Not drinking water post-neuter!

[blossomisabun]

6-month-old Blossom was neutered on Wednesday (today is Friday.) He has started nibbling food again, though his appetite isn’t nearly what it usually is. The problem is, he’s not drinking water AT ALL. His water bottle is totally full. The bowl of water I’ve tried is also full. He normally drinks so much that his bottle has to be refilled every other day. 

Yesterday, I was home all day, so I was able to force water with a 1ml syringe repeatedly (filled it maybe 6 times before he would refuse) every hour or so. But that wasn’t overnight and now I’m back to a regular schedule so I don’t know what to do. 

I’ve been offering well dowsed kale and parsley, which he has eaten ever so slowly, but again, it’s not much.

He does have metacam for pain. I don’t know if that might curb his appetite or thirst but I’m really worried about dehydration.

Suggestions?

[Deleted User]

I had the same problem with my bun when she was spayed. She only wanted to eat lettuce and would hardly touch any hay the first few days and she drank NOTHING from her bottle for like 3 days. I just kept giving her romaine lettuce and her favorite herbs. Is he urinating? She wasn’t drinking at all but still getting water from the lettuce so she was still urinating and she ended up going back to drinking after 3 days. I would say keep an eye on him closely and offer some watery veggies to compensate. If he’s still urinating I would say all is ok for the moment, that means he’s still getting enough water to produce urine. I’m a first time owner and by no means an expert but this is what I was told when I worried about the same issue. Hope he starts to drink and appetite is normal! I know I was so stressed when Ophelia wouldn’t eat or drink.

[Deleted User]

Blossom is too cute by the way!

[Wick & Fable]

Wick literally got neutered on Tuesday, haha. I’m sorry to hear Blossom is having a bit of trouble.

I didn’t see Wick drink at all during the first day, but he did pee a few times (and spray in my face once, ew.), so I know he was hydrated. I didn’t see him drink any water until yesterday. From what I’ve read, it seems normal for males not to want to drink a lot of water following a neutering, but it’s important to syringe feed water if you find he is not peeing and may be dehydrated. I am not a vet though, but I felt security in knowing Wick was peeing. For water bowl/water bottle, I’d focus on the bowl since it’s less effort to drink, and even if it’s full, still cycle it by dumping it and putting fresh water in so it’s consistently appealing for when Blossom decides to drink. Wick gets a bit of apple cider vinegar (with the mother kind) in his water, he always had, but I hear for some rabbits that makes the water more appealing? Unsure, as Wick usually always has it in his water.

In terms of appetite, Wick’s did go back to normal after a day or two. Hay appetite took about a day and a half to get back to normal. He has metacam as needed, once a day for pain. I gave him an dose the night of the neuter (as vet recommended), and he didn’t seem to need it on Wednesday, but I did give him a dose on Thursday because he was doing a bit of teeth grinding (or what I perceived to be it).

I tried to stimulate his appetite by spoiling him with Orchard hay and a small amount of timothy, rather than a lot of timothy and a little orchard (his usual mix since orchard hay comes in smaller bags). I haven’t changed his usual veggie or pellet diet.

Is Blossom moving around as usual and lounging at all? Have you looked at the stitches/surgical site for anything out of the ordinary?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

It’s the urine that’s important, if he’s not peeing he needs fluids by syringe or sub Q. They drink less when they eat less hay and pellets. Greens have a high percentage of water so when they mostly eat greens, they don’t need to drink.

[blossomisabun]

He isn’t exactly hunched, but his activity consists mostly of moving from one place to another in his kennel/pen. He’s eating more hay than he is greens, but even that is very sparse, and no water at all except what he might get from the little bit of greens and the syringe. He goes over to the water bottle and bowl like he’s going to take a drink, then just hops away.

What he is doing is shredding paper and chewing cardboard, so I’ve had to remove as much as I can so that he doesn’t eat that, instead.

I’ve had a look at the healing area, but I really don’t know what to expect it to look like. He’s not really bothering it, though he was licking at it occasionally yesterday. 

I just don’t know what to think and I’m away from home most of the day today. 

[Bam]

The cardboard chewing/paper shredding sounds like he could be uncomfortable. What dosage Metacam did he get? Vets sometimes happen to prescribe a too low dose of Metacam for rabbits, because rabbits needs a higher dose per kg body weight than cats and dogs. Rabbits metabolize it quicker.

Keep giving him water by syringe, it sounds like the safest thing for now.

If the incision site had looked bad, I’m pretty sure you would’ve understood that it didn’t look like it should. Excessive redness and swelling, seepage, a foul smell from the area would be signs of sth not being right. A little bit of redness and some swelling (sometimes even quite a lot of swelling) is considered normal.

Could you give him a strawberry or sth else that has lots of water in it? Rabbits often like strawberries.

[blossomisabun]

I dropped him at the vet for observation yesterday. He has definitely been licking the suture area and has caused swelling and bleeding. The vet gave me still more meds to give Blossom, which is now a battle. He willingly takes the metacam, but the rest is a nightmare, including the skin drops. They put a collar on him to keep him from bothering the healing area, but I had to take it off by the time I got home, because it was so big he couldn’t lay down or move, let alone eat or drink.

He’s STILL not drinking on his own, though he is eating. So now I’m dealing with keeping water in him AND keeping him from licking at himself.

[Wick & Fable]

Is it possible to do a better sized cone for him so he doesn’t lock his sutures? And I would call and let your vet know you removed it due to size and see if they have recommendations

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[blossomisabun]

Suture area is looking much better today. No longer swollen and it’s scabbing up where he irritated it.

BUT… he’s still barely eating and drinking unless I force the issue and he was hunched, not pooping or peeing. I decided to test a theory that he was just stressed because I had removed his second story and steps from his condo after surgery and had not let him out of the condo, per the vet’s instructions. Today I gave in, gave all his furnishings back and let him out to run. He ran like crazy, binkying all over and chasing after the cats for about half an hour before going back to rest all stretched out on his side.

Still not eating or drinking. Still nothing in his litter box. But I’m hopeful maybe this will turn his mood around and stimulate his appetite. Otherwise, he seems fine, so I’m not sure what to think.

[blossomisabun]

Well, I stand corrected on the poop and pee. After his romp, I found his gift of just a little pee and poop in his favorite spot next to the cat litter box. But the urine is a deep orangey-red color! Is that normal after neuter???

[Wick & Fable]

Red is not, but dark orange or bright orange is. Is it definitely red, or orange? Orange pee is normal for rabbits!

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[blossomisabun]

It is definitely a deep red, especially today. I’ve been frantically googling red urine. I found that red urine can commonly occur with certain plant proteins, especially parsley. As that is the ONLY thing I’ve been able to get him to eat since the neuter surgery last week (now 4 days post-op),I’m going to try to be less alarmed and just plan to call the vet in the morning.

[Bam]

Red is quite ok. It can look alarming though. You can differentiate between blood and “normal” red pee by dropping hydrogen peroxide on the pee spot. If it’s blood, it foams a lot. If it’s not blood, no foam. Forum leader Jerseygirl has tested this.

Dandelion, parsley, carrot tops and several other plants can give red or orange/red pee. It’s normal.

[Author]

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