Running out of options

[SlinkyKat]

We’re running out of options and hope.
Sweetpea is a REW we’ve had for a month, she was underweight but seemingly in good health when we first adopted her.

Sweet pea has been suffering from diarrhea for 5 days now. She has lost 1/2lb of her already low weight of 6.5lbs. She’s lethargic and weak. We took her to the vet on Friday and she was prescribed with (?) to help with inflamed or irritated GI tract. We were also advised to give small amounts of pedialyte and to syringe her water. On top of that I gave her a bit of critical care nightly. Sweets has showed no improvement since then so we went back into the vet today, this time we had an X-ray taken aswell as a fecal sample to be tested. Results for both are supposed to come back tomorrow. Vet decided to switch medicine to sulfamethoxazile & trimethoprim, metacam, aswell as fluids (120ml a day). We are also advised to give her critical care every 2 hours. The vet showed us the X-rays, but they still have to go to a radiologist for a second opinion. I’m not sure how to explain the X-rays but the vet said they looked bad and she assumed there was likely a blockage, or a partial blockage. Her gut was very “full”.
It’s looking like our only option is a surgery we can’t afford and that has a very low recovery rate. If we’re extremely lucky there is some kind of medicine that helps flush the gut but it can’t be used if there’s a blockage.
Things are looking so hopeless and I’m heartbroken.
I’m desperate, if anyone knows something… anything, that might be able to help. I’m willing to try any sort of alternative medicine or herb or fancy something that might help. Her life before me was abusive and cruel and it breaks my heart that I might not be able to show her a happy life. Is there anything I can do to help make her more comfortable and happy? I just want to improve her quality of life as best I can. Sorry if this is a bit rambly or unclear, PLEASE ask for clarification if you need it.

Another question, her back end is covered with feces. I’ve tried a lot to clean her up a bit and the vet tech tried too unsuccessfully. Any advice on getting diarrhea off a bunny butt?

[Bunny House]

Hi!
We are going through the same thing right now, we go back to the vet tomorrow to see what else we should do, IE xray or something else (he’s been installs for week).

Is your vet a rabbit savvy one? Many times people take them to a regular vet and don’t get the adequate help. If it turns out to be a gas blockage, have you done massages to help break it down and given simethicone drops?

I hope someone else on here can help you

It seems like so many buns are going through stasis right now

[SlinkyKat]

Hey there, sorry to hear you’re going through the same thing.  

She is an exotic vet and seems to know what she’s doing, and no I haven’t tried either of those, I’ll definitely give them both a shot especially because there was gas on her x-ray. 

Thank you! I hope your bun feels better soon. 

[Azerane]

Syringe feeding is good if bunny isn’t eating however in cases where there is a blockage syringe feeding can actually be quite dangerous and I’m surprised that the vet suggested it when she believed there was a blockage.

I haven’t heard of the first two medicines, although a quick search tells me it’s an antibiotic, this well be ineffective if there’s no infection. Did the vet give a gut motility med to try and get things moving? But again if there’s a blockage I’m not sure if that’s a good idea either. Really need to confirm whether there is a blockage or not.

I would certainly be giving simethicone just in case it is gas, it doesn’t do any harm if there’s no gas but helps immensely if there is. I would be asking the vet to confirm with more certainty about a blockage before going to surgery. Is bunny eating by herself at all?

[meridiian]

Hello.

Recently, my bunny had a crisis and was suffering a blockage. The exotics vet prescribed a painkiller and this RANITIDINE (Zantac) Syrup, a intestinal Prokinetic to get her gut moving. It worked and her gut was moving again with a day. Now she is back to normal.

Maybe this info might help. Discuss with your vet. And the best of luck to you and little Sweetpea.

xx

[meridiian]

On RANITIDINE…The dose was 0.6ml by mouth twice daily.

(((Sweetpea)))

[SlinkyKat]

The vet said no motility until we were sure there was no blockage because it risks rupture- we will know tomorrow if there is a blockage after the radiologist sees the X-ray and confirms if there is or not. The vet said even if there was blockage it’s important to keep gut moving because if the gut doesn’t move it’s just as bad.

The lady who works at the rescue we got sweets from also recommended simethicone, so when vet gives us results tomorrow I will ask about it too. Can it hurt her if she has a blockage or is gas not affected by possible blockages?
She is currently eating by herself, she drank a tiny bit of low sodium V8 we were recommended to give her, she ate a small handful of pellets, and a small “salad” consisting of kale, romaine, and some parsley/dill. I haven’t force fed her yet in case she doesn’t need it and I don’t want to “overload” her.

Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it very much.

[SlinkyKat]

Thank you so much. I will definitely talk to vet first thing tomorrow about those meds when we get test results back. Thank you again!

[meridiian]

Understand the need for caution until you know more from radiologist.

So, she is eating? If only a little. That’s somewhat encouraging. How are her poops at the other end? Pooping at all?

Healing vibes to little Sweetpea. Good luck tomorrow! xx

[meridiian]

More regular poops I mean. I know she has been suffering from diarrhea. Is she eating hay as well?

[Bam]

You should ask the vet about simethicone. It’s as a rule not harmful and doesn’t affect motility, but I think in Sweetpea’s case all medical interventions need to be okayed by a vet.

(((((Sweetpea)))))

[SlinkyKat]

She’s actually doing quite well at eating on her own tonight which is very comforting. However she hasn’t been pooping at all for the last couple hours so I’m a bit concerned
Thanks again

[SlinkyKat]

Ok that’s good to know that its safe. I’ll defenitly check with my vet first thing tomorrow, thank you for the advice.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sorry to hear she is so unwell. I have no advice but offering some ((((Healing Vibes))))) to SweetPea. I know how hard it is dealing with something like this.

[SlinkyKat]

The vet/radiologist has the results that it’s an impaction. They recommended we give her fluids twice a day rather than one and continue to try our best to stimulate her gut to start moving again. The vet said the situation is grave and we can only really hope her gut starts moving again. The vet was wary of simethicone and zantac as he feared it could cause her intestines to rupture considering how full they are. For the last couple hours she hasn’t been pooping very much and I’m very worried. I understand that the situation is most likely going to end badly and I thank you all for the advice and help so far.
I suppose my only questions left are is she in pain? Am I letting her suffer?

[LittlePuffyTail]

While I can’t answer the question of whether she is in pain or not, I can give you some hope. Quite a few years ago, my Bindi had a bad blockage from chewing a stuffed toy. We nursed him round the clock, several vet visits, were losing hope and was pretty much saying goodbye to him…and suddenly he turned around and pooped out a big cow patty of gunk and was okay after. Really hoping this is the case for your bun as well.

Is she on anything for pain? How is she acting? Moving around or lethargic?

[SlinkyKat]

She is on a pain med. I’ll defenitly cling to every bit of hope I can and give her a fighting chance. She really does seem like she’s fighting. Thank you for the story it is comforting to hear about some success. She is pretty lethargic, she hardly moves and seems to be a little clumsy when she does. We’re going back into the vet tomorrow for another check in.
Thanks again!

[SlinkyKat]

As an update we spoke to an expert who said everything the vet has been having us do is wrong and it’s most likely why her situation has persisted like it has. Because we didn’t treat the gas the expert is concerned it may have an irreversible case of bloat (note he hasn’t physically seen her so we will hope). We gave her a CC of gas meds and are told to do so every hour. I trusted my vet but now I feel so guilty for not listening to other advice. We are going to continue fluids (120ml twice daily), put her on a strictly hay diet, and continue current medications as well as simethicone. We are also being advised to ask the vet for an enema. We will see how this turns out. The expert said if she’s going to get better it will be in the next couple days.
Thank you everyone for the advice that wound up being better than my vet’s….

[Author]

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