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Possible GI Stasis - advice please

V

vmc

New Kit
Hi, this is my first posting to the group, wish it was under better circumstances.......I've just had my rabbit to the vet this morning 'cause I noticed he wasn't himself last night.....not eating, very quiet, hunching in pain. Anyway she's given me some drugs ....lactulose, metacloramide and metacam. I have to give these orally,,,,not easy with a healthy bun, but Deek has no fight left in him. I have to take him back tomorrow if there's no improvement. What I'd like to know is how long does it usually take for improvement to show? He seems to be getting worse as the day goes on and I'm not sure what to do.... do I ring the vet and get him looked at again today....... I'm really concerned.... any advice would be grately appreciated.

Val
& Deek (poorly bun)
 
hi

It seems very odd for a vet to expect you to administer metacam and metaclopromide? Could your bunny have a blockage from eating plastic or something, or has he been moulting badly? The drugs you've been given will stimulate the gut to move, so if there's a blockage that will make things worse - Is Deek bloated up with gas too?

Baby infacol with a gentle tummy massage can help shift wind if Deek has pain from that - But usually stasis comes on over a number of days, the first signs being less poo or smaller poos - did you notice a change like that? If it's very sudden then it's likely to be a blockage rather than stasis - in which case painkiller (metacam) is good but the outlook is not I'm afraid :(

lactulose sounds like a type of sugar to me too? - which will make gas worse if he has stasis - the main thing he needs is water, as if there is a blockage or slow gut then water will keep the stomach contents moist enough to pass through - did the vet inject fluids too?

Good luck with him :?
 
hiya,
sorry to hear bout your bun :(
could be stasis or bloat as bloat gives the hunched appearance from pain and is quite sudden in onset.sudden depression inappetance not pooing or drinking hunched up n may even grind his teeth.body temp often subnormal n depression n weakness may progress rapidly.

bloat can be seen on xray and as he's slipping i'd say get him back to the vets. there are things they can try such as fluids but bloat has a guarded prognosis,sorry :cry:

keep him warm n tell em to get their rabbit medicine n surgery book out!

love n nose rubs to deek let us know how you get on

love claire xxxxxxxxxxx
 
hi again,
as bloat is often due to a foreign body or trichobezoars,hairballs to the common man these are thought to be helped by the enzyme bromelain found in pineapple juice so may be worth remembering this for future ref. ,larger hairballs are often secondary to gut motility disorders so deek could have chronic stasis as suggested however the difference between the 2 is that stasis is more progressive wheras bloat is very rapid in onset as in dogs and time is of the essence

clairexxxxxxxx
 
Lactulose is a very sweet sugary laxative, by mixing pineapple juice with a little laxative it can help help break down a blockage and allow them to pass it if there is a suspicion of a fur ball or similiar blockage or else it is sometimes used to increase the movement of the gut.

Janice
 
Deek has gone to the bridge

Thanks for the replies, I took Deek back the the vet where they gave him fluids under the skin and intravenously, unfortunately he didn't make it, as you can imagine I'm devastated............less than 24 hours ago he was running around as normal.......it all happened so quickly and now he's gone.

Val
 
I'm so very sorry :cry: :cry: :cry: Poor you, what a shock - GI Stasis is so quick and that is why it is called the silent killer :cry: :cry:
Run free in the eternal sunshine little Deek - play and run in the lush green grass - xxxxx
 
hi

Aww - sorry you lost him - I didn't want to say but it sounded exactly like what happened to my bunny Pepsi - it came on too suddenly to be GI stasis, although that's what the vet treated him for automatically when she heard about his symptoms - I said at the time 'what if he has a blockage' and she said they treat them all the same as if it's a blockage they rarely survive surgery on the gut :(

24 hours later he had died, but my one comfort was that he'd had painkillers, so I didn't feel he'd suffered too much.

I found an article afterwards that said it's possible to do a stomach pump on a rabbit, but most vets wouldn't be aware of this and would treat with motility agents like metaclopromide - Really the rabbit needs to be treated for shock, and the IV fluids can't be absorbed when an animal is in shock, so it's not a good outlook - But treating a blockage/bloat in the same way as you would treat stasis is a disaster :(
 
SO sorry to hear about your bunny. It does creep up quickly. I nearly lost Squidgy to stasis a few months after he came to me, it's a horrible thing.
Hugs to you. Binky free Deek.
 
I too lost my jasper to gut statis and the vets did everything they could for him. I am very suprised that the vet expected you to give him all that medication yourself, he should have been in the vets getting fluid and being syringe fed from the start.

There is probably nothing else they could have done though and you should never blame yourself though.

Keep strong.....
 
I am so sorry to here your sad news, I have only just seen the thread.
Take care and thinking of you
Kayx
 
sorry to hear your news. i have just been through the same thing with Kia so i know how awful it is. like others i am suprised the vet expected you to administer the drugs. i had to syringe feed kia and that wasn't easy so having to give drugs couldn't have been easy.
take care.
 
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