Full tummy sleepy bunny.

The little munchkin fell asleep in my lap after getting ~10mL of ground oats and critical care mixed with baby food.  Surprisingly little mess this time around, which was nice!

If you're ever in need of force-feeding your bunny, here's some helpful advice:

1.  For the amount to feed your bunny, use this formula:

10-15 ml food mixture per kg body weight for each feeding (source:  BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine table 7.37 pg 100)

Expect to feed ~4 times a day at least 3-4 hours apart.

Try to feed a small amount per mouthful (0.5 ml-3 ml) depending on the size of your rabbit.  Take it slow and give them time to chew and swallow.  Make sure they didn't cheek the food before giving them more (River is famous for doing this).

Make sure the food is at least room temp before giving if you've saved unused portions in the 'fridge.  You don't want to decrease your sick bunny's core temperature by giving them cold food.

Here's a good video from NorthStar Vets showing how to syringe feed a bunny:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhcEVaK32So

2.  Try to give any antibiotic an hour or so after a feeding so that they have a slightly emptier stomach unless indicated otherwise by your vet/medicine packaging.  This will decrease the chance of something in the food interfering with the drug's absorption.

River is taking Enrofloxacin (Baytril) and the calcium present in critical care can decrease the effectiveness of the drug (source: https://www.marvistavet.com/enrofloxacin.pml).  I didn't realize this until she wasn't showing as much improvement as expected a few days into giving her the med along with force-feeding.

Nothing was mentioned about taking the drug on an 'empty' stomach on our printed label--it was a pour-off tube instead of a packaged bottle from the manufacturer with the box and any package inserts.  I mention this because it's common for vets to give liquid antibiotics and pain medicines this way, so you should look up the appropriate drug info or ask the vet/vet tech when they hand you the meds (which I clearly neglected to do at the time).

3.  Keep a bowl of water and some paper towels handy so you can clean your bunny up during and after the force-feeding.  They're also good for wiping down the tip of the feeding syringe to help prevent messes before they start.  Q-tips are good for wiping noses if they have an upper respiratory/sinus issue.

4.  You can mix fruit flavored baby food (banana/banana-blueberry/apple) into the critical care to increase the amount of calories you're giving.  You can also add a small amount of finely ground and sieved old fashioned oats to further increase the calorie content.

My recipe that's easy to draw up with a 5 ml syringe and lasts us a day:

3g finely ground and sieved old fashioned oats

6g apple-banana flavored Oxbow Critical Care

18g banana-blueberry baby food

22g warm water

Hope this helps anyone who needs to tend a sick or elderly bunny! 

Plotting revenge.

River has come to the realization that if she pees on me while I force-feed or give medicine, I can just hop in the shower and wash all the clothes and towels.  She has decided that a more permanent pee receptacle must be located.

Thanks for visiting the blog and we hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay safe out there and we'll be back with more bunny cuteness on Monday.

Gave us a scare!

Sorry for the late post.  River wasn't feeling too well around 11pm--breathing very fast, listless, and her little ears were very warm.  I ended up giving her a bit of pain reliever/fever reducer and made an ice bag to help her cool down.

This is her an hour later once the meds kicked in and shortly after binkying around the living room.  She ignored the offered blueberry (letting Mr. Giraffe guard it from Simon), but scarfed down a cranberry along with some oats and a few pellets.  Not sure what the issue was, but we'll keep an eye on her.  Could be that elder buns are a bit more sensitive to temperature increases (it was about 76 F indoors).

Thanks for visiting the blog and we hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay safe out there and we'll be back with more bunny cuteness on Monday.

So over it.

Just one more day of antibiotics, ear drops, and (hopefully) force-feedings!  It's hard to tell if she's feeling better given the toll the meds have taken on her appetite, but she's given us glimpses of her old self so that's a good start.

Asking the tough questions.

You know I love you, but could you please stay 6 hops over there?  I can just blow you some kisses.  I don't want what you have.

Thanks for visiting the blog and we hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay safe out there and we'll be back with more bunny cuteness on Monday.

Plotting revenge.

You know, the second time I peed on the little human today didn't bring quite the same feeling of accomplishment as the first.  I think I'm going to have to change things up and pee in her shoe or something.

Poor River can't seem to catch a break.  She ended up with an ear infection and snuffles, so she's entering day 8 of ear drops and banana flavored antibiotics...and more force-feeding.  One more week to go! 

Update:  12:35am River is eating alfalfa hay!!!  This is the first hay of any kind she's managed to eat since June.  Huzzah!!!

Mood: Cranky.

River's getting over an eye infection and the antibiotic eye drops had messed with her appetite.  Here she is sulking after a force feeding and face cleaning.  She would never normally lay there, so I think she's trying to prevent me from getting at my change of clothes.

Apology greens not accepted.  I guess I'll have to keep wearing my bunny food and water-soaked ensemble for a bit longer.  I like to let her think she's winning to keep her morale up. 😉

Let's keep the streak going!

It has been 24 hours since either bunny has had medicine, a force-feeding, or has peed on me.

It all started with River's 3-day stint where she selectively forgot how to eat any solid food aside from the random piece of banana chip or candy in her pellets.  She acted hungry and showed interest in food, but refused to eat anything.  No signs of pain and her teeth looked good, so maybe a mini stroke or she's getting a bit dotty in her old age.

I had to play dirty and paint her front paws with critical care since she refused to swallow it from the syringe or actively tried to stick her tongue in it to make it spray everywhere.  I also discovered that if I made it into a thin paste, she would lap up off of a plastic lid, which was way cleaner than the finger paint method with the bonus that she wouldn't flick it off of her paws all over the place.  I also managed to get her to anger eat some celery by gently whapping her in the face with it until she'd try a bite.

Just when I finally got River to eat pellets again and put away the bunny medical supplies, Simon decided to hop on the sick bunny bandwagon.  We had some pretty severe storms come through the area and think the stress of the howling wind and thunder spooked him enough to stop eating.

Needless to say, I was very unpopular around here.  The bunny shunning was real and intense!

Thankfully, they're both slowly getting back to their normal feeding routine, they're having fun playing tag, and I've been given a full pardon for my earlier transgressions.  Life is good!