Grief-stricken rabbit.

Hi, I've just joined the forums, and I'm afraid my first post is asking advice.

My Mum had two rabbits, brother and sister, and they've been together for about 3 years now. Yesterday, the male, Peter, died. He was ill with epilipsy, and had a fit which made him bite his tongue, we didn't get to him until it was too late.

Now, his sister, Suzi, is refusing to eat. She's still drinking now and then, but she refuses all types of food, and just sits still all day. Is there anything we can do to help her eat? It's going to be a while before she's back to normal, but she needs to eat, we don't want a starved rabbit.

Please help.

hello - i am very sorry to hear about peter. it is very important that Suzi does eat as if rabbits don't their guts go into stasis and they can die. Have you tried her with some of her favorite food or some yummy fruit or veg? How long has she not eaten for? is she pooing?

Can you bring her inside where it's warm and so you can keep an eye on her? It's quite likely that she is pining but it is vital she isn't allowed to fall into Stasis as this can be rapidly fatal.

Offering her a teddy to snuggle with and providing her with human company may also help. Sometimes mixing pellets with a little apple baby food or apple sauce and warm water can make it more tempting for them. They are also often tempted by herbs, shredded spring greens and grated carrot.

If she dosn't start to eat soon voluntarily she really needs to see a vet for some pain relief and gut stimulant.

She lives inside, as we kept them as house rabbits. However, she is very cold, and just sits staring into the air.

We've managed to get her to eat some carrot, if we hand feed it to her, but she doesn't eat very much before she refuses it completely.

She's got all her favourite food around her, but she doesn't seem interested by any of it. She is still drinking which is a good sign.

Can you bring her inside where it's warm and so you can keep an eye on her? It's quite likely that she is pining but it is vital she isn't allowed to fall into Stasis as this can be rapidly fatal.

Offering her a teddy to snuggle with and providing her with human company may also help. Sometimes mixing pellets with a little apple baby food or apple sauce and warm water can make it more tempting for them. They are also often tempted by herbs, shredded spring greens and grated carrot.

If she dosn't start to eat soon voluntarily she really needs to see a vet for some pain relief and gut stimulant.

Thanks for the advice, next on our list of things to try.

hello - i am very sorry to hear about peter. it is very important that Suzi does eat as if rabbits don't their guts go into stasis and they can die. Have you tried her with some of her favorite food or some yummy fruit or veg? How long has she not eaten for? is she pooing?

She's got all her favourite food, and fruit and veg. She hasn't eaten properly for about 2 days now, very worrying.

If she is pooing it's not much.


Thank you for the advice and sympathy.

I hope she is going to be ok. Poor Suzi. I would take her to the vets tomorrow if nothing else is working. Then they can do a proper check of her to check there is nothing else wrong eg her teeth and they can check her guts and give her some stimulant etc. Then you can carry on with the teddy and baby food. fingers crossed and keep us updated and if you have any other questions this is the place to be!

Hi Sphinx, sorry to hear about Suzi, it's so sad, and very worrying when they stop eating. I hope she's feeling better today, and news?

We took her to the vets last night, as she was refusing to eat, and not pooing at all.

The vet said that Pineapple Juice or Tomato Juice works as a good gut stimulant, and also fed her some 'recover', liquid food that you can put in a syringe. We've been feeding her that, but she only has a small amount before she refuses it completely.

It's still touch and go, we're trying our best and hoping it's enough

well fingers crossed. poor Suzi. have you given her a teddy?

Yes, she has a teddy, we've given her one with a microwave heat pack inside, because she's so cold.

She's picking up now, starting to eat small amounts, and poo a little, but she is still on the 'recover' food.

I was going to suggest "Science Recovery" which is a powder that, when mixed with water becomes a complete food that can be syringe fed. When my Jack wouldn't eat she would sometimes lick at some of this from the syringe. If she still won't eat then it's important to get something into her.

This might sound like an odd question but did she see Peter's body? Animals seem to find it easier to 'move on' if they've seen their dead companion rather than him just being whisked away to the vets to be pts (I know this isn't the case with yours but if Suzi is still wondering where Peter's gone it might explain things.

Other than that, as others have said, just try to make a fuss of her, give her lots of home comforts and make sure she has some of the science recovery stuff until she starts eating again.

Poor little thing!

When Holly died very suddenly, I showed her body to Wolfie, who was her husbun. It just seemed the right thing to do. He sniffed at her, then hopped off. He did mourn her and was inclined to go and sit in the hutch during the day which is very unusual for him. I thought he was lonely and missing her. That is why we got Gloria. She came in and took over and now is boss but he loves her to bits and they sit and groom each other - well he grooms her and occasionally, she'll give him a little lick back!

This might sound like an odd question but did she see Peter's body? Animals seem to find it easier to 'move on' if they've seen their dead companion rather than him just being whisked away to the vets to be pts (I know this isn't the case with yours but if Suzi is still wondering where Peter's gone it might explain things.

She's seen his body, she was actually with him when he died.

Thanks for all the advice and sympathy.

Hoping that she is eating a bit more and making a recovery.

She's eating a little bit more, not much though.