Curly Sue battling stasis

[osprey]

I spent the morning at Adobe Animal Hospital, waiting for an emergency appointment for a vet to see Curly Sue.  Last night we went to a party, and when we got home I gave the bunnies their greens.  Curly Sue refused to eat any.  This is a serious red flag, my guys love their greens.  I was able to tempt her into eating a couple of parsley stems and an alfalfa cookie.  After about an hour, she started doing the weird half flop/half sit that bunnies do when their tummies hurt.  I tried a massage, but she refused any kind of food I offered her.  I woke up at about 3 in the morning to check on her, and her ears were cold.  This is not a good sign.  I wrapped her up in a blanket and held her close to me to warm her up.  We took her to the vet at 7AM.

The doc gave her fluids, a shot of metacam, and a shot of a gut motility drug.  The change was almost immediate.  The combination of the fluids and the pain killer made her eat some spring mix right away.  She has now passed a few poops too.  I am having a heck of a time getting the Critical Care IN the bunny instead of ON the bunny, but she is eating pellets so I think the Critical Care may be overkill.

I will keep you posted.

 

[MooBunnay]

Curly Sue is very lucky to have a parent like you that can catch those things right away! I bet you got a few feetie flicks though after you got the critical care ON her instead of IN her I hope the recovery continues at the pace its going now, I bet she’s feeling much much better now. I had not heard of checking a bunny’s ears before when you suspect stasis – how does that work? Do cold ears infer the bunny is not feeling well, or is it a specific sign of stasis?

[Gravehearted]

oo stasis is scary stuff. thank goodness you knew the signs and were able to get her in so quickly. I am so glad to hear how quickly the meds and fluids turned her around. I’ve noticed that sometimes the stress of going to the vet will make bunnies eat. I think getting her in so quickly really made a difference too, as well as the pain meds. Did they send you home with reglan or cisapride to help keep her tract moving?

MooBunnay – Cold ears are a bad sign, since it often means a temp drop. buns normal temp is about 101- 103 and if it drops below that the fear is that the bunny’s system is starting to shut down. If it happens and we can’t get right into a vet, I generally try to get a bun onto a heating pad – they make these microwave disk kinds with no cords that are really good to have around in case of an emergency.

[BinkyBunny]

MooBunnay – Just FYI: cool ears are not always necessarily a sign of illness, but COLD ears are more likely to be an indication of problems. Many times a bunny’s ears will feel cool to the touch, especially if it is warmer, and they are trying to cool themselves.

Osprey – WHEW, I am so glad Curly Sue seems to be pulling out of it. That is just soooo scary!

[Gravehearted]

yes sorry, I should have clarified that – cold ears in concert with stasis symptoms are a cause for concern. cool ears are usually just fine.

[osprey]

Thanks for the good wishes, guys. She is doing lots better today. I kept her separated from the other buns yesterday and overnight so I could keep tabs on her poop production. I counted over 40 poops between 3 PM and 7 PM yesterday, and at least 50 from 10 PM last night until this morning. I moved her back into the pen with DJ and Deanna this morning. She is eating well now, I gave her some Critical Care this morning, but that may be the last batch I gave her. She eagerly took a blackberry branch this morning, and has been eating oat hay as well.

Gravehearted, the doc gave me injectable Reglan (metoclopramide), three shots a day for 5 days, plus oral Metacam once a day. I gave her several feedings of Critical Care yesterday and one this morning, but she seems to be eating well now so I may discontinue that.

[MooBunnay]

Yay! I’m so glad to hear she’s feeling better! I also think we need to add to the list of “you know you’re a crazy rabbit person when…” – you count poops I remember when I thought Raymond had stasis after his neutering, and the first time he pooped I did a crazy “yay he pooped!” dance. Then I started saying “gooood pooops Raymond, goood boy” and my windows were open and I think I frightened all my neighbors, hahaha

[osprey]

Hah, and then you get members of your family telling you "You don’t get that excited when I do that"

 

[Gravehearted]

ahh, the old poop patrol.
I’m sure Curly Sue felt quite like royalty since you were counting her poops!
A lot of doctors seem resistant to give out pain meds which is a shame, since if a bun’s in in pain they won’t eat. I’m so glad you’ve gotten both meds and she already sounds like she’s turned the corner. Sending good eating and pooping thoughts her way. One of Hareiette’s myspace friends is hosting a #2 party tomorrow, maybe Curly Sue should go for encouragement! 😀

[Toki+Pumpkin+Elmo]

Its good to hear that she’s going well. This may be off topic but I also go to Adobe Animal Hospital. All my pets (my dog,cat,fish,rabbits) go there.

[Sarita]

Yay, I’m glad she is better – I call what your vet gave Curly Sue the “stasis cocktail”. Sounds like your vet is a great bunny vet too!

[osprey]

We are fortunate to live only about a mile from Adobe, which is a 24/7 animal hospital and has several really good rabbit vets.  Our buns usually see Dr. O’Day or Dr. Nakamura, but when you go in for urgent care you get whichever doc happens to be on duty.  We got a doc I hadn’t met before, but Dr. O’Day was in the building, so they may have consulted with her.  I was a little surprised that they gave me injectable meds for gut motility, the last time I had to treat a bunny for stasis they gave me oral suspensions.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Well, I’m posting this again….

Osprey, I am very sorry to hear about Curly Sue but am very glad that you knew the signs to take her to the vet ASAP. That’s great she is responding so well to treatment and please keep us updated on her progress.

[Floppy]

Adobe …hmm that sounds familiar…where is it?

And can someone clue me in on what Critical care is?

also…how is curly sue doing now?

[Toki+Pumpkin+Elmo]

Adobe Animal Hospital is in Los Altos. I was there recently because my dog had to have a surgery for his tumor. They have great staff and facility.
Any updates on Curly Sue??

[BinkyBunny]

I’m sooo glad she’s doing better.

Floppy – Critical Care is a powder mix of pellets and vitamins that is mixed with water and used to syringe feed when a rabbit is feeling sick and refusing to eat. I buy mine from my vets office. As far as I know you can’t get it at a petstore. However, I know there are places online that sells it too.

They even have banana flavored now.

[Gravehearted]

Critical care is a product by oxbow hay that is excellent to use when a rabbit is not eating and/or battling stasis. I always keep some in the house since getting something in a bunny’s tummy can be urgent when they’re not eating.

I much prefer the injectable med, according to Dr Murray it delivers more consistently, and I think the liquid version contains some sugar. When we switched Niklaus from oral to injectable he became much more stable. I think they often don’t give out the injectable because people are nervous to give injections.

[osprey]

I have "missed" a couple of shots, and managed to squirt her fur with the meds rather than getting it under the skin.  I can see why people would find it intimidating.  I guess I need practice.  Curly Sue is pretty much back to normal now.  Last night when I had the buns running around in a play pen, she managed to leap out and escape into the house twice.  She is eating well too.  I am going to continue with the Reglan shots today, and take her off of  the Metacam.  She is off of the Critical Care as well.  For those interested in more information about critical care, check this link http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp

[Deleted User]

I was incredibaly nervous about giving connor his injections and the vet told me I had to. He bled a lot as well. The poor boy, he would here me comming and would back himself into a corner. I still keep the critical care in the freezer from when connor was sick. We only used maybe a quarter of it and at 16.00 per bag I am not going to throw it away. Does anyone know if it is okay to keep it in the freezer after being opened. I put it in a ziploc first, of course.

[osprey]

I am wondering the same thing.  I have half a bag (at least) of the stuff left.  I was told that as long as it is kept dry (like in a ziploc) it will keep.  They charged me $11 for the little bag.

[Gravehearted]

yes – it’s better to keep it in the freezer, since it extends the shelf life by six months. There’s an expiration date on the bag.

I used it so often with Niklaus that I’d make the whole packet and then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Then I’d baggie them in 2 cubes, since it was just about the right meal size. I’d just defrost them on low heat in the nuke and stir in some water until it was the right consistency.

The first week or so I was giving injections it was highly nerve wracking. I kept flipping out because I wasn’t 100% sure I was in and if he got the injection. And then I worried he’d get sick if I DID miss, but was afraid to over medicate him in case I had gotten it in. Needless to say it gets MUCH easier over time, and luckily he was such a trooper and didn’t complain about it. I was really lucky that he was such a good sport about it. 🙁 Just thinking about him still makes me cry though, we went through a lot together.

[Sarita]

The Critical Care does have an expiration date – it is okay to put in the refrigerator too.  The injectible works reglan works faster too – it is also easier to administer in my opinion than oral – I’m never certain if my rabbits are getting the whole dosage orally as they spit it out or just let it dribble down their chin.

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

How is Curly Sue doing?

[osprey]

She is sitting on my chest, obscuring my view of the laptop keyboard

She is back to normal, not on meds or critical care any more.  Scary stuff.  I still think if I’d had Metacam in the house, I could have given her a dose that first night and she’d have gotten over it herself.  I think she ate some carpet fibers and that started the ball rolling in the wrong direction.  Time for a new rug for the play area….

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh that’s great! The little doll. Hopefully the new rug will not be so attractive to her. I’m sure you’re right about the Metacam, but the important thing is that she is OK.

[Gravehearted]

glad to hear she’s doing better

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