Eye injury leading to stasis?

[BunjaminML]

My two bunnies, Bunji and Mochi, had a fight last Sunday resulting in Bunji sustaining an eye injury. Took us a while to really notice it, and was only able to take him to the vet on Friday. Before then, though, we separated the bunnies into two side-by-side pens in order to restart the bonding process. 

Anyway, I drove both bunnies to the vet on Friday morning but it turned out they didn’t have an open slot for us until 1pm. After we got home from that first trip, Bunji did not eat anything, nor did I see him poo or pee. So when I went back with them for the afternoon appointment, I brought this up to the doctor. The vet thought he might be in pain, and gave him pain meds that’s supposed to last 72 hours, as well as subcutaneous fluids. She also prescribed oral pain meds, hoping this would encourage him to eat. She said to give him Critical Care if he continues to not eat, as well as motility drugs from his last bout of stasis. We have been doing all of these. As of Saturday evening, he still hasn’t eaten any hay, veggies, or pellets. He has, on occasion, nibbled on a piece of veggie or eaten a willow leaf or other treats–which was not the case when he actually had stasis. 

My question is, is this a normal reaction to being on the 72-hour painkiller and fluids? I get that he’s groggy, but should I expect him to actually have been eating during this time? I did notice he peed a bit this afternoon and he has poop stuck in his butt area, though I haven’t seen him actually poop. Just wondering if I’m dealing with stasis, on top of the eye injury (an active ulcer), or if this is something else.

Thanks for any help!

[Bunny House]

Hi there!

Do you have a stethoscope to listen to his gut sounds to make sure it is still moving?
If the pain killer is not enough, he might not want to eat. You will want to force feed him the critical care just so if he isn’t in stasis yet, he doesn’t go into it from not eating. Buprenorphine can cause drowsiness if it is too high of a dose (its in the morphine family so he will act basically high haha)

Did she say you could do hot compresses to help alleviate the pain? If he still isn’t eating today I would take him to the ER or the regular vet tomorrow because that eye injury could be something more than just that. At least going there can easy some anxiety you have about your baby and help him get better!

[BunjaminML]

I don’t know what the name is of the painkiller he got, but I know it is somewhere in the vicodin family. I e-mailed my vet and she confirmed it will make him lethargic. But would it make him not eat, though? The vet didn’t say anything about a hot compress, but we were also given an oral painkiller to help alleviate any extra pain.

We have been feeding him Critical Care, and a couple doses of motility drugs already. He has pooped, but they are small, misshapen ones–definitely not the healthy kind. A few hours ago, he did pick at his pellet bowl and ate a couple, and he just ate a long piece of hay just now. So, I hope that’s progress? I’m not too worried about the eye injury at this point. The vet prescribed eye drops, and his eye is looking much much better so at least there’s that!

[Bunny House]

If there was any time period where he did not eat, gas might have built up and so he is painful and doesn’t want to eat but the pain meds would have kicked that pain. He might have been in stasis and now he is coming out of it. If the poops don’t get bigger in size or number, I would call the vet. At least his eye is looking better

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