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He stopped eating about midnight…wouldn’t take his favorite treats, no hay, only nibbled at this lettuce and then woudln’t have any greens after that. Drank only small bits, didn’t even empty a hamster bowl. Wouldn’t move much so I gave him simethicone twice, no effect. He is pushing his belly down on the floor wherever he sits or sitting hunched with hooded or bulging eyes, no telling what kind of sleep he’s had. I’ve been awake all night myself.
I am here typing because my husband (the big hairy guy who scares Fiver-can’t be helped) is taking him in to the vet right now in a car I am not sure is going to make it there and back.
Fiver’s ears were uncharacteristically cold to my touch most of the night. He refused the opportunity to do zooms on my bed and just laid down far from me but keeping me in sight. He’s also making strange movements with his mouth and tongue like something is stuck in his craw. He washes his face furiously, but other than that nothing else it would seem. His coat looks rough.
After seeing only two fecals in his box this morning, one much smaller than usual, and knowing he’s had mushy cecals for a while off and on and who knows if he’s getting any in, plus this strange behavior, I figured he’d better get seen. REgular vet is not in, but the on call is giong to look at him. Hopefully she’s not one of those who just takes a cursory look and says the one thing I don’t want to hear.
Everything I read that sounds like this tells me he’s either in GI shutdown, is getting there, or has an obstruction.
The last thing he had to eat was meadow hay, much coarser than his 3rd cut timmy…I’m hoping it wasn’t moldy, or just too hard on his system for his gut to push through. I’d held onto the hope that he would’ve passed it by now.
Please pray for my little guy. He’s just a baby compared to the other two bunnies. (only a year and a half mini-rex)…and my hubby will not know what to say to the vet to help him. (I sent a list with his symptoms and two samples of the hay in case they need testing.)
It’s not fair that I can’t be there. Stupid cars and stupid weather and (God love him) overprotective husband.
Poor Fiver…what did I miss? He’s just got to be okay. *cries*
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Just heard from hubby and doc:
Doctor doesn’t feel any obstructions, but Fiver is jumping each time she tries to touch his tummy (he does that, he doesn’t like his sides touched at all) and so we’re not sure if he’s in pain or what. She will try to get a look at his molars with the scope, but is not sure she can get in there with how jumpy he is. Incisors look fine.
She’s suggested administering some sub-q fluids and inject-able Reglan. They’re going to observe him for about an hour or so to see if he poops so they can get a sample (I should’ve sent the few that were left in his box from last night, darnit!) for testing and then if they can’t get that they’ll do an xray to be sure he’s not obstructed or hasn’t got hair trapped in his tum.
At least it’s not the bloat (he wouldn’t have lasted the night) and she is pretty sure his abdomen feels the right kind of squishy.I’m thinking he hasn’t drunk enough water to pass that higher fiber meadow hay. Some of it must be impacted somewhere in his intestine. Or perhaps he hasn’t been eating cecals and his gut flora are getting stomped.
Either way…oy…I just got Mimzy back to somewhat normal…now this. *headdesk*
Hubby is being very good about all this. In town in a crappy car with a sick bunny that he has to wait to see what the vet will do….he hates to have to wait for anything.
So…we wait… >_<
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Okay, we’re back. *whew*
Well, first off, Fiver was given some inject-able Reglan and some sub-q fluids. The doctor took his xrays also and, although she saw some stuff in his stomach (‘ingesta’ they call it…can mean anything from food to hair) she only found what looked like gas in the small intestine. He peed for them and left one tiny poo.
Now I just checked on him in his habitat again and there’s a bunch of poos in the box and on his bed. It’s like he can’t stop now! 0_o And he is finally eating a bit on his own. I bought some fresh Oxbow Timothy from them and he’s munching away on that from time to time, then he’ll go over and nose around in the Critical Care I put in a bowl for him. He actually takes that on his own, whereas with Mimzy I can’t even syringe the stuff in him, he fights it.I am just awash in tears right now because I am so relieved to see him eat and poo again. I realize he could relapse, but for now I’ll take what we’ve got! It seems he is more comfortable too. Since he couldn’t have gotten much sleep last night, I’m letting him rest as much as possible, but keeping his door open in case he wants to go “Whee!” ^_^
So just a few questions, because the phone lines were down at the vet office when I left and I forgot to ask these…and it looks like they will be down all night. 0_0
Critical Care…how long can it be left out before it should be removed? Does it spoil fast?
Benebac….I’d hate to have to squirt it in his mouth and stress him out again, but I think that may be the only way to get it in. I don’t think they gave him any at the vets….
They told me one tube every 3 days…but is that all at once? The packaging says something about two times once every third day (confusing…) And how do you store the remainder? In the fridge I’m guessing.Thank you all so much for all your healing vibes!
I think they’re working, eh? ^_^ AND…while hubby was in town….HE FOUND A CAR! Totally the right price and the kind of SUV we were looking for….So we once again have a ride that will make it there and back, thanks be to God!
For a day that started out so terribly wrong from the get go…it looks like things will be right again now.
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Mimz-I’m just catching this whole thing!!! I had a virus I think-Dave fixed it and I’m just on since Sunday!! My goodness what a rollercoaster ride!! My thoughts and prayers are with you
{{{{MIMZ}}}
The new clinic cat sounds gorg-I love tuxedo kitties They are wonderful for the waiting room; my clinic had a kangaroo cat (you know the type-genetic freak bred on purpose to have no front limb use?) dumped on the doorstep-the clinic spent almost 60,000 in surgeries at a clinic three hours away (a great bone clinic in calgary) to fix him and then he finally went home with one of the techs Happy story They try to keep the clinic cats down but people dump and sometimes they are just so thereupeutic for us waiting for news -
lolz…Kathy I know what you mean. If I still had my grandfather’s old GMC Sprint, I’d probably have found a way to bring it up here from Cali with me. It was a heck of a truck!
We’ve had our share of lemons…the last one being one of those nice, new Tahoe type SUV’s (which I am beginning to substitute the “S” with an “F” for obvious reasons) that we took for servicing at a local shop… when we didn’t want to have some pricey (and unnecessary) extra repairs done, they wiped the computer chip and now it’s a dead duck in the yard. Can’t prove that they did this though, so we’re out about 5 grand for that puppy. >.<In AK, you go through cars about 1-2 times a year because the weather and the roads are so bad. It’s an expensive place to live, to say the least. But once you’re here, you’re kind of stuck because you can’t make enough $ to move.
Fiver is still doing really well today, thank God…and all of YOU for your healing vibes!
He was a little balky at his trough yesterday, but I see lots of nice bb’s in his box this morning and he’s still eating and came out to run around for a while again really late last night. (If I even open the door to replenish his food or water, he hops out now…lol.) The hard part was, I’ve been up for a few days for almost 24 straight and to top it all off, last night before I could exercise Fiver, Mimzy developed some LOUD gas that took an hour and two shots of simethicone to quiet…so I was up till 3:30 AM and I am a limp rag right now…lmao.
So a question…now that he seems to be eating okay, do I stop the Benebac? I would guess it’s not necessary now?
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Thank you Suki.
Welcome to the forum, btw! Well, other than he still seems to be having some loose cecals/fecal pellets, he is eating and eliminating pretty well, just not back to his normal amount.
Those loose stools concern me though. Anyone here know how a sample should be collected, stored and how long it can sit before being left at the vets’? They aren’t the ones that stick like glue anymore, but they’re still coming. Maybe it’s just going to take some time to get his bowels back to normal.
Vet called today and said to continue the Benebac, although she didn’t say how long. I guess I’m to use up all of the tubes.
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