Urgent help

Folks,

Sorry to be so negative with my first posts on these boards but I need help.

My first rabbit died last week unexpectedly and the second is now crook.

First lesson has been learned and as soon as we realised she hadn't produced poos for 8 hours (working day) she was straight to the vet. She's had antibiotics, vitamin booster and something to loosen things up, all injection format.

He also gave us a powder mix to make up with water to feed her which is mainly dietary fibre with extra vits too. She doesn't want to know about that and I don't blame her it stinks. Vet advised no other solids other than hay.

She's restless and hasn't eaten or drunk since we've been watching her in shifts.

Is there anything else I can be doing ?
(and yes if she isn't markedly better in an hour or so the vet will be earning his fees)

UPDATE : Just in the last few minutes she has passed some very hard poos followed by softer, sticky ones.

UPDATE : Now eating hay, finally. No drinking yet.

Apologies for panic. Does everyone get this or is it just me ?

I'm really sorry rob i have no advice on that front you seem to be doing all the right things i do hope she is feeling better soon though and keep us posted

hi

I've only had my bunnies 3 weeks, and as a total novice I'm just dreading this scenario - it seems to be a regular thing for rabbits to get stomach upsets which land them in serious trouble!

Some rabbits do seem more prone to it than others though, maybe as they may be more prone to stress in general, or have unbalanced gut bacteria/acidity - I think it's just one of those things...

As far as I know, fluids are the crucial factor in keeping whatever's stuck moving through the gut, plus pain relief as a rabbit in pain often gives up completely.

If she's not eating wet greens, has she got a bowl of water rather than a bottle - some rabbits find it easier to drink from a bowl.

Hope she's alright again soon!


Edana, Benji and Pepper

hi

forgot to say - if she's not drinking at all, ask your vet about giving her subcutaneous fluids before she gets too dehydrated - here's a good article on it - you can learn to do it yourself if your vet thinks this is important.
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_subcutaneous_fluids.html


Edana, Benji and Pepper

aaww sorry to hear your bunny isnt well.
Did the vet think it was bloat?
If so you could get some Infacol from supermarket.. its for babies with colic but works if it is bloat. If you have a syringe you could try syringing water into her mouth slowly.. or maybe even add a little apple juice if u have any to the water to encourage her to drink more. I hope she picks up soon

Wait till you have been on here a while you will see you are not alone. Rabbits are very delicate creatures and it is so important to get their diet right. Hay/grass are the most important things in their diet and the fact that he/she has now started to poo is a good sign. You will notice that we all start counting poos one time or another it's called poo paranoia!!

Let's hope thing have now turned the corner , what do you normally feed he/she?

Best Wishes fir a speedy recovery

Maureen

Don't worry Rob we all get like this about our bunnies. Stasis is scary but once you learn the signs and predict it early its not as bad as you first think.

The goo stuff is probably Science Recovery - yes it does stink but its worth persevering with, if she's not eating there'll be nothing to push it all through - if you get my meaning. Have you tried syringing some into her mouth? The easiest thing to do is cut the end off a 1ml syringe, mix your goo up well else it'll just block the syringe, fill syringe, hook it behind her front teeth and squeeze it in. I sort of sit my buns up on my laps to do it, some people wrap them in a towel if your buns not overly friendly. (one of mine is such a piglet that he'll lap it up from a bowl :roll: ).

The other thing thats good for stasis is massaging your buns tummy - providing she's friendly and its not going to stress her out.

As for the dehydration - I syringe water into my buns too, or add apple juice/pineapple juice to their water - just a drop, to sweeten it, they drink it then. Might be worth a try.

Good luck and keep us posted. There are lots of people whose buns have suffered more stasis than mine on here, theres bound to be more advice along soon.

So sorry to hear about your bun. Lots of bunnies get this so you aren't alone!! Princess my rabbit had stasis last week, my vet thought it could be the April grass. Glad to see your updates and that your bun is now pooing. After Princess had her first injection she began pooing again but promptly stopped the next day!! So if she stops again I'd get bun straight to the vets! It has taken Princess over a week to get back to her normal self, even now we aren't doing as many poos as normal but least there are poos You will become very paranoid about poos!!! Luckily Princess never stopped eating throughout, I know I was very lucky!

My vet gave me Liquid Paraffin to get things moving once she had had her injections, which worked well for Princess. If she stops pooing again ask your vet for some of this as it has really done the trick!! Also if you have some probiotics put some of this on her food, it helps the 'good' bacteria to regroup in her tum. I also massaged her tummy and gave her a Snugglesafe to sit on to keep her warm. It's important to keep her eating hay and the Recovery, I also gave Princess some parsley and mint as these herbs are both good for the tum. Anything to tempt her like this, I would avoid greens and cabbage as I think these can be quite gassy, and if your bun has gas in her tum then she doesn't want more!!

Oh and if she is really in pain, ask your vet for some pain relief, as buns in pain often don't want to eat or go to the toilet.

I can't think of anything else I did, if I do I'll post, I hope she is soon feeling better, as I said Princess was off-colour for a week. I think it can take a while for them to perk up, nasty tummy aches!!

Good luck!

Nicola

Thanks (again!)

Folks,

I really appreciate all of this good advice. If nothing else it reassures me that I'm at least on track to help the little critter.

I've been through everything these girls have been exposed to and I might have found the culprit, dried corn ?

They sometimes have the cobs from the pet shop but I bought some loose and placed a little in a play ball for them to have something to work out. Do you think this is the problem ? It only had a few dozen corns in but I found the ball empty today, it usually takes them a week to roll them all out. My other half says she saw them deliberately tipping the ball up and emptying it....

Rob.

Hiya, welcome to the world of poo quality controllers :shock: Totti has had a few bouts of gut statis and has needed a course of metacolpromide each time. These injections were given on a daily basis and it was 3 or 4 injections before the poops were back to a normal consistency in both size and content(apologies for being so graphic). At first I felt like I was being paranoid but numerous trips to vets, both regular and emergency, have taught me that I'm not paranoid at all. So you've done the right thing, keep an eye on the quality of the poops and be prepared that it may take more than one injection.

Re: Thanks (again!)

Rob said:

Folks,
They sometimes have the cobs from the pet shop but I bought some loose and placed a little in a play ball for them to have something to work out. Do you think this is the problem ? It only had a few dozen corns in but I found the ball empty today, it usually takes them a week to roll them all out. My other half says she saw them deliberately tipping the ball up and emptying it....

Rob.

Click to expand...

It could be.. several people have said before that these corn things arent good for bunnies. Maybe it blocked his intestines? I dont know if it could but possibility i guess.

I'm no expert by any means but corn on the cob is not recommend as Rabbits cannot digest the corn properly.

If you scroll down the page on this link there is a bit about corn.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

I'm very lucky in that my lot (touch wood) have never had a case of GS while I have had them. They all are big hay eaters and drink lots and I believe this goes a long way in preventing Stasis attacks.

Louise

I don't think the corn is a good idea, they use to put locust beans in rabbit mix burtr it has now been removed due to causing blockages. Rob it's just not worth the risk if you want to give them treats try some of the herbs others use on the forum like parsley etc you should be able to find a list on one of the previous post if not someone will be along soon to enlarge.

I use veggies as a treat like greens, kale brocoli they love it and it's good for them.

Hope all is going well

Maureen

I've got a Parsley plant in my kitchen. You can buy them for about 80p from most supermarkets. Just repot it when you get home and it will grow very well. My lot love it (I do to!).

Louise

Yep I'd agree with the others that corn isn't recommended for rabbits. When Princess was ill I gave her parsley, mint and basil, that seemed to go down well

Ur def not being paranoid, or anything, u will always know when ur bun is ill and even if vet says they are OK at least u are erring on side of caution As has also been said it can take a few injections to get the gut going, Princess had 2. After the first one she went that evening but the second didn't work as well and it took until the next day with a few doses of liquid paraffin to get her going! She went about 30 mins before our vet visit but I took her just to be on safe side and luckily the gas in her tum had gone.

How is your bun doing now? I def agree that hay plays a big part in healthy guts. Pippa my 6 year old has never had an attack of stasis (touch wood) and neither has Amy my 1 and a half year old. Both eat loads of hay. Princess on the other hand is very fussy about hay and would rather eat dried food!! So I'm pretty sure this goes part way to explaining why she sometimes stops pooing and why she worried me so much last week!!!

Nicola

My rabbits diet is predominantly hay with just a few paltry SS pellets and a bit of veg (e.g. 1/2 a stick of celery, 1" of carrot) or a few dandelion leaves. This has not stopped Totti having 3 bouts of statis to date and Brody's had 1. Each occasion has co-incided with a heavy moult so I'm watching their every poop at the mo and even managed to get some Kittymalt syringed into Totti yesterday, much to his disgust.

How is your bunny today? Better I hope. If you have no luck with the powdered food from your vet, you could always try making a mush from your bunny's regular food, and see if the bunny will eat it themself, or syringe feed it.

Thanks

Folks,

I'm afraid Bonkers hadn't improved overnight and was the first in the queue at the vets this morning. She's been admitted so that they can check on her hourly and administer the appropriate jabs if needed.

We haven't given up hope yet and the vet was very positive.
Just dropped off a load of veggie baby food with them to try and get things moving whilst keeping her hydrated.

One encouraging thing was the fight she put up getting her into the basket. She hasn't given up either which I'm hoping is half the battle won.

Fingers crossed.

Rob.

Oh poor thing I've got everything crossed for her and am thinking of you both.

Keep in touch with the vets as some buns won't eat while they are in a stressful situation so it may be worth bringing her home if still no eating once the vet is happy that she can go home.

Good luck

Nicola

Poor Bonkers (love the name). Is she stayng at the Vets overnight then? Do they have someone looking after them all night? Have everything crossed for her.