post-op eating

Question
Hi.

I had my netherland dwarf castrated two days ago and since then he's not been eating much. He's been back to the vets twice to be syringe fed and I've tried to do this on my own. He's eating some vegetables with prompting, but I want to know how much is enough for him to be eating to be kept at home and not on the syringe feed?

Also, during one of his syringe feeds he squeaked really loudly and counghed afterwards. Is this normal?

Answer
Dear Coral,

If he's not eating again on his own by three days after surgery, I would get him back to the vet, and possibly to a *different* vet, if the one you saw is not particularly experienced with rabbits.  You can find a good vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If he's not wanting to eat, and not producing any fecal pellets, the stress and pain of surgery might be causing his GI tract to slow down, which can be very serious.  Please read:

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

No, it's not normal for him to squeak and cough during feeding!  I hope he didn't aspirate any food, because this could cause aspiration pneumonia.  Please tell your vet about this episode, and ask whether prophylactic antibiotics might be necessary.  The vet can listen to the bunny's chest  and see if there is a problem.

I hope he'll be okay soon, and I hope this helps.

Dana