emergency, need advise

We'll be bringing our rabbit to the vet tomorrow, but today it is not open and perhaps someone can advise me on how to care for him in the mean time?

All was well until yesterday afternoon. (By "well" I mean normal eating and drinking, a full litter box in the morning, normal activity levels and behaviour, movement, everything.) The afternoon is when he sleeps most so we weren't concerned at first, but now it's been about 24 hours. He has urinated less than usual, and he's pooped way less than usual: only a few small poops overnight. He did drink water overnight, but not especially much. He ate last night's dinner salad, and maybe half of this morning's breakfast salad, but he hasn't eaten any pellets since yesterday's breakfast (eaten around midday). He picks at his hay, eating very little. He hasn't been active since he settled down yesterday afternoon. He acknowledges our presence (usually), and responds (somewhat) to our petting him and talking to him. He has moved around a little: from one place to another, to lay down for some more. I've seen him in pain before (a bout of GI stasis) and he doesn't seem like that now, he seems more responsive than that, and he isn't all crunched up or glazed-eyed etc. But he sure isn't doing a lot. He seems a little shaky on his feet but clearly there's nothing broken or twisted etc. Although, he may be especially shaky in his rump. He has recently developped a bit of a splayed leg (this has been discussed with the vet), and that is acting up now. He may have something troubling him in the mouth. I saw him moving his mouth around a couple of days ago, and today he's made some odd movements/sounds with them. They could have been pain tooth grinding, but I'm not sure that they were. Once it even seemed like a normal purr tooth grind (I was petting him), but it sounded loud and crunchy. (Classic sign of a pain tooth grind, I know, but I'm just not sure about that.) And as of today, he hasn't been eating his cecotropes. (Or at least he's been leaving some behind.) For awhile he "hid" in one of his play boxes...I thought that was the end, but he did emerge.

Today I've given him three doses of simethicone (8am, 12pm, and 2pm). He did perk up a little after the second but I can't say it was because of the simethicone. We've been giving him belly rubs as well. He often lays on his side or in other positions which wouldn't suggest a painful bout of GI Stasis or gas but I'm not sure what else to do! We do have some probiotics the vet gave us after his last bout with GI Stasis, but I haven't given him any. I'm going to give him some Pedialyte soon.

I'm nervous to force feed him (hydrated pellets, hydrated pellets mixed with carrot baby food, just carrot baby food, something else? our vet has recommended against canned pumpkin) until he's pooped again in case he has a blockage (although that isn't really my immediate impression, in spite of the lack of pooping). Of course I also realize that whatever reason it is he started acting like this, it will turn into a GI Stasis if it keeps up and he'll have to be treated for that...

I don't know. Any suggestions?

Oh, and he is an elderly buck. Maybe as old as 13, but could be as young as 10, we aren't sure. Unaltered. (By the time he came to us he was in no condition for that.)

He could be having some problems with his teeth? He could be in pain with that.
I think he really needs to see the vet though. Hope it turns out ok!

ETA: Make sure he keeps eating until you can get him to a vet. Try him with soft foods like maybe soaking his pellets in water. That might be easier for him to eat if it is his teeth.

I would try and keep him moving to encourage some movement down there, also have you tried offering him something really yummy, like dandelion leaves? They find them hard to resist.

Jack's Jane would be a good person to ask and if I was you I would post a link to this thread in the Rabbit Chat section as it will have more views.

It sounds as though he is in pain and he is unlikely to show any signs of improvement without analgesia.

The splay leg and now weak andwobbly hind legs/ reluctance to move might indicate a problem with his spine, not necessarily an injury but an age related/degenerative spondylosis.

Is there no way you can access an Emergency Vet ?

Thank you everyone for your help. We've started him on the pedialyte and he took it well.

He is still eating greens and hay here and there -- we offer his favourites (he likes dandelion but he likes carrot greens and cilantro more so that's what we've been giving him). As I said I'm nervous to force feed the softened pellets in case he has a blockage -- should I not worry about that and go ahead?

There is an emergency vet, but it is such a terrible place ... they are not very familiar with rabbits there, we've had a negative experience there and have heard of others, and I think even if he is in pain and needing analgesics it would be a detriment. He would be scared and we'd have to leave him there, and I feel sure he'd die there as our cat did. We are definitely going to bring him to his vet's tomorrow morning but I really don't want to go to that emergency hospital.

His vet has recommended against giving him baby aspirin because he's an old guy and because it isn't great for kidneys and because it can interfere with the vet work once we get him there, but his last blood test in November came back with good kidney functions. Should we try it? I've also read about Rimadyl and Metacam, but these might not be available at our drug store. But if they are?

Edit: I'm thinking more that you are right, they are pain tooth-grindings and it is because of his hind quarters. Or possibly his teeth. But I still have bad feelings about that emergency vet. I feel like if he won't last the night here he won't last the night there.

nicolemorgan said:

Thank you everyone for your help. We've started him on the pedialyte and he took it well.

He is still eating greens and hay here and there -- we offer his favourites (he likes dandelion but he likes carrot greens and cilantro more so that's what we've been giving him). As I said I'm nervous to force feed the softened pellets in case he has a blockage -- should I not worry about that and go ahead?

There is an emergency vet, but it is such a terrible place ... they are not very familiar with rabbits there, we've had a negative experience there and have heard of others, and I think even if he is in pain and needing analgesics it would be a detriment. He would be scared and we'd have to leave him there, and I feel sure he'd die there as our cat did. We are definitely going to bring him to his vet's tomorrow morning but I really don't want to go to that emergency hospital.

His vet has recommended against giving him baby aspirin because he's an old guy and because it isn't great for kidneys and because it can interfere with the vet work once we get him there, but his last blood test in November came back with good kidney functions. Should we try it? I've also read about Rimadyl and Metacam, but these might not be available at our drug store. But if they are?

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I would not administer Aspirin to him.
Metacam and Rimadyl are Veterinary preparations and not available from a drug store.

Personally I would not want a Rabbit in my care to be in pain overnight and even if I had no faith in an Emergency Vet I would still go to them for pain relief. They cannot force you to agree to leave him there. You could say that you intend to take him to your usual Vet tomorrow but that he needs analgesic cover tonight.

If you really are not going to access a Vet tonight then I'd advise you to only give pedialyte by mouth, place a heatpad next to him and cover him with a warm towel.

Okay I am following your advise about the heat. We are going to sit and seriously think about the emergency vet.

Hope bun is ok. As Jane says, I think it would be worth taking bun to the emergency vet, just to get some pain relief overnight. Then seeing your normal vet asap in the morning.

(you could always print this thread out and give it to the vet I've done that before)

update

So we decided to take him in. He stopped taking the pedialyte so we felt we really ought to bring him in. They looked him over, gave him 3 injections: sub-q fluids, opiates, and motility drugs (I don't know which is which but is says on the receipt "Torb 0.3mg/kg" and "Metoclopramide 0.5mg/kg" and "100mL PLA"). We've brought him home now and are re-heating his pad and settling in for the night.

Apparently the pain relief will only last an hour or so. They wouldn't give us anything to give him later, so it was this or leave him there overnight, which isn't an option we are considering.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

i hope he picks up soon

The Torbugesic should last about 4-6 hours so at least he will have had some respite from pain. I do hope that your own Vet can help him today.

hi, how is your bunny today? I really hope all is well

We brought him in to his vet the next morning. They wanted to keep him there but we can't afford it, so they sent us home with some motility drugs and some pain meds and some Critical Care. They gave him some fluids there and the next day we brought him in for more fluids. He has been recovering since then, and today he is much better. We couldn't afford the xray so we can't say if this was due to a blockage, but I still think that isn't the case. A blood test showed messed up liver functions, which could be due to the ileus, or could be the cause of the ileus. We're bringing him in for a re-test on the 11th to find out. There are also some spurs on his back molars, although no ulcers on the tongue or anything, so this could all be as a result of some dental discomfort. If he reverts once he's off the pain meds, we'll know that's likely. If that is the case we thankfully can afford the surgery, so that's good. But if it's due to a messed up liver, there's not much we can do. He is an old rabbit. We can make changes to his diet and introduce homeopathic things to support the liver. Thank you folks for your support.