Bunny Not Eating Post-OP

[Ciel]

I’m really worried about my bunny. 

3 days ago, she went through surgery due to two tooth abscesses. Since then, she has eaten very little and barely drunken any water – she does chew her hay from time to time, and I’ve spied her drinking water very briefly.

It’s the 4th day post-op now, and I’ve not seen her eat anything this morning. Her pellets and hay look untouched, as does her water….

I got up at 09:00, and it’s now 12:00.

I’m really worried. What do I do? Is she going into GI stasis? 

[jerseygirl]

I would get in touch with your vet and see if you can add a 2nd pain med. The metacam might not be doing enough.

Do you have a syringe feed formula or some baby food (like apple or pumpkin) you could give her?
When they are feeling poorly, they often don’t want their usual foods. Do you have some roses (flower and leaves) or apple leaves you can offer? Some willow, dandelions, thistle…?

[tobyluv]

You should take her back to the vet to be checked out. They can administer fluids, which she would need and you can also get some Critical Care from them if you don’t already have it. She should be started on that now since she isn’t eating. Also, make sure that you have all of her favorite greens or fruit on hand to tempt her with.  You can moisten the greens to give her extra fluids.  Is she pooping at all? The vet may want to give her a motility drug or some other meds to help her along. Is she on pain medication? If she is in pain from the surgery, she is likely not going to want to eat, so pain medication would be needed. At the same time, sometimes pain meds can decrease their appetite, but the vet should know what she needs and get her started on any treatments. I hope that she will feel better very soon.

[Ciel]

I forgot to say, she’s on Metacam for dogs (1.5mg/ml), Sulfatrim and Baytril.

I called the out of hours vets who booked me in to see her at the next hour. Just as I put down the phone, I spied Fudge creeping up to her pellets and eating one.  I then prepared an assortment of veggies with strong smells, to try to coax her to eat. She has now eaten a small handful of watercress and parsley.

I’m going to wait a few hours and see what she does. Is this okay?

[Aki]

Yes, if she eats it’s better to wait a bit to see how she’s doing before rushing her to the vet (no sense in stressing her out just as she’s settling down). The medication sounds good. Mint, parsley, basil are good choices for a rabbit who is reluctant to eat. I observed that fresh grass is sometimes easier to eat than hay if you have the opportunity to cut some. Check the way her poops look like and what she’s eating. If the poops look small or that she doesn’t seem to eat enought, you have to force feed her critical care and water with a syringe to keep the guts moving and hydrated until she eats well again on her own. I’m pretty surprised the vet didn’t give you some because it’s a very common problem after a tooth surgery and well rabbits are really sensitive to discomfort – if their mouth feels weird, they will stop eating causing even worse problems ^^’.

[Ciel]

Sounds scary. She really likes the water cress – every time I put a bunch next to her, she eats it up. She likes the parsley less so – fortunate that water cress is safe for rabbits.  

I’m not going to bring her to the vets just yet about this – I have an appointment booked in for Monday. I’ll talk to the vet about this then – hopefully, Fudge will just eat some hay again tonight…

[Ciel]

She’s eating the hay. I never thought seeing a rabbit eat hay would make me this happy.

[tobyluv]

It’s great that she has started eating again! Hopefully, she’ll start eating and pooping regularly now. I’m sure that both of you are very glad that she didn’t have to go to the emergency vet.

[Author]

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