Need advice. Nobody knows what is wrong with my bunnu

[Lilly Bun]

Hi all.

I need some advice please as I am stumped as to what could be wrong with my bunny.

6 weeks ago I got my little angora drawf bunny spayed. When it came to 3 weeks she became very aggressive and would nip me.
At 4 weeks She all of a sudden was not interested in anything and not eating and hardly running around.just sittimg in her corner.(She was a very energetic and loving bunny before, so this is very strange for me)

I took her to my local vet immediately. They tried to give her pain medication and medication to get her tummy moving.
After a week of going back and forth my vet referred me to a specialist.

It was a Saturday and they kept her there as they can only do x-rays on Mondays. They force fed her and gave her strong pain medication.
Monday came nothing came up on the x-rays. They noticed her teeth were giving her some discomfort. They fixed her teeth and continued to feed so she can get fiber in her and give pain meds. She was starting to slowly eat again and fecease were becoming normal again. So I took her home. The next day I noticed that her poops we very runny. So the doc said I must carry on force feeding her. It should come right again, if not I must bring her back. So I have been. They are kinda getting better but still small and slightly mushy after 4 days. She has been eating her leaves and some pellets but no hay at all. I’ve tried to add some dried herbs and she is still not interested. She still hardly moves around she is always in her cage or under my bed. I’ve been taking her to a park to try get her to move but she will just sit and nibble on the grass. I’m not sure what could be wrong? Has I have tried everything.

Has she maybe completely calmed down after being spayed? Or is there something else?

Your advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Luna]

It can be awhile before a bun will return to her normal self after spaying. I’m not sure what your vet determined was specifically wrong, but if she had abnormal poops it can take awhile for her poops to return to normal as well. It’s good that her poops are improving, so she may just need more time for them to normalize.

Buns can eat lawn grass, but the grass at the park could have pesticides or chemicals on it, so I would try to not let her eat that grass unless you know it hasn’t been treated with chemicals. Maybe take a large blanket with you and put her in the center of it so she can’t reach the grass?

[sarahthegemini]

I wouldn’t let my bun eat grass from a random park. There could be anything on it including worms/parasites. Could that be a factor in the mushy poops?

There’s a difference between lethargy and simply calming down. A rabbit that has calmed down will still want to move about. It sounds like she is really not feeling well. Have you spoken to the vet about her not wanting to move?

[jerseygirl]

Sending some healing {{{vibes}}} fo your little bun. It all sounds very stressful.

It’s possible the lose poo was reaction to the anaesthetic meds used and were clearing her system the next day. Some pain med may cause a bit of a reaction also. What med is she on currently?
It wouldn’t hurt to start her on a probiotic like benebac in case her gut bacteria is out of balance.

Has she been producing & eating her cecatropes? Or able to bend down as usual to get them?

Does your vet thing an anti-emetic med like metaclopramide (aka, Reglan) would be beneficial. It does help a slow gut to move quicker but also helps with nausea.

Post-surgery adhesions are common but they don’t always cause an issue. I do wonder if she’s been unlucky and developed some abdominal adhesions that are causing some discomfort though? These would be difficult to detect via xray.

[Lilly Bun]

Hi Everyone.

Thank you for your responses, Ive just been so worried about her and what her to be better and be a happy bun again.

@Luna. Here is South Africa, we are not allowed to put chemicals and pesticides etc on our grass in the parks as it is a public area.
but i will now be more aware of it, and maybe go to a friends house, just to take the necessary precautions.
I was just wanting her to eat something as she refuses to eat her hay, and even though i’m giving her critical care, i wanted her to have something ore solid, thinking it may be that the moister in the critical care causing it? but i will also try other grass to see if it could be that? hopefully she is just taking longer to normalize. When i collected her for the vet, he was happy with her poops, but when i brought her home, that evening, it started. so i phoned the vet the next day and hes said it could be the medication, i must just watch her. but the she confuses me, cause one moment they OK (still soft) then the next will be very mushy. its been five days now and she is still doing this.

@sarahthegemini. my vet is aware of here not moving, that is why he suggested i take her outside to encourage her to move more, to get her gut moving. but as soon has i’m home she is in her cage or under the bed, now and then she is spread out on the couch or under the coffee table, but her chin is on the floor. not sure if that is good or not?

@ jerseygirl. im not sure what it is. i must have a look at the bottle. Not a bad idea, ill ask the vet about a probiotic. i think what he has given me now is to help with the slow guy but i must confirm. She definitely can reach down to get them as she does keep cleaning there, but what she is producing, is a stool, but because its so mushy it clumps up together. i hope that she hasn’t been unlucky with the surgery, the doctor said he doesn’t think it could be that, but i will bring it up again as i have a feeling it could be from the surgery.

[Luna]

There are also compressed hay cubes that you could try to see if she will eat that . It’s just hay, but since its form is different than uncompressed hay, it can help entice a curious bun to eat more hay. Here is an example at https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Timothy-Hay-Blend-Cubes/dp/B0002DK8OI/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1506437715&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=timothy+cubes&psc=1

Also, did the vet who spayed her use steel sutures or dissolving ones? I would call back the vet to double check because there was a BB member who was incorrectly told (not by any fault of her own) that her bun had dissolving stitches, but later found out that they used the wrong stitches and had used steel sutures that they failed to remove.

[flemishwhite]

Has she been producing & eating her cecatropes? Or able to bend down as usual to get them?

Having been spayed, it might be painful for her to reach around and re-ingest them when they come out.  Healthy bunny poop is pretty odor free.  The little round dry poop pellets have an herbal smell with a hint of onion/sulfur.  Cecatropes, which are really not poop, are mushy and, because they contain liver enzymes, they can have a awful vomitous smell. I’ve never had a bunny with diarrhea so I don’t know how to tell it runny bunny poop from cecatropes.  

You can have a bunny for years and not have a clue they are producing cecatropes every day because they immediately re-ingest them. When a bunny gets too fat or gets spinal arthritis and  they can’t bend around to re-ingest them….that’s when you find out about them.  When you wake up in the middle of the night and make a trip to the toilet and then in the dark you step on an abandoned cecatrope with your bare foot and the cecatrope mushes in between your toes..Yuck, .fun times begin!  .

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