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Rabbit not pooing - possible stasis

Kentmonkey

New Kit
Hi all

First post on the forum and I'm afraid it's not a happy one.

My rabbit (male lionhead) is 5 years old and appears to be suffering from GI Stasis.

First signs were Wednesday night, when I went to get him out of his run to put him back in his hutch and noticed 4-5 small brown puddles on the floor, no bigger than 5p pieces (in some cases smaller). I dipped kitchen roll into them and it smelt a bit 'pooey'. We decided to get him in for the night so we could observe him in his indoor cage.

He was very playful, running around with his newspaper in his mouth that he loves to do and enjoying lots of cuddles. He was extremely active but hadn't produced any poos. Upon reflection and checking his outdoor cage, he hadn't pood that much for about 3-4 days previously. Didn't appear to stop completely until Wednesday though.

The next day he stopped eating and he was due for his Mxy jab but my wife told the vets that he wasn't eating and that he hadn't pood and so they didn't give him his Mxy jab and they gave us some liquid Zantac to syringe into his mouth. Still no poos and no wees since Wednesday.

Friday he was no better, still not eating and no poos, but we did get one wee out of him. The vets wanted him back, so he had a painkilling injection, some gut motility injection, more Zantac (from us) and Critical Care food to syringe into his mouth (2ml's every two-three hours, from 14:00-23:00) and we had to administer another painkiller by mouth in the evening.

Saturday another trip to the vets and another gut motiility injection, as well as another painkilling injection. They told us to syringe 2ml of Critical Care into him every hour, which we've been doing (actually more like every 1.5 hours).

When we returned on Saturday, bunny started to eat some Hay, although no grass or pellet food that he normally enjoys. For the first time in days, he took his raising as well (we give him 3 every night before bed as a treat, as he loves them. He's so funny when he hears the box being rattled, he runs around going loopy. However, whilst he ate them, there wasn't the normal excitement). He also weed, which was really good news. Still no poos though. We also gave him a painkiller by mouth last night and we've added Pro-Biotic to his water (he's still drinking, not loads but we've got a medium sized water bottle and he's drinking about 1/5 of that a day which is about normal). They said that we really needed poos within the next 24 hours and they wanted to hear from us on Monday as if it hasn't improved by then, they would like to do an x-ray.

When he was at the vets, she felt his adbomen and said that she could feel a slight lump, but whether that was a blockage, build-up or possibly worse (tumor) she didn't know at that stage.

Today we've had a wee, but still no poos. We've kept up with the painkiller (2 a day) and Zantac and up until lunchtime with the Critical Care by mouth every hour, but we've decided to stop the Critical Care as he gets extremely stressed with it and I'm not sure that's going to help. Are we right to have done that? The vets said every hour but I'm concerned that with that amount of food being forced in and no poos coming out, it will cause problems.

Behaviour-wise he's not too bad. He's not right, that's for certain, as he's not eating and he's off his raisins. However he's got plenty of fight in him when he's having the Critical Care syringed and we've put him outside today in his run and he's lopping about, sniffing things, digging a bit etc. Not running around with his paper like he usually does (we tear a strip off and he puts it in his mouth, chucks it over his eyes and runs around in circles with it for hours. No idea why he enjoys it so much but he's done this for years now and it amuses us and everyone else) and he's laying more perhaps than he usually does, but then I think he's got the hump with all of the vet visits and the syringes in the mouth.

One thing is he's always had a watery right eye. The vet opp'd on it a couple of years ago but it never improved. However the past 24 hours it's omitting a very milky almost gluey substance that we clean every 2-3 hours, usually it just needs it once a day and isn't as thick and milky as this.

He only has one front tooth (the vet broke the other one when snipping it about a year ago as it had become overgrown) but he's always got by fine with that. It is a little long, but the vet isn't concerned that it's too long, and whilst his mollars are a little large, they're not large enough to be causing a problem (just larger than ideal).

I massaged his belly earlier and I could feel air moving around, and there were a few gurgles. He also appears to pick up whenever we get him back from the vets (both days he's improved after the painkiller/gut motility injection).

Any advice on how to get him going? Whether stopping this hourly intake of syringed food is a good idea (we were instead planning on giving him two more to keep up his strength, one more at tea-time and another before bed, whilst continuing with the Zantac and painkilling).

Apologies for the long post, I just wanted to give as much info as possible and I appreciate anybody who has read this far. I'm really concerned for him, we both love him to bits and he was a great source of strength to me when I had to have time off for an operation a few years ago. He was my source of friendship during the day for nearly three months, and I knew this day would come one day, but it's still not easy to take and I'm so concerned we're going to lose him.
 
bless him, i really hope hes better soon. shauny had that bout 4 months ago and needed an overnight stay where they put him on a drip to hydrate him. we also came home with loads of meds which he needed x2 daily they were baytril, infactol, metaclopramide (think this is an anti sickness)), and 2hrs later rinitadine. we gave him unlimited amount of veg, still he started eating properly.

sorry i havnt been that helpfull but someone will know more on here.

loads of hugs for the little man.
x
 
Hi all

First post on the forum and I'm afraid it's not a happy one.

My rabbit (male lionhead) is 5 years old and appears to be suffering from GI Stasis.

First signs were Wednesday night, when I went to get him out of his run to put him back in his hutch and noticed 4-5 small brown puddles on the floor, no bigger than 5p pieces (in some cases smaller). I dipped kitchen roll into them and it smelt a bit 'pooey'. We decided to get him in for the night so we could observe him in his indoor cage.

He was very playful, running around with his newspaper in his mouth that he loves to do and enjoying lots of cuddles. He was extremely active but hadn't produced any poos. Upon reflection and checking his outdoor cage, he hadn't pood that much for about 3-4 days previously. Didn't appear to stop completely until Wednesday though.

The next day he stopped eating and he was due for his Mxy jab but my wife told the vets that he wasn't eating and that he hadn't pood and so they didn't give him his Mxy jab and they gave us some liquid Zantac to syringe into his mouth. Still no poos and no wees since Wednesday.

Friday he was no better, still not eating and no poos, but we did get one wee out of him. The vets wanted him back, so he had a painkilling injection, some gut motility injection, more Zantac (from us) and Critical Care food to syringe into his mouth (2ml's every two-three hours, from 14:00-23:00) and we had to administer another painkiller by mouth in the evening.

Saturday another trip to the vets and another gut motiility injection, as well as another painkilling injection. They told us to syringe 2ml of Critical Care into him every hour, which we've been doing (actually more like every 1.5 hours).

When we returned on Saturday, bunny started to eat some Hay, although no grass or pellet food that he normally enjoys. For the first time in days, he took his raising as well (we give him 3 every night before bed as a treat, as he loves them. He's so funny when he hears the box being rattled, he runs around going loopy. However, whilst he ate them, there wasn't the normal excitement). He also weed, which was really good news. Still no poos though. We also gave him a painkiller by mouth last night and we've added Pro-Biotic to his water (he's still drinking, not loads but we've got a medium sized water bottle and he's drinking about 1/5 of that a day which is about normal). They said that we really needed poos within the next 24 hours and they wanted to hear from us on Monday as if it hasn't improved by then, they would like to do an x-ray.

When he was at the vets, she felt his adbomen and said that she could feel a slight lump, but whether that was a blockage, build-up or possibly worse (tumor) she didn't know at that stage.

Today we've had a wee, but still no poos. We've kept up with the painkiller (2 a day) and Zantac and up until lunchtime with the Critical Care by mouth every hour, but we've decided to stop the Critical Care as he gets extremely stressed with it and I'm not sure that's going to help. Are we right to have done that? The vets said every hour but I'm concerned that with that amount of food being forced in and no poos coming out, it will cause problems.

Behaviour-wise he's not too bad. He's not right, that's for certain, as he's not eating and he's off his raisins. However he's got plenty of fight in him when he's having the Critical Care syringed and we've put him outside today in his run and he's lopping about, sniffing things, digging a bit etc. Not running around with his paper like he usually does (we tear a strip off and he puts it in his mouth, chucks it over his eyes and runs around in circles with it for hours. No idea why he enjoys it so much but he's done this for years now and it amuses us and everyone else) and he's laying more perhaps than he usually does, but then I think he's got the hump with all of the vet visits and the syringes in the mouth.

One thing is he's always had a watery right eye. The vet opp'd on it a couple of years ago but it never improved. However the past 24 hours it's omitting a very milky almost gluey substance that we clean every 2-3 hours, usually it just needs it once a day and isn't as thick and milky as this.

He only has one front tooth (the vet broke the other one when snipping it about a year ago as it had become overgrown) but he's always got by fine with that. It is a little long, but the vet isn't concerned that it's too long, and whilst his mollars are a little large, they're not large enough to be causing a problem (just larger than ideal).

I massaged his belly earlier and I could feel air moving around, and there were a few gurgles. He also appears to pick up whenever we get him back from the vets (both days he's improved after the painkiller/gut motility injection).

Any advice on how to get him going? Whether stopping this hourly intake of syringed food is a good idea (we were instead planning on giving him two more to keep up his strength, one more at tea-time and another before bed, whilst continuing with the Zantac and painkilling).

Apologies for the long post, I just wanted to give as much info as possible and I appreciate anybody who has read this far. I'm really concerned for him, we both love him to bits and he was a great source of strength to me when I had to have time off for an operation a few years ago. He was my source of friendship during the day for nearly three months, and I knew this day would come one day, but it's still not easy to take and I'm so concerned we're going to lose him.

Hello

Did the Vet check your Rabbits back teeth? As he already has problems with his Incisors I would not be at all surprised if he had spurs (sharp points) on his molars making eating painful.
As he has not poo'd for so long I most definately think you are doing the right thing in stopping the syringe feeds now. He really needs additional fluid therapy, either subcutaneously or IV to try to prevent him absorbing all the fluid from his guts leaving lots of dried out ingesta which will just cause more problems.

I am somewhat :shock: that the Vet has not admitted him by now as fluid therapy is an essential part of managing GI stasis.

Janex
 
Thanks for the responses.

He is still drinking, so I think fluids-wise he's doing well. He's definitely drinking. Not sure if that's enough or not though, but I think he would happily take more fluid by syringe if we had to (he takes the painkilling and Zantac by syringe without much problem, it's just the Critical Care stuff).
 
its good that hes drinkin, shauny wouldnt drink anything without being forced it. and the recovery mix was a nightmare he just let it dribble out of his mouth. its worryin bout the poo tho.. i know its really important.

has he not done any poos?.

i think how you check if they are hydrated is to kinda pinch (not hard) the scruff of the neck and see how long it takes to get back into place (our vet did that with shauny).

x
 
I would keep getting fluids into him as others have said, pro-biotics will help there.

On Monday, I would ask your vet to give him a sub-cut (I think that's what it's called) to get some more fluid into him. My vet did this with Inky and I'm sure it helped to save his life.

Is he indoors? I would bring him in overnight if he isn't because ill rabbits find it difficult to maintain their temperature. I would also try to get him to move around if he is able, it can sometimes help them to move things along.

I hope things get better soon

FC xx
 
He hasn't done a poo at all since Wednesday evening, when he had the runny puddles. Not one - which is quite concerning. That's nearly 5 days now. :(
 
I would keep getting fluids into him as others have said, pro-biotics will help there.

On Monday, I would ask your vet to give him a sub-cut (I think that's what it's called) to get some more fluid into him. My vet did this with Inky and I'm sure it helped to save his life.

Is he indoors? I would bring him in overnight if he isn't because ill rabbits find it difficult to maintain their temperature. I would also try to get him to move around if he is able, it can sometimes help them to move things along.

I hope things get better soon

FC xx

He's been indoors for the last three nights, put him outside in the run today to give him a bit of a scenery change and we'll bring him back in tonight.

Part of the reason why I put him outside was he's always loved the sun and always loved to dig. So I thought if it did have to be one of his last days with us, I wanted him to enjoy it as much as possible.
 
He's been indoors for the last three nights, put him outside in the run today to give him a bit of a scenery change and we'll bring him back in tonight.

Part of the reason why I put him outside was he's always loved the sun and always loved to dig. So I thought if it did have to be one of his last days with us, I wanted him to enjoy it as much as possible.

Yes, I've been there too. I really do hope he gets better, if he's outside, I'd keep an eye and see if he looks interested in the grass, he may try to have a nibble.
 
He did dig the grass and have a little nibble, and he nibbled at hay yesterday (about 12-14 strips of Hay I'd say, roughly) and a very little today (maybe 2-3 strips).
 
The point I am trying to make is that oral fluids, however much, wont stop him absorbing the fluid contents of his guts. This, as I said before, will lead to the ingesta remaining 'drying out' and forming a rock solid mass thats wont move. Giving IV fluids will mean that any oral fluids he takes in will stay in his guts keeping the ingesta soft and therefore easier to 'pass through'

I really would advise you to get your Bun reassessed ASAP.

Janex
 
has he had an xray to see if there is a blockage?.
could you phone the vets they might want you to bring him in. cause he hasnt poo'd in 4 days.
x
 
He hasn't had an x-ray yet, although they said that if there was no improvement by Monday morning then they would like him in again and would most likely do an x-ray.

That's the current plan, to phone the vets again at 9:00am and she will see him as an emergency case straight away.

We do have an emergency clinic near us (Pets) but I don't know how good they would be and I don't really want to be fleeced by an emergency vet that would likely charge well over the odds (I've not heard good stories about emergency vets, although nothing in particular bad about 'Pets'). He is still relatively 'normal' in behaviour as well. He's not himself, that's for certain, and he isn't as lively as he normally is, but he's not just laying still, he will get up and have a walk about, gets a bit energetic after he's been picked up, cleans himself etc.
 
Has he had any more metaclopromide since the vet declared she could feel a mass in his abdomen?

Dont under-estimate the oral discomfort some bunnis can feel from what may appear to be the tiniest of spurs.....some bunnies can carry on like trojans with soft tissues lacerations left, right and center whilst others will stop eating as soon as as their mouth starts to feel uncomfortable.

I agree complete with what Jane has said about fluid therapy, just because he appears externally hydrated does not mean he is internally.

I really hope you get some positive news soon.
 
I've just checked the treatment he's had thus far and what the vet has given him (either directly or through us) is:

Metoclpramide
Buprehnorphine
Ranitidine (which I believe is the Zantac)
Vetergesic
Maxolon

Also in the notes it states 'MASS CRANIAL ADBOMEN - IMPACTION??' and 'still mass cranial adbomen. impaction, tumour???'

She did say that she could feel a lump, but wasn't sure what that was.

In hindsight an x-ray sooner sounds like a better idea, but I just took the advice on offer (and she does really care for the bunny - she always remembers him due to his personality and gentle nature).
 
I would recommend that he does not have anymore metaclopromide/moxolon until it has been determined whether or not he does have a blockage.

Forcing an impacted gut to move can lead to rupture.
 
I too would take him to the vet today if possible.

I had to take one of mine christmas day and boxing day with similar symptoms to yours. She had a blockage ("mass as they called it") but we got through it. It was 8 days before she would eat on her own but she was taken in by the vet during the day for a couple of days and I brought her home at night. They should be able to do a conscious X-ray to try and establish if there is a blockage.

Try to get him to move around as it can help to get their gut moving (cruel to be kind!) and some gentle tummy rubs and of course plenty of fluid, maybe some fresh pineapple juice too. You must also keep him warm.

I hope he is feeling better soon.
 
blimey i do feel a bit out of my depth. but ''impaction'' does that mean formation/blockage of some sort?. i think you should follow the advice of jacksjane. he prob needs to be at the vets.

i really hope hes ok. all my thoughts.
x
 
The point I am trying to make is that oral fluids, however much, wont stop him absorbing the fluid contents of his guts. This, as I said before, will lead to the ingesta remaining 'drying out' and forming a rock solid mass thats wont move. Giving IV fluids will mean that any oral fluids he takes in will stay in his guts keeping the ingesta soft and therefore easier to 'pass through'

I really would advise you to get your Bun reassessed ASAP.

Janex

I would recommend that he does not have anymore metaclopromide/moxolon until it has been determined whether or not he does have a blockage.

Forcing an impacted gut to move can lead to rupture.

Agree with both of these points - water is what he needs and not gut stimulants. Also a decent dentist - I am worried that your vet's not treating this properly, but that's an all too common story I'm afraid :( I do hope he'll be OK
 
Thank you

My wife is going to recommend fluids when she takes him in in the morning (when he has his x-ray) and to check his teeth again. They did check his teeth the other day and said that they were okay, and they checked his mouth, but another check wouldn't hurt.

He's just had a bit more of the Critical Care food and the last of the Zantac he was meant to have, we'll then give him his painkiller in an hour and one last lot of Critical Care before we go to bed to make sure it keeps his strength up.

I think it's fair to say that he's got the hump with all of this syringing though.
 
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