Bunny Recovering From Stasis – Reglan Taper?

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Hi Everyone, long time no post!

Yesterday I took Dorothy, my 6 old mini rex mix to the vet for her follow up X-Ray after developing GI stasis 2 weeks ago (I believe it was brought on by gas, after an abnormally bad shed, which her husbun just finished as well).

She was on 1mL of Reglan twice daily, 0.2mL of Cisapride, Metacam, Probiotic, Simethicone, Metronidazole, and Critical Care. For background, I took her to the best rabbit vets in my area; they see tons of rabbits every day, and I have always taken my rabbits here. For the most part I trust them with their care.

Her X-Ray yesterday showed she had just a very small amount of gas left in her cecum (2 weeks ago when this started she had a very large amount of gas in stomach and cecum), but otherwise, the vet told me she is cleared from stasis, and her anatomy/organs looked great. Labs were good other than mildly abnormal BUN/Creatinine which will we will follow up on in a few months. Her poops are still misshapen and on the smaller side, but the vet feels this is from ingested fur, possibly from grooming her husbun, or there was just a lot there to begin with that is still slowly making its way out. Her behavior the past few days has been normal.

My issue is that the vet instructed yesterday to stop all medications abruptly, without tapering. She said to stop Critical Care as well. The only thing she wants me to continue is Laxatone and Probiotic for another week. I checked with some other notable rabbit savvy people in the area, and they told me they follow a similar regimen with their rabbits and have had no issues in the past with this, but from what I read online…  Reglan has to be tapered slowly.

I didn’t give Dorothy her 2nd daily dose of medications yesterday evening. We are now rounding 24 hours without meds. other than Probiotic), and other than grinding her teeth on occasion last night both while lying down and while up and trotting around (although I heard they sometimes do this if their sleep schedule is disrupted, or they’re stressed, which she definitely was from the vet visit and car ride), she was eating/pooping/behaving normally, albeit a bit drowsy. This morning I noticed around 30 poops, but they seemed smaller than yesterday. I saw her drinking water and eating hay both late last night and this morning, and she passed the “treat test” with Laxatone.

My question is.. what is your experience with stopping gut motility meds abruptly like this? Do they always need to be tapered (specifically Reglan) to re-teach the gut to move on its own again? I’m a little concerned about the small poops and the tooth grinding which is different from her normal tooth purring. Thanks!

[Bam]

There are different views on this. When my bun Vilde was slowly recovering from a long bout of stasis, my rabbit savvy vet told us to stop Reglan (metoclopramide) without tapering. I asked about it, because I had read that it needs tapering, but the vet said they never recommend that for their patients. My bun recovered without tapering.

It can take a long time (several weeks) for poop size to get back to normal. Its very good that you’re keeping a close eye!

 

 

 

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Thank you for this, made me feel better. I do wonder about the tooth grinding though, it’s new for her, but she never appears to be in pain when she does it. It seems too loud to be tooth purring, when she tooth purrs it’s very quiet.

[Cinnamon Bun]

She is sooooo cute – OMG! ♥ 

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Thank you! She is doing well today. I’m hopeful her poops will normalize.

 

[SweetPotato]

Great that she’s doing better!

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

UPDATE:

Dorothy seems to be having good days and bad days since we stopped her medication. Poops are still misshapen and small, very inconsistent. One day she will have 200 poops and the next 120-140. She is grinding her teeth quite a bit and doesn’t seem to be eating or pooping during the day, only at night when I’m ready to go to bed and early morning. She won’t willingly take Laxatone. I’m supposed to be giving her Probiotic and Laxatone for the next 7 days twice a day. Since I’ve seen this behavior and the tooth grinding, I have been continuing Simethicone 1cc twice a day and Critical Care about 50cc daily.

I told the vet what’s been going on with her, and we agreed to put her back on Reglan and Meloxicam for another 2 weeks 🙁 I’m sad this is taking so long and to put her through more stress. I’m hoping she’ll get better before the 2 weeks is up, this is a lot to deal with and it’s been going on since 06/10. Does anyone else have experience with this and could give me words of advice or encouragement?

[DanaNM]

I’m sorry to hear she still isn’t 100%! But you are doing a great job with her. Stasis recovery can be sooooo slow (like “trying to jump start a train”). I wonder if maybe once the two weeks is up you could continue the pain med without the motility med?

 

. . . 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.  

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

I showed them a pic of the poops she’s been having and because it honestly seems like she was slowly improving even off of the Reglan, they said that we can just try continuing her pain meds instead of the Reglan, and she can probably pull herself out of this. Maybe the pain is from inflammation in her gut or residual gas. I hope it works. This is so stressful.

[Bam]

Stasis recovery really can be very slow and exhausting. My bun Vilde needed 2 months before he was back to himself. It was very stressful. Daily meds, daily syringe feedings. Daily weighing. Poop counting.

He lived for 1.5 years more after that, the cause for his stasis was really bad dental problems. I’m very happy we got that much extra time together. It did look very bleak for quite some time.

[DorothyTheMiniSatinBun]

Aww.. your story made me feel better. I am actually really curious about this though because I suspect her problem may be dental, but two different vets checked her in the past few weeks for dental issues and said they were “perfect.” Previously she had sharp points on her teeth that had to be shaved down (this was years ago). But if she had overgrown molars, could they tell on just a physical exam? How did you find out about your bun’s dental issues?

[MariaP]

Hi, I just read about your sweet bunny. Did your bun fully recover from the stasis? I’ve been syringe feeding CC for a month, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

[Bam]

Hi and welcome to the BB forums, MariaP!

This is a fairly old thread, and the original poster is nolonger an active member. You are very welcome to start your own thread on this topic, you’ll get more answers if you do. 🙂

I’m locking this thread now.

[Author]

Messages