A story about my Gus!

[3 buns mom]

Saturday morning, my 7 year old rabbit didn’t want to eat, nor did he want his favorite treat. He just sat in the corner of the room in a hunched position. I knew something was up and it wasn’t good. I was at a loss of what to do. I am not currently working and did not have money to take him to the e.r. vet. So what I did for the next few days was give every effort to save his life. Fortunately, I had a lot of supplies on hand from my other rabbit’s illnesses (bladder sludge, dental surgery, and a virus) I gave him sub q fluids, simethicone (pediatric gas-x), metacam (pain meds), probiotics, critical care, and massaged his belly. He wasn’t eating, drinking, pooping or peeing the whole weekend.

After spending almost 3 days nursing him, and no sleep on my end, and no improvement on his end, I took him to the vet Monday morning. X-rays showed a very full stomach, but empty intestines. He had a complete blockage and was in critical condition. Options were surgery or euthanasia. I couldn’t afford the surgery, so was leaning towards euthanasia….but at that moment when I was talking to the doctor, Gus started to eat his hay in the carrier. I was shocked and took it as a sign that he wasn’t ready to go….so I decided to take him home, continue doing what I was doing and hope for the best. If he was willing to fight, then I was too!

So I continued giving him sub q fluids, pain meds, gas meds, probiotics, and added pineapple juice. I no longer had to syringe feed him since he was now eating on his own. Monday night at 2:30 in the morning, he ran for his favorite treat! I was in shock, but nothing prepared me for what happened next….HE PEED and when I went over to him, I noticed little fecal pellets!!!! I was ecstatic…  You’re all probably going to think I am insane when I tell you I picked up a fecal pellet and woke everyone up to show them.   I called the vets office right when they opened on Tuesday morning to tell them, but doc was with a patient. I told the receptionist to let him know the good news. He called me soon after. He told me the whole office was in shock but very happy.  It’s now Wednesday morning, and he is doing great. All seems to be well now. His poop is normal once again, but I am still treating him just to be on the safe side. I am soooo glad I took his eating at the vet’s office as a sign and went with my gut!!!! Yay Gus!

Don’t you all love happy endings?  I know I do!!! 

 

[Sarita]

That’s great! Sub-q fluids can help ALOT when you are trying to move a mass out of the gut – it can help break it up so it can move through the gut. I’ve had rabbits go up to 5 days without eating and doing extensive sub-q’s, gut motility drugs, handfeeding and come through…stressed me out like there was no tomorrow but they pulled through.

Have you had the vet check his teeth to make sure he doesn’t have dental problems and perhaps that is what caused him to stop eating? Dental problems are very common in older rabbits.

[3 buns mom]

Hi Sarita…I think stress caused it. Now normally, Gus is a brave guy, not scared of anything or anybody. He is a troublemaker…I always call him a brat. But all of a sudden he seems to be scared of the cats. I have a 1 yr old cat that is still kittenish and always chases Gus to play with him. It’s never bothered Gus before, but I am wondering if something happened and really got Gus stressed. I am now trying to figure that out and to figure out a way to prevent this from happening in the future. I can’t cage Gus now, and can’t seclude him to a room.

[mindy10]

So happy to hear he is doing much better. He is a fighter. So didnt give up on him thats great. Im glad to didn’t make the decision to put him down. Mindy

[Deleted User]

I love happy endings!!!!! I am so happy for you!!

[Author]

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