Drue is sick! Help!

[Alicia Conklin]

I fed the bunnies around noon today, came down from work and saw that Drue hadn’t even touched his.  He’s down on his bottom floor and he’s not eating anything there either…I brought it down to him.  He’s laying flat on his belly and he keeps getting up, shifting positions and laying back down.  It’s like he can’t get comfortable.  Could this be gas?  Should I go get some gas drops?  What else can I do?  Mike tried massaging his belly.  I have tried giving him pineapple juice..no go there. 

[Sarita]

You could certainly try simethicone – it’s a place to start anyway.

I would not give him pineapple juice – this does nothing and is high in acid too.

[Alicia Conklin]

Ok, I’ll try that.  I’m worried that it could be stasis..since he’s been shedding so much lately.

[KatnipCrzy]

I would try simethicone and watch to make sure that he is eating and pooing OK.  I think the uncomfortable shifting can indicate that his belly hurts and he tries to find the position that helps.

I would give Simethicone and monitor for eating and poos- and if that is not normal then he may have some other GI problem- but gas is the first thing to treat and it will not hurt to give him meds for gas it is something else causing the discomfort. 

 

[Alicia Conklin]

I found some gas drops that we had for Lucas, how much do I give him? He’s 5.5 lbs

[Alicia Conklin]

nm I read online that a few drops should do it and that it’s not something they can easily overdose on.  He took it really well, and I gave him a little tummy massage.  He’s out of the cage at least now..so that’s a start I guess!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Perfect! Keep us posted, tummy rubs are a great help too so that’s good you were able to do one.

[KatnipCrzy]

what dose do you have of the gas drops?  20mg per .3ml?  The recent thread from MimzMum about Mimzy thumping all night talks about dosing with drops and the dosage was about 1ml (but droppers were not marked with ml but .3ml and .6ml) so 2 doses at .6ml would be 1.2ml which would be fine.  I have seen other sources quote 1-2 ml per dose, and the formulary that I have quotes 65-130mg per dose for rabbits- which calculates to 1 to 2 ml.  If it was a smaller rabbit like my Mini Lop or Holland Lop, I would start with 1ml dose.

Here is some info from rabbit.org about 1 ml dosing.

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/se-pennsylvania/GIStasis.htm

[Cassi&Charlie]

(((Drue)))

Keep us updated.

[Alicia Conklin]

He’s still not eating or drinking and no pooping.  He was much more feisty for this round of the gas drops though…I guess getting some fight back into him is a good thing…I dunno..I’m still very worried  

[poopy]

Listen to his stomach…do you hear gas? Try massaging for 20 minutes. This could help the gut motility if its nothing too clogged up. However if it doesn’t help immediately the blockage might be more serious, and I would recommend taking him to a vet right away

[Cassi&Charlie]

How long has it been now since he ate or pooped? Maybe he needs some gut motility drugs? I hope you’re able to get to a vet soon. I’m not sure what time it is there but he might just need a shot of pain killers & a motility drug to feel better.

[Alicia Conklin]

The vet is closed.  I’m going to call first  thing tomorrow but honestly I’m worried about him even making it through the night   His ears are kind of chilly.  I have tried putting him under a blanket, he stayed a few minutes but then got out and hid under the toilet.  He’ll sit with me for a few minutes but then he scratches and nips til I let him go.  I turned the heat up in the house and Mike is going to go out and get a water bottle as soon as he has a break from work.  I’m at home with three sleeping children and I can’t leave them here even though Mike’s upstairs working because…he’s working and so if they wake up we’ll have issues

 

I don’t know exactly how long it’s been since he pooped…not in a while.

The eating..he hasn’t eaten anything since 12pm.  Last night he had pellets which he ate all of and he ate his hay overnight too.  I put that stuff in at 11pm last night and it was all gone by 12pm.  I feel like this is all my fault because we had to go to the airport to pick up my daughter today and so breakfast was late and maybe if it wasn’t late I would have known about this earlier.

[Cassi&Charlie]

Ok, a hot water bottle is good, so it’s good Mike is going to get one soon.

When Charlie was sick, he didn’t poop or eat in 3 and a bit days, but still pulled through so as long as you can get him vet care in the morning, he should be fine.
It’s not your fault! I went out for dinner the night Charlie 1st got sick & didn’t stay to make sure he ate his food. The whole time he was sick I was kicking myself because if I’d stayed and watched him, I could have gotten him to a vet that day. But it wasn’t any one’s fault, these things happen and by driving yourself crazy over it you stress yourself and Drue.

[Alicia Conklin]

My card is all messed up so I can’t get anything until morning.  I’m so angry right now I am seeing red.  Anyway, I have warmed him by covering him in a blanket and giving him Elphie’s bed to sleep in.  This seemed to have worked well..he’s back to being warm and is no longer shivering/vibrating!!!  I also took some applesauce and mixed it with water and syringe fed him…he got about 1.5 syringes of it.  I might try some pellet slush in a little bit. 

He’s getting more feisty with me too..which as annoying it is to try to syringe feed him that way at least he isn’t sluggish.  Right now he’s laying in his litter box which I have in the hallway.  I’m going to sleep down here on the couch, hopefully I won’t sleep too soundly and can keep checking on him and syringing him every now and again. 

 

 

[Lightchick]

Oh poor Drue!

((((Drue))))
((((Tuckerbunz))))

Hang in there little guy! Keep giving your mom grief (but eat what she feeds you!)!

[BinkyBunny]

I’m so sorry. This kind of stuff is so scary. I think many of us have been through it. Usually if the smithecone drops don’t work within a couple of hours or things get worse you should take your bunny to the vet. I know your vet is closed, but if he’s still the same in the morning then you will need tell them what’s going on so they get you in as an emergency. Also, for future reference, ask them if they have any emergency vets that they can recommend that would have a rabbit savvy doc on staff. I know even around here where there are many rabbit-savvy vets, there are only two good recommended emergency vet clinics for after-hours and I still have to call to see if a rabbit savvy vet is on staff or if they can call one in.

[Alicia Conklin]

I need to go make some coffee soon cos it was a long night but I just wanted to update first!

 

I finally passed out last night around 1am or something and I woke up worried that Drue had passed during the night.  He was acting that bad last night.  He was even letting me cover him up with a blanket with just his eyes and nose sticking out.

I sent Mike to go check because I’m a chicken..he said “well we’re going to have to get new coloring books cos he’s using them as a litter box but he’s alive”.    We had him gated in the hallway because it was warmer there and I could see if he ate anything or pooped.  I went downstairs and he had eaten ALL of his pellets, a lot of his hay, was working on yesterday’s veggies and had a huge pile of perfectly big and round poops in his litter box!!!  So…he seems to have pulled through just fine! I’m going to keep an eye on him today to make sure that he doesn’t act sick still..no hiding or moving around a lot to get comfortable….but it looks like he just had a bout of gas.  Either that or it was just fun for him to make me worry all night   Maybe that’s what I get for having a busy week and him not getting enough out time and his veggies being late yesterday??? LOL

I’ll still be going out today though and getting the hot water bottle and pedialyte though..that way I have it on hand next time.

[BinkyBunny]

Well, I’m having another small bout of insomnia (I’m hope it’ll be *small* bout) and so I am happy to be the first one to say WHOOOOOHOO!!!!

I can’t imagine that getting the veggies later in the day would cause a problem unless he just scarfed more down than normal. Was their anything new to his diet? And also, rabbits are just fragile creatures, and sometimes this happens even when we do everything right. Even experts get baffled sometimes  as to “why” some episodes of gi stasis or gas happens. You will find that the majority of us have gone through this scare at one time or another. So you can do your best and sometimes this just happens and it’s not your fault. You’re a great bunny mom!!

Regarding the water bottle: Be careful that when you use the water bottle that he can get away from it as you don’t want to overheat him. Also, note, it’s normal for bunny ears to feel a little cool too. That doesn’t mean he’s too cold. If a bunny is too cold and going into shock – their gums will be more grayr intead of pink. The only way to really tell though if a bunny is too cold is also via taking their temperature. (But be sure to have a vet show how to do this next time you’re there)

Also, with water bottles, some bunnies will chew on them, so watch out for that. I have “Snuggle Safe” heating discs that stay warm for 8 eight hours. They can be rather expensive, but I found a good price for them when searching for bargains on the net.

Well, I’m just so happy that everything worked out and I know you are extremely relieved too. Keep us updated.

[Alicia Conklin]

Yea, I was kidding about the eating later, lol, he hadn’t eaten any of it..that’s when I knew something was wrong.  By noon he should have been going crazy for it!  There was nothing NEW per say…but  he had been having more of things that he usually doesn’t have as often because the grocery stores didn’t have any good looking parsley or cilantro this week.  But actually..I just ran out of parsley for yesterday’s meal..and that’s the one he didn’t eat.  So he had been having romaine, parsley and the leafy parts of celery.  That’s pretty normal for him. 

We switched foods but that was about three weeks ago or so and he had been doing fine.   It was a new bag of hay….but same brand.  Tucker is doing fine with the new bag and I check it all and it all looked fine.

I was thinking it was because he’s been shedding so much..but I checked his poop this morning and there was no hair in it so I am really not sure.  All in all I am just so relieved that he pulled through over night and is back to his old goofy self!

 

I was going to wrap the water bottle in a blanket and just lay it under the doggy bed he was sleeping in last night, just to keep things a bit warmer for him. 

I figured he was cold because his ears were almost like ice and he was shaking so I was assuming he was cold?  Not sure if that was accurate though..but he seemed to feel better and would stop shaking when I had him covered by a blanket. 

 

I’ll have to look into those snuggle safe things..the water bottles that I saw when I attempted to get them last night were pretty expensive too..so it might just make more sense to invest in a snuggle safe disc…..

 

[jerseygirl]

Alicia, this is so great to read! You can breathe easy again. Just reading about how cold his ears were and the shivering sounds scary. You are a great bunny Mum as you saw this early and were very vigilant throughout. All this stress and Drue is up early doing some colouring in, so to speak!
It is hard to pin point what is going on sometimes. Every so often Jersey will only eat half heartedly and turn right around by the next day. Hope you get some well earned rest today!

[Beka27]

thank goodness he’s better this morning. Meadow has been thru this a few times, the last time being the worst. she didn’t eat for (i think) about 20 hours. Mike woke me up the next morning as he was getting ready for work. i was also a little scared she might not make it or get worse and i was prepared to call my vet at 8 am. but he woke me up and said that she was eating and running around. i was so relieved. it does sound from your description that this was gas. the hunching and repositioning is classic “my tummy hurts”. the simethicone is great to have on hand. it’s still not clear if this really helps, or if the gas will pass on its own regardless of what you do, but since you cannot overdose a rabbit with it, it certainly does not hurt to give it.

the last time Mead went thru this i think i was also a bit later giving veggies. i’m not sure if this would have anything to do with it, or if it would have been the same outcome had she gotten them on time. since the last time i have cut-out raisin treats and limited pellets even further.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh man I’m so glad to hear he’s pulled through and all is well!! Phew!!

[KatnipCrzy]

I was thinking about Drue last night and am glad to hear that he is doing good this morning!

[Cassi&Charlie]

This is great! Poor Drue, I’m so happy he’s ok.

Last time Layla was sick she was shivering as well & her ears were really cold. My usually *no touchies* bun was the same as Drue, letting me cover her and stuff. The hot water bottle (careful wrapped and placed) was really great cause she lent against it herself until she was warm then shifted away slightly. It’scary when your bunny has the shivers!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear everything turned out okay. My bun Stormy likes to occasionally scare me with a bout of mild statis/gas. They gotta keep us on our toes, I guess.

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