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Suspected GI stasis, please help!

nic-nac89

nic-nac89

Young Bun
My rabbit's barely eating, barely drinking and seems fine one min then next min he's sitting there in a stare looking like he's in his own little world. I can't get a vet till Monday afternoon and I don't know of any emergency vet near here. He's been like this all day and I'm so worried...I have no idea what to do! He's been ill for a few days and was given antibiotics which helped but now I think something else is wrong :( Is there anything I can do?
 
It certainly sounds like GI stasis. You need a vet, and before Mon. Sorry I don't want to panic you but you need to get to a vet to rule out a blockage and get some pain relief, gut stimulant and recovery feed.

The antibiotics may well have caused the stasis if he wasn't prescribed probiotic at the same time.

Can you feel his tummy? Does it feel bloated? Have you tried tummy rubs? If so could you feel any gas bubbles?

If you do nothing else then syringe feed him cooled boiled water to keep him hydrated and try and find a vet in the morning.

Meanwhile also try and tempt him with anything he will eat - blackberry leaves are good as they also aid digestion and buns usually love them.

Where are you based? Someone will know of a vet for you - and that is your only option right now.

Sending loads of luck and vibes for you and your bun x

If you have no meds at home then Infacol has been known to help reduce the colic symptoms in bunnies and you can get it from any 24hr Tesco
 
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Have you tried ringing your normal vet's telephone number? Most will have it forwarding to (or give you the details of) an emergency number for out of hours problems. I would suggest that you try and ring this number first and see if you get any luck - though it's possible that it might not be your own vet that it forwards to (it might forward to another vet in the area) but at least you will get somewhere.

Explain to them that you suspect GI stasis/bloat and that your rabbit has stopped eating and drinking and hopefully they will tell you what to do, whether it be advice over the phone or requesting you take him in. I should hope they will take him in, as it's quite a painful thing for him to have and he will really benefit from some pain relief.

Good luck and I'm sending him some get well vibes!
 
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Is there any bloat? i.e., is the stomach hard? if his stomach is suffering from bloat, then you need your vet to use the tube idea to suck the gas out first.

If it is just a little bit of gas, you can get 2 ml of infacol every few hour just as a pre-caution.

If the stomach is not hard or expanded, then it's just a GI stasis, you need to force feed your bun for the time being:

Firstly, keep your bun indoor in a warm room, as he can't fight the cold at night and fight whatever health problem he has.

1) Get some non-meat baby food, use a syringe to suck up the baby food, get a cup of hot water, dump the syringe in the hot water for 2 min., now the syringe is warm, so you now syringe feed the baby food to your bun.

Every 1Kg of bunny weight, get 100 ml of food inside him per 24 hr.

OR

2) Get some blackberry or raspberry, smash it via juicer. You need about 6 oz. Get some hay stem, cut the stem in 1 mm length, mixed it w/ the blackberry. Put the mixture in a 35 ml syringe and force feed your bun. Your bun need the fiber to survive.

Here's a useful link on GI stasis:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=124510
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the comments. I managed to get an appt for him 1st thing yesterday morning and the vet gave us some fibreplex to give him 3 times a day and recovery food. It's a struggle to get him to take it and he gets quite distressed but we're persevering. Hoping to see results within the next couple of days coz the vet said if this doesn't help there's nothing more they can do :( It's so upsetting seeing him like this though, he's just sitting in his bed all day doing nothing and he's still barely eating, drinking next to nothing and not pooing :( Vet said it might be because he's getting old and his organs are failing...fingers crossed he keeps fighting...
 
Did the vet not give him any injections or medicines?

With GI Stasis it is VITAL that the bunny is given pain relief- usually metacam. He should also have had some metaclopramide to get his guts going again.
 
nic-nac89 said:
Hey guys, thanks for all the comments. I managed to get an appt for him 1st thing yesterday morning and the vet gave us some fibreplex to give him 3 times a day and recovery food. It's a struggle to get him to take it and he gets quite distressed but we're persevering. Hoping to see results within the next couple of days coz the vet said if this doesn't help there's nothing more they can do :( It's so upsetting seeing him like this though, he's just sitting in his bed all day doing nothing and he's still barely eating, drinking next to nothing and not pooing :( Vet said it might be because he's getting old and his organs are failing...fingers crossed he keeps fighting...
Click to expand...


So the Vet gave no medication :? :shock:
No pain relief ?
No gut motility stimulant?
Was an obstrution ruled out?
Any fluid therapy given ?
Did the Vet examin your Rabbit thoroughly, including his teeth ?
 
Did your vet give him a gut stimulant and painkillers, if not I think he should have. Keep fluids up, give him a bowl of water as well as a bottle and keep trying to tempt him with titbits of tasty veg and herbs. We found Maisey ate the fibreplex no problem on a rocket leaf and ate the recovery food from a little dish. Try to get him to hop about a bit too.
 
Do you have another vet you can go to? As the others have said pain relief is vital and depending on the cause of the stasis so is a gut stimulant. Did he mention fluids? If your bun isn't drinking you will need to syringe him fluids. (80-100ml perday per kg of body weight) Also this may not be enough he may need rehydration suppliment.

By boy Gabriel went into stasis this morning so I know how you feel. Sending loads of vibes for your bun x
 
She examined his stomach and said it felt really empty but she didn't make any comment on whether there was a blockage. She gave him a jag to try to get his gut working again and i'm pretty sure she said it would provide some pain relief too. She didn't mention fluids...he's not drinking anything now which is worrying so I'll try what dustyrabbit suggested and put a bowl of water out for him too and if that doesn't work i'll syringe him some water. Should i be concerned at how distressed he gets when we force feed him? It really upsets me but i know he's got to eat. I tried mixing the recovery food with some water and putting it in a bowl but he only ate a little. He seems a bit more active at the moment as he's gone down into his run and is trying to pull grass through the wire...and yet when i gave him some grass he wouldn't eat it :?
 
I think if he won't eat it out of a bowl you will have to syringe feed him if an obstruction has been ruled out. But if it is distressing him try keep offering him bits - on dandylion leaves, on pellets, on herbs, on your finger, on his paw anything to get him eating. It seems he is outside, it might be best to bring him inside where you can ensure he keeps warmer and can keep a close eye on him and keep pestering him with bits of food. Keep refreshing his water bowl we found everytime we put a fresh bowl in Maisey would drink so the more oftern we did it the more she drank. But also get to a rabbit savvy vet asap, let us know where you live and someone can recommend one with a bit of luck.
 
nic-nac89 said:
Should i be concerned at how distressed he gets when we force feed him? It really upsets me but i know he's got to eat. I tried mixing the recovery food with some water and putting it in a bowl but he only ate a little.
Click to expand...

No, just deal w/ force feeding some food and water. If she doesn't like Sc. Recovery, I would try something else. Read my reply on page 1 as alternative food. I feed my bridge bun Goofball w/ blackberry + hay stem mix for over 1 yr. due to her bone cancer issue, and she loves the mixture I created
 
I live in east ayrshire (scotland). If anyone could reccommend a rabbit specialised vet that would be very much appreciated as I don't know of any around here. I'm off to syringe feed him now, wish me luck!
 
Think i've finally mastered the syringe feeding and got him to take some water too. He's been nibbling on some carrot and grass so at least he's eating something but still no poos!
 
Hi i am from Scotland too :wave: . If your vet has given the gut meds and you are getting enough food into him the poo will come ;) . Do you have any other rabbits ? When my rabbit stopped eating and pooing i got some droppings from an other rabbits hutch and put them on the kitchen floor and when my rabbit Dylan had a sniff at the poo he started leaving some tiny wee poo's and that was the start of the many poo's that came after that lol
 
Lol! Unfortunately I can't try that as I don't have another rabbit. He did a few tiny poos a couple of days ago but there's been nothing since then :? Fingers crossed they'll come in time with more food and water.
 
nic-nac89 said:
Lol! Unfortunately I can't try that as I don't have another rabbit. He did a few tiny poos a couple of days ago but there's been nothing since then :? Fingers crossed they'll come in time with more food and water.
Click to expand...

If he is still not pooing this morning it is essential he receives reassessment and medication from the Vet straight away. Ensuring he is not in pain by giving daily analgesia is of particular importance. A 'one off' shot of medication is often not enough to stand any chance of treating GI stasis. I am currently nursing 2 Rabbits who were in stasis yesterday and I anticipate them remaining on medication for at least another 48 hours.

Please read this link about GI stasis :

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
 
I think he's done a few small poos-they were sticky and had stuck to his feet. He's had some carrot and I noticed he was trying to get grass through the wire in his run (despite the fact I've been offering him fresh grass all day :roll:) so I let him out onto the grass to see what he'd do and he had a good run around and was munching constantly. I syringed some water into his mouth earlier (he took about 30ml) but despite my best efforts i couldn't get him to take anymore when I tried a wee while ago.
 
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