Help for odd form of stasis please.

Benjie is now 41/2. His initial problem was pasteurella snuffles & abscesses before puberty.
He's had no major problems for 3 years now.

Over the last 3 weeks his appetite has gradually decreased & poohs got smaller in size & amount. I've increased the available fibre.
Yesterday although still poohing it was very hard, small & only about 20 poohs. He'd stopped eating but was still drinking a bit. Despite this he showed no signs of abdominal discomfort whatsoever. He went out on the lawn for 5 min & was doing binkies.
Possible reasons - I've been very poorly, not able to give him full attention, & he's very closely bonded to me. Also I've seen a couple of foxes by day. We've had warm weather. Benjie moults heavily all the time. He'd also started to eat every inappropriate fibre imaginable - carpet, wood under my bed, cardboard, paper, jute basket, coconut mat, & some old dry hawthorn twigs. Oviously I've watched him continuously to stop this.

We saw the vet yesterday. Had an injection of Maxolon & rapidly responded by eating & slightly more larger poohs but I saw a large fur ball pooh.
We had the mother of a thunderstorm last night. Benjie stopped eating & poohing.

Vet prescribed Emeprid this morning 1st. dose 11.30 am - still no eats or poohs, but drank most of a bowl of water with Recovery food. About 400 ml of dilute stuff not the fibre bit. I noticed his jaw excursion is very good. Not touched moistened pellets for several days.
Still eating caecals yesterday.
He's still weeing well.
No signs whatsoever of any abdominal discomfort.
binkying on the lawn again tonight.

I've tried every herb & wild plant I know - usual thing of annoying him. He's had 1 sprig of basil!
he stresses out incredibly easily. Going to vet when she finishes surgery in about 1/2 hour.
My concern is that he may have a stomach full of fur.
My other concern is that the vet doesn't keep him in. The stress will make him much worse. Grief he even stresses out with a wood pidgeon on the lawn.

Would Cisipride, sub/cut fluids and Lactulose help if his GI tract is very sluggish and full of fur ?

Could he have a Dental abscess brewing ?

I hope he feels better soon and that you too are on the road to recovery xx

Sorry to hear Benjie isn't eating as well as normal. I am afraid I have no words of wisdom to offer but am sending vibes for the return of health to Benjie, and hope you are feeling better also.

I don't have any advice but wanted to send vibes to Benjie, and to you, hope you will both be better soon :thumb:

Thank you so very much for your replies & good wishes.
I didn't know that emeprid was the same as Maxolon just different manufacturer

He was thoughly examined again, & much as I expected, abdo was slighly doughy, non tender & bowel sounds infrequent. (I'm naughty, I think I'm more accurate at assessing hydration than standard vets! Urine output falling off & increased chalkiness of the wee + drier tongue if one is fortunate to get " bunny groomed" as often as I do, are much earlier indices of dehydration than skin tenting.) Benjie is well hydrated - good boy.

Meds - continue Maxalon, add ranitidine for lower gut, NSAI ( not best pain relief for GI issues bit all we're allowed. On the other hand Benjie is skipping around as if nothing's wrong)
My part os lots of stroking.

I don't know whether he's bunged up with fur Jane. I'm going by what he's trying to do for himself. I'm surprised he's concentrating on drinking (usually the 1st. thing to go - but so necessary to soften up fur balls, & trying out very fibre he can get his teeth round to stimulate his gut.) There's absolutely no other sign of GI slow down. I also suspect that any abdo pain is minimal - he'll even let me stroke hiis side firmly, curling my fingers underneath near the colon (my version of a tummy rub so any dilated gut can move out of the way) Benjie responds by stretching out fully = very unlikely to be tender. It often got Thumper started up again even when he had no bowel sounds.
I guess it's most likely stress induced stasis but that's not always easy to fix.
My part is lots of stroking.

I shouldn't, but do laugh at bunny disapproval especially after a vet trip. " order of the bum" & digging in his carrier. I spent time trying to get him near enough under the bed for some nose rubs. I only got 2 licks back:lol: - he's really cross!

ETA he loves being stroked firmly along the jaw line too & isn't drawing back. When I saw him eat yesterday jaw excursion was good = very unlikely he's got significant spurs on his back molars. All visable teeth are fine.

I've no ideas but sending well wishes for him. Also can't believe he's 4 and a half already! :shock:

Oh poor Benjie!!

He's such a delicate fellow, if displeased with you for now!!

Hector and I have everything crossed for you both


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I'm sorry to hear that Benjie is poorly sending lots of get well vibes for him, I do hope he improves very soon x

Thank you every one yet again. Elena it sounds awful but I can't remember whether he's 3 1/2 or 4 1/2. I'm absolutely shattered.
I think I've discovered why the emeprid didn't work today.
Benjie is just as clever as Thumper but in different ways although Thumper was incredibly good at medicine avoidance in the early days.
Benjie gets right under the bed. Counter move -turn up the matress & I can get at him through the slats in the frame & move him out.
Benjie chews a bit, but I felt not enough. Sure enough when I've put a bit in his mouth he hides his head down in my lap. Tonight I felt a small wet spot in my lap. Yep I stick the meds in, then he puts his head down & lets them dribble out! :lol:

I think Benjie is even more closely bonded to me than Thumper was. I'm nothing like as good as knowing what Benjie would like - it's almost always "lets have a grooming session" & he waits so patiently on the bedroom threshold for me to pass. If he looks out of the patio doors he's probably interested in a couple of mins outside. On the other hand Benjie seems to know exactly what I'm thinking. I'd been thinking about his dose of metaclop ever since returning from the vets. Benjie kept at arms length. Now it's over he's lying in his usual place straight away!! It happens time & time again with us. I'll have to start my tuneless bunny songs again to try to hide my thoughts. :lol:

Thank you so very much for your support everyone.

I'm now a very embarressed human. There's been a bit of chomping - blackthorn, rye grass, (almost all stalk) & hawthorn under my bed overnight, & some tiny bitty "stasis poohs" overnight. He's drunk well too

I'm fairly sure that the one off injection on Fri did the trick but the thunderstorm put him back in stasis. I'm pretty geared up to Benjie's nervous temperament, he's got hiding places everywhere in the house. I call it his pseudowarren.:lol: I also get him seen fast before he loses bowel sounds too. I think this is only his 3rd episode
Yes, well, if he didn't actually swallow enough meds yesterday, & dribbled them out over the edge of my lap, they wouldn't work would they? I wasn't up to the "intellectual challenge".
This is something I love about rabbits. They really are incredibly bright & especially at medicine avoidance tactics!

Fingers crossed he gets going now.

ETA if anyone remembers the things he got on his ears which were thought to be abscesses. We're still not sure what they were. They took about 3 months to heal up completely, but he's got his lovely long velvety ears back to normal again.

Great news good boy Benjie! x

So pleased he's eating :thumb: hope he continues to improve :thumb: hope you feel better soon too Thumps :thumb:

So glad Benji is feeling a bit better.

He sounds such a cheeky boy!

Hi

sorry I am late to this - have had a hectic time with ill rabbits myself and not been on since you posted - or at least the post didnt come up

Dont really have anything to add - except the remote chance of EC - which is much on my mind at the present and has shown itself in the first couple of days by slowing and non eating before with some (I suspect by no means all) we have gone on to the wobbles etc

My vets (along with some others) are beginning to think stasis and EC might be linked.

Did you get my two PMs replying to yours about the forage?? ? Anxious to help.

twigs

PS Love to yourself and Benjie

So glad Benjie has improved. I love hearing about him. Your bond is just amazing.

Thank you once again everyone.
I seem to have a habit of posting & then seemingly sorting it out myself. I worry a lot because I'm not vet trained, & aware that I don't know the full range of causes of bunny illness so I'm really grateful for your input, even if I go off & try to work out if it's a problem for myself, eg it was simple to check that tooth abscess was unlikely. However it gives me something to keep an eye on!
Somehow together we seem to cover a large range of possibilities, which gets me out of the mental circle of "what are we missing - he's not responding as expected?" This helps Benjie too.

He's eaten nearly a handful of blackthorn this morning, & a small amount of assorted fresh forage. Still chewing my wooden bed frame. It's easy enough to reinforce so it doesn't suddenly give way & the whole lot collapse on him with my added weight.:shock:
For me the big issue is not stressing him out too much. The last thing we want now is a flare up of his snuffles. The stress of stasis alone really knocks out their immune system. He's doing really well there not the smallest sign - touch wood ( which has probably been chewed by a certain bunny)

Thank you SJH & Ripminnie. I was trying to imagine medicating Hector, & decided he was too big to fit on my lap. :lol: What a formidable undertaking!

Thank you Zoobec & Weedug. Floppy is never forgotten - mainly for how he got his forever home!

As I look at his tiny poohs I remember a lovely child ?I Love Lucky? & her bunny Scamps who had stasis years ago. She wanted to tell us how serious it was. Her conclusion was that Scamps was EMPTY. Well Benjie's certainly empty judging by what's coming through.

I'm so sorry to hear you have several ill bunnies Parsnipbun. I've been trying to think how to measure what a crateful of plantain is. Please can you send as much as you can when you're not busy with poorly bunnies?

Tulsi I'm sorry I forgot to reply. Once I get started on rabbit stories .......
Benjie's noted for sitting on my sandstone hearth surrounded by boxes. It's a good place in hot weather because I can damp it down so it's really cool. ("He'can't see us we so can't see him" I suppose.) He's completely immobile if I get visitors who don't know us. I suppose they assume I've got a hearth ornament. The expression on their faces when they realise he's gone is hilarious - a mixture of incredulity & incomprehension. So I explain & say that he's probably under the table. They invariably have to check for themselves. :lol:

The stroking thing came from watching a friend's rabbits. When they were really ill, the well rabbit from a strongly bonded pair would groom the sick one almost continuously. I simply copied.
The calming effect is very noticable. He's so scared at the vet his eyes bulge & we can see his 3rd eyelid. Gently cupping his whole face in my hand to stroke him, completely stops the eye signs of severe stress. At home it's just a lot of nose rubs - he nearly falls asleep. When I stop he darts towards me - he has to lick my hand in return & I often get a few nose licks too!
So I suspect it's to do with stress reduction which is so important for any ill bunny.

I admit I've found it very difficult to help Benjie with his stress problems. I've had some terribly traumatised cats in the past & it was a simple case of gentle patience of letting them gradually learn that life was different now. I didn't allow for a rabbit's instinct of intense predator awareness = avoid anything nasty. I had a break through with things which scare him at night when I realised that people can be so distressed they can't take on board what is said. Slowly & quietly repeating reassurances + stroking really helped a lot. Also, once Benjie learns something is nasty he doesn't seem able to unlearn it. Thumper had a much more outgoing & inquisitive temperament & could unlearn something was nasty very quickly in about 3-4 "goes". Once he worked out that meds eased his gut problems he was good as gold taking them. Benjie is just different.

My dear friend, I apologise for being so late to this thread but I'm glad to hear it may be sorted. I'll add my vibes and prayers for Benjie's continued recovery and health, and yours too. ((((((Hugs))))))
Your posting has coincided with me thinking about you very much lately, I was actually about to PM you here the last day or so as I'd been wondering how you were. xxxx

Have PMd you again judy

Just need rough idea of crate size so I know what I am aiming at.

Do you mean collapsible plastic small crate, large crate like an XXXL dog crate, or crate as in wooden potato crate????

Also need your home address to send to!!

Please PM me.

Thankyou Mimzmum. Yes, it's been a very scary time for me, all made worse by a new GP telling me that 1st. 1 of my drugs was no longer manufactured & then the important 1. Then he told me that it was so rarely used, it was too expensive, although it's the oldest drug for my problems. Finally the chemist complained it was difficult to obtain, & couldn't guarantee delivery on time.
Sure I can go without it for a week but I'm knocked flat out, but after 2 weeks I'm on the verge of needing hospitalisation. I couldn't even read for 6 years after the last change over let alone walk more than a few yards or think coherently. So I had to see my new consultant & found that both were still available! All on top of having a relapse!
I imagine that with new GP funding they're cutting back on costs & blow the effect on the patient.
Your thoughts & prayers have been much appreciated.

I've pm'd you Parsnipbun. Again your help with forage is wonderful because I can't get out much at the mo.

Benjie is eating better today, & his pooh volume increased last night, but they're still very small.
I decided to cut back on his ranitidine today because he usually responds best to maxalon 7 I felt I was compounding his stress.
His preferred fibre remains my bed frame, but it's much stouter than I thought so collapse isn't a concern!
He's such a darling. The 1st thing he tries to stop me syringing him is to lick me a lot. The next thing he tries the smallest nibble - I honestly can't call it a bite!