Having an on-going Nightmare

For the last week I have had such stress with my two bunnies

Last weekend Poppy seemed to slow down with her eating but never stopped completely, as she is a dental bun I assumed it was her teeth and took her to the vets on Monday. They decided to admit her and so she stayed at the vets for two days, they said she didn't really have spurs that should have been causing a problem (only little ones), but they got her eating and pooing again so she came home on Wednesday.

Just before Poppy was admitted on Monday Peter was fine (trying to steal all the food I was trying to tempt Poppy with), however, on the couple of days she was away he didn't seem to have the same kind of appetite, I assumed he was pining for Poppy and that when she returned he would be back to normal, however, he still wasn't his greedy self when she returned.

So....I took both to the vets Christmas eve, Poppy apparently sounded better (her stomach I mean), and most of the impaction she had had gone. They said Peter's tummy felt fine but there weren't as many tummy sounds as they would like so they put him on medicine to help with that (can't think of name, meta-something).

So, yesterday I had a stressful day of trying to get both bunnies to eat whilst having friends in the house for christmas. This morning Poppy seemed much better but Peter worse, so back to the vet he went and now he has been admitted. They can't feel an impaction or anything but are obviously concerned as he hasn't been eating.

Not much point to this thread, I'm just so stressed/worried and feel I'm going round in circles. And most of all just feels so sorry for Poppy and Peter who must be so confused at the moment

Oh dear how stressful for all of you

Hopefully the Vet will get Peter feeling better very soon. Ileus/gut stasis can take a good week of ongoing treatment before things are back to normal.

Are the outdoor Bunnies ?

They are indoor bunnies, if they were outdoor think I could have put it down to the cold but I would say that their temperature is fairly constant.

The vet did mention it can take a while to get things back to normal, just all seems so strange as neither have suffered from this before.

I agree with Jane. Ileus is very persistent and some rabbits require ongoing gut motility treatment for 5 days post episode, especially those prone to this condition.

It would be helpful for both buns if in the future you could persuade your vet to have the companion bun be admitted with the bun who is being hospitalised. Separation from a bonded partner can be sufficient to bring on a bout of ileus/stasis.

I had a bun who would go into stasis if she was stressed for any reason. Usually they gave her three jabs, an ABX (just in case), something to motivate her gut (the metaclopramide) and a painkiller. These three jabs were sometimes repeated a few days and after that she would just start eating as if nothing had happened.

Hope Peter is well soon.

I did consider asking if Peter could go into the vets with her, but when I thought about it I didn't think it would be neccessary. Poppy went in for a day a few weeks ago and Peter didn't seemed bothered at all (he is normally so chilled out). I also thought it would be easier to monitor what goes in and out of her if they were seperate.

Poppy is still on the metaclopramide and liquid paraffin so I'm hoping that will keep her going and improve her, she has eaten some pellets this afternoon and some spring greens as well as cucumber this morning (I'm trying anything ton tempt them).

She also managed to charge at the new kitten so she must be feeling a little better!! Just hoping petey is on teh mend soon