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  • Please Note - Medical Advice

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Axl - Stasis and ?chest infection

bunny momma said:
I am glad he is as happy to be home as you and your family are to have him back home. When it is time to stop meds, you may want to ask your vet about stopping them one at a time and tapering off on gut motility drugs rather than stopping them abruptly.
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Yes I had already considered this on my journey home yesterday! Great minds!
 
MightyMax said:
Dare I ask how he's doing today? :)
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Tentatively I think we are ok-ish......he ate all his breakfast over a couple of sittings this morning (one egg cup SS) and he has eaten bits and bobs throughout the day here and there - fibasticks, a little hay and some herbs. I syringe fed him this morning before work and only managed to get about 15mls into him before he had clearly had enough of me so didn't want to stress him more. He's currently nomming on a fibastick now after some syringe feeding this evening. Unfortunately despite supposedly feeding about 20mls worth he didn't really eat much of it as he spat out a fair chunk! He is not eating as much hay as I would like

He has maybe dropped a bit of weight since yesterday which is concerning me a little - vet yesterday said he was 2.03kg on discharge but he just weighed in at 1.950 on my scales here which is a loss of around 12% body weight since this all started (usual weight is around 2.22kg).....however obviously there could be a bit of scale discrepancy so prob have a slightly more accurate picture tomorrow when I weigh him again on our scales..... (very tricky weighing a rabbit on kitchen scales!!). If he's dropped again tomorrow then I can have the discussion with the vet about what we should do as we're due to touch base on Friday anyway. Currently I'm syringe feeding him excel dual care recovery food but tomorrow I plan to soak his SS pellets for syringing instead and see if that improve his feed intake a little.

In himself he is fairly bright and our poo output seems good with some nice big ones in there, but they are quite dark due to him favouring his readigrass, herbs etc I think but his appetite is definitely not at its usual level just yet. Vet did say that they had given him an anabolic steroid as an appetite stimulant so in the back of my mind I am a little worried that this may be the reason why he seemed to be suddenly eating better and that as the affect of that wears off over time that we might find ourselves back to where we were, esp given today's potential weight loss.....but we will see!
 
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JackieS said:
Tentatively I think we are ok-ish......he ate all his breakfast over a couple of sittings this morning (one egg cup SS) and he has eaten bits and bobs throughout the day here and there - fibasticks, a little hay and some herbs. I syringe fed him this morning before work and only managed to get about 15mls into him before he had clearly had enough of me so didn't want to stress him more. He's currently nomming on a fibastick now after some syringe feeding this evening. Unfortunately despite supposedly feeding about 20mls worth he didn't really eat much of it as he spat out a fair chunk! He is not eating as much hay as I would like

He has maybe dropped a bit of weight since yesterday which is concerning me a little - vet yesterday said he was 2.03kg on discharge but he just weighed in at 1.950 on my scales here which is a loss of around 12% body weight since this all started (usual weight is around 2.22kg).....however obviously there could be a bit of scale discrepancy so prob have a slightly more accurate picture tomorrow when I weigh him again on our scales..... (very tricky weighing a rabbit on kitchen scales!!). If he's dropped again tomorrow then I can have the discussion with the vet about what we should do as we're due to touch base on Friday anyway. Currently I'm syringe feeding him excel dual care recovery food but tomorrow I plan to soak his SS pellets for syringing instead and see if that improve his feed intake a little.

In himself he is fairly bright and our poo output seems good with some nice big ones in there, but they are quite dark due to him favouring his readigrass, herbs etc I think but his appetite is definitely not at its usual level just yet. Vet did say that they had given him an anabolic steroid as an appetite stimulant so in the back of my mind I am a little worried that this may be the reason why he seemed to be suddenly eating better and that as the affect of that wears off over time that we might find ourselves back to where we were, esp given today's potential weight loss.....but we will see!
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That all sounds pretty good to me :)

I am surprised to be honest, that he hasn't dropped more weight - the syringing that the vet and yourselves have been doing has obviously been of great help to him.

I'm glad he's bright and eating fairly well. I wouldn't worry about the anabolic steroid - in my experience of rabbits having it, it doesn't give a *massive* increase in appetite. Not so much as other things I've tried :) And it's effect normally lasts between 5 and 6 weeks, so no dropping off soon I hope. By that time his gut should be working really well, and hopefully with the weather turning much nicer, his spirits will lift and he'll get the spring back in his step for sure :)
 
MightyMax said:
That all sounds pretty good to me :)

I am surprised to be honest, that he hasn't dropped more weight - the syringing that the vet and yourselves have been doing has obviously been of great help to him.

I'm glad he's bright and eating fairly well. I wouldn't worry about the anabolic steroid - in my experience of rabbits having it, it doesn't give a *massive* increase in appetite. Not so much as other things I've tried :) And it's effect normally lasts between 5 and 6 weeks, so no dropping off soon I hope. By that time his gut should be working really well, and hopefully with the weather turning much nicer, his spirits will lift and he'll get the spring back in his step for sure :)
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Oh that is reassuring to hear MM! Thank you! I'm going to buy some other types of hay that I know he likes normally see if that tempts him too! I swear he's playing me just for treats hahaha
 
We have had much better success with syringing a mixture of SS pellets soaked in warm water containing bio-lapis, than we did with critical care food, so I think we will stick with that, he seems to much prefer the taste. I'm hoping that maybe tomorrow we can stop the syringe feeds anyway.........

We have some lovely big poops although still quite dark, aiming to start trying to cut down the herbs/greens we have been giving to try and encourage more hay eating, and get back to the golden poos we usually have.

And weight is up today! Yay 1.950 --> 1.982kg
We're touching base with the specialist vet tomorrow by phone so will see what he has to say
 
JackieS said:
We have had much better success with syringing a mixture of SS pellets soaked in warm water containing bio-lapis, than we did with critical care food, so I think we will stick with that, he seems to much prefer the taste. I'm hoping that maybe tomorrow we can stop the syringe feeds anyway.........

We have some lovely big poops although still quite dark, aiming to start trying to cut down the herbs/greens we have been giving to try and encourage more hay eating, and get back to the golden poos we usually have.

And weight is up today! Yay 1.950 --> 1.982kg
We're touching base with the specialist vet tomorrow by phone so will see what he has to say
Click to expand...


I've found bunnies either don't like, or soon get fed up of Critical Care. I often grind up their pellets and mix it with some organic fruity or veg baby food and it goes down much better. One of mine particularly liked blueberries and bananas :)

I'm glad his weight is up :)

Lovely that the poos are big, but as you say, a golden boulder is to die for!

I hope you all have a peaceful night :D
 
I like the Critical Care because it seems to contain some ingredients beyond that of pellets. Some of my bunnies also dislike the taste so I will often mix the Critical Care with ground up pellets.
When I read about your bunny's weight loss, my first though was a change in his hydration. However, based on your latest post he is doing much better.
It is nice to hear that your commitment to your bunny has been rewarded with the pot of golden poos at the end of the rainbow!
 
Just a little update incase anyone is interested! Axl is now off all meds. His appetite is crazy good and we have golden boulders! Just submitted the bill to the insurance company - ouch! Fingers crossed no more illness till January please!

Thank you to everyone for your vibes and advice :) I would post a photo of the main man himself but my my photobucket has a mind of its own!
 
JackieS said:
Just a little update incase anyone is interested! Axl is now off all meds. His appetite is crazy good and we have golden boulders! Just submitted the bill to the insurance company - ouch! Fingers crossed no more illness till January please!

Thank you to everyone for your vibes and advice :) I would post a photo of the main man himself but my my photobucket has a mind of its own!
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That's really kind of you to post an update, Jackie. I am very glad to hear this :D

Which insurance company are you with? People on here are often looking for advice and feedback.
 
We're with Pets at Home. Only had to claim once before now, for a stasis episode 3 years ago and they paid out without issue, but it wasn't as expensive as this claim
 
JackieS said:
We're with Pets at Home. Only had to claim once before now, for a stasis episode 3 years ago and they paid out without issue, but it wasn't as expensive as this claim
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I've heard good things about Pets at Home Insurance. More recent policies seem to be administered by PetPlan, and are more expensive for new customers.

I'm glad they paid up for you :D
 
JackieS said:
Just a little update incase anyone is interested! Axl is now off all meds. His appetite is crazy good and we have golden boulders! Just submitted the bill to the insurance company - ouch! Fingers crossed no more illness till January please!

Thank you to everyone for your vibes and advice :) I would post a photo of the main man himself but my my photobucket has a mind of its own!
Click to expand...

I am so pleased to read the update and that Axl is now doing well :D

Which is more than can be said for dear old Photobucket these days !..................:roll:
 
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