Very Concerned Rabbit Owner…

[MokoMocha]

Right, so I’ve only had my rabbit for about a year now with no major health issues, until now. I’m very worried and I guess o just need reassuring and direction on what I should do. There are literally no vets withing 2 hours distance (and by then they’d be closed) or with a rabbit vet on staff that will see me. Yes, I really have tried, I called 22 different vets and none of them can see my bun today.
As for my bun, well, she’s stopped eating. I haven’t heard her nibbling at hay in the night, she hasn’t eaten the pellets I put out for her today and only took a few bites of yesterday’s bowl, and none of her favorite greens entice her. I also haven’t heard her drink much. The only thing I’ve been able to get her to eat was a yogurt drop (yes, I know very bad, but I don’t give them to her often at all and I wanted to see if she’d eat *something*) last night. I can’t tell if she’s been pooing because I changed her litter box this morning and it still had poo from the day before when she was eating, but I assume no food = no poo. She’s very lethargic and occasionally grinds her teeth, which is incredibly concerning, considering how active she’s been lately. It also seems that she’s lost a bit of weight, though she does have incredibly thick fur and it’s in the process of shedding.
Essentially I think she may have the beginnings of GI Stasis and I can’t see a vet, so I’m looking for some guidance. My current plan is to syringe feed her in a couple hours with either a pellet slurry or Oxbow’s Natural Science Digestive Support (I’m think its a rebranding of Critical Care?) and some water. Would it be a bad idea to try giving her some simethicone? Or a tiny bit of aspirin for pain? How much? How often? I don’t want to over-medicate, but I can’t take the heartbreak of losing her…

Thanks in advance for any advice you have to share, I appreciate it greatly!

[Bam]

Start by reading this excellent article by Dana Krempels:http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It has lots of good helpful info. It was a good move to give her the yoghurt drop. It’s not super important that she eats particularly healthy food in this situation. That she eats something is far more important.

[sarahthegemini]

The digestive support and critical care are very different. The digestive support is a supplement tablet. You’d be better off making pellet mash. It’s really important that you establish whether she’s pooped at all, if she has a full on blockage then force feeding might be detrimental.

[Wick & Fable]

Pellet mash. Digestive supplement is a different item entirely (I know because my Wick gets them).

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.

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s also important to get water into her, so syringe feed her some water if she won’t drink otherwise.

Pain meds would also be very helpful but I don’t know about the safety of aspirin. Have you got any metacam or anything from a previous prescription for her?

I really recommend you get her to a vet in the morning – even if they’re not rabbit experienced they can give you painkillers (metacam or loxicom), Zantac, and subcutaneous fluids. They can also listen for gut noise ses with a stethoscope and potentially feel for a blockage. I’m a bit worried since you’ve said she’s shedding a lot that that could have caused a blockage.

[Mikey]

Youll want to try to syringe feed her a little bit every hour or two until shes able to get a lot of it down. Rabbits need food every 8 hours at the absolute latest or theyll slip into stasis. If they dont really eat within 12 hours, they definitely have stasis. If they dont eat within 48 hours, without immediate vet care, the rabbit is likely to die very soon.

How is she doing now?

[Bam]

Simethicone won’t hurt. I’d not give aspirin, it’s very hard on the stomach lining. Pellet slurry, perhaps mixed with something she really likes like baby fruit or berry purée (many buns like pear/blueberry or anything with banana) would be the best food to try and syringe feed her. Make the slurry runny for extra water intake and feed small portions often rather than big servings with many hours in betwee n.

Also keep her warm. If her ears are very cold and she’s lethargic, she could be hypothermic. Buns tend to get hypothermic when they don’t eat. You can warm her up in your lap with your own body heat, or you can give her a wam water bottle or handwarmers wrapped in a towel in her cage. She must have space enough to move away from the heat if she doesn’t want it. Warmth has some pain alleviating properties, so she might appreciate it very much.

You can also try a bit of very very gentle tummy massage, like in this great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbyC6CWbm5M

This can be done while she’s sitting in your lap with a blanket on her, because in that position it’s easy to elevate her butt a little so the gas can escape easier. Tummy trouble practically always causes some gas, and it can be very painful for the bun if it can’t get out.

(Sorry for being brief earlier, I was on my phone, now I’m back on my laptop).

[MokoMocha]

Thank you all so so so much for your support!
I fed her about 5mg of a pellet slurry a few hours ago as well as 0.5mg of simethicone and she took it all pretty well. While I had her there, I tried to give her that wonderful massage, but she just wasn’t having it so I just gently rubbed her tummy instead. She has since eaten a couple nibbles of kale (hurray!!) But I have not seen her poo just yet. Before I sleep I’m going to syringe feed her a bit more and try and entice her with some more veggies.
I definitely think shedding may be part of the issue. Ever since her heavy shedding started, she’s had a mood change, becoming more mischievous and easily irritable. Along with being more prone to troublemaking, she’s begun to chew up things a lot more, whereas in the past I couldn’t even get her to munch on a grass mat. She now finds particular joy in cardboard and sneaking plastic water bottles away from me when I’m not looking.

[LittlePuffyTail]

How is your bunny doing today?

Some bunnies can get moody during heavy shedding. A bun who all of a sudden starts chewing things can indicate teeth problems (which can lead to GI issues) so def have your vet check them out when you get her there.

[MokoMocha]

She’s doing soooo much better today! Hopping around, eating drinking, and pooing like usual! I did take her to the vet about a month ago and they said her teeth looked great, so I’m going to just hope it is irritation from the shedding… I’m just glad whatever was wrong with her before has passed ?

[Bam]

Bunniii, thanks for the update! Hopefully it was shedding-related, that really is common =)

[Author]

Messages