How much would surgery cost?

[Brenna]

Went to the vet this evening because my little girl Chloe wasn’t eating her dinner. Had some x-rays done and it turns out her stomach is very bloated. The vet told me that it might be a blockage but it also might just be GI stasis. Right now I’m treating her for GI stasis but if she doesn’t get better within the week than it’s a blockage and she’s going to need surgery. I was wondering if anyone has had to get this surgery for their rabbit and how much did it cost you. I have a little bit of money saved up but if I need to put away more money than I will. I’d just like a good estimate.

[Bunny House]

Hi, so my bun actually had an exploritory since his cecum and small intestine was blocked on Monday. It was $3000+ not including the X-rays. It also depends on where you live but you really need to ask your vet for a quote. Is it a rabbit savvy vet you’re going to? And are you doing gas drops?

I don’t want to say this but I want you to be prepared. Gi surgeries have a very very high mortality rate. My bun didn’t make it after surgery, he made it through it but he stopped breathing shortly after being woken up. Not saying your bun won’t make it, but the odds are against him, but when it’s bad, you have the choice to euthanize or do surgery and hope they survive it.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Ask the vet for an estimate?

[Brenna]

I would be going to a rabbit savvy vet. The vet I usually go to doesn’t do surgeries on rabbits other than spaying and neutering. When I asked her for a price range she said somewhere between $1200 to $1500. My vet didn’t make it sound like it was a high fatality rate surgery however. This is news to me, but thank you for telling me this. Hopefully it’s just GI stasis and surgery won’t be necessary.

[Bunny House]

I suggest you change your vet to a rabbit savvy vet ASAP as regular vets don’t know how to care for bunnies. Having a rabbit savvy vet be your only vet will increase the chances of their survival rate with any illnesses. It’s more expensive but you don’t want someone who doesn’t know how to treat them to treat them.

Yeah, you’re Vet doesn’t sound very experienced which really concerns me as many rabbit vets wouldn’t wait a week, for a bun to try and get better on its own. They would do intensive care right then and there as bunnies can’t be treated like cats or dogs. The mortality rate is like 95% with gi surgery. I hope you don’t need to do it but you really need to get your bun to a rabbit savvy vet today for the right care.

[Bunny House]

Can you tell me exactly what are the doing to your bun for stasis care? It can be a big difference from a rabbit savvy vet to a dog vet.

[Asriel and Bombur]

I have to agree with BH. Last year Bombur had severe stasis. It turned into a very serious condition known as Enterotoxemia, and that was literally within hours. I went to bed at 1am to a very happy, healthy bunny, and woke up at 5am to a bunny that wasn’t interested in his morning pellets and had no desire to do anything. We rushed him to the emergency bunny vet where he spent 2 days in incubation being surrounded by heaters and blankets, constantly getting Critical Care and fluid pushed through him, and having Xrays done. He pulled through and I’m 100% certain if we didn’t have a good bunny vet, Bombur would’ve been dead then at 6 months old.

It’s concerning that they didn’t even take an ultrasound, not just a X-ray, for stasis, as it could be caused by anything, including a blockage. And if it is a blockage they’ve left it to ruminate and potentially get worse by waiting. With a blockage you don’t wait because it can turn into bloat and kill them quickly.

[Brenna]

The vet gave me antibiotics and pain relief medicine. I’ve also been feeding Chloe critical care because she’s not interested in anything other than hay and even then she doesn’t eat much of it. A rabbit savvy vet in my area is two hours away from me. I have school with a full time job piled on top of that. I don’t have the time once I get out of school and done with work to travel to this vet. When I realized Chloe wasn’t feeling good I took her to the closest vet. The vet I went to wanted to see if things got better with treatment before resorting to surgery.

[Brenna]

I just wanted to add that if it does come down to needing surgery I am going to the rabbit savvy vet. It’s just that I need to see a vet ASAP when I realized that something was wrong with Chloe.

[BinkyBunny]

Brenna – That makes sense.  When you feel something is urgent, you want to find some help asap. 

Rabbit savvy vets are not plentiful in all areas and in urgent cases it can sure make things tough.   Even a long travel ride can cause stress so it’s hard to decide whats best in urgent times.  

I am concerned about the bloat aspect too.  I understand the urgency of others wanting you to get rabbit-savvy treatment soon.  This is a good link about bloat and gi stasis. It has some good info about what it is and what to do about it. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html.  It gives a combination of home treatments with vet treatments (so you know what a rabbit-savvy vet will prescribe) 

I think the pain relief meds will probably be helpful so it’s good you have that and the critical care.  I also suggest making the the critical care more like the consistency of tomato soup or a bit thinner to get the fluids in — as fluids can really help.  Feed luke warm so it keeps her warm. 

 Keep her warm. (but not so much that she can’t get away if she gets too hot.)  Simply lying down on the couch and putting her on your stomach while you watch TV can help keep her warm.  I did this all night while my bunny was on the mend.    If your vet has access to a gut motility drug for rabbits, then that can be helpful too.  Also gas meds (for human babies) like “Lil Tummies” is can also be helpful as it breaks down the gas into smaller bubbles that the can move through the intestines easier. 

 I understand the busy schedule –  I’ve been there!  I remember having a very important event that I was in charge of at work and my bunny was very sick.  No one at work would have understood…”my rabbit is sick”.   They’d understand if my “dog” was sick, but rabbit?  No they would have thought I was insane. SO I just lied and said I have a serious personal family matter to attend to. It was NOT convenient for anyone.  It’s just something I felt I needed to do.  (Granted my vet was not 2 hours away, but it still took up a lot of my work day). If your bunny doesn’t show improvement with the meds then you may need to call in sick and skip a day of school to get your bunny in sooner if things don’t improve soon.  I truly understand how challenging that can be to do that.  

Wishing you and Chloe the best.  Healing vibes to Chloe!!   Keep us updated.   

Sorry for any typos here!  I’m rushing. 

[Brenna]

Thank you for the link. It was very helpful. Chloe isn’t 100% herself yet but just in these past 2 days she’s shown a little bit of improvement. She’s ate almost all of the cilantro I’ve giver her and she’s eating hay more often. She’s also getting up and moving around quite a bit.

[Asriel and Bombur]

You aren’t alone. I work full time, go to grad school full time, and live 1.5 hours away from work and my vet. But as BB so eloquently put sometimes you just have to make the tough decisions. I really do know how hard it can be because we chose Bombur over school and work. We don’t have that luxury financially at all, as I didn’t have parental support once I turned 16 and once I got married my husband no longer has financial support. So please don’t think I was sounding insensitive. I really do get it.

[Brenna]

I didn’t think anyone was being insensitive. I was just trying to explain that I didn’t want to go straight for surgery because it seems like your last option. Chloe’s getting better day by day. She’s finally eating her salads at dinner time and drinking tons of water! I’ll continue to monitor her but I’m just so happy that she’s feeling better or seems to be.

[Bunny House]

Yeah surgery is the last option. I’m glad she’s getting better. Keep us updated

[LittlePuffyTail]

How is your bunny doing now? Hope she’s improved.

[Author]

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