Rabbit Health Question!!! please help?

Question

Ok my dutch rabbit recently stopped eating her food, she is about two years old. I have been giving her pellots, carrots, and more things but she seems to still be hungry just not touching her food that im giving her. and she is starting to get REALLY SKINNY! and i can feel her spine when i pet her and all of her bones. my other rabbit i just had along with her did the same thing until it recently died! but i want to get her eating more and gain more weight before its too late! please help!

I already know about the whole teeth getting over grown thing i have been in 4-h with rabbits getting grand champion every time. and i keep apple branches and things like that for the rabbit to knaw on and i checked her teeth already and they are fine. and i do feed her more than just alfalfa, carrots and pellots....i know quite a lot about bunnies, im thinking the rabbit is obviously sick but i highly doubt my parents are going to take it to a VET and pay money that we dont have to care for a rabbit and i just dont want to see her suffer...i was looking if anyone just had information on what illness it might possible be and maybe how to get her to eat since i can feel her bones! its pretty scary knowing i cant do anything about it and just wait for it to die.

Answer 1

First, I want to say that I have been raising and showing rabbits for over 24 years, so I hope you'll listen a lot closer to me than many of the other answerers.

First, there could be several reasons. First, don't take peoples' advice about giving your rabbit a variety of foods. I noticed you said you are giving it carrots and other stuff. That probably is a bad idea. Vegetables and stuff like that can give your rabbit diahrrea and that definitely could account for your rabbit feeling bony when you run your hand over it's back. First thing I want you to do is to turn your rabbit over and look around it's tail and around where it poops. If you see any poop stuck on it's fur or if you have a wire cage and see any soft globular type poop hanging on the wire floor, then your rabbit probably has diahrrea.

Stop feeding your rabbit carrots, any vegetables, or any grass...especially if it has diahrrea. Second, clean its water bowl out and disinfect it by cleaning it out with bleach. You don't want any algae growing in it, that's a breeding ground for bacteria. If your rabbit does have diahrrea, take your rabbit off it's feed for 24 hours and give it plenty of clean fresh water. Many people think of diahrrea wrongly and take away the water and try giving it anything it can to get it eating and that is totally wrong. Here's why:

When a rabbit gets diahrrea, the reason the poop is all mushy is because there is a lot of water in it. That means the rabbit is losing a lot of water and getting dehydrated. That water needs to be replaced so the rabbit doesn't get dehydrated. The reason the rabbit needs to be taken off of it's feed for 24 hours is because the bacteria that can cause diahrrea feeds and grows off of the food in the stomach. By removing the food in the stomach, you help remove the food the bacteria lives and grows on and essentially help get rid of it. After 24 hours put the rabbit on half it's normal food ration. After 48 hours restore the rabbit to a normal food ration. Roughage like timothy hay or straw also helps when a rabbit has diahrrea.

Here's another reason why I said not to listen to the people who said that rabbits should get a variety of foods. Rabbits want and need a regular consistent diet. They DON'T like change in their eating habits. It's best to stick with just the rabbits pellets and water. Small handfuls of stemmy hay such as orchard grass hay or timothy hay can be given, but I don't recommend giving wide leafed hays such as clover or alfalfa because they have more of an opportunity of causing diahrrea. If you changed the feed you are feeding or what you are feeding your rabbits like such as giving them vegetables, that can make your rabbit go off of its feed. Sometimes feed companies will change their feed mixture too, that can be bad as well. They will keep the same protein and fiber percentage mixtures but will add different ingredients based upon which is cheaper at the time. You don't want a company that does that. The change in the mixture will affect them too. I myself like Heinold Feeds or Purina Feeds.

Another thing you will want to check when you have your rabbit turned over are the insides of the front paws. Look to see if they are wet or matted. If they are, your rabbit probably has a cold. If your parents won't take your rabbits to the vet, have them get some Terramycin (oxytetracycline I think is the chemical name) that you can put in the water. Make sure to follow the directions and to give the proper amount for the proper length of time.

You will also want to check the pads of the feet to make sure that they aren't sore. If you have your rabbit in a wire cage and the pads are sore, throw a 12"x12" pad of drywall in the cage for them to sit on. You may also want to spray the pads with Iodine on occasion.

As far as the teeth, you only need to worry about the teeth if your rabbit has wolf teeth and they are curling all over the place. If the rabbit has wolf teeth then you need to trim the teeth regularly.

Also make sure that you have your rabbit hutch enclosed on 3 of 4 sides to prevent a draft once the temperature gets down in the 50's or so if you have your rabbits outside. This will prevent them from getting pneumonia. If your rabbit gets pneumonia, it's not realy curable and will be dead in 1-2 days.

You also may want to treat your rabbits for Coccidiosis. It's good to do that a couple times a year, especially if your rabbit is on a solid or wooden floor. There are two treatments for coccidiosis: sulfaquinoxiline or amprolium. Of the two, I recommend amprolium because sulfaquinoxiline can cause damage if given for too long or in too large of a dosage. If you give amprolium in the water, make sure you use the liquid amprolium and not the powder form of amprolium. The particulates for the powder amprolium are too large and dont' get absorbed into the rabbit's system.

The last thing I will mention may sound contraversial, but many good rabbit veterinarians will agree. It's often a good idea to put 1 teaspoon (or 5cc's) of regular bleach (most recommend regular Clorox) to one gallon of water to use as the rabbit's drinking water. It's especially a good idea to do this if you live in the country and use well water. The bleach at that concentration doesn't hurt the rabbit and acts like chlorine to help kill bacteria in the water to help keep the rabbit from getting sick. You'll notice if you do that, that you won't see the green algae building up any longer in your water bowls. Some of the new bleaches such as the new Clorox are more concentrated and you only need 3/4 of a teaspoon per gallon. It's a very good disease preventative.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I've learned off of several rabbit breeders that have raised rabbits for over 40 years and I also learned a descent bit from rabbit veterinarian Dr. Terry E. Reed who was probably the top authority on rabbit health and rabbit medicine when he was alive. Unfortunately he passed away several years ago.

Answer 2

I am afraid that if your rabbit has already stopped eating, there isn't a whole lot that you can do without medical intervention at this point. I would highly suggest taking her to the vet. A vet visit and some gut motility drugs shouldn't be that expensive, but the longer you wait, the worse off your bunny is, the more care she will need, the more recovery time it will take, and probably the more expensive the vet bill will be. :(

She could have stopped eating for a number of reasons and it's really hard to tell what's going on with her over the Internet. It could be that she has gas and is in pain/uncomfortable, so she won't eat. Carrots actually have a lot of sugar in them, so they should only be fed sparingly as a treat. Too much sugar in the bunny's system is bad for her and can upset her tummy.

Try tempting your bunny with freshly rinsed and slightly damp green vegetables (romaine lettuce, parsley, or cilantro, for example). She really needs to get something in her system or her GI tract will shut down and she will die. But like I said, if it has been too long, she may only be able to recover from this with drugs from the vet.

Unlimited access to timothy hay every day is essential to keep a bunny's GI tract moving.

Answer 3

It sounds like you should get her to a vet ASAP if she is not pooping then buy a can of Libby's pumpkin and get a plastic syringe fill the syringe with the pumpkin and force feed her also give her papaya pills 2 a day if she wont take them crush up and put into the pumpkin, also a bottle of baby gas relief, put a couple of drops down her throat.(rabbit are in pain if they have gas as they cant burp or expel it, this will also stop them from eating!!) after she starts eating again and pooping, feed all the timothy hay she wants only 1 ounce of the pellets per day, a slice of banana, and the papaya tablets 2 a day.
Now since I don't know the exact situation do you see any white worms in the stool? Does the rabbit have any other symptom's unusual or otherwise?

Answer 4

If a rabbit stops eating it is a sign that your bunny is sick. You need to get your bunny to a vet asap...even a 24 hour emergency is a good idea. My guess is that she is having dental problems since a bunny with teeth problems will want to eat, but since it is painful, won't/can't. You can try hand feeding her some of her favorite greens or herbs (dip them in water to be sure she is getting some fluid) or hand feed her hay. You could also soften her pellets in some warm water so they would be easier for her to chew.

When a bunny stops eating, it's gut slows down and it will die.
These are probably the best references around re: why your bunny isn't eating. There is even a version for a vet if you can't get to a rabbit savvy vet right away....but don't wait!

http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Dana/ileus.html, or http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html and click in the article for the version for vets: also see: http://www.rabbitcare.org/ileus.pdf

Good luck with your bunny and I'm sorry her friend died. BTW, she might be sad and missing her friend, which could get her off food. Regardless, she needs a vet.

OK - so you can't go to a vet. The prognosis is probably quite bad. No one here can diagnose based on a post.
Tooth problems can't always be seen, especially if they are molar spurs growing in the back - vets sometimes need to use a little anesthia to see/treat them.
All you can do is hope that if you can tempt your bunny to eat something (hay, greens, pellets) it may get her system going. IF it is a molar spur it might be knocked off.
You can find recipies for a pellet slurry at www.carrotcafe.com

If it were my bunny I'd beg my parents to take it to a vet.

Answer 5

There is nothing you can do, unless she is taken to the VET. Once a rabbit is sick there is not much you can do without treatment of antibiotics. She probably has the same disease your other rabbit had before it died (rabbit diseases are contagious). Talk to your parent and figure out a plan with your parents, that you will somehow pay them back for the vet visit (payments can be made at your vet). If this does not work give your rabbit to someone that can afford it.

Answer 6

Try force feeding a little bit of NutriCal (dog/cat supplement, can be found at pet supply places) and giving hay or whole rolled oats. Most vets know practically nothing about rabbits anyway.

You could also try asking on this forum...
http://www.rabbitsontheweb.com/forum/ in the General Rabbit Information.

Answer 7

You need to take your rabbit to the vet. Rabbits have teeth that continue to grow and, if they don't get to chew enough to grind their teeth down, the teeth outgrow the jaw space and make eating painful. They can even get abcessed teeth. Rabbits need much more than pellets, hay and carrots. They need special things to chew on to grind down their teeth. At this point, if your rabbit has stopped eating, it will probably take some dental work before providing chewable things will do her any good.

Answer 8

Get your rabbit to the vet right away. It is possible her teeth have overgrown and she cant eat. It could also be something she caught from your other rabbit. You are gonna lose her too if you dont get her to the vet. I hope she will be ok.

Answer 9

I would try it on Alfalfa and a vitamin supplement called B Complex Order these on line from Shaklee.ca I feed these vitamin supplements to my dogs. I would crush this up in a baggy and just put small amounts on and see how your rabbit does.

Answer 10

Ever heard of a vet? A vet is a doctor for animals. You take your sick animals their and the vet makes them better.