# My rabbit choked last night



## Malibustace (Sep 18, 2013)

I have 2 boy rabbits who are around 12/13 weeks old, I've been reading up on them and found that I was over feeding them on pellets (2 bowls a day) when apparently I should be limiting pellets and feeding them more hay, vegetables etc....so I googled the kind of veg/fruit they are allowed, and have started giving them little nibbles of parnips, chopped apple, and grape. Last night I fed them half a grape each (small) and one of them started to look agitated, he seemed to be trying to claw at food in his mouth, he then started making strange coughing/gurgling noises & generally panicking  I didn't know what to do, so I picked him up & tried to open his mouth in-case he had food lodged, he wouldn't let me put my finger in, but then suddenly he seemed to be sick, clear fluid came out of his mouth, I put him back in his hutch and he was sick? a little bit more. Once he'd calmed a little I fetched him back out of the hutch and took him into the house for cuddles (he loves a cuddle) his breathing seemed to settle, and he had a snuggle for half an hour. Once back in the hutch he seemed quiet & subdued, checked on him this morning & he seems back to his usual happy, energetic self, jumping around waiting for breakfast.

The thing that's worrying (after reading the horror stories online) is that he's at risk of developing pneumonia  do I need to get him checked out with the vet, or is he ok now? Shall I just keep my eye on him?

Also, I haven't fed them yet today, I'm scared that one of them will choke again. I did leave them a handful of hay this morning, but was too frightened to give them any pellets. And I definitely won't be giving them grapes ever again!!

Any advice would really be appreciated x


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

By the sounds of it your rabbit may have chocked a bit, however rabbits can't be sick so what you saw was just drool.
I would pop them along to the vet to get their teeth checked out as this may indicate spurs on the back teeth which will need sorting before they get too bad and stop them from eating.

Please, please don't restrict your rabbits food...to keep their guts working they have to continuously eat throughout the day, if you restrict their food then you risk sending them into GA. Stasis which can be fatal if not treated right.

When giving rabbits grapes you should be careful to not feed them too much because it can easily cause digestive troubles and diarrhea. This happens when bad bacteria quickly digest the sugar and produce gas (your rabbit will become bloated) and change the pH of the digestive system. This reduces the growth of good bacteria that normally produce the B-vitamins and other important nutrients that your rabbit needs to be healthy.
Where the grapes seedless?

If not, it could have been a seed that became slightly wedged in their tiny digestive tract.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I look after two rabbits and I never give them fruit, they get hay and rabbit pellets with the occaisonal dandelion leaves when they're growing in spring/summer, and some carrots if we have any.


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## Malibustace (Sep 18, 2013)

StormyThai said:


> By the sounds of it your rabbit may have chocked a bit, however rabbits can't be sick so what you saw was just drool.
> I would pop them along to the vet to get their teeth checked out as this may indicate spurs on the back teeth which will need sorting before they get too bad and stop them from eating.
> 
> Please, please don't restrict your rabbits food...to keep their guts working they have to continuously eat throughout the day, if you restrict their food then you risk sending them into GA. Stasis which can be fatal if not treated right.
> ...


Hi, yes the grapes were seedless, and I only gave them 2 halves of a fairly small grape each. I have a thing about grapes anyway, I still cut them small for my children as I'm so paranoid that they'll choke  I'll feed some pellets when I get home tonight. Could it be that they are maybe too young to be eating fruit/veg?

Also, any advice on toilet training would be appreciated....at the moment they're doing their business in every corner of their hutch, upstairs & down, and it looks as though they do it as they walk around too. I cleaned them out last night and within an hour their 'bedroom' was soiled quite a lot & their 'living room' was scattered with pooh too.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

I have seen my rabbits do this on occasion. They have had no ill effects long term. Like the above post says get their teeth checked just in case. But please don't restrict food as they need a continuos supply to remain healthy tummy wise and dental wise.


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## Malibustace (Sep 18, 2013)

Lopside said:


> I have seen my rabbits do this on occasion. They have had no ill effects long term. Like the above post says get their teeth checked just in case. But please don't restrict food as they need a continuos supply to remain healthy tummy wise and dental wise.


Hi, thanks for your reply. What do you recommend I feed them on a daily basis? At the moment they have plenty of hay, and 2 bowls of nuggets, and I've occasionally given them apple, grapes, parsnip & cabbage, but only little tasters of it.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

I would say two bowls of pellets might be a lot for two small rabbits. Depends on the size of your bowls!! I feed plenty of hay and scatter the pellets through so they have to search them out. I only feed veg a couple of times a week and that's only small amounts.


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

A quick choke and a splutter isn't nice to see,but isn't likely to harm.

But choking can be much more serious.

One of our buns, a few years ago, grapped a pellet, and jumped into the hutch, which caused her to choke. She began to pour "drool" from her nose and mouth and was really distressed.

We made an emergency dash to the vets, with her pouring "drool" all the way. They put her on oxygen, and gave her diuretics, and she was in a very poorly state. We didn't think she would survive as she had other stuff going on too, so we actually said our Goodbyes.

They also gave her antibiotics to help fend off secondary infection/pneumonia.

Amazingly, she came home later that day, very skinny (from diuretics), and never had it happen again.

Another rabbit I know used to regularly choke on a particular type of pellet, so he had to be fed something smaller. He later turned out to have teeth issues.

So yes - get those teeth checked. And perhaps avoid the grapes.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

Summersky said:


> A quick choke and a splutter isn't nice to see,but isn't likely to harm.
> 
> But choking can be much more serious.
> 
> ...


Funny you should mention pellet size cos all three of my frenchies have choked at one time or another and I'm wondering about switching to a smaller pellet. They have SS at the mo


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Lopside said:


> Funny you should mention pellet size cos all three of my frenchies have choked at one time or another and I'm wondering about switching to a smaller pellet. They have SS at the mo


We feed ours SS, with no problems, but interestingly enough, it was the standard SS that this rabbit ( in a local rescue) kept choking on. He was put back on Brgess excell. Eventually he developed a major tooth abscess, and sadly had to be put to sleep. With hindsight, the problems with eating the SS pellets were a warning sign that all was not well.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Rabbits can choke a trip to your vets won't do him any harm and your boys will need neutering soon so it would be good to discus this with your vet at the appointment.

The vegetable you have listed our treats that's should be fed very sparingly, a little piece once a week as they contain lots of sugar and carbonhydrates. The veg you should be feeding should be green leaves like dandilions and grass. There is a safe food list in the sticky section at the top of this forum. With young rabbits you must be extra careful and introduce new veg very slowly. a little piece once a day for a week then 2 pieces for a week etc keep an eye on their poos.

Pellet wise if thy are average sized bunnies while they are young you can give them 2 handfuls/egg cup of pellets each a day you would be best to split the feed half in the morning and half at night. When they get to 6months you will need to rescue this to 1 handful each a day. 

The rest of they day rabbits need unlimited hay, this should make up 80-90% of their diet without hay their teeh overgrow and their guts don't function properly. good quality hay should smell sweet not mouldy. As a guideline they will need an amount of fresh hay daily the size of their bodies.


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## Malibustace (Sep 18, 2013)

I'm feeding them pellets for baby rabbits, so I presume these are classed as smaller pellets? I'll have a look at the weekend see if they come any smaller, as I'm really worried about them choking again. Scattering the pellets sounds like a good idea, as I find they both run to their bowl and eat like they've never been fed! I'd say the bowl I use (they share) is on the small side, probably the same circumference as a large mug.

Hay-wise I feed them Timothy's feeding hay, I leave them plenty to nibble on whilst I'm at work, then another handful at teatime, and more at bedtime


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## Summersky (Aug 11, 2012)

Chances are it was just a fluke, but get him vet checked for peace of mind.

Then scatter feed - much more interesting for the buns to "forage" for their food.

It wouldn't be cruel to keep them on a hay/pellet diet, provided the pellets are of a high quality.


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

I don't have any advice on choking, poor bun, it must have been frightening for both of you.

Litter training I found this worked.

I put a litter tray in their favourite toileting areas, it was hit and miss initially. Stick with it.

I stopped putting a layer of hay at the bottom part of their hutch and moved the litter trays to where I want them to toilet. I started out with four litter trays. I now use two in the top part of one hutch, this is working well for us. There are the odd poo balls which I just sweep up, but they are weeing in the trays and most of their poos are in the trays too.

Ideally you need a high large corner litter tray, I am using the Bob Martin cat litter trays. I wasn't expecting it to work and these cost a little under £2 each, as opposed to £12 for a large corner rabbit litter tray. The problem with mine is that Betty will sit in the tray with her bum hanging out so most of her wee is in the tray and the rest misses the tray.


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## Lopside (Mar 20, 2012)

Summersky said:


> We feed ours SS, with no problems, but interestingly enough, it was the standard SS that this rabbit ( in a local rescue) kept choking on. He was put back on Brgess excell. Eventually he developed a major tooth abscess, and sadly had to be put to sleep. With hindsight, the problems with eating the SS pellets were a warning sign that all was not well.


Was he a big lop? I have mine dentally checked each time I go to the vets, and the on,y three that have exhibited this behaviour are the three frenchies. Teeth all look fine and no other symptoms. I wonder if its cos they are super greedy and have big mouths so don't chew properly? Or to do with the shape of their heads.


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