Stressed but less stressed than yesterday(!)

Hello,

When I finally got up this morning at 11am, we found lots of runny poos and Sherlock looking incredibly peaky. By noon we had him in an emergency vets where the vet felt his tummy and said it felt mushy. He has given him, from the receipt:

0.32ml Baytril 2.5% (SLT)
0.06x METACAM CAT INJ 10ML (SLT) (I assume the CAT bit is a printing mistake or something!)

and finally, 3 sachets for us to administer of Protexin Bio Lapis (SLT)

He has asked us to take Sherlock back there tomorrow at 10am.

I'm so, so worried about him. He had been fed nothing more than his usual amount of Science Selective and usual unlimited hay and water. He had a little bit of savoy cabbage (which we'll never give him again after this, just in case) and that's about it. The only two "unusual" things we found are he really went to town on a cardboard blue-roll insert (essentially the same as a toilet roll tube but a bit thicker) and did chew an awful lot of that and we have just found, from his Pets at Home tunnels, that he may have chewed off the fabric ties that connect them together.

Does everything sound above board with the course of treatment provided by the vet today? The vet we used was the one that would normally be at our usual vets on a weekend (or certainly this weekend) but we've never met him before, but he did seem a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

Half desperation post, half just checking if everything so far sounds like it's the best for him. He was at the vets within 40 minutes of us getting up.

Edit: Amy got up at 3am this morning for a drink and there was no sign of any runny poos or anything at that time. So it's happened somewhere between 3:01am and 11:05am!

Sending lots of vibes. The 'CAT' is not a mistake - metacam (like a lot of drugs) isn't licensed for rabbits. Spenser had cat metacm last year, and currently has a bottle labelled 'metacam for dogs' in the cupboard!

Well done on getting him to the vet so quickly. :thumb:

Well done for acting so promptly.

The fact he has had pain relief is good. Cat Metacam is ok to be used in bunnies but it is 1/3 the strength of the dog Metacam which is normally used. I don't know why they gave Baytril though, because that was an antibiotic unless they found something to indicate infection? I would have thought fluids might have been a possibility if he has had diarrhoea.

Do they have any ideas what caused it? Were his teeth checked?

How is he doing now? Is he eating himself at all?

I hope Sherlock feels better soon.

Sky-O said:

Well done for acting so promptly.

The fact he has had pain relief is good. Cat Metacam is ok to be used in bunnies but it is 1/3 the strength of the dog Metacam which is normally used. I don't know why they gave Baytril though, because that was an antibiotic unless they found something to indicate infection? I would have thought fluids might have been a possibility if he has had diarrhoea.

Do they have any ideas what caused it? Were his teeth checked?

How is he doing now? Is he eating himself at all?

I hope Sherlock feels better soon.

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Argh. No. His teeth weren't checked. I will make sure they are checked tomorrow.

He didn't suggest what may have caused it. He commented there was "inflammation' around his tummy, but I can't remember whether he gave metacam or baytril for that. I think he said one was for the pain, one for the inflammation. But I must confess that I have been a bit panic stricken so bit of a blur, I will, however, be much more considered tomorrow and ask any questions that need answering.

He currently won't eat any Science Selective. He hasn't drank since returning from the vet, however, Amy gave him fresh water before we left and he did drink from it.

Edit: Amy has just told me that the vet did comment on possible infection, or, more specifically, "in case of infection". They have given us a syringe to give him that sachet stuff with too.

Can you provide him with a bunny buffet? So anything you know he can eat and likes, to try and get him eating?

Sky-O said:

Can you provide him with a bunny buffet? So anything you know he can eat and likes, to try and get him eating?

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Things like apple, carrot, basil, parsley? The fun stuff?

CwningenBach said:

Things like apple, carrot, basil, parsley? The fun stuff?

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It's not ideal for a bunny with an upset gut and diarrhoea. I personally prefer for them to eat by themselves, of whatever it might be, than to syringe feed them. However, with an upset tummy there are increased risks of doing that. Out of those I would start with the herbs because those are unlikely to exaccerbate things too much, whereas the sugar in carrots and apples could easily do.

Sky-O said:

It's not ideal for a bunny with an upset gut and diarrhoea. I personally prefer for them to eat by themselves, of whatever it might be, than to syringe feed them. However, with an upset tummy there are increased risks of doing that. Out of those I would start with the herbs because those are unlikely to exaccerbate things too much, whereas the sugar in carrots and apples could easily do.

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OK. I'll get him a bunch of basil and parsley in a minute, they're the only two we've introduced him to so far so we'll have to stick to those.

By syringe feeding, do you mean of the Bio Lapis stuff? He told us to give him 2ml of that per hour. Does that sound reasonable?

Basil and coriander and a dandelion always goes down a treat when any of mine have been off food  I hope ya bunny gets better soon loads a vibes coming your way

wendle said:

Basil and coriander and a dandelion always goes down a treat when any of mine have been off food  I hope ya bunny gets better soon loads a vibes coming your way

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Thank you

CwningenBach said:

OK. I'll get him a bunch of basil and parsley in a minute, they're the only two we've introduced him to so far so we'll have to stick to those.

By syringe feeding, do you mean of the Bio Lapis stuff? He told us to give him 2ml of that per hour. Does that sound reasonable?

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Sorry, I'd misread your initial post. I wouldn't suggest syringing anything unless the vet has said it's ok to do so.

I don't tend to use bio-lapis so don't know much about that sorry.

I do thik it's important to get him eating on his own if he can/will though

Sky-O said:

Sorry, I'd misread your initial post. I wouldn't suggest syringing anything unless the vet has said it's ok to do so.

I don't tend to use bio-lapis so don't know much about that sorry.

I do thik it's important to get him eating on his own if he can/will though

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OK. The vet has prescribed the Bio Lapis thing and for it to be given to him 2ml per hour. We'll go with what the vet has suggested on it.

I will leave a bunch of basil and parsley next to him for a while and see how he gets on.

Finally, he really needs cleaning up - can we use baby wipes/face wipes?

Yes, I think you can, or a luke warm butt bath. The less you stress him the better though.

Sky-O said:

Yes, I think you can, or a luke warm butt bath. The less you stress him the better though.

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Scared of bathing him after the horror stories...

Quick update...

He's eaten a few basil leaves and has drank some water. He's done a couple of soft poos, too. Does this mean he's unlikely to be in danger of stasis?

Just about to give him a second dose of the Bio Lapis.

Edit: Re: Stasis, the vet did comment that his tum was "mushy" but not hard, so he didn't suggest stasis, asking merely because it's a tummy issue and you never know!

susie bun said:

Sending lots of vibes. The 'CAT' is not a mistake - metacam (like a lot of drugs) isn't licensed for rabbits. Spenser had cat metacm last year, and currently has a bottle labelled 'metacam for dogs' in the cupboard!

Well done on getting him to the vet so quickly. :thumb:

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Thanks for the info re: CAT not being a mistake. Rabbits... I love them. But gosh, they're terrifying when they're not quite well!

It's very rude to keep posting, sorry - but I trust you guys as much as I do any emergency vet.

Further update: Sherlock has eaten a couple more basil leaves, drank a bit of water and, under much duress, taken his second syringe-fed Bio Lapis. He's produced a couple more poos too.

CwningenBach said:

It's very rude to keep posting, sorry - but I trust you guys as much as I do any emergency vet.

Further update: Sherlock has eaten a couple more basil leaves, drank a bit of water and, under much duress, taken his second syringe-fed Bio Lapis. He's produced a couple more poos too.

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Please post as much as is helpful to you. :wave: This update sounds positive to me, although I don't have as much experience as many of the others on RU. Well done re. managing the syringe-fed Bio Lapis. I can fully sympathise with having a rabbit that doesn't like this sort of medicating. :roll:

It really is such a worry when rabbits are not themselves, especially at weekends, so keeping up vibes for Sherlock.

susie bun said:

Please post as much as is helpful to you. :wave: This update sounds positive to me, although I don't have as much experience as many of the others on RU. Well done re. managing the syringe-fed Bio Lapis. I can fully sympathise with having a rabbit that doesn't like this sort of medicating. :roll:

It really is such a worry when rabbits are not themselves, especially at weekends, so keeping up vibes for Sherlock.

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Thank you very much for your help and kindness.

It's a two man job giving him his syringe! Still, he's taking most of it too so very happy with that. He is hopping around a little more too. His poos are very soft, a *bit* runny but still coming through, so again, I'm happier. I'm keeping a very, very close eye on him though. Even given up my Man City season ticket for the day to watch over him! (Losing 1-3 currently, so no bad thing...)