GI Stasis?

[Rain]

Hi everyone, I posted two days ago that my rabbit’s poops were becoming smaller and smaller. Today, there was hardly any at all. I counted twelve tiny tiny poops. They were round and very dark. I have monitored from Friday to Sunday, today, and it seems that Rain may be entering GI stasis. The only exotic animal clinic in town is closed on Sundays. I could schedule an appointment tomorrow, but I don’t know what else I can do until then. He is still nibbling on his hay, but less enthusiastic about it. I gave him a treat and pellets, and oats, to boost his appetite and to get atleast something. He ate half of his pellets, and then came back hours later to finish off the rest. He usually eats the entire handful of pellets in a sitting. And again, I noticed he was not enthusiastic about either treats or pellets. I’m all out of veggies, so I’ll go out and get some of that today and give him water soaked lettuce to hydrate him better. I noted that the poops weren’t dry and crumbly like normal, but still had hay particles in them. He’s been very sleepy the last couple days, even in the night time. All he does is sleep. I don’t see any grinding or hunched position. He could have gas, though. I’ve heard that rabbits try to push their stomachs to the ground when they feel bloated, but I don’t know how to tell that apart from his usually stretching out on the ground. Can someone please advise me on what I can do until his vet appointment?

[Dasher]

You can use baby gas drops and massage his stomach if you suspect it’s gas. With bloat the bunny will usually sit in a bunloaf or duck position and push their stomachs to the ground and look uncomfortable. It can hard sometimes to distinguish bunloaf vs hunched position but you will know if something is off. Try to encourage him to eat whatever he can until you can get him to a vet. Hopefully he recovers soon.

[sarahthegemini]

If you have any simethicone on hand, you could give him some to help any gas. Would he let you massage his tummy?

[Rain]

@Dasher, thank you so much for the reply! I think he looked pretty uncomfortable when I saw him. He was stretched out in a loaf position with his ears down. I think I will go out and get some and give him that. Thank you, I hope he recovers soon too.
@sarahthegemini, no, he didn’t let me touch it for that long. I felt that it was pretty hard though.

What is the doseage for the gas drops? (He’s three pounds and six months old btw) How much and how often should I give it to him?

[Luna]

The baby gas drops I have used for Luna (simethicone 20mg/0.3ml), I would give her 1ml every hour for the first couple hours, then 1ml every 3 hours if needed (though she is usually better after 1 dose). Make sure to get the unflavored gas drops too

.

[Rain]

How do you give them to her?

[Luna]

I bought the store-brand kind from Walgreens, and it came with a dropper, but the dropper only holds .6ml. I have syringes of different sizes from Luna’s previous stasis episodes and other meds, so I used one of those syringes because it measured 1ml. A little extra simethicone won’t hurt him, so if you are off by a few 0.01ml, he will be fine.

ETA: I meant, if you are off by a few 0.1ml, he will be fine. Sorry, my math isn’t what it used to be! Just try to get a 1ml dose (or very close to it).

[Rain]

Ha ha, don’t worry, my math is twice is bad!! Ugh, especially decimals.
That’s exactly where I was going to by them from, at Walgreens. So overall, he needs about 1 ml, right? What if he doesn’t cooperate with the syringe? I can’t even hold him! He’s so fussy about things like this. Can you still feed it to them if they are on the ground? I would have to hold him down or something. Or maybe put him in his carrier and put let him out on top of something higher. But he’s such a crazy doodle that he would jump off and hurt himself. And then I would cause him extra stress, further increasing his sickness. Is there any side effects of the gas drops that I should remember, in case he has any effects and I freak out?

[Rain]

Should I give him a teeny bit of cilantro sprinkled on his hay to entice him to eat it? He’s never eaten it before, though, and I don’t want to give him something new if it’s going to hurt him more.

[Luna]

Yes, 1ml every hour for up to 3 hours. Afterward, if he still shows signs of gas then you can give 1ml every 3 hours. I’ve never heard of it causing any side effects. You can give it to him when he’s on the ground if it will help. Also, if you can somehow drizzle it onto veggies, you can give it to him that way too.

Luna seriously LOVES the syringe, so I don’t ever have to hold her. She just sits there while I hold the syringe and let a little bit drip out at a time while she licks it . It can take a couple minutes though because I have to make sure I let out the medicine slowly so she doesn’t aspirate.

ETA: I wouldn’t give him the cilantro if he hasn’t had it before.

[Rain]

Thank you so much Luna for the help! I haven’t given him any drops yet though because now he is pooping and eating all normal again. I don’t know why. He’s just pooping everywhere. It’s so weird. The past couple days, he’s barely been pooping like he’s supposed to, and now, all of a sudden, he’s pooping. I’m still going to give one dose to be safe, and take him to a vet because that’s just not normal. Maybe it’s because earlier I finally got a little massage in, so it helped out a little? They are still smaller than normal, so I’m still keeping watch. Atleast he’s pooping now.
I won’t give the cilantro then.

[Luna]

Your welcome . That’s great that he’s pooping normally again! I went back to re-read your other post about his poop size. Gas or stasis is a result of something else going on, such as diet or stress triggering it. Right before or during that time, did he eat a certain veggie or new treats? Have there been any changes in the house or routine or new people/animals/smells? Though sometimes it can just be a case of mystery gas or mystery stasis, when none of the triggers have occurred, yet for some reason or another a bun has a gas or stasis episode.

[Rain]

I’m not so sure what could have happened. There have been no new animals, but people do often come by. Even then, that never bothers him in that way, and never causes him to get small teeny tiny poops. He has a new brand of litter, though that was a week ago and didn’t affect him then. He went a day without his normal hay and had to eat a different type that he didn’t really like, but was still pooping normally and perfectly fine then. I have no idea what happened. I haven’t given any new treats or veggies.
If I still give him one dose of gas drops, could it hurt him and make him much worse? Would it put him in danger? I just want to be safe, but I don’t want to do it if it is a risk to him. He is much better now, and pooping almost normally again. So I don’t know if I should give him a dose or not? I’m sorry for being so extra paranoid, but this is my first bun, and even though I did so much research and everything, I’m still not sure about certain things, and I get so anxious after reading and seeing so many stories about rabbits who get really sick.

[Sirius&Luna]

Gas drops won’t do any harm if he doesn’t need them, that’s why they’re so great to have on hand however, if he’s fighting against them, you don’t want to make him stressed, so I wouldn’t bother in that case.

I’m glad he’s doing better, let us know what the vet says!

[Rain]

Oh goodness. The latest appointment I can get with the clinic is twelveish days from today. I don’t know what else I can do except wait. I told them it’s important but they said they are completely booked. They are the only exotic animal clinic in the city, so I’d think they would be constantly booked. I don’t think he’s in danger though. He’s been completely fine today, and has normal poops. I think he was just having some trouble for a couple days, but whatever it is passed. However, it never hurts to check.

[LionelLop]

This might be a stretch, but did you feed him anything acidic as a treat? One time I fed my bun a little bit of orange which gave him gas (constantly rearranging himself+stretching out on the ground). It was just too acidic for his stomach.

[Author]

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