Pen G Shot and Tummy Problems?

[Dobby]

For anyone who has followed some of my previous threads, the good news is that Pip got neutered and had his teeth trimmed yesterday and is doing well. 

The bad news is about Dobby.  He isn't really eating…or pooping.  He got a Pen G shot yesterday – in case he picked up Pip's syphillis – and was fine last night.  But today, not so much.  I woke up to find his salad from last night barely touched and he's only taken small bites of a few things throughout the day.  I even let him see Pip, in the hopes that we'd get some poop wars going but that didn't help.  I've called the vet and just did my first forced feeding of Critical Care.  The vet's office said if I don't see anything in the next few hours that I might need to bring him in.  Ugh.

I know Pen G shots aren't supposed to bother the digestive track but I don't know what else it could be.  Has anyone's rabbits every experienced this kind of reaction to it?

[Dobby]

We have unforced hay and veggie eating!!! Fingers crossed it comes out the other end soon. 🙂

[Sarita]

Glad he’s eating – I imagine however it was a multitude of reasons including teeth and neutering.

[Dobby]

Sarita – Just to clarify, I have two rabbits. Pip got neutered and had a teeth trim yesterday. He’s eating and pooping well and the incision looks good.

Dobby only got a Pen G shot yesterday. He got it because the vet thought there was a good chance he could have been previously infected with syphilis by Pip, who had it and was treated effectively with Pen G a couple of weeks ago. Dobby was supposed to get a few more shots but the vet and I agree that we need to hold off on those for now. I’m not going to treat him for something he might or might not have if the treatment is possibly behind his eating and pooping problems.

Speaking of which, still no pooping. How long do you think I should give the veggies and hay he just ate? I’m leaning towards taking him to the vet in about a half hour if I see nothing. It will be then be about 12 hours since I last saw a poop.

[Dobby]

Called the vet again – they have an exotic vet in their emergency room all night – and they said if he is active, which he is, I can watch him overnight. He’s munching hay as we speak. They also said I should give him more Critical Care, but to make it more watery to make sure he is getting enough water.

[Rufus]

Poor Dobby! Hope he’s back to normal soon.

[Dobby]

Ugh, ugh, ugh. The fire alarm just went off in my building so I had to walk them both down 12 flights of stairs with the alarm blaring. Who knows what this is going to do to both of their recoveries.

Someone asked one of the firemen if their was actually a fire after we got the all clear and he said no. Someone pulled the alarm!!! In the middle of the night! In a building with quite a few elderly residents. People really are awful sometimes.

[Dobby]

After not too much sleep, I woke up to find poops scattered in Dobby’s cage. Yay! I hoped that things would keep improving.

He continued to poop occasionally this morning but they stopped mid morning. He also hasn’t touched his pellets for the second day in a row. He has munched a bit of hay and kale when I hand feed him. I gave him Critical Care this morning. And will again soon. Luckily I’m working from home tomorrow so can watch him closely for another day.

I think if I see the same thing tomorrow I’ll try to get him in to see the vet. If anyone has any other suggestions or similar experiences, I’d love to hear about them.

[jerseygirl]

How’s Dobby doing now?

While injectable pen is safer for rabbits, it’s not without risk. Dobby may be a bit sensitive to it. Though, it seems his gut trouble came on fast for that??. I have no idea when one would see a side effect of penicillin.
I wondered if perhaps it was some stress from a vet visit that upset him? Or did you give the shot at home?

Stress is a funny thing. It can be a problem but sometimes a blessing. Its a known trigger for gut stasis but some of the stress and movement from your fire evac might also have been enough to get his gut moving better. Sorry to hear you had to deal with that! What a giant pain.

With elderly residents in the building, it crossed my mind that one could have set off the alarm.
I’ve worked with aged citizens before and evenings and nighttime can be a confusing time for some older folk.

[Dobby]

I’m happy to report that both of my furry roommates are well on their way to being back to normal. Dobby still hasn’t eaten his normal amount of pellets during the day but he is chowing down on hay and veggies and engaging in some epic, but one sided, poop wars when he is near Pip. (They are still just meeting through a gate at this point.) And Pip is full of energy, awesome with his litter habits, and eager to be allowed some space to run around. But the vet says I should keep him somewhat contained for 10 days, at which time he’ll have a free follow up appt. to make sure all is well.

Jerseygirl – You’re point about the stress of the visit to the vet is definitely a possibility. Both the visit and the shot would have been about 16 -18 hours before I gave Dobby his bedtime salad and he decided he didn’t want it. So it could have been either. I plan to discuss it in more detail with the vet when I take Pip back in. I am a little scared to try the Pen G again, if that’s what caused it. Luckily he is asyptomatic, if he does have anything, so I don’t need to treat him right this second.

No more word on if they’ve figured out who was responsible for the fire alarm. I think the scariest thing was that, in a building with 336 units, I only saw about 60-80 people outside. I don’t know if people slept through, just ignored it, or couldn’t get down the stairs. It was a Saturday night but I can’t imagine everyone was still out on the town at 2 am. (Although there were a few inebriated residents who had obviously just ended their nights out and were way overdressed for the evacuation. 🙂

[Dobby]

The fire alarm went off again last night at 1:30 in the morning. Dobby was not quite as cooperative getting in his carrier this time and had a bit of a fall. But he seems fine this morning. And I had taken something to help me sleep so I wasn’t as with it as I should have been for the hike down the stairs. I think the problem of the boy who cried wolf is going to become very real if this happens again.

[jerseygirl]

Eek!
I hope this doesn’t stress the boys out too badly.

I suppose a plus side to this is you’ve gotten some practice doing an evac. Still… what an absolute pain in the middle of the night!!!! ugh. My commiserations.

[Author]

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