Stasis Help

[LucyJennifer]

Hi,

Our bunny Allan will be two years old next week. We noticed yesterday morning that he was not eating properly, acting strangely and was not pooing. We got him the first available vet appointment and took him in about 6pm yesterday. They have him three injections – something to get his gut moving, a painkiller and an antibiotic. They also took his temperature. We brought him home and he seemed to perk up a bit which we assumed was due to the painkiller making him feel more comfortable. He was eating his kale and hay and also ate some carrot. However, he still seemed very uncomfortable, alternating between hunching up and trying to stretch out but finding this too painful.
Overnight he seemed to get worse. This morning he would no longer eat or drink. We syringed him critical care and water and took him back to the vet as soon as they opened. She seemed very concerned about him and said his gut is compeltely blocked – no movement at all. She has admitted him for the day. We rang to check on him at midday (it is now 1pm) and they said there was no improvement. We will call again in an hour.
My question is what do we do when the vet closes at 8pm tonight? She seemed quite clear that if he is not better by that point that we need to put him to sleep. However, through reading other posts on here, it seems bunnies can recover from this. I do not know if the fact that his gut is completely blocked means this is a worse case or if we should push for more time and treatment to see if he can pull through.
Allan is our baby and we will do anything for him. Whatever this costs in terms of time or money, I don’t care – if there is any hope then I want to fight for him. I do not want to put him through any suffering though if there is no hope he can pull through.
Any advice is hugely appreciated – thanks for any support you can give.

[Bam]

If there’s a vet in your area that offers around-the-clock care you could ask your vet to let you transfer Alan there. You may live in a country/state that has laws that prohibits vets from releasing suffering animals to their owners, we do in my country but there can be differencesd epending on where you live.
Gut impaction is a very serious condition and if it doesn’t resolve itself with hydration (both sub Q and via the GI tract or in some cases only via sub q fluids), motility drugs and laxative and pain-killers, the prognosis is very poor. Dana Krempels (huge authority on bunny health) suggests giving the bunny an enema in tough cases. Surgery to open up the intestines and remove the blockage mechanically is, to my knowledge, in most cases not successful.

Appropriate pain relief must be given to the rabbit. Pain is extremely stressful and drains the rabbit’ of its strenght and its will to keep fighting.

This is article on stasis by Dana Krempels, in case you haven’t read it already:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

I also found this article for you: http://vetgrad.com/core_modules/entityshow.php?Entity=10MinuteTopUps&ID=41

[LucyJennifer]

Thank you so much for that advice. He has got better this afternoon and the vet has sent him home for the night. He needs to go back in the morning. He has done seven poos now, we are so pleased! We are feeding him critical care every hour and keeping him warm.

[Bam]

I’m so glad to hear there’s been improvement! Sending him many healing-vibes (((((Alan)))))
Be strong, little guy!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Also sending more (((((Healing Vibes))))))

[Squishy]

Hoping your bun is getting well. ??

[Paradigm]

Best of luck. Get well Allan.

[LucyJennifer]

Thanks everyone. I’m sorry to say that Allan passed away on Thursday night. We miss him so much

[Bam]

I’m so sorry for your loss. You did all you could, it’s so sad that he didn’t pull through.
I’m glad he was so dearly loved.
Binky free, Allan.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m so very sorry for your loss. I’ve lost buns to stasis and it’s heartbreaking.

(((((Binky Free Allan))))

[Author]

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