Looking after bunny with GI Stasis

[Jindivik]

Hi all, i forgot i was a member here, i came looking for advice on our old bunny who sadly passed away a few years ago from GI Stasis, well 3 years on & the rabbit we have now is going through the same thing

3 years ago last friday our old rabbit got GI Stasis & Unfortunately died, the rabbit we have now, we will have had it 3 years last saturday, and that's the date we took her to the vets, coincidence or what :shock:

We took her to the normal vets saturday morning where the vet checked her over, teeth were ok so that's not what caused the problem, earlier on in the week she was playing & somehow hurt a claw on her foot so maybe that has something to do with it?...anyway

The vet said she would keep her in for saturday daytime where she was syringe fed & given meds to try get things moving, no joy so she recommended we took her to the 24hr animal hospital, she spend 3 nights in there, when she went in the vet said he could hear gut sounds, but not as many as there should be, managed to get her eating little bits & she started to poop again, although they are really tiny & not very much at all!

brought her home last night & shes still quite poorly, spent most of the night & day just lying around, vets gave us 0.8mg of zantac to be given 3 times a day. She's had a small amount of water but isn't really interested in her hay at all which i guess is bad, show her parsley or carrot though & she will devour it, i soaked the parsley in water too so she would take on some more water.

When i saw her reaction to that, i thought of a new trick i could try, i got some little pieces of hay into flat bundle sort of things & dipped them in water & she ate a little

going back to the vets with her tomorrow morning so they can see how she's getting on, she's hardly pooped at all all night & today which is worrying & the ones she does are tiny, her belly seems a little bloated too but i hope it will settle down some more, shes a little more lively today than she was last night too which is hopefully a good thing

sorry it's an essay, if anyone can offer any further advice it would be much appreciated, those with experience, does it sound like she's on the right track? girlfriend was devestated when the last rabbit passed so we are just hoping Speckle(her name) can get better

Thanks all :wave:

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Is she having any pain relief ??

 

[GrahamL]

Is she on metacam or other pain relief?

 

[Silly 'bunny mummy'!!!]

I know what you're going through and it really is such a worry isn't it. Parsnip by big bun has bouts of this every now and again and like yours is in the vets for a night. Even though the vets said he was eating and pooping whenever I got him home he just laid around and looked pretty miserable so it can take a while for buns to begin to get better I'm afraid. You really do need to keep an eye on your bunny and if you're in any doubt and think there is pain involved then please call the vet as it could just mean another pain killer injection just to make your bun more comfortalbe. I did find some very fresh herbs work wonders for sick buns, try parsley, basil, thyme and the old favorite cabbage too just to start Speckle nibbling and if you soak all of them in water frist as least Speckle will be drinking somehting too. I do totally argee with the other comments as pain relief is vital. I do hope all goes well, please let us all know how things go.

 

[Jindivik]

The vets seemed quite content on sending her home with just the Zantac, to be honest i was thinking about pain relief too, she doesn't seem to be in any pain at the moment, grooming herself quite happily & even ventured out of the cage to come say hello, since my first comment she spent about 10 mins in her litter tray & passed a few more little poops.

Got me worrying about the pain relief now though

edit:

just read the invoice from the emergency vets, not sure if they gave her anything more but on the list is the zantac, metoclopramide injection 10mg/2ml & vetergesic multi dose 10ml

 

[Custardfriend]

Sorry you're going through such a hard time with your bunny. Our Custard had repeated bouts of GI stasis and was always grumpy, sluggish and picky over his food when we got hom home (parsley, rose and lots of hay were always favourites). We would always get three medicines from our vets metacam, metaclopramide (AKA maxolon) and zantac and they said that the first two drugs were the most important.
Hope Speckle is her normal self soon.

 

[paulinejoe]

I know exactly what you are going through too, the exact same thing happened to me last thursday, the vet said he wasn't 100% but thought he'd do better at home but he just nibbled on odd bits and lay there looking miserable and went downhill fast and ended up with full on stasis again and another 3 nights in animal hospital

I really think metacam is essential, and all the zantac does is reduce acid in the stomach, i would imagine she would need some gut motility drugs to help get things moving such as metaclopramide and another one beginning with g that i can't remember the name of. Joes also got fibreplex a probiotic fibre paste. She could maybe benefit from some syringe feeding to keep some food and fluid moving through her system too.

You know your bun best, and if you feel she isn't right then she probably isn't so I'd get her back off to the vets for them to listen to her gut sounds and see if there are some more drugs they could give her.

Somebuns respond to one injection and are fine but others need more intensive care

Sorry you lost your other rabbit at around the same date, it must be brigning back some horrible memories. I hope this little one gets better soon xx

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Zantac will actually act to increase hind gut motility aswell as reducing gastric acidity.

The Vetergesic given is an opiate analgesic and will only give analgesic cover for about 6-8 hours. So I would think it reasonable to expect a NSAID such as Metacam to be prescribed for ongoing pain control.

Good hydration is an absolute essential too. This may need to be given by subcutaneous injections aswell as orally.

 

[Jindivik]

thanks all, i'm waiting on a callback from the vets now, i don't want to have to take her, my girlfriend is the only one that drives & is stuck in work until 6:30 when the vet is closed, otherwise it's a mile & half walk which i think would be too stressful considering the past few days she's had, shes quite bright, just gave her her 2nd dose of zantac for today, she wasn't impressed lol, hopefully the vet will prescribe some extras without me having to take her with me, i'm guessing they will get me to ring the animal hospital to ask them though

 

[paulinejoe]

Zantac will actually act to increase hind gut motility aswell as reducing gastric acidity.

.

i stand corrected! I was just relaying what my vet had told me each thing did.

 

[parsnipbun]

Zantac will actually act to increase hind gut motility aswell as reducing gastric acidity.

The Vetergesic given is an opiate analgesic and will only give analgesic cover for about 6-8 hours. So I would think it reasonable to expect a NSAID such as Metacam to be prescribed for ongoing pain control.

Good hydration is an absolute essential too. This may need to be given by subcutaneous injections aswell as orally.

I completely agree.

 

[Jindivik]

EEEEE stress! just spoke to vet on the phone & she said pretty much what i expected...any concerns then give the people at the hospital a ring where she came from, theres no way for me to get there though. Shes going to the local vets tomorrow, 9AM appointment so nice & early, i'll just have to try my best with her tonight, should i try perhaps syringing her some water too along with the zantac so she is getting more fluid? i tried making her a cup of tea (crushed up some parsley in some water...bunny tea haha) & she fished out the parsley from it. To be honest she hasnt had greens like that as much as she should have i don't think so i don't want to just rely on that...i'll keep trying to encourage her with hay too & hope she feels a little bit better later on/tomorrow.

again...thanks everyone

 

[rachylou]

Sorry to hear your bun is not well, GI statis is awful! And every bunny owners worst nightmare!
I do not mean to add any more stress to an already stressful situation but tomorrow MAY be too late, if she is not eating enough to keep her gut moving and is in pain.

As long as the vet has rulled out a blockage then there are things you can try at home BUT if she does not improve or there is any doubt about ehwr condition then she needs to be taken to the vets TODAY!

You could try...

• Tummy rubs to gently ease some gas and make her feel more comfortable
• Syring feed cooled boiled peppermint/nettle tea to help with hydration
• Try finding bramble leaves and dandelion leaves and flowers as these are great to get bun eating
• Syring feed a fruit baby food (NO meat or dairy) if you do not have any critical care/science recovery
• Try and get her to eat what ever she wants at the moment as the most improtant thing right now is to keep her gut moving!
• Administer Infacol or Gripe water to ease the gas

 

[Jindivik]

got her to the vets this morning, vet had a listen & there are still gut sounds going on & she said she doesn't feel bloated. gave her an injection, i think it was a painkiller, she said anti inflammatory that should last about 48 hours? & was given SS recovery food, a syringe of fibreplex, 2 graduations 3 times a day & metoclopramide 0.5mls 2 times a day, & said i can stop the zantac....wish me luck trying to get the recovery into her :shock:

 

[rachylou]

If it were me I would continue with the zantac as we have had good results with it combined with the metaclop. BUT I AM NOT A VET!
Good luck and I hope she perks up soon!

 

[Jindivik]

i thought that too, don't think it will do any harm continuing with it? theres only 3 or so more doses left anyway, she's still keen on parsley & a little bit of carrot to tease her to eat, we've never given basil or kale or anything like that before so should i just keep to what i'm doing or would trying other types of herbs be ok for her? still not interested in water but shes still having wee's & the odd little poop is still coming out, they seem to be a little bit bigger now too

 

[Jindivik]

here she is when she is in her mischivious mood

 

[rachylou]

I would say that when it comes to statis the most important thing is to get them eating, so I should not think other herbs in small quantities would be a problem, generally speaking herbs are easy on the stomach anyway so you could try some basil, mint and dill, but also keep going with lots of parsley if she is eating it.

She is gorgeous by the way!!

 

[rachylou]

... sorry forgot to answer. No it should not do any harm continuing to finish the full dose of the zantac.

 

[Jindivik]

good news! poops are flowing a lot better, still not the right size, but uniform in shape and more plentiful everyday!i even a cecotrope but she decided not to eat it. still not very interested in hay or wayter which is probably why her poos are a bit small, tricking her into taking water & hay by wrapping hay around the parsley or leaving it in her waterbowl so she has to fish it out meds finish today though so i'm a little worried we may be back to square one but shes at the vets for a checkup today so will explain that to them, it's a shame really because she likes the fibreplex now! i began by smearing it on her herbs but now she noms it right from the tube