The General - GI stasis, doh!

Hey guys,

Thought I should keep a little diary on here, it was particularly other people's posts and stories on the net that made it very easy for me to spot a problem was afoot.

Last night the General was pooping normally and ate a bunch of coriander and hay before we went to bed and left him to it in the kitchen.

He's having his first big moult, it's much messier than before and we had been brushing him daily.

Got home from work today at 5:45 to find him in his home in the kitchen, fluffy bed thrown onto the floor, sitting on the bare top of his little hut. I set about a general tidyup and although he's normally defensive in his house, I went to swipe a poo away from near where he was sat and got a full on bite. The first ever :|

He kept lying down, stretching out, flexing, readjusting, he just couldn't get comfy. Superficially some of his poses looked like the "ultra chilled out" position, but the fact he couldn't stay still, was breathing fast, had a concave look to his belly when stretched, was hunched when sat up, would move off a short distance before going back to lying down etc.
He wasn't grinding his teeth, but his belly felt loose and flaccid. None of his favourite treats garnered any interest at all.

I listed his behaviour and symptoms as they occurred and monitored his breathing rate, within half an hour of coming home I was certain that an emergency vet trip was in order.

I called our vets 24hr number and spoke to a lady vet who I read the symptoms to, she agreed an emergency consultation would be needed. We popped The General into his carry box on a towel and drove straight to our vets 10mins away.

Our lady vet at New Era Veterinary Hospital here in Jersey, was Ruth Meikle.

She took him out of his box gently and first felt his teeth and mouth, then swiftly onto palpating his belly before having a listen with her stethoscope. She concluded that as his symptoms suggest he appeared to have an empty lower GI and a mushy stomach, slightly distended and likely full of stuff. She got covered in hair just in this short time and agreed that in this case excess hair may be a problem unto itself.

Next we attempted an x-ray to try and get a better picture of the exact problem... The good news is that he is still bright enough and spotted early that he just wouldn't stop sniffing around and standing up for long enough to be x-rayed She said his lungs look very nice though. hah!

We decided that at least for tonight I would nurse him myself and see how it goes, if there is no improvement or a deterioration he will be admitted tomorrow day so that he can be intensively nursed. I would really rather keep him here and do it myself but I have to be honest with myself that work commitments (to a zoo full of other animals!) mean that I wouldn't be able to do what the nurses at the vets could.

He's had Metaclopramide, Vetalgesic, Zantec and Rimadyl initially (Ruth said she'd seen a very similar early caught case recently that she felt worsened because they held back on the Zantec and Rimadyl, and that the rabbit in question responded immediately once these were given after 48hrs) She also administered 20mls of subcutaneous fluids to help him on his way.

I'll be giving him 3-4mls oxbow critical care watered down with fresh pineapple juice every 2-3hrs.
He needs Mexilon syrup at 1-2am (the follow up dose to the injectable Metaclopramide)
He's got fresh timothy hay, baby spinach leaves, mint leaves, dandelion, watercress (his favourite!!!) Hopefully I can tempt him with all these aromatic treats overnight.

Fingers crossed!!!

Hugs for your bun.

Rach xxxx

Horrible stasis Just as well you got him off to the vets when you did. Sounds like he's had all the right treatment. I guess it varies from vet to vets, Joejoe has been on zantac, metaclopramide, gisprin ( i know thats wrong but its something like that!) fibreplex and metacam and finally seems to be in the mend.

I used to live in Jersey :wave:

I hope the General is 100% back to normal very soon and nomming and pooping properly

Here he is in action last week;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nqKNt9HYf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7YMEBFjfZg

Unbelievable!

1:20am he potters out of the kitchen and to the far end of the lounge to his litterbox, hops in, settles down in there... has a nice little wash... hops out again leaving some brown gold!!!!!

He then played with his cardboard box, circled my legs as I went to the kitchen to see if I could offer him anything, still no interest in the majority of things, but he ate timothy hay and watercress from my hand!!!!!

Ten mins later he's back in his litterbox tugging at the hay and looking like he doesn't know what all the fuss was, turned for some caecotrophs too

I can't begin to word how relieved I am, but I guess you guys know how it feels!

So pleased to hear that The General is feeling better

I would remove his cardboard box when you are not supervising him as ingesting any of it might cause problems after an episode of GI stasis xx

I am glad he is feeling better. I am worrying about my Flopsy atm as he isnt eating after his GA..

Im so pleased he seems to be getting better.

I lost my Little Snow to GI last year.

LOTS of hugs

Rach x

Glad he's feeling better

Roseberry - have you got any fresh herbs, they are the first thing Joe tends to go for after a GA, then greens. Is he pooping? Hope Flopsy starts nomming soon

He sat with me through the early hours on the sofa, going off to nibble and poo occasionally, he was looking at me 'sleeping' there like "hey what's wrong with you???". :lol:
I got up at 7 and he scurried around, left me a nice pile of poos in his tray and ate a bunch of dandelion too, I brushed him, cooed at him some more, gave him another syringe of pineapple, metaclop and critical care just before leaving for work this morning.
The Vet phoned me at 7:30 and was massively impressed that he'd turned around so quick We decided to leave him to his own devices through the day and pop him back to the vets for a top up of the Zantec and Rimadyl at 6:30.

Got home to poos, not as many as I'd like but still doing ok, plenty of greens eaten and a perky look about him I gave him a firm brushing, he seems really quite comfortable with my ministrations over the last 24hrs

The Vet was super happy to see him being rebellious, boingy and grunty at being examined again, she did point out that he could easily relapse so I should keep up the TLC and dose him with metaclopramide every 8hrs for the next few days. If he'll take it happily I'll keep giving him fresh pineapple juice and crit.care aswell.

Stasis was always my greatest fear, now I've seen it, recognised it, acted and had initial success, I feel so happy for my little boy!

Jack's-Jane said:

So pleased to hear that The General is feeling better

I would remove his cardboard box when you are not supervising him as ingesting any of it might cause problems after an episode of GI stasis xx

Click to expand...

Not to worry, the box is in the lounge where he only has access when we're there, he doesn't chew it, he prefers to throw it!