Need experienced Bunny Help! Sick Bunny!

[BarefootMom]

Okay I just got bunnies on Saturday, and I have 7 of them. When I broght them home I noticed that 1 of the smaller ones kinda stayed off in one corner but my hubby said he was probably just stressed out from the auction and being move around so much. Yesteray I finally got cages for all of them (I had all the females in 1 cage). Yesterday I noticed that the little one stayed in the corner all crouched down. She won't eat her pellets or treats. She just stays in the corner munching on hay or in her little house. I noticed that her hair around her backend is matted and clumpy. One eye is shut, but the other is wide open. She doesn't seem to be breathing hard, no mangy spots on fur, ears are fine, and no scabs anywhere. What do I do?

Taking her to the vet is not an option. Is there any OTC medicine that I can give her?

 

[BarefootMom]

Anyone??

 

[SillyChicken]

I'm not an expert.

But, what I would do first is seperate this bunny from the others. Take her out and get a good look at her. Is her back end full of poops/pee, matted and dirty? If she stays wet she'll develop urine burn and could develop other issues. She needs to get cleaned up so you can see! bring her inside and wash her fur with watered down shampoo (needs to be very mild), cut out the mats etc, just be very careful as the matts tend to be close to the skin. Make sure the bunny is VERY dry before putting her back outside.

How old are the bunnies. I've read that young bunnies (6 months and younger) should not get fresh greens/veggies cause it will give them runny bottoms. I think you can use drytail to help with the poopiness but I've not had this problem myself so I can't help further.

I find this a good source for references... http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html

check under "Gas, Ileus and Stasis, Bloat, "Hairballs," Obstruction" to see if any of this helps.

 

[BarefootMom]

Thanks I will bring her in and wash her. I don't know how old she is for sure-but I think she is young. We bought her at the sale barn, so I don't know anyhting about her. She is in her own cage. Thanks for replying. Would baby shampoo work?

 

[common coop]

Just warm water would be fine to rinse her clean - then paper towels to soak up excess water. Two days is a long time for a bunny to go without eating hay / water - so by separating her you can see if she is eating, drinking, pooping. They often get belly aches from too many greens ( something she ate at the auction ?) - and get soft poop. If they are in any pain - ( even gas ) they will hunker down and not move - which doesn't help anything. So just by your holding her, washing and drying -- that will help break up gas bubbles in her gut -- and you could massage her belly a bit -- they are unusually docile when they don't feel well. Prey mentality - just waiting to die. Hay is better than pellets - but anything would be good at this point. They do have a sweet tooth -- so maybe a cereal flake or two -- to get her jump started.. Also small bit of carrot - or a blueberry - might revive her interest in eating..

 

[SillyChicken]

probably would be fine.

Give your bun a looking over, and note what you find... skinny, normal, distended belly....teeth, eyes, ears... look at everything. What kind of bunny and how big is she?... how about posting a photo here?

If she eats hay but not pellets, she's craving fiber, maybe she's not moving food well. Is she drinking water?

I hesitate saying this if the rule about not feeding fresh greens is true to young rabbits. but feeding celery or fresh greens may help move things along and encourage eating.

 

[equine623]

You can also try soaking the pellets in papaya juice, as long as its 100% juice and not some sugary juice cocktail. The enzymes will help if she is having digestive issues. Rabbits tend to hide illness so keep an eye on her. Note if she poops, what color/consistency it is, etc. Hay is necessary for fiber in a healthy rabbit, but on the off chance she's experience GI stasis you don't really want to pack a ton more fibrous material in her gut. Definitely keep an eye on water intake, dehydration is a threat.

 

[BarefootMom]

I gave the bunny a bath-while doing so found out the she is a he. Did not know that. lol. He didn't mind the bath much, and has drank some water today. Hasn't pooed any though. He hasn't ate anything that I know of. Here is a pic of him in the bathtub:

 

[equine623]

If you are positive he isn't eating anything at all by tomorrow, then you may want to consider doing some force feeding. Again, pellets soaked in papaya juice can be smeared on his front feet, see if he licks that off. You can syringe feed plain yogurt (nothing too sugary) or baby food. Often easiest to wrap the rabbit in a towel, and slowly squirt a little at a time in the mouth. Be warned, they will struggle and spit it back out if they don't want it. Go slow so he doesn't aspirate. And you can give a small amount of cat hairball remedy in case that's part of the problem.

Watch his behavior and don't stress him too much with a lot of handling. Only force feed if he isn't eating.

 

[BarefootMom]

Any other juice I could soak them in? I wouldn't even know where to get papaya juice-don't even know what a papaya looks like lol.

I have a couple jars of baby applesauce available.