not drinking U/D March 7th and hopefully last

my bunny isn't drinking, how can I get him to drink again.

Has been a big drinker up until now?

Is he eating?

Has anything in his diet changed??

LOL sorry, my wife rushed the message and was very detail-free LOL
He is 6 months old and he has never been a big drinker, but now it's 2 days that we noticed he hasn't drank anything. Moreover he isn't even getting out of the cage...before he used to jump out immediately. I even put it on my water bed (he likes it) and very weird he just lied down next to me (watching me fighting to stay awake).
Change in diet? yes, but more as schedule (except we added radish in his salad). Earlier I used to put pallets and salad together at noon. Now in the morning when I come home I add fresh hay (not a big hay eater either unfortunately), at noon he gets his 5-6 veggie salad and in the evening he gets his pallets. I don't give my bunnies many treats, at most 1 carrot or 1 yogurt drop a week. Yesterday I tried to give him also some pineapple in case he has some hairball bothering him, to help him get rid of it.
By the way in case you need to know the salad is usually made of: kyle (spelling?), bok choi, parsley, radishes leaves, cilantro. Don't know if it help, since I got him, his urine has always been a reddish color, but I read online that in rabbit it can happen.

(Anyway as soon as it opens, I will give a phone call to the vet too. He was nutered about 10 days ago, I think too long to have some bad reaction, but I want to check with him anyway).

I would get him to the vets asap. If he is lethargic there may be something wrong.

someone who knows more than me will be along soon.

Is he eating?

Yes he eats and poops. Actually yesterday I was keeping him with me near the keyboard to try and cheer him up..he also peed...how if he doesn't drink?

Sometimes buns can get a lot of the fluid they need from their food and if he is eating a lot of salad this could be the reason, but I would be concerned since its not long since his op and he is not behaving like he normally would. Has there been any wee today?

Not yet today...left a message for the vet, he'll call me as soon as he gets into the clinic.

What a worry for you, but he needs to see the vet, if his digestion slows down, dehydration can send them into GI Stasis http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html which can be really serious if not caught in time.

I hope he's going to be ok, keep us posted, and lots of vibes for BunnyBoo.

Any news from the vets? If not and he's still not drinking or weeing it might be an idea to gently syringe some fluids into him.

If he is eating perhaps try him on a juicy piece of apple as its better than nothing.

I hope you can get him to the vet soon.

The appointment with the vet is in 2 hours. Meanwhile the nurse gave me a syringe and told me to give him some water. I made him drink...to me he looks between scared and sleepy (almost looks like he is sleeping all the time).

Good luck at the vets. I really hope he is okay. Please come back and let us know how he is getting on.

Doctor has not a clue. He checked temperature, surgery (took off the stitches that hadn't yet dissolved) and gave an overall check and the bunny is the healthiest thing he has ever seen. He forced in his mouth a couple of syringe of water and we came back home. Now he is out of the cage and seems moving. I guess the lack of water had him become a little weak that's why he kept sleeping. The vet said to measure the water he drinks and if he still doesn't drink to do it again with the syringe (apparently it is not a medical condition). I started wondering if he is getting jealous because he smells the other bunny on me and my wife...buh, who knows.

Tomorrow it is the turn of Button to go to the vet. The area of the surgery is very much swollen. The vet already seen him a couple of times and he said some fluids are normal sometimes. But now he thinks it is taking a bit too long to reabsorb the fluids (9 days from the surgery), so he wants to see Button and check that there is no infection in the area.

Well I feel better

Glad he is moving about again. I would probably keep giving him the water by syringe for a little while longer anyway to get him all hydrated again at least until he is weeing normally again, as it is dangerous for them to become dehydrated.

Good luck for button tomorrow. Its a worry if he has swelling but hopefully the Vet can give him something that will help fight any infection that is here.

Keep us updated about how they are getting on. Sending lots of healing vibes and please give them both some cuddles from us.

K x

lots of leafy veggies, cucumber and melon (if they are part of his diet) as they are great for fluid content!

also peppermint tea (nothing more then the teabag and warm water)

although notfor everybun Fudge won't drink lots of water so when I need to boost his fluid intake he has one weetabix thoroughly soaked through with warm boiled water....

This is bad...the moving didn't last long. When we came home from the vet we gave him his salad and he didn't eat it. I thought he was full with the water the vet gave him, but this morning when we got up hi salad was still there. The rabbit is like shutting down. Now even when we pick him up his like a rag, doesn't put up any fight anymore...this can't be good at all. In 3 hours when I take Button to the vet I will drag BunnyBoo with me, but I got really bad vibe about it.

Oh no, poor thing, and what a worry. If he's not eating then he could be going into gut stasis. if this is the case he'll need a gut stimulant and possibly some 'Sub'Q' fluids, which are injected under the skin.

Keep us posted, I hope it goes ok for him

I hope all goes well. I think I might be tempted to see if you could bring the vet appoinment forward. Three hours is a long time for a bunny who isn't eating or drinking.

Good luck, I hope he improves soon

This is such a worry, there IS something wrong and dont let the vet tell you that there isnt.

I really hope he is okay,

Katie x x

Here it's just past 7am, the vet office is not open yet.
My wife just opened a canned pumpkin and with a bit bit of water we fed a syringe full of pumpkin. Even if there is something wrong, at least we keep his guts fuller and avoid further problems. He was making a noise and not sure if he was grinding his teeth because he was mad or it was his breathing. My wife agreed we are not gonna give up on him this easy, even if it means starting feeding him with a syringe.

We can get sachets of what is called "critical care" here in the UK and it is for buns who have stopped eating, and contains vitamins and proteins that a bun needs to help them recover from illness and help fight stasis.

It is worth asking your vet if they have anything similar to this. It normally just gets mixed with a little warm water and is syringed.

Have you had any poo or wee since yesterday?

Im thinking of you.x x x x

I don't know...I should have cleaned the cage yesterday, but I didn't think he was gonna turn this bad. We cleaned it this morning before feeding him (around 1 hour ago) and so far he didn't drop anything.

I have never heard anything about that kit. I will ask the doctor, but I think I will try to buy one online if we don't find them here in the USA.

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/vets/products/critical_care

I think Oxbow who make this are in the US. It is very good for nursing buns through stasis.

When daisy went into stasis it was tooth related so ask the vet to check his teeth...

Do you feed him pellets at all? If so, you can take a hanful, out some (not much) boiling water on them, leave them to soak, then mash them up with a fork. When cooled, you can syringe this too.

I really hope you get some help, you must be worried sick

I do hope he is feeling better, there is nothing worse than the stress of a poorly loved pet.

Jo xx

The Oxbow emergency kit is not on sale in my town...I will look to buy it online. Meanwhile my wife bought some vegetable baby food.

The situation is pretty weird. When we arrived at the doctor he started eating a little bit of his salad that he still had in his bowl. We came home and we fed more pumpkin and gave more water. Now he is eating some pallets on his own (btw, thank you for the pallet in syringe suggestion, very good).

The vet visited him again and he said that BunnyBoo has nothing wrong. He checked his teeth and they were fine, no sign of infection whatsoever, everything as it should be. He gave me the phone number of the animal hospital at the state college where I can find expert. In his opinion if the problem continues they are the ones who could help me (they have specialists for different kind of animals). Problem is that place I guess is open only when the college is open. We will keep on helping him eat and drink hoping he will start doing it on his own. I seriously start thinking his behaviour is more a psychological problem than health.

As per Button, his fluid is now hard. Doctor said the bunny created it by licking and biting the outside skin of the surgery. No infection is present. He could take it off now, but he prefers for it to come off on its own. Meanwhile he told me to keep putting antibiotic ointment on the part.

I guess I go take a nap now...very stressful days!