My Neth Dwarf Buck, Frosty, has refused to drink for over a week and is eating very little too. I have tried to tempt him with his favourie treats, shreddies, raisins and dried apricots but he takes them off me and throws them!
Until yesterday he was eating plenty of veg so I didn't worry too much about him not drinking as they obviously would not have water bottles in the wild but all he's eaten since yesterday is 2 nibbles of carrot, a tiny bit of hay and I saw him eat 2 pellets. I have even tried him with a trough of water but he just chewed it!
Funny thing is he seems totally well. When I let him out of his cage he runs around and jumps about, chewing anything in sight and still tried to mate my doe. He seems his usual perky self.
My breeder has advised me to put glucose powder into some water and syringe him 5mls per hour until the probiotic (she is sending me) arrives in the post tomorrow.

I am reluctant to take him to a vet as I've heard so many horror strories and my nearest rabbit savvy vet (that I know of) is about 20 miles away.

Only thing I can think of is that I went on holiday last week so my neighbour am round to feed my buns. Could he be upset that I left him? He was drinking fine before I left.

Can anyone suggest any reason for this? I am getting really worried :(

Does Frosty appear to be weeing and pooping ok?

When he is let out of his cage, does he have access to grass? Just wondering if he's stuffing himself with grass, he may not feel like eating his normal food.

I have cleaned his cage today to keep track of his toilet activity. He has done about 8 droppings in the last 8 hours but no sign of a wee yet. So I guess the tiny bit he is eating is going through his system.
He is an indoor rabbit so he's not had access to grass.

It might seem daft but have you checked to see if the water bottle is still working ok? Sometimes the ball bearing inside gets stuck so the water doesn't come out.

Yeah I did check that and even replaced it with a new one just incase.

I would start syringing fluids now and get the little fella to a vet tomorrow. Rabbits go down hill very quickly once they become unwell.

I have been syringing the glucose water 5mls per hour since midday

If you are able to, try and continue throughout the night and get him to the vet tomorrow.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Thanks :)

Can you soften the pellets with water & syringe some into him tonight?

I will try, he is taking the water pretty well. I thought maybe he had some problm with his mouth at first but he is happy to chew the wires and plastic on his cage etc, he chewed though the kid's Nintendo Ds charger wire today!

These buns are a worry to us aren't they?

They sure are, they cause more worry than the kids do.
Naughty bunnies! lol

Just checked on Frosty before I retire. I have given him more fluids and a little mushy pellets which he didn't really want but I did get a little down him. I noticed he has eaten most of a small carrot though and he has about 30 poops in his cage now. Still no wees!
Another thing I have noticed is that he seems to be sitting quite still in one area of his cage which is very unusual for him. But he is lively enough when out of the cage. I tried again to give him a raisin and some shreddies but again he just took them and threw them.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Fingers crossed, let us know how you get on :D :bunhug:

I hope everything is ok with Frosty xx

Well we went to the vets this morning, she said Frosty is a little compacted.

She gave him painkillers, syringeable food, some meds to get his insides going and probiotic.

She also told me he is eating too many pellets, he is to have only half a teaspoonful per day in future and plenty of greens and veg. He already has access to a lot of greens and hay anyway. I'm not totaly convinced that this is the problem with him but I'll give it go and see what happens.

I have to see how he goes and take him back tommorrow if he hasn't improved.


Thanks for your well wishes

Aww, I'm pleased you have managed to get him sorted. I hope what the vet has suggested works for him xx

awww poor Frosty.

Hope Frosty is feeling better real soon.

:bunhug:

Fingers and paws crossed this end for a full recovery.

Hope Frosty feels better soon :hug: :kiss:

The medication prescribed for Frosty is Zantac (ranitidine hydrochloride).

This is usually used for heartburn or stomach ulcers in humans.

I have searched for it on the internet for usage for rabbit but found nothing. Has anyone had this prescribed for their buns before? If so, did the vet say what it was meant to do?

I'm just concerned that she hasn't given him what he really needs. She wants me to take him back tomorrow if he's no better so she can keep him over the weekend. I am not happy doing this as I can monitor him better at home and give him the same meds that she can.

What would you guys do?

Gastrointestinal problems (slowdown, delayed stomach emptying, stasis/colic, hemorrhages of the large intestine, shock, reduced gastric and small intestine flow, necrosis of the GI tract, severe bloating, impaction, shutdown without blockage, refusal to eat, weight loss, increased water consumption, vomiting, enteritis) can be treated with Zantac (Ranitidine HCl). It reduces the production of stomach acid by inhibiting histamine.

Ah, ok, thankyou Vickie :)

Aww poor bun, has he pooped much today?

He has been running around our living room for the last couple of hours and he ha littered the fLoor with poop!!! yay!!!!

I fetched him some lovely fresh grass and he has had a nibble.

I'm still syringing the water (with probiotic and glucose) but he still hasn't had a wee. This is my biggest concern. The vet didn't seem to want to listen to everything I had to say. She asked me what I fed him and as soon as I had told her, she blamed it all on the pellets.

He's still chewing everything in sight though so he can't be feeling too bad.
He's just trying to worry me I think. :confused:

I hope he recovers quickly! poor little bunny :kiss:

What pellets are you feeding? What make are they?

I use Wagg Optimum. This was recommended by the breeder who has been using them for generations of bunnies. She has been keeping Neth Dwarves for 20 yrs, breeding and showing for 15 yrs, and although I accept she can't know everything, I feel her experience counts a fair bit.

I rang her and told her what the vet said and she said she hasn't ever had a problem, she feeds it to her show rabbits.

My doe has been eating them without problem, maybe Frosty just has a sensitive tummy.

If my memory serves me correctly, I think Wagg has a good fibre content in it and is widely used. There was a particular rescue bun who wouldn't eat anything but Wagg. Also, my "free to a good home" lops came to me with Wagg and they are healthy and happy.

Good news you have lots of poops - wee wee vibes being sent to you hehe

Would you be able to syringe a slightly larger amout than you already are? What you are syringing now, might be getting used up by the body to keep him hydrated so theres none left to wee out.

Today I have given him about 40 mls in total which I guess isn't much compared to his usual of about 200mls. I am worried about bloating him if he is compacted. But, I spose if he is now pooping ok, it might be ok to up it a bit. I will do that now.

Poops & wee vibies coming your way :D

Just had a thought!!

I put shredded paper in my buns cages. I m sure they actually eat it because I watch it go into their mouths and I've never found chewed paper in the cage.

Could this be part of Frosty's problem?

Does anyone else's bun(s) do it?

They will also eat cardboard tubes, toilet rolls etc

My lot will chew/eat cardboard boxes and tubes, etc. Way back I used to put shredded paper in the hutches and to be honest I never witnessed any of them chomping on it.

Is this something you have recently started to do? There may be a causal link but you never know with bunnies - they are such a worry but I'd never be without them :bunhug:

I have put the shredded paper in since I had them. (since Jan) Both buns have always eaten it. I use it as bedding with hay in their igloos. The breeder suggested it, as being house rabbits, shavings can make a real mess.

It's not just the shredded paper though, if I line the cage with newspaper, they eat that too! They tear strips off and slowly eat them, like eating spaghetti!

I called the vet this morning to say that Frosty was pooping a lot more but he's still not drinking or weeing.

She said that if he was pooping he was fine, she wasn't concerned about the lack of weeing and that she didn't need to see him.

He's still not eating much and I'm still syringing liquid food, zantac and glucose & probiotic in his water.

He must be feeling a bit better now though as he's strugging when I turn him onto his back.

He still not quite his usual self though, still very very quiet when he is in his cage, which seeing as my three little angels are home all day, it's the safest and quietest place for him.

I'm just wondering how long this not drinking/weeing is likely to go on for, he is worrying me.

If there's no improvement by Monday in the weeing and drinking department, I would take him back to the vets.

Yay, Frosty did a big wee on my livingroom carpet!

:bounce:

What a relief!

:bounce: :bounce: great news!