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Porridge & Stomach swelling UD-GA postponed

S

Sooz

Wise Old Thumper
Caspian is on a very high fiber diet at the moment and I was told to offer him porridge in addition to A&P pellets and hay.

He has eaten a small bowl of it this evening, after I went to work and when i left his tummy was a little doughy but much better than the last couple of days.

I have just given him his meds and now his tummy is huge :shock: its not hard or gassy but very doughy to the touch, you can almost knead it.

Could this be due to the porridge swelling in his tummy as it absorbs some of the excess liquid which has been sloshing around? Does anyone have any experience of this happening on a porridge diet?
 
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TBH Porridge is the last thing I would feed a Bun with a gut problem :? I am a bit confused as to why you were advised to do so :?
The fibre content is the 'wrong sort' for a Bun's guts, ie not long fibre, and the very high carbohydrate content will exacerbate gas build up. Too much carbohydrate can cause enterotoxaemia, especially if the Bun is on abx.

If I do ever feed Porridge (to a thin elderly but otherwise 'well' Bun) then I only feed about a dessertspoonful maximum.
Personally I would not feed Caspian any more porridge especially as his guts have obviously reacted adversely to it so quickly

Just an *unqualified* opinion of course!

Janex
 
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I agree Jane and wanted to say this yesterday but was wary of sounding critical again so soon after my 'carrot criticism' - sorry Sooz :(
 
Yep, have to agree as well, I only give dry oats to thin or old bunnies, sometimes I give it to a bun as a 'treat' but this would be a bun with no gut problems and literally just a flat teaspoonful

Hope this helps, and I really hopes Caspian makes a good recovery x
 
Well I wish someone had said something sooner.....hes like a balloon on legs now :?

Im not sure if it also had something to do with trying to help him gain weight as he is still on the low side.....yet another reason Im concerned about him having a GA :?
 
Sooz22 said:
oedema????
Click to expand...


Build up of fluid in his chest/abdomen.

If he is eating and pooing now I would be inclined to postpone the GA for at least a week.
He's had an onslaught of various meds over the last few days and if he were my Bunny I would not want him to have a GA unless absolutely essential.

Have any bloods been done on him? (Sorry, I have not kept up very well :oops: )

Janex
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Build up of fluid in his chest/abdomen.

If he is eating and pooing now I would be inclined to postpone the GA for at least a week.
He's had an onslaught of various meds over the last few days and if he were my Bunny I would not want him to have a GA unless absolutely essential.

Have any bloods been done on him? (Sorry, I have not kept up very well :oops: )

Janex
Click to expand...

No. Task one was to try and restore normal stomach patterns then task two is to try and identify the cause.

To be honest Im very confused at the moment as Im getting so many different lots of advice from so many sources its hard to know what to do for the best.

The current thoughts are that it may be a dental issue, gastric ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome and numerous other conditions.

He certainly has fluid in his stomach, I can hear it moving about.

Its really taking it out of me at the moment :cry:
 
Did you ever re-start the panacur? I know you stopped it as you thought it aggravated his tum, but it seems his tum is bad anyway - panacur might help as these symptoms are often caused by worms or e-cuniculi (in which case he'd need 6 weeks panacur)

What's the GA for? (sorry I've not been keeping up either :oops: )
 
Yes he has been back on the Panacur since Thursday once he was out of stasis, as it was obviously not that causing the problems he was having.

The GA is to do a thorough tooth check and possibly an X-ray, also planning on having him neutered at the same time so he dosnt need another one later.
 
Doesn't sound too urgent then, so that's one good thing :) Have you tried him on a coccidiostat too? Hope he's on the mend soon poor lad - how's your tummy by the way? :?
 
If I feed porridge I always mix it into porridge with water first so it doesn't swell in their tummy/absorb water.

Tam
 
elve said:
Doesn't sound too urgent then, so that's one good thing :) Have you tried him on a coccidiostat too? Hope he's on the mend soon poor lad - how's your tummy by the way? :?
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that, I can certainly add some to his water. I panicked when he had the squits but given all the greens he had eaten I put it down to that.

On the otherhand I dont want to damage any natural immunity he may have to the coccidia :? why is everything bunny so complicated :rolleyes:

I can keep down small meals now thanks, still on anti-nausea tablets though :(
 
Tamsin said:
If I feed porridge I always mix it into porridge with water first so it doesn't swell in their tummy/absorb water.

Tam
Click to expand...

Hi Tam, it was mixed in with water but I made it quite solid so I guess it still has the ability to absorb more.
 
Sooz22 said:
I was wondering about that, I can certainly add some to his water. I panicked when he had the squits but given all the greens he had eaten I put it down to that.

On the otherhand I dont want to damage any natural immunity he may have to the coccidia :? why is everything bunny so complicated :rolleyes:

I can keep down small meals now thanks, still on anti-nausea tablets though :(
Click to expand...

From the stuff I read last time there was a coccidia scare, it seems it's only long term use of coccidiostats that's bad for the rabbit, as they fail to develop immunity - I can't imagine it would hurt to give him a boost when his immune system is obviously going under with it, if indeed he has a coccidia infection. With him being a new bunny (is he - not sure?) he will just be weaker from the stress of moving homes, and that's when coccidia can take over as their guts aren't moving as normal.

Has he had a poo sample tested for coccidia? According to the merck vet manual it's 7 days on treatment, 7 days off, then another 7 on, with scrupulous cleaning.

Glad you can eat now - have you tried cutting out wheat for rice cakes and baked potatoes or are you holding out for test results?
 
IMO you can rule out teeth issues (at least in relation to this matter)...you would notice difficulty eating if it had got THAT bad.

I had a bunny with very similar symptoms a few years ago. He went in and out of stasis for about 6 months and his belly would swell up like a balloon.

My bunny had other symptoms too...stomach pain, muscle wastage (could this be why Caspian is thin?), and strange smelling poops (smelled sort of metallic???).

I never got to the cause of my bunny's problem, but I *suspect* it may have been either gastric ulceration or megacolon (cow pile syndrome).

Healing vibes for Caspian.

Amy
 
Caspians GA has been put off til next week and we have the OK to stop his Metaclopromide unless he gets bad again.

I was greeted by some lovely healthy looking poops when I got in and *touch wood* no nasty noises.
 
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