*recovered!* Thor’s sick :(

[ThorBunny]

Thor seemed fine this morning when I got up, she even nipped my ankles when I gave her morning pellets! I went for a run and when I came back she had hardly eaten her breakfast. I offered her favorite treats which she refused… Obviously super worried, when I went to pet her she flopped right in her water bowl. I tried to give her gas drops but she was refusing all food. Bundled her up right away to the emergency vet. In the waiting room now, I’m just so worried about my little pumpkin!

I’ll update with word from the vet…

[Serenity]

Oh no! Praying for the both of you! Hope it’s nothing too serious! :s Get better soon sweetheart!

[ThorBunny]

So we’re back from the vet.

They said her temperature was fine, and that she seemed really alert for a bun who wasn’t eating. So that’s good. They don’t suspect a blockage because her stomach is soft and pliable, so they didn’t recommend an x-ray right away (although they gave me the option) given the risks of sedating and stressing her out more. At the vets they gave her sub-q fluids, pain meds and critical care. They showed me how to do the syringe feeding and we’ve done her first feeding at home as well as a dose of meloxicam. They said to repeat the syringe feeding every 8 hours until she is eating normally, does that sound often enough to you guys?

Right now she is laying stretched out by her hay. Since coming home she had a little nibble at a few hay strands and ate one mouthful of pellets when I hand fed them to her. She seems pretty doped out and hasn’t pooped yet… sigh. So worried! If she doesn’t start eating by tonight we’ve been told to bring her back in to the vets to do more tests.

Any advice or suggestions?

[Wick & Fable]

Still rejecting treats?

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]

I’m sorry to hear Thor is unwell.

If she’s not eating at all, I think 4-5 feedings per 24 hours is better than just 3. You can mix the CC with for example baby fruit smoothie. Pear is popular with Bam. The sugar in the fruit can help perk a poorly bunny up (says Molly Varga, British rabbit vet).

They can get a little doped out from meloxicam. This side effect is most common at the start of a course of treatment. Hopefully Thor won’t need a longer course. Meloxicam also has a temperature-lowering effect, so make sure she’s kept warm. If you have a quick thermometer it’s actually not very complicated to take a bun’s temp, there is an excellent HowCast video with Mary S Cotter that illustrates how to go about it:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YZd10Hk0maA 

Also if you haven’t already, read Dana Krempel’s article on GI stasis:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

[ThorBunny]

Thanks for the support everyone! Bam that article is very helpful

She’s still fairly poorly. I got some infant gas drops into her (1cc). She’s been really snuggly (well now she’s mad at me for syringe feeding her again) so I’ve been able to massage her belly some which she seems to enjoy. Or perhaps she’s just too meh to care. She did fight me when I syringe fed the gas drops so that is good I guess. She’s been eating a small amount of hay, and one leaf of spinach. No pellets yet.

Wick, she did take a treat when I gave it to her about an hour ago, but was not very enthusiastic about it.

She seems to be keeping warm ok, fingers crossed guys! I’ll do another syringe feeding in a few hours. Unfortunately I have a dinner I can’t miss going to tonight so I’ll have to leave for a few hours, but my husband can stay with her so I feel OK about it.

[ThorBunny]

We have poops! About 2 dozen normal looking poops in the box She ate some more hay but is still refusing greens and pellets.

[Bam]

Yay for poop! And 2 dozen at that! ? Keep improving now, ((((Thor))))

[ThorBunny]

Still lethargic and refusing pellets, but she did eat a good handful of kale, and a few strands of hay. She took her second syringe feeding like a champ, I got 10ccs into her.

I’m a bit worried that she hasn’t peed all day, she got subq fluids at the vet and has drunk a little water. How long between pees is concerning?

[Autumn's Dad]

Sorry to hear she’s having a tough time, I hope she makes a brisk recovery. I notice by the colour of Autumn’s litter that she can go for number one as infrequently as only in the morning and before bed at night. That’s well over twelve hours apart in some cases! Though this is not the norm, it isn’t the result of illness.

[sarahthegemini]

Aw no, I hope she’s feeling a little better. The poops sound very promising! If she’s being syringe fed, she might be too full up to eat a significant amount so I wouldn’t necessarily be too worried just yet. Come on Thor! Buttercup has some words of wisdom she’d like to give…

“Dear Thor, I hope you feel better soon, it’s not nice having a poorly tummy but maybe your human can buy you a nice new toy after you’ve recovered ”

How much are you diluting the CC? I found Buttercup was much more receptive to quite watered down mixture and of course extra hydration is always good.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sorry to hear that she’s ill, sending all of our best {{{healing vibes}}}!

It was good that you took her to the vet, and I think that people have been giving great advice

Hoping for more poops and more good news!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sorry to hear she is unwell but pooping is def a good sign. I would give her several doses of simethicone. Sometimes that really helps. You can do 3 doses, one every hour for 3 hours.

((((Thor)))))

[Luna]

Two dozen poops  keep up the good work Thor! 

[jerseygirl]

Popping in to add some {{{Vibes}}} for (((Thor))).

[DanaNM]

(((((Thor))))))

. . . 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.  

[ThorBunny]

Thanks everyone Not totally out of the woods yet, but progress on all fronts! She’s nibbled more hay and eaten a bit of pellets. The only green she’ll eat right now is kale but she ate a whole small plate of it last night! 2 syringe feedings last night + more simethicone. She’s also gone pee so I’m less worried about that now. There were more poops in the box this morning, but they are small and maybe only about 1/4 of the number I usually see. Just gave her morning critical care, I’m hoping that she starts eating more substantially and maybe this will be the last one… she’s really starting to get sassy about them, lots of foot flicks afterwards

More importantly, she seems “with it” this morning so I’m taking it as a good sign! She was totally wacked out all of yesterday, not really in touch with her surroundings.

Sarah – thanks for the tip! I did water down the critical care more and it has really helped with syringe feeding her.

[meridiian]

I’m late to this thread but I’m glad to read little Thor is making progress. Read the backstory about Thor and Boo and the effort you made to bond them. You are such a committed bunny mummy! Sending healing vibes to Thor and wish you both all the best. (((Thor))) xx

[ThorBunny]

Aw, thanks Meridiian. Yes that was a busy time trying to bond them! I was honestly expecting some sort of GI upset then, with the number of times we moved the buns, took them to the vet, new places, stressful bonding, etc. But Thor never stopped eating or being her normal self during that whole saga.

Now this strange episode. I’m wracking my brains as to what could have caused it. The very strange thing was it seemed to come on so suddenly. Like I said, she was fine, then I went for a run, and when I got back less than an hour later she was so sick and lethargic! We’ve searched high and low and can’t find anything she may have eaten/gotten into. And we haven’t fed her anything new for the past few weeks… I’d really like to get to the bottom of the cause, it can’t be just random, right?

[Bam]

She isn’t starting a big moult, is she? That often comes with a side-dish of GI upset.

[Q8bunny]

Oh pooh. Sorry I missed this. Wanted to send ((((((Thor)))))) good wishes. So glad your darling girl is doing better. *booplesnoot rubs*

[ThorBunny]

I really hope a big molt isn’t on the way, she’s been molting on and off since we’ve got her! That may be it though, there is a fair amount of floof coming off her right now. Been brushing daily but she won’t let me brush her belly or anything, maybe she’s been ingesting fur from there?

Thanks for the booplesnoot rubs Q8! Appetite continues to get better slowly, and we have more poop in the litter box! Still not beautiful and big, but not bad poop either. She’s eaten 3/4 of her pellets I left out and quite a bit of salad, plus some hay. I think I’ll forego this afternoon’s critical care and see if she eats her full dinner. If not, guess it’s back to the syringe

And to think, I was just getting all pleased we had made it through almost a full year without a vet incident with her… she’s a sassy bun, just had to prove me wrong!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Just keeping you on your toes, you have to stay sharp

Keep on bringing the good news!

[ThorBunny]

We seem to be 90% back to normal She’s still eating pellets a bit slowly, but everything else normally. We did our last dose of pain meds this morning. Saw some binkies this morning!

We feel pretty lucky she perked up so quickly, it’s so stressful having a poorly bunny! Will be taking her into the vet for her annual exam in the next month anyways so hopefully our normal vet can give her a good exam and make sure there isn’t anything amiss that might have cause the episode.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yay, many happy binkies!

Maybe she has some small teeth issues and that’s why she is chewing slowly. But I’m sure the vet will check that thoroughly.

[sarahthegemini]

Brilliant news, great job Thor

[Q8bunny]

“Thor”oughly naughty of her to scare you like that.

[DanaNM]

Yayyyyy!

. . . 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.  

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear it!!!!

[Luna]

Whew, that’s a relief!

Q8 – Shall we now call you Q8Punny?

[Bam]

Thoooor! You go, girl!

Luna, Q8punny it must be from now on ?

[Q8bunny]

Hare-y punny, guys.

[Author]

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