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Continued anorexia after gut stasis

H

Hannah4

New Kit
Hi my bunny is really ill. He is 2yr old house rabbit (dutch).
Since last thurs he has not drunk any water out of either his water bottle or a bowl. At the same time he started to stop eating hay & his pellets (select). Since last weekend he has been syringe fed and received fluids at the vets (he stayed 12hrs a day there twice this week).
He is currently only eating dried dandelion twiggy bits & some veggies (some veggies he is not eating which he previously loved, he loves his food in general). He is not drinking at all which is really worrying. The vets said he had a bit of gut stasis earlier in the week but they cant feel anyhing now. They also said they'd expect him to be showing signs of being ill now but he is still pooing and weeing and is very chirpy. Although his behaviour is getting a bit aggressive - stamping his front paws on people and growling, altho his general character is a bit fiesty when he wants to be).
We have discussed with the vet and are thinking that we will continue syringe feeding until tomoro or sun and then leave him to see if he will eat himself. He if doesnt eat then maybe he will have to be put down although this is such a hard decision because he doesnt appear unwell. But we want him to have a good quality of life and are mindful that he cannot be syringe fed unlimitidly. We are also concerned about whether he is in pain.
Any advice would be gratefully received x
 
I'm sorry to hear your bunny is unwell. Gut stasis is just the slowing down of the digestive system, there is always a cause but its not always possible to find out the cause.

My first instinct would be to assess his teeth properly. Has the vet done this? Sudden refusal to eat hay & pellets is often an indicator rabbits need dental work. As he is on syringed food & veggies alone now, he is probably getting enough water - esp if his wee & poo looks normal.

Bunnies in pain often sit hunched, they can look & act different & an obvious sign is grinding their teeth. Did your vet prescribe metacam or other pain relief?

Which veggies did he used to love?
 
Has the Vet carried out a thorough examination of your Rabbits teeth ? Dental problems are often a cause for Rabbits to stop eating. Problems with the molar teeth (cheek teeth) are not always easy to spot in a conscious Rabbit, even with the use of a scope.

Has the Vet run a blood profile to check major organ function ?

Has pain relief been given ? A Rabbit in pain, regardless of the source of the pain, will not eat.

Personally I think it's rather too soon to be considering PTS. Is your Vet Rabbit Savvy ? Some Vets may be great with treating Cats and Dogs but they may have minimal knowledge about Rabbits. If you have any doubt as to how Rabbit Savvy your Vet may be you could either request a referral for a second opinion or post a thread in Rabbit Chat on here asking for 'Rabbit Savvy Vet Recommendations' in your area.
 
Hannah4 said:
Hi my bunny is really ill. He is 2yr old house rabbit (dutch).
Since last thurs he has not drunk any water out of either his water bottle or a bowl. At the same time he started to stop eating hay & his pellets (select). Since last weekend he has been syringe fed and received fluids at the vets (he stayed 12hrs a day there twice this week).
He is currently only eating dried dandelion twiggy bits & some veggies (some veggies he is not eating which he previously loved, he loves his food in general). He is not drinking at all which is really worrying. The vets said he had a bit of gut stasis earlier in the week but they cant feel anyhing now. They also said they'd expect him to be showing signs of being ill now but he is still pooing and weeing and is very chirpy. Although his behaviour is getting a bit aggressive - stamping his front paws on people and growling, altho his general character is a bit fiesty when he wants to be).
We have discussed with the vet and are thinking that we will continue syringe feeding until tomoro or sun and then leave him to see if he will eat himself. He if doesnt eat then maybe he will have to be put down although this is such a hard decision because he doesnt appear unwell. But we want him to have a good quality of life and are mindful that he cannot be syringe fed unlimitidly. We are also concerned about whether he is in pain.
Any advice would be gratefully received x
Click to expand...

I'm really sorry to hear this, and it does sound like a bit of a mystery.

Joey&Boo has given you very good advice :thumb:

I would get the teeth looked at, and a vet can only see about 60% of a rabbit's mouth using an otoscope. Some vets can carry out conscious dentals, but they are few and far between, so a good look at the teeth would necessitate a GA. Obviously this is something to be very cautious of in a bunny who is already not eating.

The other thing the vet could do is take a blood sample and send off to the lab. Kidney issues can contribute to not eating and also possibly being in pain.

Metacam, or some other pain relief would be useful, but as it can be hard on the kidneys, it's an assessment a vet would have to make in conjunction with a blood test. I would certainly consider this before having him put to sleep.

Wishing you good luck xx
 
In addition to the other advice, it is also sometimes a fine balance with syringe feeding a recovering bun - if you feed too much sometimes they are reluctant to start feeding by themselves but you obviously need to feed enough to keep them ticking over.

Also if he is idle a lot it might be benefitical to get him moving around abit to stimulate the gut.
 
Thanks for your replies. Yes his teeth have been checked on 2 occassions by different vets, they both said they didnt see any problems with them.
He has had metacam, as well as something for preventing stomach ulcers (i think) at the beginning and he is on Emeprid twice a day at the moment.
He does not appear to be sitting in a hunched position & he definately isnt grinding his teeth so i hope he isnt in pain.
Today he has eaten the vegs we've given him, including cucumber which he has ignored for quite a few days, so that has given us renewed hope.
Joey&boo - in answer to your Q, he likes everything we've given him so far except parsnip & asparagus! While he's been unwell we have been trying to focus more on watery or fibrous veggies to help him.

Thanks guys!
 
They can have very odd tastes when unwell so my advice is to offer a little of everything you can think off - you sort of through out the usual rules and see what he'd like. You could try a little fresh grass, see if you can find any fresh dandelions around. Dried plants are great too - you might find mix bags in your local petshop. Often smelling the fresh break can tempt them so offer everything cut-end first.

You could also try offering the syringe mix on a plate or veggies dipped in it. If it's a different brand to his usual pellets you could crush/soak though and try the same thing. A little unsweatened apple juice added to the water may help make it taste more tempting.
 
I would agree with the others to definitely rule out teeth issues. They can not always be seen on a conscious bunny.

When my buns are recovering I will buy anything and everything to try to tempt them. As Tamsin has mentioned, their tastes can change when they are poorly and I certainly find that with mine. Some of the things they go for are stronger smelling such as rosemary or thyme. Also carrot tops are on the top of the list and maybe a bit of grated carrot too.

I hope he recovers soon.
 
Hannah4 said:
Thanks for your replies. Yes his teeth have been checked on 2 occassions by different vets, they both said they didnt see any problems with them.
He has had metacam, as well as something for preventing stomach ulcers (i think) at the beginning and he is on Emeprid twice a day at the moment.
He does not appear to be sitting in a hunched position & he definately isnt grinding his teeth so i hope he isnt in pain.
Today he has eaten the vegs we've given him, including cucumber which he has ignored for quite a few days, so that has given us renewed hope.
Joey&boo - in answer to your Q, he likes everything we've given him so far except parsnip & asparagus! While he's been unwell we have been trying to focus more on watery or fibrous veggies to help him.

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

Vets can only see about 60% inside the mouth, unless they are able to do conscious dentals (forgive me if I've said this already :))

In fact, it's sometimes a good idea to have an X-ray whilst under GA for a dental, as some problems with teeth just can't be seen. I have known a vet to completely miss issues in bunnies' mouths, with the best of intentions, even under GA! The complexity (and smallness) of those mouths cannot be underestimated!
 
I don't really have any other advice to give you as everyone else has already covered everything. However, I certainly wouldn't even think about having him put to sleep yet. My Nethie Storm was getting stasis almost every week until I started giving him approximately 10ml of recovery food every night, even in the days where he had eaten lots of food - including hay. This has so far helped him tremendously and his poops have doubled in size compared to how they were beforehand. As much as you would like to avoid this, it may be a route that you need to go down to maintain his intake and prevent him from continuously getting stasis. Definitely don't give up on the little man yet though, he is nowhere near needing to be put to sleep at this point. Good luck :)
 
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