Act before symptoms, not after them
The most important step when a rabbit eats a poisonous plant happens while she still looks perfectly well: lift her away from the plant, remove any remaining pieces from reach, and phone your veterinarian immediately. Several garden plants that harm rabbits, including foxglove and lily of the valley, affect the heart or gut over hours rather than minutes, so a bright, eating rabbit at the moment you call can still be an animal your vet wants brought in or monitored closely. Waiting for obvious illness before seeking advice gives a slow poison a head start you cannot reclaim.
Identify exactly what was eaten
Your veterinarian's first questions will be which plant, which part, and roughly how much, so answer them as precisely as you can. Photograph the plant where it grows, including leaves, flowers, and its overall shape, and place a sample of the same plant in a sealed bag to take with you, handling unknown plants with gloves. Check the area for chewed stems, scattered leaves, or dug roots that show how much is missing, and note when the eating likely happened, because timing shapes how a vet judges the risk and what monitoring they advise.
What not to do at home
Do not try to make your rabbit sick, offer milk, salt water, or any other folk remedy, and do not offer extra foods in the hope of diluting what was eaten unless your veterinarian specifically advises it. Keep her warm, quiet, and supplied with her normal hay and water while you follow the vet's instructions, and watch droppings and appetite closely, since a rabbit whose gut slows down after eating something toxic needs that change reported back promptly. If a bonded companion shared the same area, mention that animal to the vet as well, even if you only saw one rabbit chewing.
Signs to report to the vet without delay
While you wait for or follow veterinary guidance, treat drooling, loss of appetite, a hunched posture, teeth grinding, diarrhoea or a sudden stop in droppings, wobbliness, laboured breathing, or unusual limpness as reasons to call back immediately rather than waiting for a scheduled check-in. Rabbits hide illness instinctively, so small changes in a rabbit known to have eaten a poisonous plant deserve more weight than the same changes on an ordinary day. Keep notes of times and changes as they happen; a clear sequence is genuinely useful clinical information.
Preventing the second time, and arriving prepared
Once the emergency is handled, walk the whole grazing area and remove or fence the plant involved plus anything else you cannot confidently name, because a rabbit that found one border plant palatable will browse the same patch again. Arriving at the clinic organised also shortens the scramble at the worst moment — KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps your rabbit's records together in one portable packet, so her history, usual care, and past problems are ready to hand to the treating vet alongside your photo of the plant, wherever you have had to travel for emergency care.