Successful treatment of a blockage?

More for info really, I have lost two rabbits to a blockage and a friend has just lost her gorgeous bun the same way. It seems the inevitable outcome when a rabbit has a true blockage

Has anyone had a rabbit survive? If so what treatment did they receive? Were they operated on or did they pass it themselves? Any tips to prevent blockages?

I'd like to be armed with a bit more info if it ever happened again.

Thanks!

Biscuit had a proper blockage and is still here to tell the tale.

After 3 days hospitalisation and aggressive fluid therapy he managed to pass it in blocks. Surgery was going to be a last chance saloon.

GrahamL said:

Biscuit had a proper blockage and is still here to tell the tale.

After 3 days hospitalisation and aggressive fluid therapy he managed to pass it in blocks. Surgery was going to be a last chance saloon.

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Was he given vetagesic and IV fluids? I guess that is the vital point, when is it too late to operate? How long should they be left to try and pass it.

louise and Gus said:

Was he given vetagesic and IV fluids? I guess that is the vital point, when is it too late to operate? How long should they be left to try and pass it.

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Yes, both vetergesic and IV fluids - he got worse before he got any better too.

We got up to 3.5 days in the vet in total.

GrahamL said:

Yes, both vetergesic and IV fluids - he got worse before he got any better too.

We got up to 3.5 days in the vet in total.

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Wow, was he given anything apart from fluids, ie feed?

if there is a full blockage and the gi tract has no 'activity' at all then surgery is the only option

a full blockage with ileus would be fatal, especially given the rapid onset of hepatic lipidosis in the anorexic rabbit

a partial obstruction/impaction can break down and pass with ongoing aggressive treatment- ie pain relief, fluid therapy, prokinetics (as long as there is not a total obstruction) and an osmotic laxative

if the obstruction is at the pylorus, then death usually occurs as a result of cardiac arrest. The stomach rapidly dilates due to the formation of gas from the fermenting ingesta that cant pass out of the stomach due to the obstructed pylorus

the dilated stomach stops the lungs from being able to inflate leading to eventual cardiac arrest

even if the stomach is decompressed by 'tubing' the rabbit it will swell up again if the obstructed pylorus is not cleared.

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/PhysicalTraumatic/AcuteGIT_ObstructionRabbits.htm

if a full obstruction is further down in the gi tract, in the intestines, it too would require prompt surgical intervention, decompression of the stomach may also be necessary in this situation too

a fully obstructed rabbit would be unlikely to survive for more than 12 hours without surgery

a partial obstruction could move through with aggressive treatment, but if prokinetics are used there is a risk of intestinal rupture if the obstruction were total

We have had one bun with a total blockage in the intestine who had to have almost immediate surgery as it was obvious that it was total (see Jack's Jane's post above) - she survived and is still with us today many years later!!

We have had several with partial blockages who have survived after appropriate treatment.

The only bun I have 'lost' to a blockage was sadly Albus Dumbledore who had mega colon due to the diet in his original home - the damage to his colon and caecum, was so bad that he became blocked and could not pass faeces despite treatment.

I've had two who needed blockage surgery, one survived, the other didn't. Apparently at the time you remove the blockage there are changes within the body that would normally happen gradually that, because of the nature of the surgery and the sudden release of the blockage, these physiological changes happen suddenly. (Can't just remember right now the nature of the 'changes'!) so quite often their bodies, already under stress, just can't cope with it and that is often when they are lost to the surgery. This is one of the reasons the timing of the surgery is so critical - if you leave it too late, ie they are already under a lot of stress, then surviving these changes is much less likely, hence why the surgery is considered so risky.

Great info thanks! So any ideas about ways to prevent blockages?

Hi one bunny of mine had a blockage she died sadly that evening after the op rip Luce xx

My rabbit Ig died from a blockage last year. Looking back now, the only real chance he ever would have had would have been a different vet. Our own vet was away and the locum we saw wouldnt xray and would only give fluid and pain relief and had never done surgery. She also got the vet nurses to syringe feed him while he was admitted during the day. He stopped eating on the Wednesday and was dead within a few hours. I was trying to get him through the night to see our normal vet but he couldnt hold on. I was really glad I took him home after they said to keep him in over night because they were unstaffed and he would have died alone. The minute we went to pick him up, I knew he was close to death but she said he was fine. I took him straight to another vet but it was too late and he died on the way.

It was a year ago nearly but it plays on my mind a lot. I hate that the end of his life was so painful and i miss him so so much. I think if he hadnt been older (he was 9) and a bit arthritic and therefore naturally a bit hesitant to move about, then maybe surgery would have been a real chance for him (with our normal vet that is) and maybe we could have had a little more time.

I dont know what I could have done differently, but i think about that a lot too. I think his blockage was caused by sluggish guts from being a little old man and not moving much. He was having a few more pellets at the time (on advice of vet) because his weight had dropped a little so it could have been that too or that something else was going on and a blockage was a secondary issue?

Betty had a partial blockage and with fluids, close monitoring and a good vet she survived. I think it was due to hair because she is my first fluffy rabbit and I think I needed to brush her more which she gets lots more now (i only had short hair cross breed flopsies before) but she is also very greedy so it could be her trying to eat too much food.

I think we can only do the best we can.