gut problems again but quite bad this time

Some of you probably know already but my rabbit Honey is very prone to going off her food. Here's a timeline of what's happened today...

2.30pm Honey seemed fine and was running about the garden as usual

5.00pm Came home from work to find her hunched up and refusing food. Gave her 2ml of Fibreplex and 2ml of Infacol

6.20pm Gave one dose of metacam

8.30pm After not much change I rung the emergency number of a vet that is not my usual one but was recommended by people here. They said that they wouldn't do anything more for her than I was already doing so it was a waste of time bringing her in. I was told to give her some critical care or veg based baby food and bring her in first thing tomorow if she hadn't improved.

9.00pm: Gave her 15ml of critical care plus another 2ml infacol and 2ml fibreplex.

At this point in time I had to go out for 2 hours but when I gave back her stomach looks very rounded and bloaty. She's not moving around much and is only nibbling on tiny pieces of hay. At the moment we have her in out kitchen with a carry box and a litter tray neither of which she has used.

She may have done some very small poos at around 7.30pm but as she was in the shed at the time with Roly I couldn't be sure if they were hers.

I've tried belly rubs etc and they don't seem to help. Can anyone suggest anything else? I can take her to my old vet that weren't great with her last time but at least they would see her if I rang.

I think she needs to see an emergency vet tonight - right now. There is a lot more that an emergency vet can do than we can do at home - this is:
A thorough exam
An opiate pain relief injection (far more effective than metacam in the acute stages of bloat/stasis)
Fluids given sub-cutaneously to keep her hydrated and prevent any dried ingesta in the guts becoming even more dried and impacted. In fact FLUIDS and STRONG PAIN RELIEF are the ESSENTIAL THINGS that are needed at this point which is why seeing an emergency vet is so important at these times.
If she is too unresponsive then she may need a drip for fluids IV rather than sub-cut but that is up to the vet that sees her.
If the vet you rang said not to bring her in then I would either ring them back and insist and say you want these things done - or take her back to your old vet's emergency out of hours.
If this was my bun, despite the fact I have all stasis meds at home, I would still take bunny in and my vet would agree - for the fluids and opiate pain relief. If Honey is not fully obstructed then some Maxolon (metclopramide) and zantac (ranitidine) will also be helpful, but this is up to the vet after examination.
Good luck - I would take her in immediately. Meanwhile keep her warm, you can try oral fluids at home (stewed herbal tea like fennel, or camomile) and encourage her to move around a bit. But personally I would take her in right away.

ETA I would insist on the fluids whether vet feels she is hydrated sufficiently or not, she might be hydrated now, but if the pain is too bad or the stasis too advanced then she may not resume eating/drinking tonight by herself, if this is the case then these extra fluids will tide her over. I always ask for fluids and in my experience with my stasis prone bun it makes an awfully big difference to how quickly they recover. The last emergency vet gave them IP - not something I was terribly happy about but it worked very quickly and demonstrates how much the bowel and surrounding tissues needs them to prevent any more being drawn out of the bowel to preserve CV output. I always top up once back at home with oral fluids too and I would suggest you keep tempting her with herbs and other tasty leaves throughout the night, even if the opiates make her sleepy, dependent on how bad her bloat is of course.

Just as I posted that message she's decided to have a wander about the kitchen and has been nibbling on some of the hay and grated veg I left. She also took quite abig drink about 30mins ago.

I've going to wait an hour and see if she continues to pick up. She's not looking quite so bloaty (dunno if she's passed wind). She's also sitting up now instead of lying stretched out. I'll give it til 2am then I'll ring the vet again if there's no change. I think I'll just go back to my old vet, the guy I spoke to on the phone gave me the impression he really didn't want to have to examine her.

Crunchie said:

Just as I posted that message she's decided to have a wander about the kitchen and has been nibbling on some of the hay and grated veg I left. She also took quite abig drink about 30mins ago.

I've going to wait an hour and see if she continues to pick up. She's not looking quite so bloaty (dunno if she's passed wind). She's also sitting up now instead of lying stretched out. I'll give it til 2am then I'll ring the vet again if there's no change. I think I'll just go back to my old vet, the guy I spoke to on the phone gave me the impression he really didn't want to have to examine her.

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Oh that's good news.... I think all your emergency home medicine and treatments has pulled her back from the brink just in time.... well done. Ok, yeah just keep a close eye on her and reasses as you say in an hour or so. I expect the metacam and other meds have started to kick in now. I would work on the fluids, great she has had some, get her to have as much fluid as possible, offering wet leaves is a good trick, and I often offer mine a water bowl plain and one with herbal tea in as well. Yes I would go back to your old vet - any vet can do fluids and opiates - I would rather have one who cared enough to try! Good luck and just stay with it - i'm sure she's gonna be ok. Just keep her eating, drinking, warm and give her an hour or two with the lights off for a little rest as well. Well done.
Goodnight and good luck. I hope she feels better soon.

Thanks prettylupin, she is currently wandering around the kitchen and has eaten some hay and a small handful of grated carrot. I'll keep my eyes peeled for some poo but she's hoovering up any wee bits of hay and greens she finds and is actually eating them (not just nibbling). Hopefully she's feeling a bit better now.

Keeps trying to get into the dining room though (I think she likes the carpet in there for some reason). I'm on the floor with some cushions and a duvet so I don't fancy waking up to find she's gotten in.:shock:

How is Honey this morning?

hope shes ok today :wave::wave::wave:

I went to bed at about 2am after she had some more to eat and done some poos in the litter tray.

Got up again at about 5 then again at 8 and she had stuff to eat then too. We let her and Roly into the kitchen to have a wee run and sniff about but the pair obviously wanted back outside. I gave her the 2ml of fibreplex, 2ml of infacol and another dose of metacam.

They've been running about in the garden for the past hour but we'll shut them back in their hutch/run in a wee while.

I watched her do some poos on the grass just there and although they are a tiny bit on the small side they look more or less normal. Hopefully she'll be OK but I'll give her 3 doses of the fibreplex today. I think running about in the garden has helped a bit.

Thank goodness we managed to avoid further problems this time. Wish we knew what causes her to do this though.:?

I'm so sorry to hear that Honey is having GI problems again.
I'm pleased that she is improving today. She's a lovely bun.

Some buns seem to have sensitive tummies. I could only be aware of the sort of things which caused problems, but found in the end that it was often several different factors in short succession which worked together to cause the event.
Sometimes we never find a cause.
As we get more used to it, & learn to recognize the early signs as you did, we manage to avert the more serious episodes.
Everything crossed for wee Honey & thinking of you.