Bowel Obstruction

Hi,

My one year old mini lop male, Richie, has not been eaten or pooed today and looked miserable. Yesterday he was his usual bouncy self. I took him to the emergency vets who could feel something in his abdomen that is the size of a tennis ball and full of fluid. He was X-rayed and the diagnosis made of complete bowel obstruction.

The vet said that he thought Richie had a better than 50% chance of surviving with medical treatment. He has given him injections of Metacam and metoclopramide and 100mls subcutaneous fluids, plus an antibiotic. He has given me syringes of metoclopramide to give 6 hourly and Metacam to give daily. I have brought him inside and bedded him down in a quiet place. I have offered him all his favourite treats but he is still not eating and nothing is coming out of his other end. He looks miserable. The vet also gave me a syringe of lactulose to see if I could get Richie to take some but I think most of it is dribbling out of his mouth.

His companion rabbit was spayed mid week so they have been living apart except for short periods of supervised time, because Richie kept trying to hump her (he is neutered). They have been in runs outside during the day where they can see each other. When I realised Richie wasn't his usual self I put Rosie in with him for comfort but they didn't seem to have much to do with each other.

Have I done the right thing? The other option was to have Richie put to sleep. I don't want to give up on him, for Rosie's sake as well as his own, but I don't want him to be frightened and in pain.

Thank you.

A full obstruction of the bowel is a surgical emergency. It cannot be treated with prokinetics (metoclopromide) which are contraindicated in cases of full obstruction

I note that you live in NZ, how Rabbit Savvy is your Vet ? If there is a full bowel obstruction then your Rabbit needs to be admitted immediately for emergency care, probably surgery. Can you access an Exotics Specialist Vet ?

Here is some information about GI tract obstruction:

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

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Caecal_ObstructionRabbit.htm

I am very sorry that your Rabbit is so ill

Sorry to hear your bun is unwell. How rabbit savvy is your vet? Your bun needs intensive vet treatment. The vet should have admitted him to do that.

Or basically, as Jane said.

Sending loads of vibes xx

Sorry to hear about your bunny. As Jane and Weedug say, he needs intensive treatment/possible op at the vets. I hope he can pull through.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately on Saturday afternoon and evening the only choice is the emergency vet service, where vets from different practices cover the roster. There is a rabbit savvy vet in a practice about 30 minutes from us but they don't do on call.

The good news is that Richie is now eating and pooing well. My husband and I gave him his medications last night before we went to bed and I cried because I didn't know what to do or even how to comfort Richie and stroking or holding him seemed to stress him further. At 6am this morning I fully expected to find him dead or moribund.

Imagine my surprise when I peeped under the blanket I put over one end of the cage and the first thing I saw was that most of the food I left him had been eaten. On top of that I had a bunny in busy mode, "digging" and tidying up the cage. No poos at that point, but I find my bunnies are always reluctant to poo in the inside cage (which we only use when they are post op or sick). Five minutes after I had put him into his outside run he pooed and has continued to poo through the day. They look pretty normal but on some I can see what I think is hair linking two poos together.

Fingers crossed, Richie seems back to normal. He shared some bunny love time with (newly spayed) Rosie, and then I had to separate them again because he was trying to hump her.

I am glad that it was not a fully obstructed bowel after all. I would try to encourage him to eat as much hay as possible and to have a good water intake. Fibre and fluids are the most important thing, especially after an episode of gut stasis.

Also, I would groom him every day to try to minimise how much fur he ingests. Whilst fur is a normal finding within a Rabbit's GI tract it can become a problem if the GI tract motility is reduced.

I hope that he remains well now