Evening!
On Sunday I noticed that Coco was acting a lot more lethargic than usual and was staying hidden under the bed in a corner, she refused to come out all day, even during veggie time, so I had to put hay, veggies and even bring the water bottle directly under her nose just to get her to eat and drink, thankfully she ate and drank a bit, but was definitely not her normal self. Then during the night (I was checking on her constantly at this point) I noticed her poos were extremely small!
I'm a first time bunny owner, so have no experience whatsoever with rabbits, but from reading forums I was aware that this sounded like GI Stasis, so Monday I rushed her to the vets where they confirmed she was extremely impacted and was unable to pass waste properly although it sounded like there were no problems with her gut (sounds like GI to me??).
I had a different vet to the one I usually have who I felt just didn't explain things and was just trying to convince me to take the more extreme options!! (I usually have a lady who I used to take my Guinea pigs too who was amazing, but was unable to see the rabbits on the Monday, so was stuck with this new vet)
The vet gave me 4 options :
1. Admit her to the vets and they'd put her on fluid
2. Take her home with medication and treat her at home
3. They could operate on her to remove the impaction in her gut
4. Put her to sleep (I really hope this option was said in jest!!!!!)
I went with my gut Instinct and decided to take her home to treat her, thinking it would cause less stress for both bunnies if they were together, so she's been prescribed Zantac and Critical care and the vet said to give her water soaked vegetables but reduce her hay intake and stop feeding pellets as its very dry and we want to rehydrate her (from what I read I need to make sure she's getting fibre to get her gut moving though?). When I asked about pain relief the vet said she didn't seem uncomfortable when he was pushing around on her stomach so she shouldn't need any as pain medication can cause complications, so rs best to avoid it if unessesary.
I'm barely managing to syringe the medication into her mouth as she absolutely hates it and flinches every time I get the medicine anywhere near her mouth (I've been trying to bunny burrito her to get near her mouth), I'm not sure how much of it actually gets in her mouth and how much of it just gets in her fur
Already she's seeming a lot perkier, I'm not sure if that's down to the medication or the amount of pampering she's getting. I am also giving her water via the syringe (she happily drinks from it when waters in there) as for whatever reason she won't use her water bottle, but at least syringing the water i know she's hydrated.
what I would really like some advice on is at what point would she need to be admitted to the vets again? From the way the vet sounded she's really impacted, if she carries on eating like this will it cause problems?? Or would she stop eating if there were issues? She's still doing extremely small poo's so I'm not sure if her impacted stomach is going down, I'm worried that I won't be able to notice when it's important enough to take her to the vets again, any help would be extremely appreciated!!!
On Sunday I noticed that Coco was acting a lot more lethargic than usual and was staying hidden under the bed in a corner, she refused to come out all day, even during veggie time, so I had to put hay, veggies and even bring the water bottle directly under her nose just to get her to eat and drink, thankfully she ate and drank a bit, but was definitely not her normal self. Then during the night (I was checking on her constantly at this point) I noticed her poos were extremely small!
I'm a first time bunny owner, so have no experience whatsoever with rabbits, but from reading forums I was aware that this sounded like GI Stasis, so Monday I rushed her to the vets where they confirmed she was extremely impacted and was unable to pass waste properly although it sounded like there were no problems with her gut (sounds like GI to me??).
I had a different vet to the one I usually have who I felt just didn't explain things and was just trying to convince me to take the more extreme options!! (I usually have a lady who I used to take my Guinea pigs too who was amazing, but was unable to see the rabbits on the Monday, so was stuck with this new vet)
The vet gave me 4 options :
1. Admit her to the vets and they'd put her on fluid
2. Take her home with medication and treat her at home
3. They could operate on her to remove the impaction in her gut
4. Put her to sleep (I really hope this option was said in jest!!!!!)
I went with my gut Instinct and decided to take her home to treat her, thinking it would cause less stress for both bunnies if they were together, so she's been prescribed Zantac and Critical care and the vet said to give her water soaked vegetables but reduce her hay intake and stop feeding pellets as its very dry and we want to rehydrate her (from what I read I need to make sure she's getting fibre to get her gut moving though?). When I asked about pain relief the vet said she didn't seem uncomfortable when he was pushing around on her stomach so she shouldn't need any as pain medication can cause complications, so rs best to avoid it if unessesary.
I'm barely managing to syringe the medication into her mouth as she absolutely hates it and flinches every time I get the medicine anywhere near her mouth (I've been trying to bunny burrito her to get near her mouth), I'm not sure how much of it actually gets in her mouth and how much of it just gets in her fur
Already she's seeming a lot perkier, I'm not sure if that's down to the medication or the amount of pampering she's getting. I am also giving her water via the syringe (she happily drinks from it when waters in there) as for whatever reason she won't use her water bottle, but at least syringing the water i know she's hydrated.
what I would really like some advice on is at what point would she need to be admitted to the vets again? From the way the vet sounded she's really impacted, if she carries on eating like this will it cause problems?? Or would she stop eating if there were issues? She's still doing extremely small poo's so I'm not sure if her impacted stomach is going down, I'm worried that I won't be able to notice when it's important enough to take her to the vets again, any help would be extremely appreciated!!!