103. The bony Angorra rabbit will not eat.

"My rabbit has not been eating for the past 2 days," the first-time rabbit owner took leave to seek veterinary treatment. "She just sits around and will not greet me when I come home."

"Has she got diarrhoea?" I asked. "This Angorra has a beautiful coat which camouflages her lack of weight gain. She is as extremely thin and can die anytime due to lack of health." I taught her how to feel the spines of the thin rabbit. Sharp spinal process poked at her index finger as she felt the whole length of the spine. There was no fat layer.

The lady said, "My rabbit eats all day. At times he has loose stools. Why is he not putting on weight?"

"Much depends on the quality of food and the rabbit's lifestyle of gnawing at objects that may cause watery stools. Did you smell the rabbit pellets to get an impression whether they were of poor quality?". A smelly pellet or hay pieces may indicate something is wrong. You will need to know how to judge by the smell.

I tried to take the temperature. A few pellets of stools and some wet faeces matted the swollen anal area. The rabbit disliked this handling. So, I stopped taking the temperature from the rectum.

This is the type of case where the rabbit appeared healthy and alive. If the vet gave an injection and the rabbit dies due to pre-existing diseases, he gets the blame. The owner needs to be warned.

I gave the rabbit an antibiotic and dextrose saline injection and asked the owner to hand feed the rabbit with rabbit food pellets slowly as whole pieces or wet ones.

"Hand feed?" the career lady queried me. "I don't know how to do. In any case, my rabbit does not stay still."

"Put the rabbit on the table. Grip the upper jaw with your left hand. Push a small pellet inside his mouth." I said. "Do you have any pellets?"

"No," she said. I saw the teacher with her pet rabbit of around 4 months in the waiting room. She might have some. She took out a small plastic bag of pellets to help me out as I did not have any. That was kind of her.

I demonstrated to the Angorra rabbit owner by pushing a pellet into the mouth, close the jaws and tilt the head. The rabbit wrinkled her lips and swallowed it. Now, it was the lady's turn. The rabbit was held but she was wiser. She would have none of the nonsense of being force-fed. She just turned his head away and would have stomped her foot if she was well.

"Let her smell the pellet," I advised. The rabbit was not interested in food and just turned his head.

Now, will the rabbit die if she does not eat for another day? She would have a gut infection or intoxication. I gave her the injections of antibiotics and dextrose saline and advised the owner to tel me if the rabbit did not eat the next day. Hand feeding was out of question.

Early the next day, she text messaged me "this morning she goes back to be an active hungry rabbit as usual. I will monitor her condition and will give her another 2 days antibioitics. Thank you very much."

That was good news. Seldom do I get feedback. Text messages are best and effective. As to the cause of the suspected fever, it would have to be something upsetting the rabbit's gut.