Unflavored pedialyte for gi stasis?

[Bunny Bride]

My 5 year old rabbit has a super sensitive digestive system and had gi stasis the first year I got him. I did hospitalize him and it still took 2 weeks to recover at home. He has now gone into stasis again, I’m not sure why. I am trying to avoid going to the ER and even if I do, I want to opt for home care w/meds. Only because he gets extremely stressed at the vet and is a very nervous animal so I just feel safer administer meds and caring for him at home. It’s almost an hour car ride.  Also with covid restrictions I am not even allowed inside. Unfortunately there is no way for me to gets meds without first bringing him in, and I know an x ray is probably important.

Right now he is pooping, but not a lot and small. He ate all his pellets and some hay this morning. I added a few veggies just to get him to eat and up water consumption (normally he does not eat veggies due to in the past they caused him gas issues). My biggest worry right now is he is not drinking enough water, not even close to usual. I wanted to give unflavored pedialyte, but vet’s office said bad idea and I shouldn’t do it. (They did not elaborate.)

Does anyone have experience using pedialyte in this situation and pros/cons or other input? As I said I am trying to get bunny to recover at home but I’m getting a lot of anxiety over the balancing act of do I take him in or not.  I just want to do whatever will get him to recover without creating more problems. Thanks in advance!

 

[Bam]

Unflavored pedialyte can be given to rabbits, but since it has simple sugars it should be a lot more diluted than for a human or it can cause gastric upset (overgrowth of the “wrong” bacteria in the cecum). I think I’d rather give very runny Critical Care or similar recovery formula. You can also syringe some plain water, not ice cold.

Treating stasis at home is difficult without appropriate meds. First and foremost you must keep your bun warm with a warm water bottle or handwarmers, a microwaved sock filled with rice etc (put a cup of water in the microwave together with the sock when you heat it). A rabbit’s temp can fall rapidly if the bun is in pain, and that must be prevented. The bun must be able to move away from the heat source when he doesn’t want it. I don’t know if you have read this article, but I’ll link to it anyway because it is very good and has helped me many times in the past:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html?msclkid=f28b816ab59811ecbffa554db2f3247f

If your bun has recurrent GI problems, it’d be great if you could make an appointment with a good rabbit vet and discuss options for home care with them. A vet can prescribe and show you have to give sub q fluids at home. It’s not difficult, but you need to know how and have the appropriate gear. It’s also good to have meloxicam (metacam, loxicom, rheumocam) at home plus famotidine (meloxicam is an NSAID pain killer and famotidine protects the stomach lining from the meloxicam), since pain has such a profound effect on rabbits. Motility drugs shouldn’t be used unless you’re certain there’s no blockage.

A planned vet visit wouldn’t have to be as stressful as an ER visit. You could ask to wait in the car until they have an exam room ready for you, so your bun doesn’t have to be in a waiting room with barking dogs etc. Bring a towel to put on the floor so your bun can investigate a bit on the exam room floor (or hop back into his carrier if he wants to). Bring another towel for the exam table – a slippery table is scary for rabbits, but of course required for hygienic purposes in a vet exam room. Bring some fresh fragrant herbs with you, the scent alone can help a bun feel more at ease.

[Bunny Bride]

Thanks so much for the info! The link was very helpful also, great future reference for anyone with stasis prone buns. I continued with greens and fragrant herbs  and only had to feed recovery formula for one day, he seems to be back to normal now. As you suggested, I am going to schedule a vet visit so a home care plan can be created as he does seem to be getting recurring issues lately. It would be great to have subq fluids on hand and just a general plan established should this happen again.

Just curious your opinion on a possible diet change, which do you think is most beneficial for a stasis prone rabbit? Right now he gets quality hay and 1/8 cup oxbow pellets twice daily. He used to eat greens daily along with pellets, but it appeared to cause him gas pain so vet advised stopping. Now during this episode I have reintroduced greens again, and I’m just wondering if it would be better to keep the greens in the evening for example and only keep one of the pellet feedings. So instead of a 1/4 cup daily he would just get the 1/8 cup pellets in AM and greens at night. I don’t want to create more problems for him, so I’m mixed on what to do.

 

[DanaNM]

If he is still pooping and eating a bit, I agree with Bam that giving some watered down critical care, plain water, or hay tea would be better than pedialyte. There are also some rabbit-specific oral fluids available now that you might look into to have on hand.

Giving a small amount of oral fluids or offering a pile of wet salad greens is often a safe first step when you suspect some slowing might be happening, and is less risking than syringe feeding if a blockage is suspected. Simethicone and a tummy rub are also good things to try first.

Since you said he is pooping and ate this morning, why do you think he is in stasis again?

I also agree that visiting the normal vet is not the same as the ER. Visiting the vet sooner than later can avoid an ER visit and a more serious situation. Personally, I usually try fluids and simethicone, and if the bun hasn’t perked up in a couple hours I take them to the vet. Stasis is easiest to treat when caught early.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bunny Bride]

Thanks for the advice, I was able to successfully avoid an er trip.  I did not give the pedialyte and continued with greens, he seems to have recovered. I am still going to follow up with a full workup vet visit to make sure nothing else is going on. I am concerned the stasis may be a recurring theme since he had issues a few weeks ago as well.

The reason I felt this was stasis is the day prior to my initial post he did not touch his pellets barely at all and I noticed poops were way smaller. Also he was doing the positioning typical of gas pain. So it seemed to be a milder gi stasis than he had when hospitalized several years ago.

By the way my bun is same exact coloring as the brown one in your photo! 😊

[DanaNM]

I’m glad he’s feeling better! And yes good to be vigilant for sure! sounds like he was having some gas pain that you helped him pass.

And awwww, yeah the little brown bun in my pic is one of my rainbow bridge buns, Bunston. 🙂 <3

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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