sick bunny already brought to the vet

Question
Hi.....I'm writing to you about Mrs. Bella, she's 1yr. old.. weights 3 1/2 pound...Netherland dwarf..Her symptoms were..not eating..not pooping....shedding fiercely (handfuls) She stays in the same place ALL the time, she seems like shes unable to move or chooses not to due to pain? She's been on antibiotics for 4 days....we're seeing very minimal improvement so far she she'll eat only fresh fruits & vegetables (suggested by the vet) & she finally started pooping again but...... she still stays in one place & now she's literally pulling off her own fur? We're not sure if shes just cleaning & getting the loose fur off or what....An ant spray was used, the directions said it wasn't harmful to animals after it dried?? The vet checked out the label but wasn't sure so he placed her on the antibiotics.  Would you or anybody else possibly know if toxins would cause these types of symptoms & what we can do to help her?  Please? I'm afraid she's going to die if keep waiting for the antibiotics to perform a miracle..   :{   Thank you so much for reading my question and any hope you can possibly give us!  Shes my baby girl...  
Thanks Again
Debbie

Answer
Dear Debbie,

I would recommend that you find an experienced rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and have blood drawn to check her liver and kidney function.  There is no such thing as any insecticidal spray that's totally harmless to small mammals, and if she managed to get any on her or ingest it, this could be the problem.

Unfortunately, if it's been days since she ingested the spray, then emergency measures such as giving her Questran (cholestyramine resin) and activated charcoal to absorb the toxins are too late.  You may have to just resort to supportive care such as subcutaneous fluid therapy and  liver support (e.g., vitamin B injections, milk thistle extract) and keep her as well as you can while her body heals.

But again, without more information it's not possible to know exactly what's going on with her.  

Dwarf rabbits are also very prone to dental problems, and if they are so bad that they elicit GI tract slowdown (a rabbit's common response to stress/pain/illness), then this, too, could be a reason for her abdominal pain.  

I would recommend you read the following articles carefully:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

and have a good vet do bloodwork to see if there's more going on here than meets the eye.  The "sickbun" article will explain how to take her temperature, which is very important for monitoring her state of health.

Groom all the loose fur off her that you can.  Ingesting fur is the last thing she needs right now.  Be sure she has plenty of fresh grass hay available, as a sick bunny will often preferentially eat that, along with fresh, wet greens.  This will help her move things through the gut.

I hope this will help, and that she'll begin recovering soon.

Dana