Sick Buck - out of the woods!

[Bad Habit]

I thought he was dead when I first found him, sitting facing the corner, not moving. Looked frozen, hardly moved when I picked him up(almost like he was in rigor). He had gone from being a little ribby to omg skinny overnight.

Got him inside, warming up, in an all wire cage, a pile of hay to sit on, and a bowl of warm oatmeal.

He didn't seem to be eating or drinking, so I made my dad drive me to the drug store, so I could get pedialite and an oral medication syringe. Got back, and he had been chowing down on the oatmeal. I took the bowl out and made him fresh stuff(so it would be warm again), and he tried hopping around looking for his food. I gave him pedialite 1/2 and 1/2 with hot water, and more oatmeal, and he's been working on both.

I was a couple hours later than normal feeding tonight(like 3 or 4?), because I slept in and didn't get a chance to do them before we left this morning. I usually do 11 and 11, as I am often home an awake at both those times.

I had been trying to switch feeds, and a few days ago switched to completely the new stuff. All the vlops had been feeling a little ribby, but the girls all got grains in the evening and pellets in the morning. I was finding the rabbits wasting a lot more of their pellets than normal, digging through them... I think they wanted the old stuff.

Luckily I was at TSC today, and decided to get a bag of kibble, because some of the rabbits were feeling ribby, and I wasn't happy with how they were dealing with their food. So I will be transitioning everyone over to that. I am pretty sure that Finn was wasting his food, not eating it. I feel horrible that I didn't notice it sooner, I did notice he was a bit off, but I didn't realize he was this bad .

I have a feeling it is going to be a long night for me while I watch him carefully and see what happens.

 

[Zass]

I have had a lot of success with herbs that are good for tummy problems, stuff like fennel and dill.

 

[Bad Habit]

He's doing better. Has gotten about 1/2 a cup of pedialite in him, and is not nearly so cold to the touch. Eating oatmeal, nibbling hay and trying to clean himself.

I am hoping tomorrow I can switch from oatmeal to rolled oats.<br /><br />__________ Sat Nov 30, 2013 12:15 pm __________<br /><br />He's doing much better now. Elasticity in his skin is back to normal, and his face looks better(his eyes were all squinty last night, but they're open like normal now.) I gave him a wee little bit of pedialite this morning, and made him fresh oatmeal, and will try rolled oats and stop with the pedialite after this dish. He dove right into the oatmeal when I gave him the fresh stuff, and I think he even ate some of the hay I gave him for a bed. He's moving around more, but his movement is still off - I am worried about frostbite to his feet and ears, he's walking like he can't feel his hind feet, and his ears are still cold to the touch, like they aren't getting proper blood flow. Gonna crack open the new bag of old feed today and give him a small dish of that, mixed with oats, depending on how he does with the oats. I feel like the crisis is over at this point, and it's just a matter of building his mass back up, and keeping him INSIDE in a cage with a dish he cannot dig out, and a water bottle so he can't play in his water dish anymore. And on food that I've been feeding for over a year and can trust. So angry about the food switch, so glad I bought a bag of the regular food yesterday.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'm glad he's doing better! Good save!

That's weird about his hind feet though. I can understand possible frostbite to the ears, but the feet are so well furred that it seems unlikely. Unless they got wet from playing with his water. :?

 

[Bad Habit]

He does play in his water dish. I assume that he got his hay wet, and then sat on it, which would have gotten his hind feet wet. I'm hoping that if he loses anything to frostbite, it is only his ears. I can handle that, I had been hoping to maybe show him in the new year, however I'm just happy he's still alive at this point.<br /><br />__________ Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:04 pm __________<br /><br />Crossposting this from my personal and rabbitry fb page :

Gave Finn some plain rolled oats, and refilled his water bottle, so I can tell if he's been drinking. He does also have a small dish of pedialite, if he drinks that but not from the water bottle, I will give him a dish of water as well. He is more alert, now you can tell he is just resting, rather than catatonic. He looks at me when I come in, and asked to be taken out once. I of course took him out for a very gentle cuddle and pet. He also has peed, finally. No poops that I could see, but they could be in the hay.

Everyone else is still fine. I brought 4 of the girls in the house, and hope to bring in 2 more. The girls who are in are VERY happy to have become house pets. They are also all making a mess digging out the Co-Op pellets to find the TSC pellets. I would LOVE, when all this is said and done, to have all the pet rabbits in the house, and the meat rabbits outside... But the bucks are going to have to wait until I have money to make a new cage complex. I just don't have enough room right now. One cage is useless to me, one cage got broken. I currently have 2 large sized cages, and a 24x24 cage, and a composite cage(3 little cages strung together). I will need at least 1 large sized cage, if not 2, for upcoming litters. I have Bonnet and Quinn still to bring in. Rufus and Snow are fine for now, and if something changes, I can put them in the 22x15 cage and squeeze that in somewhere. Not ideal, but...