Poorly tummy...

Albert was unusually compliant with letting me stroke him today - 25 minutes!!!!!!!!! So I thought there must be something wrong. I can see a few ceacotrophs (how do you spell that word!!!) and he's just generally quiet.

He turned his nose up at his usual food (which he normally goes crazy for) and only had a bit of banana, which he couldn't be bothered to rescue from Poppy who stole it.

He isn't bloated but his tummy does feel slightly harder than usual.

We think it's because my Rupert fed them this morning, using only the high quality timothy hay (usually given in small quantities as it costs £10 a bag). My guess is that it was a bit too rich for Albert.

Anyone got any advice for what I can do now. Obviously if he hasn't picked up by tomorrow morning we'll take him to the vets. What can I do in the meantime though???

If he isn't eating, given we can't tell you what has happened or why he s doing this, your only option is to get him to a vet tonight to ensure he doesn't go into (or to bring him out of) stasis.

Sky-O said:

If he isn't eating, given we can't tell you what has happened or why he s doing this, your only option is to get him to a vet tonight to ensure he doesn't go into (or to bring him out of) stasis.

Click to expand...

Agree I am afraid

Good luck.

hope alberts tummy is better soon

He's at the vets now for a couple of hours for them to observe him and give him some metacam (that's the stuff to get his gut moving again isn't it??). The vet said that his teeth are good, he doesn't seem bloated but the fact that he's 'depressed' and he's not eating or pooing means that he's got the early stages of stasis.

Does depressed mean the same thing for rabbits as it does people?

Can stasis just happen??? I've read that it can be due to stress, teeth, pain etc but nothing has changed for Albert, he hasn't even eaten anything that he shouldn't have done (not like last time when he pinched my flat mates toblerone and had the whole thing, wrapper included)...

Metacam is pain relief.

Stasis is secondary to something else so you're right in that something might have caused it. Possibly pain of some sort, possibly something else different. Nothing may have changed from your point of view, but that doesn't mean nothing has changed from his, like if he is ill, teeth, or if something has stressed him or he smells something different, or even if he has eaten some hay that is hurting his tummy.

Hopefully the vet will be able to make him better.

So it could have been the change of hay then??? I hope it's that and nothing more serious. His teeth have been checked and they are very good apparently...poor little boy.

Does 'depressed' mean the same thing for rabbits?

'Depressed' is feeling low, acting low, lethargic, not eating, i.e. not their normal self.

I've just got him back and have been given some recovery food to syringe feed him every 2 hours. How long will it take until he is back to his usual self???

melaniejb said:

I've just got him back and have been given some recovery food to syringe feed him every 2 hours. How long will it take until he is back to his usual self???

Click to expand...

That depends on what the underlying issue and cause of his stasis was in the first place.

If it is a straight forward uncomplicated stasis with no blockage or obstruction then his recovery is really down to you and your ability to nurse him through it. This means recovery feed every 2-4 hours, syringing oral fluids the same, and making sure that you keep in contact with the vet and that he has had adequate pain relief and fluids and any other drugs the vet recommends. For uncomplicated stasis this would normally mean prokinetic drugs such as ranitidine and metclopramide.

If there is an underlying cause yet to be treated then this may hamper his recovery and he will need to be reassessed by the vet. If his recovery is slow then he will need to see the vet again and be reassessed, possibly have a conscious Xray of his abdomen, another examination by the vet...etc etc. and possibly be admitted for intensive treatment and fluids. Really this is your vets responsibility not yours. If you trust that all has been done that could be done so far then just keep him warm and syringe fed/fluids at home and keep tempting him with his favourite greens/treats/hay - whatever you can get him to eat. Freshly picked grass/dandelions if he is used to having these, or fresh herbs like coriander, basil etc often go down well with a poorly bun. Encouraging him to have a little hop around can really help get the tummy moving.

Recovery is generally up to the individual rabbit and how they respond. With good therapeutic support from the vet and from you I would expect him to be passing droppings and nibbling food for himself in the next few hours, and no more than 12 hours time. If you find nothing has happened by late tonight/first thing tomorrow morning in terms of passing droppings/eating for himself, or if he deteriorates significantly, then he will need to go back to the vet urgently. Good luck, i'm sure he will feel much better very soon x

it depends really...some buns pick up in hours ,some can take a few days.
poops will take a while to get back to normal in general. im glad hes home and hope hes well again before you know it

hope hes feeling better soon Melanie.x

Thank you for your replies.

The vet gave me one sachet of the recovery food - no meds. Is this wrong?

In between his last feed and now I've pureed an apple with some water and he had 6ml of that, reluctantly at first.

melaniejb said:

Thank you for your replies.

The vet gave me one sachet of the recovery food - no meds. Is this wrong?

In between his last feed and now I've pureed an apple with some water and he had 6ml of that, reluctantly at first.

Click to expand...

One sachet? I can't remember from memory how long that is supposed to last. I think that may be a day's supply only. Generally if bun is not self-eating at all I would be aiming for between 10-20ml at each feed, or as much as you can get in. When bun becomes very resistant it normally means they've had enough, if he prefers little and often then do this instead.

When did he last have pain relief? What drugs/injections did the vet give him today? It should be on your receipt.
Keep going with the syringe feeding - you're doing very well.

Fluids are probably THE most important thing next to pain relief with stasis. If the vet did not inject bunny with fluids under the skin (you would have known if he did as they give quite a substantial amount) then you will need to get some oral fluids in him tonight if you can. Brewed and cooled herbal tea (peppermint/camomile/fennel/nettle - do you have any of those?) cooled to room temp often go down better by syringe than plain water. Also make sure bun has a bowl of water if he normally has a bottle. Dehydration is a big factor in the guts for buns in stasis.

a sachet will feed a bun weighing 1kg for a day..so for a 5kg bun you need 5 sachets:shock: i would only feed though, as much and as often as the bun tolerates.probiotics in the water too ,to protect the tummy.have you tried a banana mashed up? they normally eat that or parsley if you tap them on the face with it..this annoys them and they eat it

Right. I'm taking him to the 24 hour vet as I can't see any improvements and I haven't got a receipt so I don't even know if he's had pain relief.

I need to ask them for:
Pain killers (is it possible to have them for us to give??)
More sachets of recovery
Probiotics
More syringes

What else???

melaniejb said:

Right. I'm taking him to the 24 hour vet as I can't see any improvements and I haven't got a receipt so I don't even know if he's had pain relief.

I need to ask them for:
Pain killers (is it possible to have them for us to give??)
More sachets of recovery
Probiotics
More syringes

What else???

Click to expand...

Fluids under the skin warmed first injected by vet called sub-cut fluids. Pain relief injected and oral metacam or meloxicam to bring home to use at same time and tomorrow.
Gut motility meds but only if vet certain no blockage otherwise they should consider conscious xray to check. Good luck x

I feel so much better having gone.

He gave him more meta... to help his gut move and he gave us some to give to him over the next 24 hours. He also gave him some Baytril and critical care.

He said that Albert wasn't bloated (although I think he is and I told the vet that) and he advised against pain meds as they slow the gut down and he assured me that Albert was not in pain. He also said that he wasn't showing any signs of dehydration but I should give him water via a syringe.

He also told me what I needed to do, unlike the vet earlier...

I feel so much better having been to see the vet.

melaniejb said:

I feel so much better having gone.

He gave him more meta... to help his gut move and he gave us some to give to him over the next 24 hours. He also gave him some Baytril and critical care.

He said that Albert wasn't bloated (although I think he is and I told the vet that) and he advised against pain meds as they slow the gut down and he assured me that Albert was not in pain. He also said that he wasn't showing any signs of dehydration but I should give him water via a syringe.

He also told me what I needed to do, unlike the vet earlier...

I feel so much better having been to see the vet.

Click to expand...

I'm pleased he's seen a vet and you atleast have some oral metacam to use at home.

Just for your future reference - dehydration of the guts does NOT often present clinically as peripheral dehydration in the classic sense. So a bun that does not appear or feel dehydrated by tenting the skin can still be very dehydrated in the guts and sub-cut fluids are the recommended first line of therapy alongside pain relief for stasis buns. A rabbit savy vet would know this, but not all emergency vets are adequately trained in bunnies. Not trying to worry you but just to say keep going with the oral fluids now you are back home, they do help just take longer than the sub-cuts that's all. But, if bun still not pooping or eating by morning then I would INSIST on sub-cuts tomorrow morning, they really do make a huge difference in my experience.

It is also impossible for a vet to assess whether or not a rabbit is in pain and so it must be assumed that if bun is not eating then they are. However, the metacam should help with this. The opiate injectable pain killers DO slow the gut down but sometimes the higher pain relief and the benefits of this are necessary and outweigh the negative effects, espeically if used in conjunction with gut motility medication (provided I must stress again that bun is not obstructed totally).

Keep going with the food and fluids through the night. Good luck

Hmmmmmm. Thanks for the reply. It's horrible when your vet tells you one thing and other people (perhaps more knowledgeable about rabbits) tells you another. I guess for the time being I have to listen to what the vet tells me and itf there's no more improvement by this evening we'll be back.

He seemed a bit better in the night and he even had a bit of apple and a couple of science selective pellets when hand fed to him. He had done 3 poos by 6am and now he's done about 20-30 small sticky poos.

He's had his critical care food every 4 hours and water every 2 hours. He's also had a few bites of a carrot, a strawberry leaf and a couple of pieces of hay (He had this on his own, without me annoying him with it!). He sniffed the bowl of water but didn't drink by himself.

He's now busy cleaning himself, which I think is a good sign...???

He also seems a bit more perky. He has started to fight back when I'm feeding him...