What’s going on with him??

[DallasDelight]

I posted a topic on the 12th(binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/forumid/2/postid/88383/view/topic/Default.aspx) about how Dallas was under the weather. He was back up and healthy the next day, but now he appears sick again!! Personality/energy wise, he has been fine today, the only thing I got worried about was when I cleaned his box this morning there was still no poop in there 1 – 2 hours later. The next time I checked, there was a few pellets there. He doesn’t seem to be pooping as much as usual today, though.
About 2 hours ago, he very suddenly was not himself again. In my post on the 12th, I explained how I thought it was some bad hay we had gotten, and MooBunnay said; “I definitely think it could have been the hay that did it though, we got a not-so-good bale of timothy from our
old hay supplier, and it gave one of my bunny’s stasis – so we are very particular about what hay we get now.”
I looked up GI Stasis, and reading the symptoms of it and Dallas has two of the symptoms they listed, which are
decreasing or sudden lack of appetite for both water and food, periodic soft, pudding-like stools followed by erratically shaped fecal pellets. They say another symptom is diarrhea in combination with irregular shaped poop. He’s not having diarrhea, but he does have some irregular shaped poops. Could GI Stasis be the problem??

There are other symptoms Dallas is having that are not listed there. He seems very light-sensitive tonight, he is hiding in his litterbox with his head shoved deep in the corner because it’s too bright for him(or at least, it was. I turned off all the lights in my room, turned off all sound and covered his cage with blankets which made him happier). He’s also lethargic. His ears were warmer than they usually are so I dipped my fingers in water and wiped some water on them, he really really liked when I did that.  If I offer him any food, he either pushes it away with his nose or tucks his head into his chest to get away from it. I have NO idea if this could be connected or not, but I’ll mention it just in case. Earlier, he peed outside his litterbox for the first time, ever.
The last thing I have to say is that I offered him a teeny teeny amount of Collard Greens(with his usual veggies) on monday. He did eat it. Could that maybe be what’s causing this? I would think it would have showed up quicker than this, but who knows.

Okay, while I finished typing that last part, I heard sneezing and I thought it was Dallas, but I am not 100% sure because my cat was right there too. I went over to check on him and there are three things that can’t possibly be all that great
1) I got my ears close to his head to see what I could he and I can hear quiet wheezing/squeaking
2) It sounds like he’s grinding his teeth, but I’m not sure because I’ve never heard a rabbit do it before, but I know it means they’re in pain
and 3) his stomach growled REALLY loud.
Oh geez, he can’t make up his mind!! Now I went over there because I thought I heard him chewing hay, and I offered him some of his veggies that he didn’t eat when I gave them to him earlier, and he seemed more interested in them. he actually nibbled the tiniest bit off a part of green pepper, but that was all.

What in the world should I do? I’m so lost. If he’s still feeling sick in the morning, I will have my dad come home from work(that would be the trouble with only having 1 car!) so we can take him to the vet. Or should I take him to the vet quicker than that?

edit: okay, now all of a sudden he’s in the rampaging mood. He hopped out of his litterbox, ran to his veggies and ate a piece of green pepper. Now he’s tearing up/chewing newspaper like he’s on a misson. He seems edgy and anxious.
edit #2: oops, I got clicker-happy and forgot to say that I think he went potty, but I’m pretty sure it’s PB-Potty, because his litter is sticking to his rump, but he won’t hold still long enough for me to see(when he’s not in his litterbox) and he won’t let me look when I try.

[KatnipCrzy]

It is hard to say, and may be impossible to determine what caused this “off” episode for Dallas.  Could possibly be the hay or collard greens- to be on the safe side wait until he is way past this episode before offering collard greens again.  But since this could be coincidental, you could try again in future when there is no other possible trigger to GI upset- like another different veggie or different hay.

Teeth grinding is usually a sign of pain.  If you can hear his belly rumbling that can indicate gas.  How long has it been since he has truly eaten normally and poo’d normally?  Do you have any Simethicone (gas relief for humans- either drops or capsule)?  You could always try a dose of gas meds and a light belly massage to help.

If he is still showing signs of discomfort in the a.m.- he should see a vet.   I will see if I can find a link about belly massage and post it for you.

Julie

Here is the link about GI stasis and massaging the belly to help pass gas, and it also talks about the gas meds too.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

[DallasDelight]

He truly ate and poo’d all of yesterday. Ate all his pellets, lots of his hay,etc. He is eating as I type though, suddenly he’s starving and eating anything he can get ahold of. I don’t get this at all, his moods/health is so up and down. We don’t have any simethicone that I know of. Should I go out and get that? It sounds like it would be good to have on hand, just in case. I’ll definitely take him in if he’s still sick tomorrow.
I will give him the belly massage, thank you so so much for the link and your help!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yup I’d recommed grabbing some baby gas meds from a pharmacy, I use Ovol-and dose about 1-2 ml; It’s pretty harmless so it’s a sure try!

Definitely go to the vet if you can, it’s almsot the holidays and you dont’ want to get stuck at the emergency vets next week-it’s more expensive and often the vets there aren’t great! {{Vibes }} *hugs*

[DallasDelight]

Alright good, I’ll pick that up asap! You are right, it would definitely suck to be going in next week so near christmas time.
He is sneezing. He just sneezed 4 times in a row…he’s never sneezed before, except the rare one time sneeze from dust or something. So it WAS him I heard sneezing earlier, then…

[KatnipCrzy]

If it was him sneezing- then I definitely think that he should be seen at the vet!  There could be a number of things going on that you just are not able to effectively treat at home.

Please keep us updated!

[Beka27]

how is he this morning?

[DallasDelight]

He is fantastic this morning! It is an exact repeat of what happened on the 12th. As suddenly as he felt ill, he felt great. This was a much shorter bout, though. I gave him a massage last night and he loooved it.
He ate ALL of his hay last night, ALL of his pellets and ALL of his greens. I keep offering him pieces of his favorite greens today, so I will know exactly when/if he feels sick again. He also poo’d EVERYWHERE last night, and it all looked healthy. For once, I didn’t even care that he didn’t use his litterbox very well. I’m going to see if I can get him an appointment with the vet tomorrow, since my dad has to take my mom to get a cast on her arm anyway, it’d be a good time to take Dallas in as well.

[bunnyluvr]

That is great that he is doing better and that you will be taking him in to the vet. With all the up & down health stuff it’s best to get him checked out just to be sure everything is really ok or catch whatever ever might be going on early. Keep us posted!

[DallasDelight]

He’s got an appointment with the vet at 9:00, so in 55 minutes. He’s been doing great these past few days so hopefully there won’t be anything to find!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ohhh update yet??

[DallasDelight]

Sorry for taking so long to update, been out and about with christmas and all! Unfortunately the normal bun-vet is out until next week, so I got a different vet than usual. But he was very nice and Dallas didn’t mind him, and all went well! He told me to pick up some simethicone(which I had done the day before ) just in case, but other than that he couldn’t find anything wrong and thinks whatever it was has passed. He gave me his home number and told me to call him asap if Dallas goes downhill at anytime. Dallas is doing great too. Hopefully that’s all the “excitement” he needs to have for the next..oh….10 years?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh good stuff-glad he’s doing well now!

[bunnytowne]

Oh thats better.  Sounds like you found a very nice caring vet too.   Great.   Well good the scare is over and bun is fine.  Hurrah.

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