GI Stasis - anything I should know?

Hi,

We've got serious problems with Flopsie.

On Sunday she didn't seem interested in food but we weren't too concerned, she was still eating and lively. On Monday morning she didn't go mad for her breakfast as normal so I soaked them, assuming she was due a dental and rang to make an appointment for the Vet but when we got in on Monday night she hadn't eaten a thing so we took her for an emergency appointment (not at our regular vet) and they diagnosed a dental was needed and booked her straight in for Tuesday morning. She was given metaclopramide and metacam to see her through til the next day.

When we picked her up on Tuesday she was groggy as expected.

On Wednesday when we got in from work she hadn't eaten so I took her back to the vets who did the dental for a check up. She was given more metaclopromide and sent on our way. At the same time, Rob was taking the new Skinny Bunny for a checkup with our regular vet and he mentioned to her that Flops hadn't picked up and she said to take her down today if it wasn't any better.

We got back today and she hadn't eaten a thing so we rang down and were told to take her straight in. She's got a bad obstruction and there's nothing going on in her tummy.

She's been given Metacam, Metaclopramide (0.8mls) and Zantac (0.5mls) at the vets and is to be given them twice a day.

I've also just syringed her some Critical Care and will try again and do some in an hour or so. She's done 4 decent poos on me as I was giving her a tummy massage afterwards so I can only assume thats not a bad thing.

Any thing I should watch out for or anything else anyone can suggest? I've never dealt with this before and it's a bit worrying.

Fluids are absolutely essential, both oral and subcutaneous.
Did the Vet give her some fluids injected under her skin and if she is not drinking for herself are you syringing some water into her ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Fluids are absolutely essential, both oral and subcutaneous.
Did the Vet give her some fluids injected under her skin and if she is not drinking for herself are you syringing some water into her ?

Click to expand...

I thought I'd done so well to remember everything. She got given fluids under her skin as soon as we got there.

Thanks, I'll make sure she drinks plenty and I'll get some syringed into her too.

Try to get her to have a run around the garden - i know you think its the last thing she'll wabnt to do but it really does help to stimulate gut movements. You need to syringe food every couple of hour (not thru the night but as late as poss and as early as poss to reduce hours spent with no food going in). Average bunny will take 10-20mls per feed.
Ideally use a 50ml syringe with a catheter tip (ask your vets) as these are invaluable for syringing food. The catheter tip is much wider than that on normal syringes so makes it much easier.
Also, keep providing oral water, make your syringe food fairly watery, like sloppy porridge consistency as this will help with water intake. This is very important in preventing dehydration (of bunny and guts).
Any rabbit who has not eaten for 48 hours should be put on a drip (Briggite Reusch once told me this) as they will dehydrate very quickly.
Baby food is not ideal as a syringe food because it is not high enough in fibre (syringe food should be at least 12% fibre.

Good luck and feel free to pm if you would like more advice.

From mt experience they can get cold when poorly like this, so i would give her some sort of warmth, as well as what has been reccomended.

rabbitapril said:

From mt experience they can get cold when poorly like this, so i would give her some sort of warmth, as well as what has been reccomended.

Click to expand...

Rob is like an oven and he is giving her cuddles and tummy rubs when he can. Not sure what we'll do overnight though

Is she an outdoor bunny? If she is I would recommend bringing her and her bunny friend (if she has one) inside as it may be hard for her to regulate her body heat and also having her inside means you can keep a closer eye on her.

You mentioned the vet said she has a bad 'obstruction', did the vet say what he thought the 'obstruction' was?

I'm managing about 10mls Critical Care and 5mls of Fluids each feed. Do you think this is enough?

Also, someone mentioned using Pineapple juice mixed in with the water, is this worth a go or just an Old Wives Tale?

Just given her a dose of Metaclopromide and a feed now we're off to the vets.

Fingers crossed and thanks for all the advice

i hope flopsie is on the road to recovery now and eating on her own.

Been to the vets and need to step up how much critical care she is getting.

The vet could hear some movement in her tummy which is a good sign but we've got a long way to go.

She's been nibbling hay but not very much but it's more than she was.

It's looking ok, but we're not out of the woods yet. Thanks for the kind thoughts

Vibes for Flopsie!