Rabbit pain medication.

[SammileeChickie]

I got my rabbit spayed today and it's been 11 hours out of surgery. The vet didn't give me any pain medication because they told me she was too small.
She hasn't eaten since I brought her home( 11 hours ago) but she did poop a lot, at first she was very hunched over, but now she's kind of relaxed, yet she won't move at all and has her eyes closed.

Is there anything I can do for her pain.? Any medication.? I feel so bad

 

[dainerra]

it's a natural response to the pain. give her a quiet place, preferably in a darkened or dim room and let her rest.

I'm not a big fan of pain meds for animals. They don't understand "pain is less because I swallowed this pill but I still need to rest quietly so that I don't hurt myself"
to animals no pain (or lessened pain) = healed = be active that often equates with pulled stitches (especially in the case of surgery) or further injuring sprains. I know someone who let their dog get to active with a sprained muscle. Gave the dog pain meds because he "looked sad" and then the dog wouldn't stay quiet. Ended up with a more severe injury and what would have been a 3-4 day recovery time ended up being 4+ weeks.

 

[Bunnylady]

Pain management in animals is a tough call. A lot of vets will tell you that when they give pain meds, it's often more for the owner's comfort than the animal's.

As dainerra said, animals on pain medication are at a greater risk of doing too much, and injuring themselves further (shoot, some people do that, and they theoretically can understand that they shouldn't!). But on the other hand, an animal in severe pain may be hurting so much, it doesn't do what it needs to do to take care of itself. I'm more concerned about the "not eating" than I am about the "sitting hunched up, not moving." As you no doubt know, there is a risk of GI stasis in a stressed rabbit. If your rabbit were eating, drinking, pooping and pee'ing but otherwise nearly immobile, I'd be perfectly happy with that, but 11 hours post-surgery and still not eating does concern me a bit. Any favorite treats you can tempt her with?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I just wanted to chime in about the animals on pain meds = risk of injury. In the vet world, this should not be an excuse to withhold pain management. I know this is a common concept people believe, and to some extent it makes sense. However, withholding pain medication should not be a substitute for management and the instances of animals hurting themselves more on pain meds is relatively rare. An animal with stitches should have proper precautions to prevent pulling them out (yes, stuff happens but the risk should be less with proper management), and an animal with orthopedic injury or surgery could have something like strict cage rest or controlled exercise (except for a few instances when cage rest may be contraindicated). In my opinion, it would be cruel to keep an animal painful when we can offer relief and every effort should be made to educate the owners how to manage the pets after injury or surgery to reduce issues. Again, stuff happens, but recent research aligns with giving pain medication whenever it is suspected an animal may have pain because the risk of injury is less than the risk of leaving an animal painful (remember, pain = stress, which equals stress hormone release and a whole host of other issues for the animal's body). My disclaimer here is that pain treatment should always be preceded by talking with your vet and discussing options, risks, and benefits for your particular animal. This is when you can also share concerns about the animal's personality or lifestyle management.

There are pain medications for rabbits and other small animals, but you will have to talk to your vet to get them. Definitely don't give anything OTC. Describe what you are seeing to your vet (in terms of how the rabbit is acting) and tell them your concerns.

 

[SammileeChickie]

Pain management in animals is a tough call. A lot of vets will tell you that when they give pain meds, it's often more for the owner's comfort than the animal's. 

As dainerra said, animals on pain medication are at a greater risk of doing too much, and injuring themselves further (shoot, some people do that, and they theoretically can understand that they shouldn't!). But on the other hand, an animal in severe pain may be hurting so much, it doesn't do what it needs to do to take care of itself. I'm more concerned about the "not eating" than I am about the "sitting hunched up, not moving." As you no doubt know, there is a risk of GI stasis in a stressed rabbit. If your rabbit were eating, drinking, pooping and pee'ing but otherwise nearly immobile, I'd be perfectly happy with that, but 11 hours post-surgery and still not eating does concern me a bit. Any favorite treats you can tempt her with?

That's what I am afraid of, today she ate half a teaspoon of baby food but that was it, I have a bowl of fresh greens and pellets and hay really close to her but she does not want to eat and I'm getting scared.
I'm going to try and give her a tomato or banana right now and see if she eats

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

That's what I am afraid of, today she ate half a teaspoon of baby food but that was it, I have a bowl of fresh greens and pellets and hay really close to her but she does not want to eat and I'm getting scared.
I'm going to try and give her a tomato or banana right now and see if she eats

I would definitely consider calling up the vet and telling them about this.

 

[dainerra]

it can take a long time for the surgery meds to wear off.

Chickerdoodle, yes pain management is important but not at the rate that most people expect it to be provided. Honestly, you give my dog a pain pill and you can forget the crate rest and controlled exercise. He ripped out his stitches while still at the vet's office. They gave him pain meds and said he would naturally be calm. He jumped up on the table, grabbed a pen and wanted to play "catch me if you can" with the vet techs. He's racing around the back of the clinic, flinging blood everywhere with the muscles on his foot flopping open. He was having a great time. Of course, he's not much different when you DON'T give him the meds so he's a bit of a nutcase anyway.
Keeping him off zero pain meds means that you can at least get a leash attached before he barrels you over and he only pouts for 20 minutes that you won't let him go racing around the yard like a lunatic.

Light pain meds (low dose or increased time between pills) is often necessary. But like everything else in America, people tend to overdo it.
My vet doesn't even give pain meds for minor injuries and even major surgeries get small doses of meds and only for 2 -3 days. Then the dog is re-evaluated if needed.

 

[Teila]

Hi there SammileeChickie

I personally have no experience with rabbits and the pain medication debate is going quite well without my input.

However, I did want to share a similar experience I had with my dog. When she was spayed and I got her home she would not move. She stayed on her blanket and refused to get up to the point that I called the Vet in to check on her.

Basically, she was fine and just being a little bit of a sook and feeling a little sorry for herself.

While I definitely would consider calling the Vet if you are concerned, your rabbit may just be having a sook moment of her own. Like their owners, our beloved pets probably all have their preferred method of dealing with post surgery .. rest up and recover or barrel into it like nothing happened

I hope your girl recovers well

 

[SammileeChickie]

Hi there SammileeChickie
 
I personally have no experience with rabbits and the pain medication debate is going quite well without my input.

However, I did want to share a similar experience I had with my dog.  When she was spayed and I got her home she would not move.  She stayed on her blanket and refused to get up to the point that I called the Vet in to check on her.

Basically, she was fine and just being a little bit of a sook and feeling a little sorry for herself.

While I definitely would consider calling the Vet if you are concerned, your rabbit may just be having a sook moment of her own.  Like their owners, our beloved pets probably all have their preferred method of dealing with post surgery .. rest up and recover or barrel into it like nothing happened 

I hope your girl recovers well 

Yeah it's okay for a dog not wanting to eat after surgery but just so you know rabbits can't go long without eating, their GI system has to constantly have food in it or else it will stop and they can die.

 

[SammileeChickie]

I would definitely consider calling up the vet and telling them about this.

I tried I called the animal emergency number they gave me and they didn't have the exotic vet in, so they gave me another number and the same thing happened. I got four different vet numbers and none had their exotic vet in. The last phone call, the woman told me vet usually will just give critical care. :/ I grinder up pellets to a dust and put water and baby food in it but my rabbit hates the syringe.!