Bailey has Gut Stasis and is now on a drip - UD She's home!

Sorry long post!

Yesterday morning we tried to give Bailey a bit of banana, but she didn't eat it, but she looked quite sleepy so we thought nothing of it (stupidly). We went in to town and came back in the evening and she looked very very poorly. We called the emergency vet and he suggested we give her metacam, fibreplex and bio lactis (which we already had in the house) and try and get as much fluid in as we could. Then we were to bring her to the vet today.

We really didn't want to go downstairs this morning as we didn't know what might await us, but she was still alive but very cold, still hadn't been to the toilet and still not eating.

When we took her to the vet, he said he'll keep her overnight and put her on a drip.

Our other Bunny was Spayed on Friday so she was away for the day and came back in quite a bit of pain. Bailey did seem a bit stressed when Bella was away - they don't get on, so they are in seperate cages, but they do nuzzle from time to time.


A few questions:

a) Has anyone else been in a similar situation with their buns? Did their rabbit survive with being on a drip?

b) Can rabbits get ill through stress when another rabbit is in pain?

c) Should rabbits not have any fruit in their diet?

The vet was very very adamant that Rabbits should not get fruit or muesli diets - we usually feed the bunnies Burgess Supa Excel with a sprinkle of Burgess Supa Fruitti. He said the Supa Fruitti could be shortening their life span as they are just not designed to eat a diet of maize, split peas and grains. We'd never heard of that before as so many shops sell 'muesli type' diets.

Also rabbits should not get fruit as it can ferment in their stomach causing gas build up. I always check 'safe food lists' and i haven't seen one that mentions this...we are going to cut out fruit and stop using Supa Fruitti

sdow said:

Sorry long post!

Yesterday morning we tried to give Bailey a bit of banana, but she didn't eat it, but she looked quite sleepy so we thought nothing of it (stupidly). We went in to town and came back in the evening and she looked very very poorly. We called the emergency vet and he suggested we give her metacam, fibreplex and bio lactis (which we already had in the house) and try and get as much fluid in as we could. Then we were to bring her to the vet today.

We really didn't want to go downstairs this morning as we didn't know what might await us, but she was still alive but very cold, still hadn't been to the toilet and still not eating.

When we took her to the vet, he said he'll keep her overnight and put her on a drip.

Our other Bunny was Spayed on Friday so she was away for the day and came back in quite a bit of pain. Bailey did seem a bit stressed when Bella was away - they don't get on, so they are in seperate cages, but they do nuzzle from time to time.


A few questions:

a) Has anyone else been in a similar situation with their buns? Did their rabbit survive with being on a drip?

b) Can rabbits get ill through stress when another rabbit is in pain?

c) Should rabbits not have any fruit in their diet?

The vet was very very adamant that Rabbits should not get fruit or muesli diets - we usually feed the bunnies Burgess Supa Excel with a sprinkle of Burgess Supa Fruitti. He said the Supa Fruitti could be shortening their life span as they are just not designed to eat a diet of maize, split peas and grains. We'd never heard of that before as so many shops sell 'muesli type' diets.

Also rabbits should not get fruit as it can ferment in their stomach causing gas build up. I always check 'safe food lists' and i haven't seen one that mentions this...we are going to cut out fruit and stop using Supa Fruitti

Click to expand...

fruit is fine as a treat for buns in small quantitys but high sugar content can casue probs in some buns.
not heard of fermentation before. musiliea mixes are bad for buns due to their low amount of fibre and the ability to allow the buns to selective feed and get fat! pelleted food of 16% fibre or more is fine for buns but is only part of deit hay or grass and natrual vegatation should make up the majority ..80%

buns on a drip, this is something that will help bun survive and fluids are essential to rabbit. i know of buns that have and abuns that havetn survived but this is due to thier illness rather than the drip
rabbits on

stress is a big killer in rabbits as can lead to stasis due to not eating. but if the buns are not bonded you couldnt have done much else. the rabit who came home i n pain after spey should have been given metacam... and if pain continued metacam should be available. keep any buns recovering from operation or recovering from illness warm by keeping them indoors on a heat mat..or a hot water bottle wrapped in a soft towel or wrap them in a towel on your lap ..
the main thing i have to say to you is fingers crossed and vibes to your buns hope they both recover well soon xxxxx

Hi There,

Many Thanks for your reply.

Yes I thought it was strange that Bella received no pain killers when we got her home especially after such a major op, at the time we didn't know if metacam was safe to give her.

Thanks for your positive vibes, I really hope she pulls through! She's had stasis before and it lasted a day after the vet gave her some injections, then she was fine..but it wasn't as bad as this.

Really hope your bun makes it.

To be honest, I think the advice you got from the vet last night was a bit suspect - the vet should have advised that they should see the bun if the metacam etc didn't work quite quickly.

I've got everything crossed for good news. x

How long does metacam usually take to work? We could only get 1.9ml of 0.5 metacam (for cats) in to her, as syringe feeding was really stressing her out.

We just received a call from the vet, and he said she seems a bit livlier and is pooping again. But she still hasn't eaten, so he will see how she is at 1.30 and phone back to see what what we want to do. He says she's very nervous, so she may eat better if she is at home with us.

We are so relieved, it's a been a very long night!

Depends on what the situation is, as to how oral Metacam works. If the gut is working to some degree, I've found 1 - 2 hours to be the time in which Metacam takes to work. If the gut isn't working, it may not work at all, however.

Great news on the poos. Hope you get Bailey back soon. x

Edit: has the vet checked teeth?

Hiya

My bun Bertie recently had an episode of stasis and was on a drip for 2 days. The drip was in his ear. Thankfully, he got over it and is now fighting fit again. The only problem he had with the drip was that it made his ear swell up for a couple of days but it soon went down again.

I am so glad that Bailey has got through the night and the fact that she is pooing is a great sign. Bertie didn't eat properly for a couple of days but the vet hospital kept a close eye on him and kept helping him to eat a little.

Bailey is in the right place and hopefully now she's pooing she will start to pick up a bit.

I sympathise totally, it's a very nerve wracking and upsetting time. Sending lots of get well vibes to Bailey.

Fingers crossed.

Unfortunately Bailey has to stay in for another night, as she still hasn't eaten anything and stopped pooing again We're so desperate to see her, it's a pain that we didn't go with our local vet, we had to go with one in the city which is 15 miles away.

I really hope we get her back tomorrow, Bella is missing her alot, I hope Bella doesn't get even more stressed with Bailey being away and then her having stasis!

The vet said the bill was already going to be £150 - £200 just for keeping her in overnight, an extra night will probably be nearer £300 mark! It's all so stressful!

Ive had a rabbit in gut stasis, and she was on a drip for 48 hours and recovered just fine.

I assume they are force feeding your rabbit? The gut wont start working if nothing is going in. My old female Florence used to regularily get gut stasis, the vet was never able to find out why. I would soak some pellets with probiotic powder and syringe feed her every hour, it was hard work and id often be up the whole night, but it was worth it, as usually within 4-5 hours she would nibble some of her favourite foods, and within 12 hours she would eat her hard food.
Usually i would catch it quickly, and wouldnt have to take her to the vets, but twice i have had to have the vet to my house at 1am to give her pain relief and metaclopramide.

Im sure your vet and the nursing team are doing all they can for your rabbit, and i wish you all the best.

BTW, Injectable Metacam takes about 20 minutes to work, oral Metacam up to 12 hours. Vetergesic can be used in certain circumstances, but it has a mild sedative effect.

A rabbit can eat any fruit providing the fruit has no gas inside. Some pear has gas inside, grapes, same thing.

So if it's watermelon, then it's okay.

Remember you can't over dose on metacam, overdose of metacam can kill a bun within few hours.

the metacam dosage should be:

dosage (in ml) = weight in KG x 0.1 / 1.5

So if the weight of your bun is 2 KG, then

2 x 0.1 / 1.5 = 0.13 ml (cc)

here's a link for more info. on gut stasis (scroll down):


http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=124510

I am really sorry to hear that Bailey is not well...I have had bunnies with gut stasis on several occasions: the first time I experienced it, Charlie was in hospital for a few days over the Christmas period but he recovered well afterwards and lived on for a few more years. I have also had rabbits with other conditions (chlostridial enterotoxaemia and pyelo-nephritis) who have been put on a drip and they have recovered well

I was a bit alarmed when I saw the volume of metacam, did you mean 1.9ml or 0.19ml: 1.9 sounds rather a lot unless she is quite big - I just had a look as I thought I had the dosage somewhere but cannot find it, what I would say is Florence weighs about 1.6kg and gets 0.12ml of 1.5 metacam.

I would imagine that the nursing staff are syringe feeding as well as administering metaclopromide and ranitadine (2 hours apart from each other) with the usual baytril antibiotic. My vet, who is very rabbit savvy, recommends giving them the non-dairy organix baby food to stimulate their appetites, which when I have had to do it I have mixed with some Science Selective ground down to a powder.

As I have said, my vet is very rabbit savvy and he says that there is nothing wrong with a bit of variety in a rabbit's diet - I give mine apples, carrots, celery (lots of fibre) and radishes. Only small amounts, for instance a large apple would be shared between the 14 of them with possibly a bit over. I feed mine Science Selective, because of the very high fibre content, but I also use Herbs'n'Fibre from the Natural Pet Food Company, which some people might calle a meusli mix, I don't know, but it is really nice and smells of mint, really good quality. My order was messed up this time, so I bought some chudleys Rabbit Royal and that seems really good too. You can get samples of the H'n'F from the company if you would like to try it.

I really hope that your little one rallies and gets better soon - I am sure we all know how worrying it is when you are the one who is waiting for news. :roll: Sending healing vibes.

sdow said:

How long does metacam usually take to work? We could only get 1.9ml of 0.5 metacam (for cats) in to her, as syringe feeding was really stressing her out.

Click to expand...

Isn't Metacam for dogs more suitable for rabbits? That's what I was given when my Eliot needed some.
So sorry to hear about this, I am terrified of GI stasis and give my buns a tiny bit of fruit maybe once a month!

You're right. We usually use the dog dosage as they are 1.5 mg/ml compares to the cat dosage

How is Bailey doing now? I have been thinking about her all day....:?

Ive just caught up with this.I hope Bailey is on the mend.Sending loads of tummy healing vibes

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your replies and kind words.

We got Bailey back yesterday, she hadn't eaten at all while she was at the vets, but as soon as we got her home and in her pen, we gave her some basil and she snatched it from us and ate it we weren't sure how much to give, so I just kept it to 2 big leaves, she ate a small sprig of brocolli and then later on we gave her a small piece carrot covered in her medication (zantac I think it is?).

It also looks like she has been eating her pellets too..which is great!

Bella is a lot more lively too now that Bailey is back..I think it really affected them both being apart. Even though they fight like anything when they have been out together! Very Strange!!

We got a bottle of metacam for dogs from the vet, so we have to give her that once a day for a few days. 1.5ml

All in all she looks much better (her ears look so painful! ). Thanks again for all your replies - much appreciated

That is brilliant news, I am so pleased!!!! So good that she is chomping! Zantac is the generic name for Ranitadine I have a bun who is prone to a bloaty tummy who is on it permanently twice a day. :roll: It's not nasty stuff though, quite minty.

Ooooh that has really brought a much needed smile to my face.