Statis & Gas

[lovemybuns]

Hi there fellow bunny lovers! I'm new to the forum and would like to say a big HELLO to all forum users and their beloved pets!

I have just purchased/rescued a bunny who I have named Freya.

I previously purchased a rabbit from the same breeder, Teddy.
Teddy was a good weight and in good condition when I bought him. He had some challenges with caecotrophy at first (not doing it) but I have learnt that he is best on a mostly hay diet with occasional pellets and vegetables, just a couple of times a week.
He gets a wide variety of hays daily and fresh untreated grass while out running in the garden. His caecotrophy has improved drastically.
Because he has less pellets and vegetables, I do provide him with multi vitamins in his drinking water occasionally to compensate on any he may be missing from daily pellet feeds, vegetables and fruit.

When collecting Freya, I realised that the breeder was unable to take care of her bunnies as she had done previously as she has returned to work full time.
This was evident in the general tidiness of hutches.

Freya had a messy bottom. I knew this wasn't good as it wasn't the usual tiny bit of mess that can occur on baby rabbits due to transition onto pellets, it was gathered stuck droppings on her fur.

I suffer with anxiety and did not feel comfortable discussing the matter with the breeder in person.
I also noticed evidence of mites as Freya has dandruff flakes on her skin.

I decided that I would pay and take the bunny regardless. That if I didn't buy her, there would be other people that wouldn't know how to deal with these issues willing to buy her.

The breeder has taken on my advice and is treating all of her rabbits and seeking veterinary care now I have highlighted the issues to her. She was aware there was a problem but was previously unsure how to deal with it. I have provided her with ample information and am confident she will make changes and discontinue breeding, at least for the time being.

Once getting Freya home I saw she was very bloated, shaky and skinny beneath the bloat.
10 weeks old and only weighing 600 grams. Her spine is prominent.

picture advertised:

Picture of abdominal distention, balding around vent area/inner legs:

She has been treated with topical ivermectin which I will repeat in a weeks time and then again if need be.

She is also in quarantine in my spare bedroom so not to contaminate my other bunnies which are kept at a separate address all together.

The spare room is my reptile room where my iguanas live. The vivariums are covered with blackout blinds so the room is not overly lit but the heat from the iguanas vivs make the room warm. I hope this will help her in her recovery.

I've started her on infacol (simeticone) 1ml every 3 hours yesterday and 1ml every 5 hours or so today. Panacur suspension treatment started(worming will be carried out for 31 days).
I've massaged her stomach by hand and with my electric tooth brush - for the vibrations to aid the breakdown of gas bubbles.

This seems to have helped massively, the obvious swelling of her abdomen has reduced, I manually got her to release gas, her appetite is huge for both mixed food which breeder had her on, freeze dried grass, timothy hay, meadow hay, camomile/dandelion/oat/barn dried hay.

She is drinking a lot and is much more lively now.

I have experience with G.I statis, bloat, E.C, mites and many more bunny ailments.

I have started to collect what droppings she has produced. Day one was very minimal and droppings consistent with statis - very small, dark and miss-shaped.

Day two and droppings have both increased in quantity and size. Improvements are already obvious in shape and colour of droppings.

Ceatrophy seems to be taking place but there are some dried out ceacal droppings collected. I expect this is where she has been dehydrated.

I am just wondering what peoples experiences with bunny enema have been?

And if anyone has tried gripe water? Or linseed oil?

I will have her on probiotics (lactobacillus acidophilus, fructo-oligosaccharides, Psyllium Husk) starting tomorrow.

If there is no improvement in the next few days she will go to the vets. If there is any deterioration in her condition she will go to the vets as an emergency be it night or day.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

Ems x

 

[biscandmatt1]

hi, i would take her to a bunny savvy vet right away to be honest. there could be other things going on if there is any type of blockage then treating yourself could make things worse. i hope she will be ok. :wave:

 

[Santa]

Please, please whatever you do, don't even think about a bunny enema! Bunnies intestines are incredibly thin and delicate and there is a far greater risk of you causing severe damage and pain than of solving anything. I would say the same for the electric toothbrush - sounds like a good theory that the vibrations will help the gas, but you risk causing rupture to the delicate tissues of the stomach. I have used gripe water in place of infacol, personally I prefer it as infacol is very sweet and you risk upsetting the gut flora by giving that in large quantities, and that will then create a different problem to the one you are trying to solve.

If her poos are better today than yesterday then it sounds as if she is improving, however I would still recommend getting a thorough check over by a competent bunny vet to ensure that the right medicine is being given for the right condition/s (sometimes it is best to do things in sequence rather than give lots of meds all at once), to ensure that none of the medicines are causing an unintended effect, and to ensure that all bases are covered on getting her to improve.

Good luck x

 

[lovemybuns]

hi, i would take her to a bunny savvy vet right away to be honest. there could be other things going on if there is any type of blockage then treating yourself could make things worse. i hope she will be ok. :wave:

Please, please whatever you do, don't even think about a bunny enema! Bunnies intestines are incredibly thin and delicate and there is a far greater risk of you causing severe damage and pain than of solving anything. I would say the same for the electric toothbrush - sounds like a good theory that the vibrations will help the gas, but you risk causing rupture to the delicate tissues of the stomach. I have used gripe water in place of infacol, personally I prefer it as infacol is very sweet and you risk upsetting the gut flora by giving that in large quantities, and that will then create a different problem to the one you are trying to solve.

If her poos are better today than yesterday then it sounds as if she is improving, however I would still recommend getting a thorough check over by a competent bunny vet to ensure that the right medicine is being given for the right condition/s (sometimes it is best to do things in sequence rather than give lots of meds all at once), to ensure that none of the medicines are causing an unintended effect, and to ensure that all bases are covered on getting her to improve.

Good luck x

Thank you kindly for your replies. I am taking her to see the vets on Thursday. Im going to try gripe water too. I thought the same about the infacol. Thank you.

Her droppings continue to improve in shape, size and colour. Shes still eating loads and drinking loads too. her activity levels have increased, she is now jumping and running which can only stimulate bowl movement right?
After the massages her stomach has gone down considerably and a fair bit of gas released. There are some hard small lumps on the right side of her abdoman, i guess where her small intestines would be. Considering this i have stopped massage but i think it unlikely vets will give me a positive answer on if the benefits of massage outweigh the risks or not. In my experience they do and massage is done very carefully, taking note of how she reacts, so far ive seen her relax and seemingly 'enjoy' massage. But i know it is risky??? :S Its the first time ive used an electric toothbrush...i dont really see how the mild vibrations from it would be enough to tear tissue, even thin and delicate tissue but indeed it certainly could be detremental.

The problem im finding is that of the six veterinary surgeries i have contacted/used, none seem to know rabbits exceptionally well. Even exotic specialist vets. I feel as though im educating them some of the time
Have you ever heard of anyone causing damage with massage? ive only ever heard good things and would expect there to be a lot more warnings about the risks if it was more often detremental? I really dont know whats for the best. I guess after scans/xrays i will have a much better idea. Ill have to push for them though as most vets feel it is not neccessary as immediate action?!?!

I wouldnt dream of doing an enema myself, i can do IV, injections etc but ive never done an enema before and wouldnt risk it myself, especially not on such a tiny and delicate animal. I just wanted to know if anyone has experience regarding them incase it is suggested by vets. I like to be prepared to discuss options in depth and challange ideas presented by vets. I bet my vets love me....NOT! lol.

I have been told by two different vets that infacol will not interact with panacur/ivermectin nor ivermectin and panacur. I was instructed to do this with another rescue bunny of mine when he suffered from statis after EC.
I was able to nurse him back to full health and vets had told me recovery was unlikely...this is a substancial reason as to why i find it difficult to trust vets! I carried him with me at all times, tied to my body with a sheet. I syringe fed him every two hours day and night and generally treated him like a new born baby. When i had left him with the vets, where they didnt have someone with him constantly, he was left laying on one side and developed a bad eye infection and was caked in his own mess. I only let him stay there two nights and they wanted to keep him in but i refused to let him stay any longer. My confidence in veterinary care is really lacking

Again thanks for the advice, i will make the change over to gripe water (suggested to me by an elderly lady at the pharmacy counter- gotta love the traditional ways) and ill update with feedback from vets. Ive already collected droppings for screening yayum! x

 

[lovemybuns]

update

Hi there All! Thanks again for the brilliant advise given regarding my recently rescued bunny 6reya. To update you all on her progress and the feedback from her vets appointment this morning.
Freya is putting on weight rapidly. She's doubled in weight in ten days! She is eating and drinking well and her poos are much more regular now and there's much more of them!

The progress was very rapid in the first 5days but is slowing down as she gets better.
The vet informed I am doing everything correctly.

She was on panacur, simeticone, protextin pro soluble and protexin fibreplex along with plenty of hay of all varieties and I have been syringe feeding her water along with the fibreplex to keep her hydrated.

Now I have changed her from having simeticone, to gripe water. And I now have her on some greens such as curly endive, spring greens, dill, fennel and nasturtium greens to help boost her immune system and act as anti toxins in her gut. The herbs/greens are in very small volumes though.

She was injected with metoclopramide today at the vets and I am to go back in one weeks time. Pain relief was offered however I do not feel she requires any pain meds at this time.

I have been informed that it is safe to give gentle massage by hand and if it is showing to hav e benefits and she is not expressing any discomfort that I can continue.

Her stomach felt 'doughy' indicated dehydration and there was a small build up of faecal matter in her lower bowls. Gentle massage will not cause detriment to either of these problems.

She seems to enjoy massage of her abdomen and passes wind frequently when it is done. After massage she is more lively and more active, running and even jumping.

Freya may always suffer with statis and her poos may never be normal but I am fortunate enough to have the time to closely monitor freya.

I hope she will continue to improve over the next week and that more invasive investigations are not needed.

Also freya is very licky!!! She licks me all the time! I find it hard to believe that she does this because she loves me, or at least I can't believe that to be the sole reason. I have mineral salt licks in the post and I expect she will be very fond on it!! It has been my experience that when rabbits are poorly they lick more often. I am wondering if there is some kind of craving for salts when rabbits are unwell?

of course will the salt lick, I will continue to hydrate Freya with syringe to ensure she is not losing fluids due to the salt lick. Any other experiences regarding health related licking would be much appreciated!

Ems x