Continued – – Survival story: abscess and GI stasis (incl. blockage surgery)

[aquaapril]

Albert is currently going through recovery for GI stasis and also obstruction surgery.

3 weeks ago I realised something wasn’t right, Albert didn’t get excited or come running when I tapped his bowl with veggies in it. I immediately took him to our local vet (different to the one that originally saw him for his jaw abscess) as the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic wasn’t yet open and it’s a 1 hr journey each way in peak hour.

The vet said he couldn’t see anything wrong with Albert he was bright and his temperature was normal. But as a bunny parent you just know! We finally got Albert to the MRC the next day who diagnosed him with GI stasis and put him on meds (Simethicone for gas, gut motility, sub-q fluids) and he was placed on critical care feeding every few hours. 2 days later Albert still didn’t seem quite right, so back to the vet he went. I’m so glad I trusted my instincts as the vet discovered by feeling his gut bloating and a subsequent X-ray confirmed he had an obstruction in his small intestine. The vet said we had caught the obstruction early, it was only several hours old and they needed to operate immediately.

Albert was put under and the obstruction was massaged through the small intestine to the large intestine where it would pass through his body. The obstruction was most likely critical care, which had dried out as he wasn’t drinking water on his own and become stuck.

The day after the surgery Albert started to show interest in his greens again. I had read that rabbits like to be fussed over quite a bit when ill, so I sat with him for hours giving him head rubs and talking to him. I kept him in a pen next to Matilda so I could monitor his poo’s and whether he was eating, but they could still see each other.

After a few days, his poop had gone from very mushy to small dry pebbles but he still wasn’t eating his hay. A week later still no hay, but he was still eating his greens. His front teeth had also started to grow spurs because he wasn’t eating hay.

Having gone through 2 weeks of extreme stress and sleep deprivation feeding him critical care every 4 hours, I was at my wits end. Albert had also started chewing his stitches. I found an ingenious invention someone had made, like a puffy necklace for their rabbit so they could still eat but we’re restricted from bending over. It is basically surgical tape stuffed with cotton balls and stitched together to form a ring to place over their neck. If you would like to see a picture or if let me know.

I missed work (again!) and took him to the MRC 5 days ago as he wasn’t touching hay, even though I had tried oaten chaff, Lucerne chaff and Timothy hay (plastic packaged one from a local feed place so it wasn’t great quality). By this stage his pain meds (Meloxicam) had run out 3 days prior and he wasn’t on gut motility anymore. The vet said Albert was still sore and a bit dehydrated. So I left him there for the day under their careful supervision. When I picked him up that night they said as soon as they took the ring off him he started to eat hay! Basically Albert had an attitude about wearing the ring and out of spite wasn’t eating. We also think the pain meds, trimming his front teeth down and being on sub-q fluids helped a lot.

Now Albert is recovering well, he is still on pain meds, gut motility and sub-q fluids twice a day. The latest drama is that he has picked his wound again and it has opened up about 1cm. We discovered this on a Sat night and the only thing we could think of doing was putting manuka honey on it again (this time UMF 15+ was the highest I could find on a Sat night)
Good news is that the honey is doing its job drying out the wound (it was starting to show white pus before the honey treatment). Albert is back wearing the ring while I’m at work but I leave him with a bowl of Burgess pellets, which he loves to eat even while wearing the ring. When I’m home at night I remove the ring, change his hay and give him about 1 hr break. Usually at this stage he starts to be naughty again and chew his wound. I also apply honey as often as I am able during the day and the wound is looking so much better 2 days later.

Lessons learnt:

– GI stasis takes A LOT of patience. Expect to be sleep deprived and frustrated. Albert is a very strong willed bun and incredibly stubborn. For example with the critical care he would hold it in his mouth and refuse to chew it. The vet said they had never seen this in a bun before. Solution was to either annoy him with the syringe tip to get him angry and chewing, or using a 1ml syringe to put water into his mouth which got him chewing again. Wrapping him in a towel also helped a lot.
– foods Albert was tempted by were parsley, Corriander, Oxbow Timothy treats, dandelions, Burgess pellets, kale and Asian greens
– I think the stasis was caused by giving him too much banana (which I now know is starchy and causes gas), and not his teeth which are fine and showing no spurs
– the ring helped to stop him from chewing his stitches. He did open his wound again as I left the ring off him for 3 days, but that seems to be healing up with the honey treatment

I think I have one of the strongest willed, stubborn bunnies out there and have gone through a lot with him, so I hope his story helps. He is incredibly cute and funny, it’s been a very tough last few weeks but he is a heck of a fighter!

If anyone has any more questions I’d be more than happy to answer them /clarify what I have written

[Luna]

You must be so relieved that Albert is on the mend! It’s funny how our instincts are with our buns. That’s very interesting about the obstruction. I didn’t know dehydration could be a contributor.

[aquaapril]

Thanks Luna, yes so incredibly relieved he is finally on the road to recovery!

Yes dehydration was a big contributor to his blockage, just glad the vet was able to pick up on it early. Most of the things I’ve read is that the survival rates from obstruction surgery are very low, however I think buns have a strong chance if the vet is familiar with what they are doing, it’s picked up early-ish and the right post op care is prescribed.

[Bam]

Thank you for this story! Many, many continues healing vibes for (((((Albert))))) Obstruction surgery is very interesting, and the neck ring sounds very clever. We’d love pictures, of course. This is so hope-inspiring!

[Vienna Blue in France]

Great story thanks. And YES photos, pleasr !!!!!!!
Get well Albert !!

[aquaapril]

Thanks everyone! I’ve uploaded a photo of the ring and also Albert wearing it. He can still easily eat with it on, but it creates a little bit of a hurdle so he can’t easily reach his stitches.

[aquaapril]

Had trouble uploading the second photo so here is a link to it in Imgur: http://imgur.com/vTcOVyf

[Luna]

Albert looks well! Is the bun that is “sharing” the pellets Matilda? 

[Bam]

Thank you for the pictures!

[aquaapril]

Thanks Luna, he is certainly back to his usual confident self (just needs to improve his hay eating a bit more!) yes that is Matilda, she LOVES her food haha

[aquaapril]

No problem bam

[Q8bunny]

That is an amazing story, and Albert sounds like one amazing little bunny. I’m very glad he’s recovering and am sending my thoughts that he continues to do so until he is his former self again. ((((((Albert))))))

[Author]

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