Desperate for answers gi stasis, critical care questions!

[Anissasnooki]

I’ve never had to deal with any of this in the eight years of owning my bunny so I’m very confused. My vet does see many rabbits but I ask questions and don’t really get answers. G.I. stasis develop due to teeth problems, Molars were trimmed painkillers twice a day, G.I. mobility 3 times a day, and antibiotic twice a day were perscribed. All X-rays, bloodsork were okay, and sub q fluids were given. She’s been on them for a week and her mouth is still sore. Vet told me some bunnies take longer to heal than others when it comes to dental problems. In the meantime she has given me a critical care the only other thing my rabbit will eat is kale and her occasional Craisins as a treat which I’m doing very sparingly… Vet told me to give critical care half tablespoon of dry and 1 tablespoon of water 3 to 4 times a day. She weighs 4.38 kg. From what I read on critical care website she is getting nowhere near the amount of food she supposed to be getting I’ve been calling my vet nonstop with what I feel to be dumb questions so I’m hoping I can get some answers on here before having to call her again. Basically does this direction seem to be the correct one? She is pooping very small and very few a day. Her pee is normal. When I press on her belly she has no reaction so I don’t think she’s in pain there. I really am desperate for answers, from everything I’m reaching online I don’t know what to think anymore. Teeth and stasis can take a while to be fixed I’ve gathered but for the amount of time (tomorrow a week) is this all looking positive? Thanks so much

[jerseygirl]

Perhaps the vet was talking about the mixing ratio rather then the amount to be given per feed? If your rabbit is taking it well, it certainly won’t hurt to give more.
Have you tried mixing it a bit thicker and giving to her in a bowl to try eat by herself? That can take away the stress factor (for rabbit and owner!) with syringe feeding.
I like this video about syringe feeding a rabbit. http://youtu.be/QW0Taz0MFWE

Sending some {{{vibes}}} for your girl !

[Bam]

As Jersey says, your vet could’ve meant the mixing ratio. It’s one volume part CC to 2 volume parts water. As you are well aware, a 4.38 kg rabbit needs more than one tablespoon dry matter per day, Oxbow says:

“Generally, for a herbivorous mammal, the amount is 3 tablespoons of dry product or 50 ml of mixed product daily per kilogram of body weight. A weaker animal should often be given more frequent, smaller meals.”

This page contains excellent instructions and has amounts and portion-sizes according to weight: http://www.oxbowaustralia.com/critical-care%E2%84%A2-information-for-pet-owners/

That said, the amounts stated by Oxbow are very generous and it can be difficult to get that much CC into a bun. It’s great that your girl is willing to eat craisins and kale, and because she has that little bit of appetite, you might be able to find some baby fruit/berry smoothie or pure she´d like and mix the CC with, to make it yummier and maybe inspire her to eat it from a bowl or teaspoon, like Jersey says.

The most important thing for now is to get good nutritious food into her. You mentioned before that you had had blood work done and it was fine. Most bad systemic illnesses would cause anomalies that can be picked up in blood works and there was nothing, so hopefully she’ll get through this with your god care.

[Anissasnooki]

Thanks everyone, that was very helpful. Hopefully now that she’s eating more, I will begin to see better results soon. Unfortunately she is the pickiest eater to begin with, so I’ve been trying everything to get her to eat. I’ll definelty try a berry smoothie or different baby food. I’ve tried apple baby food in the past with no success even though she loves apples (bunny logic). I made an appointment with a much more known rabbit savvy vet. Because I think mine is grasping at straws at this point. She’s still sneezing, and has some eye boogers after her teeth trim and a week on antibiotics. I think a second opinion will help relax my nerves. Too bad it’s another 3 days until then… but hopefully I’m doing things right and she’s okay until then.

[Anissasnooki]

So my bun has been getting gut mobility meds for a week and a day now, critical care since Tuesday, eating a lot of kale which I’m fine with since she’s not eating anything else… and she is barely pooping. She is but not as much as I would think… her belly isn’t hard or swollen, I push on it and she has no sign of pain. She is peeing though. Is this a cause for concern? There is some gut noise going on

[Bam]

If she’s been eating very little lately, there will be a lot less poop than normal. You should probably give her more CC, because it has the fiber the tummy need. If her pee becomes very chalky white you should taper down on the kale. Maybe she’d like some fennel? It’s my bam’s favorite.

What antibiotic did she get? Is she still on it? I’m thinking about the sneezing and eye boogers now.

[Anissasnooki]

I’ve been giving her more critical care and also pedialyte which seems to actually have liven her up a bit. I’ll try some fennel that’s the last thing I haven’t tried. She is the pickiest rabbit I’ve ever heard of. She doesn’t like romaine, dill, parsley (as of two days ago) carrots or carrot tops, celery and much more. She’s on septra .8 ml twice a day. She has another 2 days. But she’s still sneezing, less frequent and less eye boogers. But her mouth is still really sore even on her .6ml metacam twice a day. She grinds her teeth and rubs her mouth. But she tried to groom me still when we’re cuddling, breaks my heart. But I made an appointment Monday, with apparently the best rabbit vet around which I wish I did earlier, he’s just 40 minutes away and I didn’t want to take her on that hike. But this point it’s worth it her mouth/teeth obviously still has something going on.

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