My bunny...

Question
My rabbit has stopped eating in the last day. I hear his tummy rumbling and when I try to force feed him with a syringe he grinds his teeth. He's also been shedding quite a bit and I've been trying to brush off all the fur I can. I don't know if his shedding might have something to do with him not eating. I also just came back from a three week long vactaion and I don't know if maybe the stress of that might have affected him.

Answer
Hi Nettie

I don't know what happened to your bunny but I do know that he is in serious trouble.  When a bunny stops eating it means that their stomach has shut down.  If he is not producing any droppings then he is in full ileus (complete GI shutdown) and he only has a matter of days if not hours to survive.  If he is still producing a few droppings then he is only in the beginning stages of GI stasis and his prognosis is a little bit better.  In either case he needs to be rushed to a good rabbit vet immediately.  The fact that he is grinding his teeth means that he is in pain.  even force feeding him is not going to help at this point.  He needs GI motility drugs and most likely sub Q fluid replacement.

If you need help finding a vet you can try this site

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

If you don't see anything in your area then pick up your phone book and look for the any animal hospital in your region.  Call them and ask them if they treat exotic pets.  If they don't then ask them the nearest place that does.  It is not uncommon to have to drive an hour or 2 to find a good vet but it is necessary at this point.  

I am going to attach a web-site on ileus written by Ms. Dana Krempels.  It explains what GI stasis is and why it is a true emergency.

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

I also doubt that it has anything to do with molting but there is a slight possibility that he ingested enough hair to cause a fur block.  It is more likely that something else has caused the problem.  At this point it really doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that he see a doctor ASAP.

Good luck and I will pray for your little bunny tonight.

Sincerely,

Pam