Tapla - U/D hospitalised - not eating, mucus poos

For the last 2-3 weeks Tapla's poos have been weird. They were first hard and small (but nicely coloured and nothing else wrong), so I spoke to the vet about them. The next week she'd started leaving a caecal or two, so the vet suspected possibly arthritis and she's been on 0.86ml of metacam twice a day since the 21st with no difference in the excess caecals.

Today I've gone out and found a single poo covered in mucus. The poo looked very normal and the mucus was thin, clear and uniform with no plugs etc, so I took a picture but wasn't unduly worried as she's already having odd poos and I'd be talking about it to the vet on monday again. However she's also stopped eating. She did have a drink while I was in there and she had a tiny nibble at a fenugreek crunchy but that's it. My mom said she was fine at 7am but I have noticed that she's not eaten all her veg, and I first checked on her about 12. I've been trying to coax her since then but no luck. I've put another two litre bottles of frozen water in there, plus ice cubes in all the bottles and bowls again and I've wetted both bunnies ears - it is very hot here today. The soonest the vets have an appointment is 4pm so I've made that appointment. I wouldn't be able to get there until 3pm anyway myself due to the distance and the fact I need petrol and a shower.

The vet did suggest that it could be her ingesting a tiny about of Nena's twice daily ceporex injection but that we should keep Nena on it for now. I've only spilled some on her once and I wiped that up quickly, but Nena has spikey fur at the back of her neck so perhaps there's still some there. It could also be stress from Nena being brought inside for flushing/injections, or from her being poorly. Or the heat, or the increase in DIY/law mowing/kids playing outside etc.

I dunno what's going on with her Really hope it's nothing serious Poor Nena has already been battling a jaw abscess for 5 and a half months, I don't want Tapla to be poorly too

It may well be down to her health problems, but my Alfie does weird, wet and very dark poos when it is hot! He does some that are kind of sloppy - not cecatrophes, but just piles of wet poos. I did ask the vet about it but she said it's normal, her bunnies do it as well, it's just down to the heat. That may well be a factor in it, even if it's not the cause

I don't have any advice, but I'm sending mega vibes for her, hope you get on ok at the vet :thumb:

Poor girl Is her urine output normal ? Maybe her kidneys are struggling with the high dose Metacam and the extreme heat. Also, GI tract ulceration could potentially be a problem if she has been on a high dose Metacam for some time

Hope that the Vet can help her to feel a lot better xx

Thanks everyone, it means a lot to have support on here

JemimaH said:

It may well be down to her health problems, but my Alfie does weird, wet and very dark poos when it is hot! He does some that are kind of sloppy - not cecatrophes, but just piles of wet poos. I did ask the vet about it but she said it's normal, her bunnies do it as well, it's just down to the heat. That may well be a factor in it, even if it's not the cause

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That's good to know - obviously the not eating and the mucus poo aren't great but it's good to know that wet poos aren't necessarily a very bad thing. Neither of them have ever had it before apart from the very odd one or after stasis, but then again it has been hotter this year I think!

Jack's-Jane said:

Poor girl Is her urine output normal ? Maybe her kidneys are struggling with the high dose Metacam and the extreme heat. Also, GI tract ulceration could potentially be a problem if she has been on a high dose Metacam for some time

Hope that the Vet can help her to feel a lot better xx

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It's very difficult to tell as they share litter trays, but I'm fairly sure it's normal. She's only been on the metacam for 5 days so hopefully it won't have caused any problems, and she seemed to tolerate it well in the past etc so hopefully nothing serious. Good point about the metacam and the heat, perhaps it's a bit much for her...

Tapla has fairly normal gut sounds so I've caught it early, but the pause in her eating could cause problems later today so I've been given gut stimulant and been told to syringe feed 4-5 times a day to keep things moving. Gotta go back tomorrow if she's not improved by midday. Been told to stop the metacam because there doesn't seem to be any pain reason for why she's stopped eating so I suspect it's the heat to be honest. Don't know what more I can do though tbh, they already have ice pods and litre bottles frozen in both the shed and run. They get ice cubes in bottles and bowls and I wet their ears a few time a day. The shed isn't in the shadiest spot in the garden but I can't change that. The run has a total wood roof and we've put umbrellas up so there's plenty of shade. Thinking about shutting them in the run as it's cooler there but I feel that's quite stressful for them too so I'm not sure about that.

Hope Tapla starts eating soon, aren't they a worry! Wish this hot spell would go away.

tonibun said:

Hope Tapla starts eating soon, aren't they a worry! Wish this hot spell would go away.

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Thank you, it is such a worry

I've given Tapla 4 good sized syringe feeds, the last one being 45 mins ago at 11am. She's not eating anything by herself at all, except I did find her picking at her megazorb. I've found her nibbling at it a couple of times over the last few weeks but I've covered it up straight away with hay, and it never gets exposed again as I put more hay on top. I always just assumed it was her being dumb - but perhaps it was her trying to sort out the discomfort in her stomach. I'll definitely mention it to the vet. They've had megazorb in their tray for 4 years so I doubt it's actually causing it, but I'll see whether it's a good idea to temporarily not put it in.

She does seem fairly bright in herself. She's still pretty bouncy but keeps hiding from me, presumably because of the syringe feeding - can't blame her there! She's certainly not hunched up or belly pressing etc.

She's passed a couple more mucus poos and bundles of mucus alone. The mucus poos look more fresh than the mucus alone, so I'm fairly confident that her gut is ticking over still hopefully.

I think the vet said to make an appointment with him today if she wasn't any better by midday, so I've just rang and got an appointment at 3.

I really shouldn't google stuff Very worried now

Hope she starts eating normally again soon. Sending lots of vibes for Tapla xx

Captain Helen said:

Hope she starts eating normally again soon. Sending lots of vibes for Tapla xx

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Thank you for your support, it really means a lot to be able to vent on this forum and have people care

Tapla (and Nena) has been hospitalised for at least overnight. Her stomach felt more doughy than yesterday, and the vet had expected her to have picked up by today considering what her belly felt like yesterday. So they're going to continue with the zantac and syringe feeding, plus she'll get metaclopromide, IV fluids, antibiotics in case of infection and another type of painkiller other than metacam. She's also going to have her blood glucose tested as that should help indicate if there's an infection in her intestines, and she's probably gonna have an x-ray to check for bloat etc. My poor poppet.

I'm sorry to read about Tapla. i wish I had something of use to add but can only add my thoughts and vibes for a speedy recovery. Xx

I hope you're doing ok, it's so worrying when they are poorly. Try and look after yourself too, as worrying takes a lot of energy.

Oh no, hope she improves overnight, sending mega vibes for her xx

Poor little Tapla .

Sending loads of vibes x

Sending healing vibes for Tapla (and some for Nena too) and some hugs for you. You've been working so hard and long to get Nena well. I hope the bunnies will both be feeling better soon and that you can get some rest. xxxxxxx

Thanks guys, I've not long had a phone call that Tapla has been munching carrot (which she almost never gets at home!), cabbage and coriander. Blood glucose has been done and it's a little high, but that could just be stress so we're gonna hold off on the antibiotics for now and see how the poos go overnight. If I don't hear I'm to take that as good news, and all being well I might have them back tomorrow evening. I just wish they could both be okay for once I feel like I can't remember them ever being well

yaretzi said:

Thanks guys, I've not long had a phone call that Tapla has been munching carrot (which she almost never gets at home!), cabbage and coriander. Blood glucose has been done and it's a little high, but that could just be stress so we're gonna hold off on the antibiotics for now and see how the poos go overnight. If I don't hear I'm to take that as good news, and all being well I might have them back tomorrow evening. I just wish they could both be okay for once I feel like I can't remember them ever being well

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I've been having this for the past few months, and even now when it's just Alfie it's still the same. Isn't it horrible I really, really hope that Tapla recovers soon and Nena also begins to improve.

Hugs x

Oh blimey, between the two of them they are proving to be real stress inducers

I really hope that Tapla's tummy sorts itself out and that they will both soon be home.

Sending vibes for Tapla. Hope you can have both bunnies as well as possible soon.

Hope Tapla improves overnight.