Vet update on Benji

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to everyone that has given me advice so far, you have all been great

Now following on from this thread ...

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?p=4024168#post4024168

I dropped Benji off at the vets at 8 a.m. The vet rang me back about 9.00 a.m. ish to discuss matters further ... she has very helpful and spent a long time on the phone with me asking various questions. It has certainly confirmed my decision that it was right for me to change vets

Anyway, she doesn't think that he really needs a dental (certainly nothing major that would be affecting his appetite in her opinion) and she has admitted him for the day and is giving him pain killers, meds to help his guts and fluids too ... then I can bring him home this evening and monitor him for 48 hours and if no better to bring him back for further tests

She has mentioned that renal failure could be a possibility and asked if he had been drinking more than usual ... i told her if anything he isn't really drinking much at all (in last 24 hours) but not sure if this is because he isn't eating his pellets and he eating grass and veg with high moisture content?

What other signs could there be if it is renal failure?

She thought it likely at this stage that it isn't renal failure but something to bear in mind. She thought this also because he seems to be in a good condition and is a healthy weight. I asked her what his chances were and she thought he has a good chance ... I hope so

I will ask lots more questions then I go to collect him

Any thoughts on all this ...

Thanks in advance

just sending get well soon kisses to benji
dont know much on this ,so cant help sorry

Have picked Benji up ...

The vet spent a good half an hour talking to me about what might have caused the stasis .... stress in the environment, change of diet, dental issues, pain coming from somewhere other than his mouth such as renal failure

He has come back from the vets but doesn't seem very happy - he has had a pain killer just before he came home so she said don't worry so much if he is a little quiet this evening but come the morning she said he should be much better

The thing that is concerning me now though is that he went straight for his water and he is either lying down or is hunching himself up ....

I think that renal failure might be quite likely but will see how he is in the morning - he shouldn't be in any pain

But then the vet said if he was in a lot of pain he wouldn't have eaten as much as he did do at the vets

Tis so confusing and im so worried

whenever ours have had a stay at the vets they are very subdued..i think its just the stress...
i would keep an eye on him during the night and spend a while talking and stroking him ..our bun harry doesnt like interaction with people but at the mo she is ill and is loving the attention:roll:
try hand feeding that can help to keep him eating...sometimes they just need reassurance..
i hope he feels better soon..
ps have you thought of getting a baby monitor? its great to lie in bed and monitor them without hovering!

thank you

have just been out and stroked him for a few minutes - then I watched him and then he picked up a piece of cabbage and started nibbling

Morning Update ...

He has only picked bits and pieces of his food overnight and not had a great deal at all. He has done wee and poo but his poo's are smaller than usual and mishapen

Have managed to get him to eat some dandilions, and a few other small leaves this morning and he is nibbling the grass at times

I'm not very happy with him but shall I leave him at home this morning and see how he goes as he got very stressed at the vets yesterday ... and the vet said ideally he should stay at home today if possible

I really don't know what to do for the best

Sorry to hear he's not himself yet.

The poops may take a week or 2 to get back to normal anyway, so long as hes doing some then it's good.

I can't offer any other useful advice, I'm afraid, but I hope that if he has a peaceful morning he will relax and that will help to make him feel better x

Blackberry & Co said:

Sorry to hear he's not himself yet.

The poops may take a week or 2 to get back to normal anyway, so long as hes doing some then it's good.

I can't offer any other useful advice, I'm afraid, but I hope that if he has a peaceful morning he will relax and that will help to make him feel better x

Click to expand...

OH has checked him mid morning and just a moment ago and says he was eating grass and he took the leaves that he gave him and that he seems active - he hasn't touched his cabbage so he isn't right but perhaps he needs more time and just wants what he feels like at the moment ... I hope so

myrabbitbenji said:

Morning Update ...

He has only picked bits and pieces of his food overnight and not had a great deal at all. He has done wee and poo but his poo's are smaller than usual and mishapen

Have managed to get him to eat some dandilions, and a few other small leaves this morning and he is nibbling the grass at times

I'm not very happy with him but shall I leave him at home this morning and see how he goes as he got very stressed at the vets yesterday ... and the vet said ideally he should stay at home today if possible

I really don't know what to do for the best

Click to expand...

It sounds to me like he would benefit from a 5 day course of metclopramide and ranitidine syrups (gut motility drugs) possibly some more pain relief and something like fibreplex to get his tummy back up to speed. I would be concerned that the ileus was persisting so long personally and would ask to take these drugs home to administer at home.

prettylupin said:

It sounds to me like he would benefit from a 5 day course of metclopramide and ranitidine syrups (gut motility drugs) possibly some more pain relief and something like fibreplex to get his tummy back up to speed. I would be concerned that the ileus was persisting so long personally and would ask to take these drugs home to administer at home.

Click to expand...

Will try and get hold of my vet this afternoon to discuss things further. I did leave an update with the nurse this morning to pass onto the vet

He has had gut motility drugs on Thursday, Saturday and all day Monday (yesterday) and pain relief on Saturday and Monday ...

Sorry, but could you tell me what is fibreplex?

Because i'm at work its a little difficult to know what to do. Have asked to go home early so I will have enough time to take him back to the vets before they close this evening if necessary

Is it not the case then his appetite may slowly come back if he has had quite severe Stasis? Or should he really be back to normal by now with the treatment he has had?

Sorry its so confusing

Have just rang the vets but she is consulting and will ring me back

I'm taking him back to the vets this evening - at 6.20 p.m.

hope he is feeling better...buns do take a while to get back to normal...
but handfeeding whatever he wants to eat and spending lots of time with him i find helps a great deal. ours get better quicker i find if they know they are well loved..lots of love to him

Overall today Benji hasn't been 100% - he is active ish but not like normal and he is interested in food but will only take the softer foods i.e. grass, leaves, cauliflower leaves, apple

This evening's vet appointment update ....

1. She had a thorough look in his mouth with the scope (I think it's called that). She spent a long time doing this. She felt in his mouth with her finger .... there is nothing major but maybe she thought it might be enough to put him off his harder types of foods i.e. pellets

2. She had a thorough feel of his stomach etc. Is it called palpating? She couldn't feel any obvious obstructions, she couldn't detect a gassy stomach, she said his stomach was full like he had been eating, his bladder is empty, she said he was more relaxed today and that she could examine his kidneys and didn't feel anything there

3. She took his weight - he has maintained his weight since she weighed him on Staurday

4. She took his temperature - normal

She gave him a pan killer (milder than yday), an appetite stimulate, and antibiotics

As long as he seems active ish tomorrow and eats something then he will stay at home tomorrow and I will bring him in on Thursday

On thursday she will begin with a blood test. If this is normal, she will xray (cant remember if she said his abdomen or his mouth (oops) and then depending on this she will give him the smallest dose of sedation possible and will trim his teeth as required

Any thoughts?

Much appreciated guys thank you

He seems settled tonight now so will see how he is in the morning

There is no change over night, he has generally not eaten very much but he has had a go at the softer type foods. Have put him into his run and he seems active ish and has taken and eaten some leaves

I'm still really worried as now he has had stasis for a week .... but tomorrow we should find out the underlying cause of it and I'm hoping against hope his bloods are ok, and the xrays don't reveal anything sinister and it turns out that he needs a dental after all and he survives the sedation. In the circumstances should I worried about his being sedated at his age and given his stasis? She says hopefully he should not need sedation for the xray

I have put him to bed and he immediately went to his pellets/nibble stick which he hasnt touched for about a week now

Do you think its because he has had pain relief and appetite stimulant that he is doing this?

Don't have any advice as haven't been in this position myself, just wanted to say that it sounds like he's picking up if he's munching pellets now too, and that I hope he continues to improve. Good luck for all the test results :wave:

Thank you