GI stasis

[Oh hec]

Hello everybody.

I hope I’ve done everything right so far, I’m new today although have spent the past few weeks researching everyday.

I will start from the beginning:

I have 2 rabbits Bernard (7) Ethel (2) both neutered and spayed and always been very healthy and no issues.
There diet is approx 1/2 cup pellets to share morning and night, unlimited hay, dried grass usually at least 3 varieties, and in the evenings leafy green veg or herbs and 1 treat a day.

On 1/27/18 I noticed they had both not been eating many pellets but seemed fine and today realised the recipe had changed. 2 days later Bernard was showing signs of a urine infection, straining to wee and depositing small amounts very often and then not eating and drinking as much as he usually did but not overly concerned. On the 2/1/18 I took them to the vets and stressed my concerns of a urine infection he prescribed him metacam 1.5ml daily and 2.5ml metoclopramide daily. I went home and did this but the next day he looked very much in pain when trying to wee so rang and spoke to the lead vet he added 7 days worth of baytril 0.6mls twice daily. The next day he picked up and the urinating was better but he completely stopped eating and drinking so on the Sunday he went to the emergency vets who wanted to put him under general for X-rays and full check of his teeth and thought they were not aligned. This was for the following day as he was the only vet on and wanted support. That evening we started CC and he started eating and small smelly Mucas poops came. We went the next day and a rabbit savvy vet said he seemed to be doing better and his teeth were fine (she got a MUCH better look) so didn’t want to stop his progress with the general and told us to keep going and she would see us in a week! Bernard done great by the Monday and whilst getting the all clear they both got the vaccinations the duo one.

The very next day Bernard had very loose stools and back to not eating and drinking so we started the metoclopramide and metacam again, by Thursday back to his good old self (phew). Throughout all of this Ethel had cut back on her pellets but seemed fine but yesterday I noticed she has stopped eating and by the evening I only got her to have some carrot tops and she done 5 regular sized but VERY smelly wet poo’s. After a long night of her having nothing and refusing the metacam I had left over I took her to the vet this morning at 10.30, she has a temperature of 40’ Celsius which I believe is 104’ F she has no gut sounds but he was also 100% sure there is no blockages and said no gas to be felt or heard. She seems very down and he gave her 10mls fluid injection aswell as baytril, metacam and the metoclopramide and also one beginning with r. I’ve got to try and do cc at home and meds which has never been successful but the vet is convinced she has the same infection as Bernard she has still not eaten or pooped.

I have read and read and just want to make sure I’m doing the best for my babies, is there any more advice anyone can give for a speedy recovery as I’m very worried.

Thankyou if you managed to read all of that and again I’m sorry if I’ve gone about the process wrong!

[Bam]

It would seem reasonable that they have the same infection. It seems like you’re doing everything you can. You do have to try to syringe her CC if she doesn’t eat, it’s vital that she doesn’t go with an empty tummy.

40 degrees C is practically normal in a bunny, only slightly elevated. There are individual diffferences, so if you don’t have a baseline temp 40/104 could be normal for her. Is she still not pooping? Any poop at all is a lot better than no poop, even if the poop is wet.

Baytril’s most common side effect is loss of appetite.

[Oh hec]

So it’s 20 hours since she last pooped but they were 5 very very smelly wet ones and around the same since she last ate a small amount on her own.

I’ve managed to get some CC in but I’m unsure how much as after she ran and spat some out but I’m hoping some went in. With Bernard I could tempt him with the occasional herb and but ethel is having none of it!

He seemed a little concerned with her temperature which made me panic she has it worse, so that’s reassuring.

She seems so down like a completely different bunny It’s so heartbreakingly draining.

Thankyou for your reply!

[Oh hec]

I’m not sure where my reply went I must not have hit submit!

She has not pooped for nearly 22 hours now and the last time she went there were only 5 very smelly wet ones which I’ve not seen with her, this was before any medication was given. This was also the last time I got her to eat a small amount on her own.

Since then I have managed around 18mls of CC but I’m not sure how much of this she had as she dosent seem to swallow and then runs and spits it out, but I will try every 2 hour to give her something!

Thanks for the reassurance with her temperature, the vet seemed a little concerned with it and this being the reason the baytril was started.

She feels extremely sorry for herself and is very down! I really hope there is some movement soon. This has been a very heartbreaking draining few weeks.

[Bam]

22 hours with no poop is worrisome, but the vet ruled out a blockage, so the best thing is probably to keep doing what you are doing. Try to feed her every 2 hours, whatever she gets in her is good. It’s normal for a lot of CC to end up on the person feeding the bun. It’s actually a good sign when a bun fights meds and CC, it means there’s strength and willpower in the bun.

The med starting with r could be ranitidine perhaps. It’s another gut motility drug. It also helps protect the stomach by reducing the amount of stomach acid.

You have to keep an eye on her temp now. She mustn’t get too warm obviously, but the Metacam has fever-lowering properties so you should monitor so she doesn’t get too cold either.

[Oh hec]

He said that her gut felt good and there was no bloat, gas or blockages. He’s an experienced vet so I can only trust his judgment and he felt there was no need for an X-ray.

The critical care has been going well since adding some baby food and having 2 of us we have got approx 15mls in every 2 hours, will do one more dose at 12.30am but then wait until 7am as I really need to get some rest aswell! She also ate 2 sprigs of carrot tops which is the first little bit she’s had on her own since yesterday!

I’ve added 3 hot water bottle in towels around the room in her favourite sleeping spots and also made sure the heating is on for the night. She seemed to chill down earlier so that would explain things but luckily Bernard snuggled up and she warmed up.

Sorry for all these in depth replies this is the first time I’ve been through anything like this and want to make sure I’m not missing anything that could slow down progress. Fingers crossed for some poops in the night!

[YandereCapybara]

My brother used to lightly massage his bunny’s tummy when it had GI stasis. (With vet’s approval)
Maybe ask your vet if that could work?

[Oh hec]

I did a little light massage on her tummy through the night she did go and sit in her litter tray after but nothing! We are just over 34 hours with no movement now I’m really starting to panic now!

[Bam]

We appreciate in depth replies here.

Buns can go for a long time without pooping, but you should of course contact your vet again when they open. That she voluntarily ate sprigs of carrot tops are great. You have to go on feeding her though. Here’s a video on how to do a bunny tummy massage: https://www.howcast.com/videos/514701-how-to-help-a-rabbit-with-gas-pain-pet-rabbits/

This is my favorite article on gut stasis: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
There are things in the article that don’t apply to your situation, so you have to like sift through it for what does apply. Many of us here use the simethicone baby gas drops mentioned in the article when a bun displays loss of appetite – while there are no hard scientific evidence of its effectiveness in rabbits, many a bun owner swears by it. Dana Krempels (author of the article and a very trusted source) and Medirabbit say its ok to give on suspicion of gas (there is usually some gas involved when a bun has tummy trouble). It’s not absorbed by the body but have all it’s action in the GI canal and all of it gets pooped out.

It’s great that she has Bernard. There’s nothing better than a fellow bun snuggling up.

[Oh hec]

My vets opens in an hour so will be able to call and update them, I just get worried about force feeding her if she’s not poopin, but will obviously carry on. Maybe she went a little longer that I suspected without food and it’s got a long way to travel!

Thanks so much for the links I’ve just done the massage for around 8minutes (that’s all she tolerated) but heard gut sounds which I presume must be gas that has developed over night and the vet said he could hear nothing yesterday! I will go out and get the simethicone today in case this is the issue. Straight after the massage she did run and eat 1 spring of carrot top again, it seems to be the only thing she fancies as all herbs and different greens are on offer.

[Oh hec]

In case anyone is following in a similar situation I spoke to the vet and he wanted to see her again to possibly admit her as she had not pooped. We got there and he said that he felt like she was doing a little better than yesterday although her temp was higher 40.5 but he said it could be the stress of coming back again. But she had put on a tiny bit of weight and there were positive sounds coming from her gut which still felt soft and not blockages or bloat. So he gave her fluids to top her up and some ranitidine and also some to give at home but felt she was definitely best to stay at home for the moment.

[Bam]

I’m glad you went back to the vet and that they saw some improvement and gave her sub q fluids.
Thank you for updating! We really appreciate it. It’s so valuable for other people going through similar things. It’s very scary when you have a poorly bunny.

Keep improving ((((Ethel))))

[Oh hec]

So after another very long day I think we have got some movement! She has produce around 8 small funny shaped poos in a jelly like mucas, this immediately panicked me and rang my local animal hospital who put me through to a rabbit specialist only 30mins away who has said this is a good sign and the first poo can often have some mucas but if any more passes to take her straight there!

This all happened after 3 doses of the simethicone and she moved a little for the first time in a couple of days so thank you so much bam for the tip. As alothough the vet said he didn’t think there was to much of a gas issue, I think is eased some pain.

Has anyone else had this jelly mucas ??

[Bam]

Yay for poop!!!
Jelly mucus poop can be a sign of an irritated colon. It’s to be expected that her first poop after such a long period of non-pooping looks really weird. Small peppercorn poops or misshapen moist poops, big blobs of gooey stinky poop, double poops etc etc. It can take 2 weeks before all is back to normal.

I’m pretty sure your vet meant there wasn’t any really bad gas build-up, but even a little bit of gas can be uncomfy for a bun and make it lose its appetite.

Keep pooping (((((Ethel)))))

[Oh hec]

So what I thought was going to be a turning point yesterday has been a bit of a disappointment today and feeling very down and unsure what to do!

After the mucas poo last night there has been no other poops! Although today she has drank the tiniest amount on her own for the first time and also seems to have eaten a little more ( but by no means enough to even cut back on CC) but she’s also been eating some hay.

Today has been by far her most lathargic day she has been sleeping mostly in her litter tray which is unlike her, and just generally really down and tired! I’ve tried to get her up to run about but she just runs to a new place to sleep!

Is there others where recovery has been this slow? Or is she deteriorating? When I last spoke to the vet he said there was room to up her meds but from what I’ve read these seem to be high already!

I also have done a lot of massage today and the last time she done the biggest wee I’ve ever seen on me / bed, it was very dark and honestly the amount of a human wee!

I’m very lost at this point and feel like I’ve done everything on the Internet I can find!

[Luna]

Recovery can indeed be slow, but what you want to watch out for is decline. The fact that she pooped last night is awesome and is a good sign. How many hours has it been between that poop and now? What dose/frequency did the vet prescribe for the ranitidine? ((((Ethel))))

[Oh hec]

The poop was 26 hours ago which is why I’m now panicking again I honestly thought I would wake up to at least a few in the tray! But today has been really upsetting she just seem so down! Her stomach dosent feel compacted or bloated at all though but she has some gas that I’m giving the baby gas meds for.

Her ranitidine dose is 0.7mls twice a day and she weighs 2.3kg.

Bernard just tried to mount her though as the charming gentleman she is and she shot across the room!

[Bam]

It was probably beneficial for her that she peed so much. I think you should inform your vet of that. If there’s a kidney issue she should perhaps not be on Metacam.

Both Metacam and ranitidine are otherwise meds that can be given at rather large doses if needed.

It’s good that she’s eaten a bit of hay. Is she still on antibiotics? Sth seems to be really off, but you are doing all you can.

Physical movement is good for the tummy, so maybe it was good for her that she ran away from her perhaps not so considerate husbun.

[Oh hec]

She’s gone,

Thank you very much for all your help especially to you bam, I wish I knew where I went wrong but I truly loved her with everything.

[Bam]

Oh hec, I’m so terribly sorry.
You didn’t do anything wrong. You did all you could possibly have done. There was clearly something very wrong with her.

You took great care of her, she got veterinary care and meds, I’m so sorry you couldn’t save her, but it was not for lack of trying.

Binky free, sweet little ((((Ethel)))))

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oh no, I’m so sorry for your loss! Please don’t blame this on yourself, as far as I can see you’ve done much and more to help her. Rabbits are extremely delicate animals, and they’ve evolved to hide pain and discomfort for as long as possible. Often there are no warning signs, and once you see symptoms the situation can already be too critical for the rabbit to survive. Sadly, GI stasis is one of the main causes of death. Rabbits have a really difficult digestive system which often won’t start up again after it has shut down. There’s nothing that can be done once a rabbit is past a certain point.

I hope that you and Bernard can give eachother some comfort in these difficult times. Binky free sweet Ethel!

[Luna]

I’m so sorry about your bun. As the others have said, you clearly did everything you could. It’s not fair, but sometimes buns will decline even after showing some promise in recovery.

Binky free Ethel

[Oh hec]

Thank you for your kind words, I’m sure it’s just human nature to replay the situation over and over thinking of things you could have done differently.

We let Bernard spend some time alone with her and he desperately tried to wake her for a good 30mins but then gently groomed her all over and went under the bed to sleep! They instantly bonded and have been inseparable since but he seems ok eating and drinking and getting lots of cuddles and kisses.

I took Ethel to the vets and he was distraught at the outcome and thinks that when her gut stopped on Saturday we never managed to get it going again.

My sweet girl has slept in my bed with me every night since I’ve had her and has truly left such a hole in mine and Bernard’s heart.

[Luna]

That is so sad . I’m so glad though that Bernard was able to say goodbye to her.

[meridiian]

I’m really sorry you lost Ethel.

This is so sad, she was clearly loved deeply by both you and Bernard. You did all you could, she knew that I’m sure.

Binky Free (((Ethel)))

xx

[Author]

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