Pet Forum / Mammals / Rabbits / January 2008

Pepper - she of the cast-iron tummy, has finally met her match.

Apparently she got a free sample packet of Citrucel (sweetened and
flavored fiber supplement) out of the trash- I found orange powder
scattered around the hallway carpet when I got home from work in the
evening.

She didn't come running for her greens as usual, and when I went looking
for her she didn't come out. She stayed hunched up in the corner, and
wouldn't take cilantro when I shoved it in front of her nose. I picked
her up and her poor tummy was all blowed up like a furry little balloon!

Luckily, I had put together a basic bunny-kit when I first adopted her
so I had simethecome and a dropper on hand.  I dosed her and rubbed her
tummy for while. She didn't fight me, so I KNEW she was feeling poorly.
 She wiggled loose after about 5 minutes, and went back to the corner.
 I went ahead and went to an appointment I had, and was back in 3 hours.

By that point her tummy was close to normal, though she still looked
uncomfy.   So she got another dose of simethecone and 2 syringes of
water because she didn't seem to have drunk. And she even nibbled a tiny
bit of green pepper!(And chewed a hole in my pants out of irritation)

I went to bed but set an alarm for 1:30 AM- by then she had eaten most
of her veggies.  At 4:30 AM she had eaten about half her pellets, so she
got 2 more syringes of water, and by 9AM both pellet-bowl and
greens-plate were empty and she was lounging on the windowsill with feet
outstretched.

She's fine.  Her Mommy on the other hand could do with a bit of a nap...

Wendy Z