Sick rabbit. HELP.

[Cosima]

Hi, if you can’t afford the full vet meds. You can ask your vet if anyone has donated Metacam or Reglan injections. You can also ask your vet for a clean subcutaneous needle to hydrate the rabbit if you can’t afford anything else. I donated all my rabbits meds after the last one passed away. I knew how it felt to be hit with $190-$750 per visit depending on what was wrong. Sometimes people donate all their left over meds and the vet will only give them to you if they know you’re really flat broke and have no way to pay and you either say you have to euthanize or leave with a dying , untreated rabbit. It’s unfair for people to claim they don’t have enough money to treat their rabbit at the moment if they really do and they just don’t want to pay the bill. So vets are very cautious with their donated meds. I’ve even used expired Reglan for my one rabbit during the night when he had stasis and it worked great, within 6 hours he was drinking and eating cilantro. My other advice is. Try to find someone that can remain calm to help you give the injections if you can’t or you need the rabbit to stay still. Most times I could sit on the floor, open my thighs and slide my rabbit backwards and gently, but firmly hold him for the injections into the loose skin on the back of his neck, but other times he would fight so bad I would accidentally stick him through the skin of neck, not have enough of his skin and have the needle go into my finger. All because I was afraid and panicked when I had to give meds or injections. Try to find anyone calm to help. If they panic, so will the rabbit. God luck to all that need it. I went through so much with tow siblings, both male. I took a break after the last one passed. It cost me a small fortune, but it was more the heartbreak that broke me. My one rabbit had megacolon since he was about 6 months old and it’s a common problem with Lop eared tri colored Charlie bunnies I found out.

This might sound weird for you guy but the entire region where I live only has one vet and do to some other complications it wasn’t worth it. Maybe if I have another rabbit get sick I will look into it.

 

[Bunnies4me]

Hello All, just thought I would add a bit more to this thread, as I have just had a Rex buck that knocked on deaths door and he pulled through. If I had left him in his cage he would surely have died during the night, and I was sure he died in my arms twice during the night, but thankfully he started going again. Yes, he was at the point where he couldn't hold his head up, limp and just like a dead weight, not strong enough to swallow for the most part. Eyes were glazed and alternate between closed and staring and at the point when I thought he'd gone, he blinked.

Here's what I syringe fed him during the night and he's on the mend now:
-Electrolyte drink:
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 Tablespoon Molasses
1/2 cup of hot water.
Try to feed this within a 24 hour window, but if you can get it into them in 12 hours all the better.

Baby food smooth (recommended for a 4month old human child). Flavours recommended: pear & banana, or Sweet Potato & carrot.

V8 Vegetable juice - not sure if this is something localised to my country, but it is a 3-veg juice, made by the companies that make dried stock powder / stock cubes. Literally vege juice made from tomato, carrot and celery, has no sweeteners.

Feed all of these warmed, stand in a cup of hot water to warm through. Will need to syringe these all in, depending on how sick your bunny is - if it is your first time syringe feeding, poke the syringe into the back of mouth, between the back teeth and front teeth, literally nearly at the start of the throat.

I believe it was hypothermia that he's had, as he has shed his winter coat and is growing his summer one, because we had a warm patch and now it has turned frigid again.