Health help for my poorly bunny – GI STASIS

[Freya]

I have a bunny named leo he is 4 years old and a rather big greedy bunny. On friday just gone we noticed he had a sniffle so we took him to the vets asap, he said leo’s chest was completely clear and that he would give him an antibiotic injection and he would have to come back again in a few days for another one, then after that one come back again the next few days, so in short have 3 antibiotic injections in total. On saturday night
We noticed him becoming a little less active, then by sunday he was not eating much and pooing very little.
We rushed him to the emergency vets, where they proceeded to tell us his chest was clear but he is having struggles passing poo, so he would have to stay in over night, we agreed thinking this would be the best thing for him. We rang a few times and were told he was getting on abit better. Monday morning came and we were told to come pick him up when we arrived we payed the bill and the only medicine given to us was ‘fibreplex’ we thought this was strange but decided they know what they are doing. We were excited to get him home and brought all his favourite foods to eat but he still wasn’t eating or pooing as normal, he looked very much in pain. Becoming panicked again we didn’t know the best option, we decided to ring an exotic vet to see what they suggest, they wanted to see us immediately. When we arrived leo went straight in and they said he had a severe chest infection in both sides which somehow the other two vets we had been to missed. She said leo would need to stay in over night for antibiotics, painkillers and force feeding. Tuesday morning we were able to pick him up again and was given gut stimulant, pain killer, antibiotic and critical care food. Happy with the care he had been given compared to the other vets we were again happy to have him home. When first back he was taking lots of encouragment to eat and drink but he was and he was pooing not normal but still pooing. This morning we have been force feeding him and trying to encourage eating, he is eating very little. We have also been encouring pooing through massaging but he hasn’t been for a poo in a good few hours. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or experience they could share with us and our beautiful bun. Thank you in advance.

[GlennTheLionhead]

It sounds like your doing the right thing with all the advice from the vets. Keep them updated for sure!
Sometimes the vets can prescribe a gut stimulant you can give to him at home, usually you administer it a couple times a day to try and bring about his appetite. While he’s not eating, try getting him eating my any means, favourite leafy mixes and healthy low fat and low sugar treats are best, sometimes like us ill bunnies go for easier softer things to eat rather than hard crunchy thing, like his favourite rabbit safe salad leaves and grass, experiment with everything and see if he takes to anything. When my boy had stasis due to shedding problems all we could get him to eat was dried blackcurrant leaves and bits of hay for days!
With the pooping, if he’s not pooing it could just be the lack of food however if you think it could be constipation consult with your vet. If their constipated they will be disaying the hunched up uncomfortable posture, trying to force their bellies flat in the ground and you will hear abnormal grumbling noises in their tummies.

I’m no exepert, but that’s what I learnt from my experience with GI stasis, hopefully it’s somewhat useful!

Hope he recovers soon xx

[Bam]

I agree with Glenn. It seems your bun got good care by the vet you finally saw. You can still give the fibreplex though, it’s a very good fibre/probiotic product that helps the gut, but in your case your bun needed more meds + meds to treat his chest infection as well. My Bam had a chest infection last summer.We saw a bunny savvy vet and he got much the same treatment as your bun ended up getting. I gave him antibiotics for 2 weeks. He also got a brochodialator (bricanyl) to help with his airways.

As for poop, it could be lack of food in the GI tract as Glenn says. Massages are good, the fibreplex is good. On suspicion of painful gas, many of us give our buns baby gas drops (simethicone). Infacol is a good brand.

Here’s an article that I’ve found to be very useful when dealing with a stasis bun. In your case the chest infection complicates matters, but that is for the antibiotics to clear up. Antibiotics can lower appetite and cause tummy upset. Fibreplex can help because it restores a beneficial GI microbiota.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

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