it’s balling up :/


                          • toki
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                              I’m not really used to feeling his stomach.. exactly where should i be feeling? How hard should I press?


                            • toki
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                                Update: about 4 hours after eating the fur, Toki came over and ate some of his grass. I offered him about 5 nuggets which he also ate. About an hour later he then ate some more nuggets and pooped soon after (which was all linked by VERY thick fur). Now he is back to eating his hay and also drinking water!


                              • Muchelle
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                                  Great news!!! I’m so happy to hear he’s managing to push the fur out!

                                  Just to be safe: the stomach is about where the sternum bone ends, so if you feel his ribs’ rim from one side and follow it to the highest point, that’s the end of the sternum. Pressure should be less than when massaging his belly cause if there’s something big in there you’ll def feel it immediately. Hopefully you’ll never need to do it


                                • Luna
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                                    Yay! That’s great that he passed the fur.


                                  • Tony's Mum
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                                      I’m so glad he’s passing it! Poor silly Toki,


                                    • toki
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                                        Yes he’s doing great now, 24 hours after the furpocalypse. It seems all the fur has passed through (after lots of misshapen fur-filled poops all day) and he’s back to eating, drinking, running and binkying like usual. He even chewed through my headphone cord so I know he’s back to normal  In future I’ll know to keep fur piles away from him. Thanks everyone for their help.


                                      • Muchelle
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                                          I’m so happy to hear he’s fine, really! I don’t want anyone else to go through what we’ve been through with K’s furball Good job bun and owner <3333

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                                      Forum DIET & CARE Toki ate a bunch of his fur!