Help for bun with GI stasis please....

Grace has stopped eating and pooing, nothing for 36 hours now. Been to vets this morning, he gave her Maxolon, piankiller and Baytirl plus a short course of oral Baytril. Got an appointment tomorrow first thing, and the vet we saw today mentioned a dental for spurs tomorrow if shes no better, yet he didn't look at her back teeth. So I'm no too happy that he really knew what he was doing.

This evening, she's ok in herself, she's still playing with her blanket and hopping about. She ate half a pellet about half an hour ago. I've been syringing her some science recovery intermitantly.

Anything else I should be doing?

Nicola

Tummy rubs are very good in case she has a gassy tummy. Have you got any fresh greens or herbs in that you can tempt her to eat with?

Good luck, I'm going through this with Amy at the mo, it's so worrying, though she has been going to the toilet and eating intermittently!

Nicola

I dont think your vets advice is quite right. Both my buns have had the beginnings of stasis this week and teeth was the first thing they looked at.

Have a read of this by Jane which helped me. Perhaps you could show it your vet:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=27534&highlight=stasis

Do you have any infacol? Its for babies wind and helps reduce gassiness in buns- they sell it in supermarkets and chemists usually. I was told 2ml to start with.

I'm not sure Baytril's any good for stasis :? It upsets the gut bacteria, or something like that.
It sounds like you're doing all the right things though, especially if she's still moving about, and is getting food in her.
It took Bobby 3 days to recover when he stopped eating. He had 3 doses of metoclopramide and on the second day I was given some liquid parafin, as the vet could feel a small blockage in his tummy.
Hope she feels better soon.

http://www.mybunny.org/info/gi_stasis.htm this is quite a useful article

I would definitely try some probiotic (especially due to the Baytril - very tough on the stomach. I had a guinea pig that got awful diarrhoea and griping stomach pains from Baytril. It was resolved by probiotic though).

Thankyou all for your advice. Benn trying tummy rubs which she seems to like. Sending hubby to get infacol from Tesco.

That link about GI stasis did give me a thought. Grace has been molting like mad since we got her a couple of months ago (she went from being an outside bun to an inside one) so maybe she's got a hairball. My other thought was we tried a meeting with her and our bonded trio, and I perhaps thought it had stressed her out cos there was a lot of scrapping.

Anyway I'm certainly not happy to let the vet give her a GA for a dental that may not even be neccessary. I hope I see a different vet in the morning. In fact I think I will request to.

Nicola

I have always had a feeling that Dusty's last bout of stasis was caused by a fur ball. It coincided with Clover having stringy poos, so my theory is that it was caused by grooming Clover.

Supplementing with Oxbow papaya and pineapple tablets has solved the stringy poos problem.

If the vet think he needs baytril ask for them to show you how to do injections so he can have the injectable stuff. They can draw it up into the syringes for you ready. Baytril is hard on the tummy so likely to worsen gut problems.

Probiotic is a good idea Just tempt he with whatever is her favourite.

It can be hard to get a good look at the back teeth whilst a rabbit is concsious but they usually atleast try using an ear scope. Does she have a history of teeth problems?

Tam

Been to vets again this morning. Saw a different vet to yesterday. He had a look at her teeth properly and said they looked ok. She doesn't have a history of teeth problems as far as I know. The vet gave her another injection of Maxolon.

She has pooed a tiny bit overnight. I gave her some infacol aswell. She seems pretty lively though despite everything.

I'm hoping she's on the mend now.

Nicola

Also: The vet told me to keep going with the oral Baytril. I havent given her any yet, I want to hold off until things start moving

We have poo!!!! Only a bit, but a sure sign of things moving again.

Nicola

great news!!!

sounds hopeful! I think you were right to hold off with the baytril too - and right in thinking hairball was causing the problem. When my bunnies go into a moult I give them a bromelain tablet every day with their pellets.

You can buy them at Holland & Barrett or health shops - they are chewable pineapple enzyme, and smell lovely! The enzyme helps to keep the mass of hair and food moist as it passes through the gut - otherwise it can dry out and get stuck, eventually rupturing the gut (as I found with poor Pepsi )

I also give more pellets when mine are moulting - a couple of teaspoons extra - as they seem to get very run down with a moult, and if they are high fibre pellets it help to keep the gut moving, although hay is best of course.

Also put the water in a dish rather than a bottle, as this encourages them to drink, keeping the gut contents moist. My outside bunnies love a splash of hot water from the kettle in their dish this weather, to take the chill off the water.

An alternative to Infacol is fruit flavour Rennie rapize - Maa loves the raspberry flavoured ones and it saves syringing, which is stressful for them.

hi im going through it with Bif right now..shes had 4 jabs of metaclopromide now and no amazing change..
i too am miffed the vet didnt check her teeth whilst she was under..oh they said she only had a dental in september..and the spurs then were only tiny..um ok but when they put her under it turned out the spur at the back was hidden and ulcerated her tongue!
so next week im going in moaning!
Shes not eating hay well enough or small items which makes me think its def her teeth..let alone this cancer scare shes under right now!

I keep infacol in and rabbit recovery..lectade when im feeling flush and my fave remedy of all time...PROTEXIN BIO LAPIS...its 5 sachets to one course..one sachet daily..sprinkled on food or in water or in severe cases mixed with 50ml water and syringed..its like this that it rehydrates the bunny and floods the gut with beneficial flora.
Also if dehydration is suspected..keep some dioralyte or something similar in..its basically what lectade is!

The bio lapis says 5 days course but if you can use at least 10 days..and then invest in a tub of protexin pro fibre..basically a fubre packed prebiotic pellet to add ot food or to feed alone in times of tummy upsets.
You can even buy a carrot flavoured probiotic paste by protexin!! In the same vein..invest in a tub of AVI PRO powder. The good news is the protexin pro fibre and the paste is great for tummy disorders in piggies too!

It is of veterinary opinion that bunnies hairballs do not exist like in a cat..its the fact the gut is actually sluggish or in throes of early gi stasis and the fur gets stuck up with undigested food and grease. One of my old bunny savvy vets once told me that if yousee a few string of pearls poos give a smallamount of liquid paraffin to lubricate and pass the fur safely. I finally found somehwere that sells it..its really hard to come by!
Berties on baytril and septrin right now for 10 days for his bladder and the vet said as the antibiotics are so harsh he must have protexin along with Bif..

the mistake i made with oscar was thinking he played around and pooed a wee bit and ate a wee bit and he then seemd a little worse but the vet didnt seem panicked so i wasnt..oh how wrong i was.
Things that make gi stasis worse..antibiotics...its why Bif cant have any in case its an infection..

If theres any cnahce you can geta few syringefuls of fluid with infacol every hour for a few hours and then every couple of hours for at least 24 hrs along with protexin and even purreed baby food like organic fruit or vegetable ones..its more palatable for recovery slop to go in this and feed it off a tiny spoon which they grab and chew in anger and ingest the stuff wihtout your help! syringing recovery is awful and stressful for you both...so is spooning it in but you have more control instead of a stuck syringe!
Tonight ive fed them with science selective and a few tablespoons of pro fibre..handfuls of timmy hays and water with protexin fluid mix in it.

tomorrow im withdrawing the food and replacing it with the pro fibre pellets..ohbut no..ittl worsen the stasis..yup the slightest change of diet can produce gi stasis and so can stress but that also mean picking up on your stress with relationship problems..family and friends problems and work problems..they are such sensitive little animals..

Bonding is indeed a very stressful time for all involved..might be wise to get a tub of avi pro and a tub of protexin pro fibre and use it on all the bunnies..stress rars it ugly head when youleast expect it!

good luck..

oh i nearly forgot...

http://www.petvetcare.co.uk/acatalog/digestion.html

http://www.penstone-petstore.co.uk/acatalog/

http://www.hyperdrug.com/searchprods.asp

i used protexin last few times with bif and it def helps..

maybe the gi stasis meds could be a pinned topic...?