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Baby Kia has Gut statis- day 2- any advice?

G

gil

Mama Doe
Hi

Baby Kia, 10-12 weeks old and only had her since Monday has developed gut statis. took her to the vet last night where she got an injection consisting of painkiller, antibiotic and something to get the gut moving. about an hour after coming back from the vet she ate some hay and drank some water and did one 'stuck together' poo. i had to take her back to the vet this morning and although she was a wee bit brighter the vet kept her in for fluids and more injections. got her back this afternoon and she still hasn't eaten anything apart from some fruit juice that i gave her from a syringe. she did manage out of her hutch and was exploring a wee bit but she is still not eating or pooing. i have to return to the vet in the morning with her. in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions of how i can tempt her to eat? i have tried all foods i can so far!
thanks

Gill
 
Oh poor you and poor baby Kia. I'm not experienced with baby bunnies, I'm afraid. When Squidgy has the start of stasis, we always get some probiotic into him and masage his tummy a little. We have got some infacol now, on recommendation of some of the members here, but I don't know how appropriate that is for a baby. Plus she's already had treatment from the vet.
Have you tried mixing somepellets with water, so they dissolve a little?
I hope someone can give you some advice soon.
Let us know how she gets on.
 
You shouldn't need to syringe the baby food (Hipp organic carrot and potato is best) this might stress her more , just put it in a shallow dish and she should lap it up or you can smudge a bit on her mouth so she needs to lick it off.
 
have just managed to get about 2-3mil of water/pellet mix into her by syringe and finding this a difficult procedure! don't like to hurt her too much plus she turns away too!
after the vet tomorrow i will stop off and pick up some baby food and try that. i am hoping she will improve and the vet's will help. they suggested that they could operate but to be honest i don't know how feasible this is with such a young bunny. she has not pood yet either tho' she urinated after she left the vets today.
fingers crossed she gets better and thanks for the suggestions. will keep you posted.

Gill
 
Just had a thought :shock: Could you puree some apple/ carrot a la baby food? Syringing them does stress them out. Bunnyhugger's suggestion about smearing on her mouth is good, as she'll clean herslef and eat it :D
 
My Sunny (he is now 5 1/2 years old) had total gut stasis when he was 8 weeks old. He was at death's door and it was a miracle that he pulled through. He didn't eat voluntarily and he didn't poo for about a week!

In your situation, I would start syringe feed your bunny gently. There are ready made solutions around, but I found soaked rabbit pellets and finely cut hay given with a big syrine just as effective.

In addition, I am convinced that regular very gentle 10 or 15 minute tummy massages helped him pull through as he then normally released diarrhea on my lap (covered in towels of course) a few minutes after each massage. So it definitely helped keeping the guts working at least a little.
I would definitely start massaging very gently with just a couple of fingers on his tummy. They don't find it nice at first, but most love it once they are used to it.

On one occasion with a different bunny (after he had an operation and he didn't start eating), he started eating a short while after a nice gentle massage!

Vera
 
yes, will try the massage on the tummy and also the baby food. just off to the vet now with Kia so hopefully they will be able to help. it is possible they will get me to leave her with them for a couple of hours like yesterday and then go and collect her later so it gives me time to nip to asda for baby food!
thanks again for all the suggestions.
 
good look with kia . pinapple is the best fruit juice to use. dilute it with a little water .if all else fails you will have to syrigr feed her but i always do it as a last resort. got some good suggestions on here from everyone id try them all.

ask the vet for some avipro . its a probiotic and will build up the good bacteria in her tummy.i always have some in . you can mix it in water or sprinkle it on food.
 
just got back from the vet and Kia got more fluids injected into her along with antibiotic and the stuff to get her gut moving. also got given some white powder to mix with water to give her via a syringe. they didn't give me a name for the powder and i forgot to ask! they also recommended cow and gate banana powder. I have to take her back tomorrow morning. i have been massaging her tummy too so hopefully with everything I am doing she will pull thro'.
 
Did the vet give Kia a painkiller too? A bunny with tummy ache can be very reluctant to eat. Hope Kia feels better soon...
 
Hi, yes she has been getting painkillers too along with the other jags. Have to say she is not much better this morning although managed to get her to take by syringe the stuff that the vet gave us, some vegetable juice and fruit juice. she has also drank some water but we need to help her with that too. also took her out into the garden in the hope that it would stimulate her appetite and although she was interested in the garden and sniffed plenty plants and grass she was not tempted to eat anything. have also spent time massaging her tummy but she still hasn't pood yet. she is due back at the vet this morning again, but yesterday the vet said things were looking troublesome.
 
Poor Kia...sorry I can't give any advice myself ..just some snuggles
25.gif
 
Poor Kia. :( Have you tried tempting her with fresh herbs? I know you have to be very careful with yound bunny tummies, and introducing new foods, but surely anything in her tummy is better than nothing at the moment? Parsley, basil and coriander are good ones to try. You could also try banana (slices or mashed in a syringe) or porridge oats.

I really hope Kia is feeling better soon.
 
Update on Kia-vet gave her more injections plus a laxative at the rear end and said to me that this is now 5 days and that things weren't looking good and that if there is no improvement by tomorrow then i will need to make some hard decisions! he also said that an op wouldn't be wise given her weak condition either.
when we got back from the vet Kia actually started to eat and i managed to get her to eat loads of dandelion leaves, nasturiums, raspberry leaves and some parsley. she also ate some hay. she also started grooming herself quite thoroughly and also groomed her partner mischa. she was fairly playful and looked near enough her usual self but so far she has only passed a couple of poos. she has now quietened down again so i am still very concerned for her although pleased that she ate voluntarily.
anyone any further advice as i really don't want to go to the vet on Monday and have the worse happen!
 
Sounds like you're doing well with her. Fingers crossed she eats some more today. Let us know how she gets on.
 
the vet gave her 40mil of fluids this morning and we have just given her 10mil of the powder that the vet gave me plus she drank some water in between. she is currently getting her tummy massaged which is very bloated right now. i don't think she has peed yet today and she ate heaps of dandelion leaves. since i cut the grass earlier in the week i ran out of dandelion leaves so went on an excursion this afternoon to collect more as that seemed to be her favourite thing to eat today.
 
have just visited the suggested website-thanks, it was great and have printed off some info.
 
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