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GI Problems

Irina

Irina

Young Bun
Hi everyone, I've come to ask for some opinions as I am not quite sure what is happening.
My bunny, Dudley, who is nearly 9, has got off his food a few weeks ago. I took him to his regular vet, he felt a blockage and he had a bit of temperature when taken rectally, so he was given Baytril for 6 days plus metacam and I was told to give him lots of probiotics. He wasn't improving much so we went further to investigate. he is a dental bunny, so he had his mouth looked at under gas anaesthetic and turns out one of his teeth was loose. When the vet pulled on it, it came out and so did the puss. He had about 5 injections of penicillin I believe and at the last checkup there was no longer puss and the hole was healing up nicely. His tummy felt fine with no blockages either. However, the problem remains. He still seems to have lowered appetite - he no longer eats his pellets which used to be his main food (I know all about the hay and tried everything I could but since he started having problems with his teeth he never ate hay again, not FibreFirst pellets, not even Protexin pellets, only Science Supreme ones) but nibbles on carrot, apple and greens. I know sugary foods aren't great but he has lost 200g out of his 1.7kg so at this point I just want him to eat something. The other worrying sign is that his poop is always soft. It is not runny, and sometimes it comes out nicely shaped but it is squidgy and quite stinky. Speaking of soft and stinky - I can no longer tell if he produces any cecotropes or if he is eating much of them. I am pretty sure he is uncomfortable too as he no longer seems to stretch out or flop like he used to.
At the moment I am giving him probiotic about 4-5 times a day in small doses diluted in chamomile tea, metacam once a day and infacol once or twice a day.
We are going back to the vet on Tuesday, and I want to ask for further testing, etc. but I am not quite sure what we are looking for here and what is causing his tummy upset. By the way, he had a blood test to check organ function and that all came back fine too. Any opinions are welcome! Thank you!
 
Irina said:
Hi everyone, I've come to ask for some opinions as I am not quite sure what is happening.
My bunny, Dudley, who is nearly 9, has got off his food a few weeks ago. I took him to his regular vet, he felt a blockage and he had a bit of temperature when taken rectally, so he was given Baytril for 6 days plus metacam and I was told to give him lots of probiotics. He wasn't improving much so we went further to investigate. he is a dental bunny, so he had his mouth looked at under gas anaesthetic and turns out one of his teeth was loose. When the vet pulled on it, it came out and so did the puss. He had about 5 injections of penicillin I believe and at the last checkup there was no longer puss and the hole was healing up nicely. His tummy felt fine with no blockages either. However, the problem remains. He still seems to have lowered appetite - he no longer eats his pellets which used to be his main food (I know all about the hay and tried everything I could but since he started having problems with his teeth he never ate hay again, not FibreFirst pellets, not even Protexin pellets, only Science Supreme ones) but nibbles on carrot, apple and greens. I know sugary foods aren't great but he has lost 200g out of his 1.7kg so at this point I just want him to eat something. The other worrying sign is that his poop is always soft. It is not runny, and sometimes it comes out nicely shaped but it is squidgy and quite stinky. Speaking of soft and stinky - I can no longer tell if he produces any cecotropes or if he is eating much of them. I am pretty sure he is uncomfortable too as he no longer seems to stretch out or flop like he used to.
At the moment I am giving him probiotic about 4-5 times a day in small doses diluted in chamomile tea, metacam once a day and infacol once or twice a day.
We are going back to the vet on Tuesday, and I want to ask for further testing, etc. but I am not quite sure what we are looking for here and what is causing his tummy upset. By the way, he had a blood test to check organ function and that all came back fine too. Any opinions are welcome! Thank you!
Click to expand...

What dose of Metacam is he on ? He may be having some arthritic pain as well as discomfort in his mouth. The fact that he seems reluctant to lay down and 'flop' could indicate spinal/hip pain. So there may be that going on as well as his Dental problems. Perhaps he needs a higher dose of Metacam and maybe another type of analgesic cover too.

Pain from any source can effect gut function.

The soft poo is almost certainly due to lack of fibre in his diet-ie lack of hay, Can you try making a mash up of a mix of fibrefirst pellets, SS pellets (as you say he likes them) and pro-fibre pellets. Soak them all in cooled boiled water and mash them up into a paste. You could add a tiny bit of grated carrot as an additional aid to tempt him to eat it.

When you go back to the Vet I'd ask him/her about the possibility of arthritic pain and also about if there are any signs of ongoing infection in his mouth, especially relating to his tooth roots

Good luck x
 
Thank you very much, Beau Belle, and thank you, JAck's Jane! I was thinking it might be arthritis too but I never noticed it before all this tooth/tummy troubles started. I've just rang my vet to ask if I can increase the dose or split it in two to keep him comfortable throughout the day. It is also a sort of relief that you say his soft poop might be caused by lack of fibre, I was just worried that it might be something more sinister. I am going to try mixing fiba first with baby food and syringing them into him as he won't eat them as they are, he doesn't eat soaked pellets on his own even if they are mixed with banana so I don't think he will eat fibre first just like that either. He is one fussy bun. The fiber first, readigrass, dry herbs and hay are always available as I have another bunny too, but he just doesn't seem to be interested.
 
Irina said:
Hi everyone, I've come to ask for some opinions as I am not quite sure what is happening.
My bunny, Dudley, who is nearly 9, has got off his food a few weeks ago. I took him to his regular vet, he felt a blockage and he had a bit of temperature when taken rectally, so he was given Baytril for 6 days plus metacam and I was told to give him lots of probiotics. He wasn't improving much so we went further to investigate. he is a dental bunny, so he had his mouth looked at under gas anaesthetic and turns out one of his teeth was loose. When the vet pulled on it, it came out and so did the puss. He had about 5 injections of penicillin I believe and at the last checkup there was no longer puss and the hole was healing up nicely. His tummy felt fine with no blockages either. However, the problem remains. He still seems to have lowered appetite - he no longer eats his pellets which used to be his main food (I know all about the hay and tried everything I could but since he started having problems with his teeth he never ate hay again, not FibreFirst pellets, not even Protexin pellets, only Science Supreme ones) but nibbles on carrot, apple and greens. I know sugary foods aren't great but he has lost 200g out of his 1.7kg so at this point I just want him to eat something. The other worrying sign is that his poop is always soft. It is not runny, and sometimes it comes out nicely shaped but it is squidgy and quite stinky. Speaking of soft and stinky - I can no longer tell if he produces any cecotropes or if he is eating much of them. I am pretty sure he is uncomfortable too as he no longer seems to stretch out or flop like he used to.
At the moment I am giving him probiotic about 4-5 times a day in small doses diluted in chamomile tea, metacam once a day and infacol once or twice a day.
We are going back to the vet on Tuesday, and I want to ask for further testing, etc. but I am not quite sure what we are looking for here and what is causing his tummy upset. By the way, he had a blood test to check organ function and that all came back fine too. Any opinions are welcome! Thank you!
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear of the issues you're having with Dudley. But what a good age to get to, and to survive a GA successfully!

I would question whether the course of penicillin was long enough to eradicate the infection and possible abscess that might have been under the loose tooth. Did your vet take an X-ray whilst he was under to see what the state of that was? Continuing infection and pus production could be contributing to him feeling sick and not wanting to eat well.

Pain relief is also a must, to get him over this patch, but of course be aware Metacam can be hard on the kidneys, so is usually dispensed with caution in older buns.

Probiotics are generally recognised to have no real value, as the stomach acid of the rabbit kills off the good bacteria. However, they will certainly do no harm.

If you can liquidise some pellets with juice, and syringe feed, that may help to firm up the poos and introduce some fibre and fluid into the diet. Also to help put on weight. Or you could try softening the pellets slightly and see whether that helps him to take them.

I hope the wee chap gets on well and survives to a long healthy age!
 
thank you, Mighty Max! He had a gas anaesthesia and was out of it in no time and more active than before he went under! He is going under again on Tuesday, he didn't have an X-ray before but I am going to ask for one this time and that is when the vet will look close at the tooth again. His last penicillin shot was this Tuesday so perhaps he will extend the course if he decides he needs it?
I've read that probiotics are a questionable supplement, but it certainly wouldn't cause any harm, would it?
 
Irina said:
thank you, Mighty Max! He had a gas anaesthesia and was out of it in no time and more active than before he went under! He is going under again on Tuesday, he didn't have an X-ray before but I am going to ask for one this time and that is when the vet will look close at the tooth again. His last penicillin shot was this Tuesday so perhaps he will extend the course if he decides he needs it?
I've read that probiotics are a questionable supplement, but it certainly wouldn't cause any harm, would it?
Click to expand...

No, I don't think probiotics would cause any harm, though I think the (more expensive) bio lapis are better than Avipro as Avipro contains a lot of sugar which of course makes it very tasty but not so good nutritionally.

I am so glad he sprang back from his GA. That says to me you have a good vet (and a hardy rabbit!)

For infections involving pus and abscesses, the course of pencillin injections need to be quite prolonged, sometimes many weeks. It's quite well tolerated in rabbits and I've had many a rabbit get through the rest of his life following this sort of infection with no further troubles following a course of pen injections.

Good luck! xx
 
MightyMax said:
No, I don't think probiotics would cause any harm, though I think the (more expensive) bio lapis are better than Avipro as Avipro contains a lot of sugar which of course makes it very tasty but not so good nutritionally.

I am so glad he sprang back from his GA. That says to me you have a good vet (and a hardy rabbit!)

For infections involving pus and abscesses, the course of pencillin injections need to be quite prolonged, sometimes many weeks. It's quite well tolerated in rabbits and I've had many a rabbit get through the rest of his life following this sort of infection with no further troubles following a course of pen injections.

Good luck! xx
Click to expand...

I really like my vet and he specialises in dentistry but also good with the rabbits. Dudley's been seeing him for the last 6 years, ever since his dental issues started, so he knows him well by now too.
I've got Pro C and Avipro (I've got a parrot too so use Avipro for her), so give Dudley both (they have different bacteria strains), was looking at bio lapis too.
I've also ordered Oxbow Adult pellets as they are timothy based.
 
What I have also noticed is that when I syringe feed Dudley he then poops soon after in a bigggish wettish lump which looks on the way out pretty much as it went in. Any ideas why that can be? Today I've mixed fibre first pellets with a bit of hay plus chamomile and echinacea herbs in a coffee grinder and then mixed it with veggie baby food. It went down quite well thankfully although I think that he looks a tad uncomfortable after syringe feeding or maybe just annoyed?
 
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