Meds for onset of Gi Stasis and in Stasis?

Monday noticed Bunnie was not eating much hay, but was eating veg and pellet ok and she was her usual happy self!

But from experience before of GI Stasis the indicator of her stomach slowing was the reduction in hay eating.

We took her to vet on Tuesday and she checked her tummy and it was fine so the vet who wasn't our usual vet gave her a gut stimulant.

By Wednesday Bunnie had vitually stopped eating hay but was still eating everything else and was still fine in herself! Thursday morning wanted no food at all and was not pooping and could see was bit poorly

Took her to vet and luckily Robin was there and he said tummy was bit painfull at top of abdomen and gave her painkiller/anti-inflamitry and gut stimulant and was going to give us Critical care to feed if we had not said can you take her into hospital!

Question:

Should the vet on Tuesday night of given bunnie more than a gut stimulant, should she have given painkiller/anti-inflamitry as a precaution and given us some critical care to offer to her if she would take it, and if so would she not have come to a complete stop!

What is the treatment for gut slowing down and no blockage felt?
and
What is treatment for Stasis if no blockage?

I just syringe warm boiled water with a splash of fruit flavouring in when Zinniea goes like this - she's done it 3 times now, no idea why - I give her 1ml of infacol, then 10ml warm water, then wait an hour, then give another 10ml of water, wait another hour - so far that has sorted her. I believe that vet visits, being so stressful for rabbits, should be avoided if possible, especially since stress causes stasis in the first place sometimes. If Zinniea wasn't better after the above treatment I'm not sure what I'd do - I took Pepsi to the vets when he had stasis - he received gut stimulants and I was told to force feed him, but all that pressure on top of slow moving blockage just ruptured his gut and he died horribly - I'm very wary about force feeding and gut stimulants now - prefer to try water and infacol as they are harmless.

Forgot to mention - When Zinniea has gone like this I've always chased her about and encouraged her to run up and down before syringing water, then left her a couple of hours as sometimes that's all it needs. Both Benny and Primrose had stasis and recovered after a bit of exercise got their guts working again. With Zinniea's episodes I've noticed at around 4pm she's 'off' - not wanting veg and sitting in a corner. Chased her about for 10 mins then left her for a couple of hours before syringing water and infacol, for which I bring her indoors and put her in the piggy pen so I can easily catch her and moniter her. Last time it happened she had water and infacol twice over a couple of hours, then stretched out and shifted about a lot, looking very uncomfortable - suddenly there was a loud 'gurgle' from her tum and she was wanting hay to eat - I rushed out and found some dandelions too - was very relieved as I've got no car and it was midnight

:wave: What about before they actually get to stasis.

We know when it's coming as Bunnie gradually eats less and less hay, so other than taking to vet to check for blockage what can we or should the vet give her to prevent gut from eventually stopping:?:

On Thursday morning it was obvious her gut had come to a stand still, so I kept trying to get her to drink but she wouldn't, I kept chasing her around the room and rubbing her tummy and tried to syringe in some fluid.

Vet gave her Rimadyl and Metocloprimide, and on the way to hospital she started eating some veg and drinking!

I do think the chasing around helped her tum a lot and then of course injections done the rest!

i think the chasing does a huge part of getting things moving... i spent the whole of a sunday chasing Alvin around, could i catch the little demon to even attempt force feeding or even getting fluids and infacol in NOPE

in the end he got so fed up he drank and ate just to get me to leave him alone :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: (poops followed a watery one half hour after hay eating resumed)

Mainly want to know what we can do when we notice her reduction in hay eating which happens about 4-5 days before she enters complete gut stop.

What can we do to prevent her gut finally stopping or what should the vet give!

I would give her a bromelain tablet and syringe feed warm boiled water - or just do the water if you're not sure about the sugar in bromelain tablets - Extra water will keep her gut contents moving through easily, and if you give her water in a dish with a splash of boiling water to warm it, she'll probably drink more by herself - mine love warm water!

When I notice Maa's poos getting smaller (she's not a big hay eater) I give her less pellets and veg (about half as much as normal) because when their gut contents are slowing down the mass inside gets larger in volume and harder to pass - then the caecal poops back up behind that instead of getting eaten, and it all gets very messy - they can actually be overfed when their gut slows down as there's nowhere for it all to go :?

CRBevis said:

Mainly want to know what we can do when we notice her reduction in hay eating which happens about 4-5 days before she enters complete gut stop.

What can we do to prevent her gut finally stopping or what should the vet give!

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Prevention is better than cure....find out WHY she keeps going into stasis, its not normal to be recurrent.

Sooz22 said:

Prevention is better than cure....find out WHY she keeps going into stasis, its not normal to be recurrent.

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well yes that too - good point! I think treatment for e-cuniculi would be a first option - then you can at least cross that off your list of possible reasons

I have that problem with Munch I cant figure out why it keeps happening to him. I did try feeding him a small piece of pineapple every day but it gave him very bad runs as soon as I notice it start I give a a small drop of metacam & half an hour later hes fine & munching on his hay. The vet cant find anything wrong with his diet as he gets 2 types of hay & dried grass plus a handful of SS & some spring greens plus some herbs at night. If nayone has some ideas that could end his pain, id be grateful

Sooz22 said:

Prevention is better than cure....find out WHY she keeps going into stasis, its not normal to be recurrent.

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She has only gone into Gi Stasis x2 now

once before xmas - This we know was due to cauliflower leaves for the first time!

This time we didn't give her anything new, but the reduction in hay eating did coincide with a new bag of hay!

She had a 9 day dose of panacur in January!

We think it maybe this time due to ingesting fur as she had a couple of stringy poos the week before, either that or the new hay!

When she goes for her VHD we will speak to vet about EC.

maybe she just has a sensitive tum as carrot or fruit can give her a messy bum!

Trichobezoars form secondary to GI motality slowing down which is secondary to another primary condition. In this way 'hairballs are actually a tertiary problem. A rabbit passing fur is actually not a bad thing because it shows the hair is getting through the GI tract, if there is no hair present at all you have to wonder where its getting too

A rabbit with a healthy GI motility will be able to pass hair without problems and the best way to ensure your rabbit has a healthy gut is to make sure they drink lots of water and eat lots of fiber.

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The above from one of my old posts.

My point being Bunnie is getting hairy poops because something else is wrong with her, the hair is not causing her GI problems.

Sorry to keep harping on about this but has Bunnie had her teeth checked yet ?

Janex:

if no blockage, then metaclopramide ...but you have to be sure of no blockage as this can cause harm if not.
yes they should have given a pain killer as rabbits dont eat if they are in pain.
they should have given you pro biotics and science recovery to force feed if the bun doesnt eat at all.force feeding should be done carefully and every three hours.
hope bun gets well soon

Jack's-Jane said:

Sorry to keep harping on about this but has Bunnie had her teeth checked yet ?

Janex:

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The vet checked her teeth for 5 minutes, he said they were perfect!


What is involved in the test for EC, do they have to take blood at different periods just incase levels are lower or higher or hidden?

Vet gave us some Critical Care to have in so if we notice her hay eating reduce can start offering her it before get to vets!

We also start her on the avipro in the water when we notice eating less hay and she does drink lots of it as she likes the taste.

elve said:

I just syringe warm boiled water with a splash of fruit flavouring in when Zinniea goes like this - she's done it 3 times now, no idea why - I give her 1ml of infacol, then 10ml warm water, then wait an hour, then give another 10ml of water, wait another hour - so far that has sorted her. I believe that vet visits, being so stressful for rabbits, should be avoided if possible, especially since stress causes stasis in the first place sometimes. If Zinniea wasn't better after the above treatment I'm not sure what I'd do - I took Pepsi to the vets when he had stasis - he received gut stimulants and I was told to force feed him, but all that pressure on top of slow moving blockage just ruptured his gut and he died horribly - I'm very wary about force feeding and gut stimulants now - prefer to try water and infacol as they are harmless.

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Thanks for that Elve! Murray has had statis twice and Honey just the once, I would love not to have to take them to the vet all the time because of the stress as you said.

One question - do you buy infacol from the vet? If so, does it just come in one strength?

Thank you.............

Infacol is a human medicins for baby colic, you can get it in any pharmacy. Its chemically inert so overdose is virtually impossible.

Sooz22 said:

The above from one of my old posts.

My point being Bunnie is getting hairy poops because something else is wrong with her, the hair is not causing her GI problems.

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Any ideas as to what ailments could be causing this then, so we can mention to vet

She has had a 9 day dose of panacur in Jan, so what would a 6 week dose do? Does it erradicate EC or just reduce levels!

Sooz22 said:

Infacol is a human medicins for baby colic, you can get it in any pharmacy. Its chemically inert so overdose is virtually impossible.

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Great............thanks very much Sooz :wave: