Those of you who use Laxatone/ Petromalt during Molt?

[Binkles]

How much of it do you use and how often do you use it when your bunnies are in full molt?

I noticed the past couple of days that Little-Bit has been having some discomfort this time around and a bit of a decrease in poopies, so I’m giving her some as a preventative measure. She’s eating fine and drinking fine, but just has a lot of fur in her GI tract I guess.

I gave her about an inch tonight, which she hapilly lapped up of course. Does that sound alright?

[jerseygirl]

Be careful using this kind of product. Be sure she has plenty fluids. Petromalt etc can cause the fecal to become impermeable to water so if they’re not sufficiently hydrated in the tract to begin with then petromalt will hinder further hydration. Then it just becomes a hard mass that’s more difficult to pass.
If she is having some discomfort, maybe smithecone could help? If you do choose to give petromalt/laxatone I wouldn’t give it daily. As for dosages – I don’t know. Perhaps an increase in veggies will get her pooping (or is this a sensitivity of hers?).

[RabbitPam]

Hi,
Petromalt is no longer recommended here, but I actually still use it on occasion and it has already helped Sammy. An inch is correct, no more than that. I only give one dose, ie. an inch on a finger, and that’s it. Then I watch to see if she passes a lot of poos in the next 24 hours or so (she does) and if so, I don’t use it again. I’ve probably used it this way twice in 4 months. I would only try one more inch at most after 24 hours, but it shouldn’t be necessary. That may indicate there’s more than it can help, and you would be making it worse for her. The box used to say much more frequently, but it never was necessary to do more to get a good result.

Make sure Little Bit has plenty of water and hay to keep her going as well. Only if she becomes bound up again, or if the poos are pearls, should you do something else. In which case I’d try the simenticone, or a small piece of fresh papaya. You may need to call your vet in that case.

You can help (I”m sure you are already) by frequent brushing and cleaning the fur from her house. Wet your hands and swipe her with pets to get it to come off and sticlk to your hands.
Hugs to Little Bit!

[Binkles]

Huh, petromalt isn’t recommended anymore? o_o; Whenever I’ve used it as a first response I’ve always gotten great results as long as the bunny is eating/ drinking normally. And when she isn’t I go to the vet who rehydrates her and instructs me to force feed her 2cc’s of Petromalt and 2cc’s of water a day.

Why isn’t it recommended anymore?

[Bunnies4ever]

I know owners no longer recommend petromalt, but I do use it during molts. I usually give about about a 1 inch ribbon of the stuff and it works fine for me. As long as you are giving wet veggies to your buns, you should be fine, but if you see strings of hair in poops you can give it to them. I’ve been using it for a while and have had no problems with it. It gives me peace of mind to use it.

[jerseygirl]

Not recommended may mean as per HRS guidelines? Many vets may recommend it. It’s probably due to research done on it’s effectiveness. HRS cites many of Dana Krempels articles. She has a paragraph on this preventative under subheading E in this article. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html     You may have seen this before.

I think it that it can be over used and complicate impactions.  If the rabbit is sufficiantly hydrated to begin with, it’s less risky. I don’t know how effective hydration thru sub-q’s would be after petromalt is given. My understanding is the fluid is needied to rehydrate the fecal matter. 

If you find you haven’t had issues with Little-Bit and this product before, then use it if you feel it helps. As always, use with care. It’s a personal thing I guess. I keep medicinal paraffin (mineral oil) aside for last resort measures but I’d run it past my vet before using it. If your vet recommends using petromalt and you’re comfortable with it – then by all means….

I’m not certain of what other concerns there are with it.

[Binkles]

No I can totally see and agree about the possibility of complicating impactions thing. If the impaction is a dry clump of dryness in the first place then a big gob of dry syrup is most certainly only going to stick to it and make it harder.

I think that, from my experiences with Binkles and Little-Bit anyway, Petromalt/ Laxatone is only good for

-aiding a very slight GI SLOWDOWN
-and-
–recovery from stasis along with force feeding water/ electrolytes **ONLY once the bunny has been rehydrated with sub-Q fluids**!!

When I have ANY reason to suspect that Little-Bit isn’t getting the hydration she needs I never give her Laxatone/ Petromalt. It’s only in instances like this -when there has been no change in her hay/ water intake- and she begins to slow down that I consider giving it to her.

[Sarita]

Well petromalt will not help with gut motility at all. It’s not designed to do that. So it won’t have an effect even with a slight GI slowdown.

[Binkles]

Lol. Wait what? xD

Petromalt helps lubricate the GI tract and loosen up clumps of fur assuming that the bunny is already adequately hydrated, and my personal experiences have correlated that many times. Are you suggesting that it doesn’t?

Is there some other explaination as to why an adequately-hydrated but slowed-up bunny should suddenly regain motility when given petromalt?

[Sarita]

Here’s a good article on this from a vet and her suggestions:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-7/gi.html

[KatnipCrzy]

Sarita-

 I learned a lot from reading that article- thanks for posting the link!

 

[jerseygirl]

It was a good article. I had read that about enzymes not actually dissolving hair itself too. More so breaks down the matter binding it all together.

[Binkles]

I’m just…still confused as to how it is exactly that large amounts of ingested fur sometimes result in reduced GI motility.

It’s not that the fur gets all bunched up in there and causes a partial blockage/ slowdown? Then what DOES happen?

[jerseygirl]

To quote from article Sarita posted:  

the indigestible fiber in the diet “drives” the digestive tract or, in other words, determines the speed with which ingesta moves along. When there is an insufficient amount of this type of fiber present, motility may be slowed.

 If the motility is reduced as in diets that are too low in indigestible fiber, then the stomach and cecum will empty slowly. The rabbit eventually stops eating and drinking probably due to a feeling of fullness in the stomach. When there is no food coming into the system the GIT motility slows to almost a standstill.

 i.e. Hair and fecal matted together causing feeling of fullness – so bunny doesn’t eat – no fiber coming in, no regular GI movement…?   This is my understanding.  I think hair gathering in GI tract is complication of GI slowdown not actual cause.  Perhaps when they ingest more hair than usual, they may not eat hay due to fullness feeling?

How is Little-Bit going now? I’m also seeing small poop from Jersey and it’s worrisome…

[Binkles]

OH!! Okay THAT makes a lot of sense! I get it now.

She’s doing a lot better. I’ve been giving her a few cc’s of simethicone every night and she passed a few really large misshapen poops the other day which I suspect were the problem children, and since then she’s been more active and eating more hay and her poops have been more normal. I’ve also been trying out dome oat hay on her and she LOVES it, so she’s eating more of that.

[jerseygirl]

Good to hear. Is Dome a brand or variety of oat hay? Those misshapen ‘problem children’…yeah, I’ve been seeing those too! lol

[Binkles]

LOL! I meant “some” not “dome”. Oops!

It’s so funny when they get the ‘problem children’ out of the way -they IMMEDIATELY become more hyper and happy and euphoric. Thankful to be empty!

[Author]

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