GI stasis / surgery recovery

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 12sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 4 months ago by DanaNM.

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- 07/02/2022 at 10:57 PM
  Oz_TheGreat
  Participant
  6 posts
  Hello everyone!
  
  I just found out about this rabbit community, and glad I did since there is so much good information on it.
  
  I wish that were better circumstances that led me here, I am the happy companion of a mischievous, but adorable 1.5-year-old Thrianta named Oz. Last wednesday night I noticed that Oz had not been eating his pellets and was behaving strangely, changing positions very often as if he couldn’t get comfortable. He even refused fresh basil (which he would normally kill for) and his favorite treats. He has had a transient bout with GI stasis when he was 6 or 7 months old that resolved on his own, so I figured I would wait until the morning and see if anything had changed. Unfortunately, in the morning the situation was exactly the same, so I took him to the vet. The vet (who specializes in exotic animals) confirmed low intestinal motility and X-rays were taken demonstrating a large amount of gas in the stomach. He has been on IV fluids, pain medications and antibiotics for two days now and the vet said that if things do not improve by tomorrow, it means that he most likely has a blockage and he would have to be referred to an animal hospital for emergency surgery.
  
  I hope it won’t get to that and he will be able to pass whatever needs to be passed, but I was wondering if anyone here has had any similar experience, how it was handled by the vets and how their bunnies fared with the surgery and the recovery process.
  
  Thank you in advance for your replies!
- 07/03/2022 at 1:51 AM
  Azerane
  Moderator
  4689 posts
  I’m sorry to hear that your rabbit is unwell, Thrianta are stunning rabbits.
  
  I’ve never had a bun with gas GI stasis given antibiotics from the vet. The go-to GI stasis treatment by my vets have always been x-ray to check for blockage, then sub-q fluids, pain medication and gut motility medication.
  
  Is he pooping or eating at all? Or completely stopped both?
- 07/03/2022 at 6:46 AM
  Oz_TheGreat
  Participant
  6 posts
  Thank you for your reply.
  
  The vet said she has been giving him antibiotics as a preventative measure in case this gas was due to an E. Cuniculi infection. I forgot to mention that he is also getting motility meds. They also ran some blood work to check for liver enzyme that if elevated would reveal a liver torsion, but luckily that was not the case.
  
  As per the last update I have received he did poop some but not a lot and ate some of it. He is eating some hay, but he still has to be syringe-fed and is refusing to eat treats or fresh greens. The last vet I spoke to (they have a different one working for the weekend) said that the fecal droppings that he did expel may have been in his gut already, below the level of the presumed blockage. She said that they injected him with contrast and took more x-rays after he was fed to see if the food does stop at one specific point in his GI tract.
- 07/03/2022 at 9:29 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  So, I would be hesitant to resort to any surgery if he is eating and pooping at all. Recovery from stasis can be slow, and the fact that he’s eating a little on his own and pooping a little are great signs. Also antibiotics aren’t used to treat EC, so I’m a bit confused by that (and gas in the stomach isn’t an EC symptom). Maybe they were suspecting clostridium?
  
  My old vet (who was extremely rabbit savvy, having worked with the local rescue for 20+ years) told me that even when a blockage is suspected, their usual go-to treatment is to try to push it through with fluids and syringe feeding.
  
  The rabbit gut functions somewhat like a conveyor belt, so poop would not be coming out unless there was something coming through to push it out.
  
  Personally, I would keep pushing hay and fluids on him and give it a bit more time. I return to this article frequently: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
  
  Specifically this part: “PLEASE RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO FORCE ADDITIONAL, AGGRESSIVE TREATMENT ONCE THE RABBIT BEGINS TO RECOVER. RECOVERY FROM GI STASIS IS SOMETIMES MADDENINGLY GRADUAL. [We know of one instance in which a rabbit was starting to produce fecal pellets and showing signs of recovery, but the veterinarian overseeing the case insisted on anesthetizing the rabbit to perform oral gavage, enemas with an extension tube and vigorous abdominal massage. Despite advice to the contrary, this veterinarian believed that the mass in the stomach could not possibly pass without such treatment. Tragically, the rabbit died. Necropsy revealed a ruptured liver. We cannot help but wonder whether excessive handling and the unnecessarily aggressive treatments contributed to, or even caused this rabbit’s demise.]”
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 07/03/2022 at 3:54 PM
  Oz_TheGreat
  Participant
  6 posts
  As per the last update I have received over the phone, Oz seems more physically active. He is still reluctant to eat and is far from pooping at a healthy rabbit level, but he is exploring their backyard when they let him outside and appears to be more mobile. Because of this increase in activity level the vet seems to think that surgery may be too aggressive at this point, but is still an option.
  
  I’m hoping this will just end up being a very expensive fart. With that being said, does anyone have any experience with the recovery from stasis and/or GI surgery?
- 07/04/2022 at 10:13 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  I’m glad he is continuing to improve! Exercise is great for moving things along in the gut, hopefully he continues to improve with a bit more exercise!
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 07/05/2022 at 6:33 AM
  Oz_TheGreat
  Participant
  6 posts
  Another update from the vet: unfortunately Oz has not been having any bowel movements in two days and at this point they are recommending surgery.
  
  I will head to the vet to talk to them and see what they plan on doing.
- 07/05/2022 at 12:19 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16965 posts
  I remember one of our members, Muchelle, whose bun Kuro had surgery for bowel obstruction. This was back in 2016, in Italy. Kuro recovered. Hopefully your bun will too. It is risky, obviously. It is also risky to not do anything.
  
  As others have said, with stasis, it can be a long time before you see poop. It can take weeks. I cant say if surgery is the best course of action at this point, it all comes down to how much trust you have in your vet’s judgement and experience. Methods have improved in later years and bowel obstruction surgery is a lot more common now than it used to be.
  - 07/05/2022 at 3:52 PM
    Oz_TheGreat
    Participant
    6 posts
    Thanks for your reply.
    
    I went to see him today and if I didn’t already know that he’s not eating or pooping, I would have thought there was nothing wrong with him. We decided to give him a couple more days, and if the situation has not changed by Thursday we’re going to go the surgical route.
    
    Fingers crossed.
- 07/06/2022 at 5:41 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16965 posts
  I’d still want to avoid surgery, esp since its summer (all open surgery is more risky in warm weather). I do see the dilemma though, if he declines he might not be able to handle anesthesia, let alone major surgery.
  
  Do you know what treatment they are giving him? A typical protocol would be fluids, sub q or even iv, as good hydration is what can dislodge a partial blockage, plus pain meds and 5-6 daily syringe feedings with small portions of a runny critical care formulation. Some pain meds (opioids) unfortunately slow the gut, wheras NSAID pain killers (typically meloxicam for rabbits) can be hard on the stomach lining. Pain killers are still very very important, a rabbit in pain doesnt want to eat.
  - 07/06/2022 at 6:24 PM
    Oz_TheGreat
    Participant
    6 posts
    I got a call from the vet today saying that he started eating hay voraciously again, as well as pooping a lot (although still irregular in shape).
    
    His treatment so far consisted of subcutaneous fluids, pain medication (both opioid and non), antibiotics (as a precaution in case there was infection caused by whatever material caused the blockage), motility drugs and syringe feeding. Yesterday after my visit, they sedated him to perform an ultrasound, a belly massage to help move things along and an enema. Apparently it must have really helped. She said that he expelled some very thick mucus with some tiny fecal pellets and fur stuck to it, so that may have been the source of the blockage. They’ll keep him under observation for at least another 24 hours. She also mentioned that they will feed him poop from a healthy rabbit mixed in with the syringe feeding to help re-establish healthy gut bacteria, essentially a probiotic for rabbits.
    
    I was ready to give them the green light for surgery had they told me that there was no change in status. I am so happy and relieved that I pushed for waiting another 2 days and I can’t wait to have him back home.
    
    Thank you everyone for your support, I was starting to lose sleep over this whole situation.
- 07/07/2022 at 4:24 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  16965 posts
  This is wonderful news! Fingers so crossed for his continued recovery!
- 07/08/2022 at 7:17 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  Great news!
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
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