I Need a Bunny Boffin

[bluemoon]

Gandalf, our 15 month old rabbit, went off his food last Monday, he didn't touch a thing for two days so we took him to the vet, I spent longer answering the receptionists questions; 'and what colour is Gandalf?' than I did in the surgery. The vet was pretty clueless, gave him a quick once over and an injection, told us to bring him back on Saturday morning and that was it. The return visit just seemed to be more of the same, another cursory exam, another expensive injection. He is eating a little now, but only his favourite foods such as spinach and parsnip and even then only small amounts, he isn't touching his proper food. Should I be worried or is beginning to eat a little a sign that he's getting better? Anyone have any idea what was wrong in the first place? I'm not even sure what the injections were for, I assumed they were antibiotics, but I'm almost sure the receipt says vitamin supplement (though the handwritting is indecipherable).

[NSB]

One question have you checked his teeth to see if they are too long, or if there is anything stuck in there

[bluemoon]

Yes, the vet did check his teeth, mouth and throat, had a feel at his tummy, found nothing untoward, then seemed to run out of ideas.

[Two_Sheds]

dunno, but had a google for clues:
"Rabbits must have timothy, oat or other grass hay available to them 24 hours a day...your bunny needs to chew and digest this long form of fiber in order to help hair (from grooming) pass through his system" Health Concerns for Your Rabbit

[flowerofshona]

Ok it might be the start of bloat, put him on some good hay and some live yoghert and monitor his droppings and wee if he is not passing droppings you need the vet to give him a warm soapy water enama fast !!! I had 160 show rabbits and picked up mucroid enteritis at a show and it wiped out over half my rabbits, 10 pms later and over £400 and i did a pm myself and found the problem ! its a lump of jelly mucus in the bowels that you need to move,no amount og injections will shift it, the only ones that survived where the ones i gave the enamas to ! Vets are pretty useless on rabbits to be honest.
If he is still pooing and weeing it may just be a little upset so fingers crossed for him xxx

[bluemoon]

Thank you, he does have hay in his diet, but wasn't eating it, but OH says he has had some overnight. I'll get some live yoghurt and try that. I've just phoned the vet and told the receptionist that an enema has been recommended, but he won't be there until 3.30 when she says he will phone me back.

[Nicos]

Make sure you know what the vet was injecting!!!

Antibiotics/vitamin supplement/steroids....makes quite a difference!!!!
You could always phone up the vet's and ask the nurse/receptionist to check the computer!

Your bunny hasn't had an upset has he?
Is he an outdoor bunny? Could a fox have upset him- or could he be suddenly cold at night?
Is the food going off? ( check for weevils) did you change the supplier of food?
Is he jealous of non attention/changes in his routine??? ( they can be very sensitive)Could a mouse have got into his food bowl and weed in it??

Urmm...perhaps you should ask to see a different vet in the practice next time you go- or did you get the 'bunny expert'????

Remember he needs to eat some of his bunny plops because they contain natural bacteria.

They do get bored from time to time eating the same foods- a gradual change is often a good idea.

Spinach and parsnip- hmm..did you wash them first- could they have residues of sprays on them which may have upset him??

....there are a few thoughts for you..hope things continue to improve

[bluemoon]

Thanks again, we just popped him back and the vet says he's gained 150g since Saturday, which I suppose is a fair bit for a very small bunny. The injections were just vitamins and as he seems to be slowly regaining his appetite he suggests we continue as we are unless he seems to go down hill again. I didn't mean to seem quite so critical of the vet, he's a traditional one-man-band vet and I chose him deliberately as I was getting a little sick of our old practice who were owned by a massive multinational company for whom animal welfare seemed well down on their list of priorities, after making money, making even more money and then making a lot more. He's actually brilliant with our dogs, but either he isn't too clued up on rabbits or he's not particularly interested in them, he does seem to be much better with the dogs, but then I suppose you can talk to a dog and get a response. The veg is homegrown so I know it doesn't contain pesticides, it's a while since he had a parsnip though, so perhaps giving him something different has perked his interest. He lives outdoors, but comes inside quite often and he and the dogs get on well. I suppose it's possible that a mouse has weed in his food, although I've never seen one and I've changed the food and washed the bowl, simply because I didn't want it sitting around getting damp or mouldy. We haven't changed the type of feed. I don't know if anyone remembers, but our old bunny, Dylan died just before Christmas last year, he'd been our daughter's pet when she was in her early teens, but now she's in her 20s and has flown the nest we didn't think we'd ever have another, but then we heard that Gandalf needed a home so took him in in the New Year when he was about 6 months old. We've treated him exactly as we did Dylan, who lived to a good age and never needed the vet apart from boosters and nail-clipping, so it was a bit of a shock when Gandalf became ill especially as he's so young. We keep his hutch next to one of the house walls in a well sheltered spot and he has one of those covers for it, perhaps it's time to put it on for the extra warmth.

[Nicos]

It'd be a lot cheaper to buy vitamins to add to his water!!!!

Glad he's put on some weight though..bet he'll be fine now

( we ended up paying over £400 for our daughters bunny - which was uninsured- for removal of several teeth ??8?? and reaction to the op with abdominal cramps etc etc...almost ended up with a bowel resection!!!!)
Nope- never again..but once you commit to a problem you sort of get sucked in eh???

keep us posted as to progress.....

[flowerofshona]

That is good news

[tamsin]

You were right to be worried as rabbits can go down hill extremely quickly if they stop eating. Once the gut stops chugging along it can be hard to start it again.

I'm not sure what help a vitamin injection would be! The normal treatment is gut mobility drug eg metclopramide, pain killer (as pain makes them even more reluctant to eat), fluids to hydrate the gut, antibiotic is there is sign of infection. If the problem is gas/bloat then infacol, tummy rubs and encouragement to move about. Then if they are eating a little, probiotics to add to the food, if not then syringe feeding with recovery/critical care powder mixed with probiotic powder.

If the diet is good then it is often a secondary symptom of something else eg they are in pain so reluctant to eat so their gut starts shutting down. Rabbit hide illness well so the first symptoms can be lack of poop/eating.

Teeth should definitely checked but it can be other things that seem totally unrelated eg a bladder infection.

Keep a close eye on him as if there is an underlying problem it may happen again and you'd need a more helpful vet to investigate that a bit more usefully.

[Nicos]

Cor...we have some bunny experts here!!!!...yey!!!!

[ginger ninger]

How's the little guy today? I do hope he's on the mend.

[bluemoon]

Well, this morning he's eaten a good deal of his food, plus more parsnip and spinach (he still won't touch other veg) and we think a little hay, it's difficult to tell about the hay, but he's certainly scattered it about. This was all quite worrying as we still don't know what was wrong and, apart from vitamins, he hasn't really had treatment, so has obviously pulled round on his own. He's definitely much improved though. Thank you all for your help. When we first got Dylan many years ago, rabbits were a new thing for us and we contacted the Rabbit Welfare Trust about his care, hutch, food etc, they were really helpful and suggested a hay and fresh veggies diet, plus a supplement of commercial feed which comprised of nuggets rather than a mixture, we stuck with that and have done the same for Gandalf. Dylan thrived on it and until the last week or so, so did Gandalf. I hope he's just had a bit of an upset tummy and it's all over now.

[bluemoon]

Thank you to everyone who answered. Gandalf is now back to his old self and is eating normally again, although I'm reintroducing different vegetables slowly. He was weighed by the vet this morning and has gained another 100g, which probably takes him back to his pre-illness weight. I'm still mystified as to what happened though.