Dwarf rabbit health

Question
Hi! I own a 2 year old dwarf rabbit doe. On July 2nd I travelled, along with my rabbit, to visit my uncle in the hopes of mating her with a buck. We left her there for 5 days. Since she's returned, she hasn't eaten anything (except for a bit of banana). She has been drinking and licking her salt tablet, but she hasn't defecated since returning. We know that while she was down there, she ate a bit of tomatoe, but otherwise nothing was out of the ordinary. I guessed that maybe she was traumatized, stressed or something of the sort, but I have no idea. I think that this is a somewhat serious problem as it's been 3 days so far without eating or defecating. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi Ken

I can't tell you exactly what is wrong with your rabbit but I can tell you that I agree it is a serious problem.  Generally a rabbit that goes over 24 hours without eating should be examined by a vet.  A rabbit that has gone 3 days without eating and has not produced any fecal pellets is in serious trouble.  These are signs of GI stasis, basically the GI system has shut down and the absolute only way to fix it is to get her to a veterinarian who specializes in exotic pets or is rabbit savvy immediately.

In this case I would rush her to the nearest 24 hour animal hospital that treats exotic animals rather than wait for an appointment.  If you don't already have a vet then start looking through your phone book and calling every vet you can find.  Ask them if they treat exotic pets.  If they don't ask them where the nearest animal hospital that does is located.  Most of them will be able to tell you.

You can also try this site.  You might get lucky:

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

Remember that there aren't that many vets who specialize in exotic pets, which is what rabbits fall under.  So don't be surprised if it is a few hour drive.  In any case it will be worth it.

While you are getting everything ready to go try giving your rabbit some non flavored pedialyte with her water.  This may help keep her alive until you can get to the emergency room.

I am so sorry that your bunny is sick, I am sure the tomato had nothing to do with it.

Good luck

Pam