Gi stasis, brown mucus and growth on lip

[Jadeo09]

 

Hi

Sorry I have duplicated some of this thread in the wrong section. I believe I’m in the right place now.

I want to thank you all for all your thread’s about gi stasis, I would have been totally lost over the last month without all the advice.

 

My rabbit is 9 years old and stopped eating on the 7th she went 50 hours without pooing a few days later until she stopped spitting the syringe food out. She had a dental procedure done despite the vet believing it wasn’t necessary. It seemed to help slightly as she started eating very small amounts of food. But she has had gas ever since. I manage to get her eating in the night very well some days doing 300 poos but other days when we reduce the syringe feeds she stops eating and pooing.

She has a lump on her lip which has been aspirated by an exotic vet. Mainly inflammatory cells but some borderline cells, probably benign if anything apparently. She’s had this op for 2 years so it doesn’t seem to concern most vets I’ve taken her to.

However since July its got considerably larger and the vet said due to the level of inflammation it would be painful. I have been using hibiscrub on it as directed by my vets and it is reducing in size and her appetite for harder foods has increased.

 

What is concerning me most is she seems perfect and active eating pooing in the night 10pm-6am then goes downhill during the next day 11am- 8pm when she’s sleeping and until the night time.

Her poos when she first poops 5pm like clockwork, are dodgy (small, elongated or covered in mucus) she had even passed large slime/mucus. Toward the end of the night, midnight onwards, they are regular round and very healthy looking. But it goes downhill again the next day.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions as I have tried everything that me and othe vet can think of. I have another appointment next week but I’m looking for some advice to get her more confortable etc in the meantime. I’m staying up most of the night every night woth her and getting an hour or two between feeds and belly rubs and I just can’t seem to get her better. Simeticone seems to help and she’s also on metacam and cisapride.

The vet wants me to monitor the lump, he hopes her appetite will improve when it’s gone, or it will need removing. Though we are reluctant to due to her age and the risks of anaesthesia.

Sadly in the meantime the gas buildup is so painful she lies there most of the day and won’t eat for more than a few bites event hough she looks interested in food.

When I get the gas under control its begins again the next afternoon and we are back to square one.

 

 

[pinkiemarie]

What exactly is she eating? Some greens can cause more gas than others and perhaps on top of everything else she has some kind of dietary intolerance that she never had before.

[Jadeo09]

I can’t thank you enough for your help. I’m sorry I’m late getting back to you. I don’t know how to receive notifications.

We haven’t been feeding her any greens for about a week ( she would only eat fresh greens a couple of weeks ago so we didn’t have much choice). She has always had intolerance to fresh veggies so we’ve always stuck to dried weeds once the vet reccomend it. We also taken her off pellets about four years ago and she stopped needing her teeth burred every few months. When she was baby she had diarrhea constantly until we switched to grain free and the critical care formula th e vets gave us a fee weeks ago had grain in., we didn’t realise at the time as we only had the sachets and not the box woth the ingredients on. At the time she hadn’t eaten for days and the vet said her stomach was entirely empty so it was an emergency.

We was feeding her grain free pellets in a syringe, and dried weeds, dried parsely, and dried flowers for the last two weeks maybe. She barely touched the dried stuff but was ravenous for the syringe

Her droppings were very mushy and dark on the pellets so I bought a coffee grinder and I’m grinding up dried timothy hay and dried parsley and mixing with warm water to syringe feed her with for the last four days. She didn’t have as much gas for the last few days except a bad episode last night.

I mixed in slippery elm today to reduce the inflammation/mucus and she has seemed 100 times better today.

Her poos have been more regular with no mucus and larger. Her appetite picked up much earlier tonight too.  But as soon as she goes to sleep at 6.30 tomorrow morning she will be almost certainly be back to not eating or moving much again.

Its bizarre. She seems to eat only when encouraged or when we rub her tummy.

 

One new problem is she is peeing down the inside of her hind legs and stamping in the litter tray once she’s done it. She does have arthritis but she’s on metcam 3 times a day and doesn’t seem to be stiff. I’m not sure if it could be related. She’s not straining to pee or sitting hunched like she did when she has bladder stones years ago so I don’t think it could be that….

Thanks again for your help

 

 

[pinkiemarie]

Well I’m so sorry but I’m not sure what to tell you and hopefully someone will more knowledge on how diet affects rabbit gassiness and overall gut health can weigh in. It sounds like you’ve been incredibly diligent about making sure you’re giving her a proper diet and trying your best to feed her the right things for her unique needs.

[Jadeo09]

I’m doing my best but I felt like I must be doing something wrong, so I really appreciate your reassurance and help. It’s nice not to feel alone.

Thanks again

Jade

 

[pinkiemarie]

Honestly I think a lot of people would have given up on her by now. Sad but true, she’s lucky to have you!

[Jadeo09]

Aw thank you, I’m lucky too that she’s still fighting. Shes giving a good fight at her age! I’ll keep this thread updated if I find out any more, just in case.

Jade

 

[pinkiemarie]

Please do! I’m still hoping someone else will chime in.

[Jadeo09]

That would be great. Her appetite is improving and there has been no massive blobs of mucus.

Tonight she’s been in pain since 9pm woth gas until she passed the mucus covered poos. They are a great size though. No small hard pellets. No obvious streaks of blood either.

 

I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this. We’re so tired of the endless struggling. This month has seemed to go on endlessly.

Of her appetite has improved and her behaviour more generally, less lethargic, foraging surely that’s a good sign she’s recovering?

Jade

[DanaNM]

It definitely looks like her gut is irritated with all of that mucous.

I had a foster bun that had these alternating cycles of extreme gas followed by these gross mucous-y poops. In his case, the vet diagnosed him with cecal dysbiosis, but we never really got to a cause or cure. His treatment was pain meds and cisapride to keep him from going into stasis…  indefinitely.

From your posts is does sound like she is improving though! You might try a probiotic such as bene-bac. Anecdotally some folks here have had success with it. Continuing to push fluids and fiber on her should hopefully get her tummy back on track!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jadeo09]

Thank you for your help Dana and suggestions. I will get some probiotics for her. I had been using bio lapis.

I have very good news since we stopped the cisapride in Friday all the bloating has stopped her mucus has almost gone and she is eating without encouragement all day and night. She was obviously over stimulated by it and improved almost the instant it was out of her system.

She’s running round jumping on the couch, running over looking for treats and cuddles. I’d say she’s back to her usual self or very close to it.

Thanks for all your help. I would have been lost without it.

[DanaNM]

That’s great news and very interesting! It makes me wonder if the cisapride was contributing to the issues in my foster bun’s case….!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[pinkiemarie]

I’m so glad to hear that!

[Jadeo09]

Yes Dana I had wondered than myself!

 

Glad you’ve seen my update Pinkiemarie I’m so relieved!

Thanks to both of you for keeping an eye out and offering help and reassurance to me. It kept me going!

[DanaNM]

Thinking back, I do remember at first with my sick foster that we had stopped cisapride at one point and he got worse. I think we pretty much tried changing each element of his treatment routine to make sure none of the meds were making it worse. So I think in my guy’s case he just had a yucky tummy (we think he had megacolon/cow pile syndrome).

In any case, so glad your bun is doing well now!

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages