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Hello - Week 2 of Stasis (Long read sorry)

Sidditherabbit

Warren Scout
Good morning,

I hope you're all well.

My name is Rich and I have a 7 year old Netherland Dwarf called Siddi / Sid. He's @Sidditherabbit on twitter for updates on his recent progress & flickr for pictures of him that I don't want to ever lose.

https://twitter.com/sidditherabbit / https://www.flickr.com/photos/150482612@N02/with/34630587986/

On the 1st May at 6am, I got up to take him over to get his food, when I found him under my bed, he came charging out but basically as if he was on 3 wheels, and when he ran you could see he was in severe discomfort. We put him in his cage for 20 minutes, he ate a bit and pooped but we decided to take him to the vets for fear of a broken leg. He had Xray's on his spine and hindleg which showed no break, so we were naturally relieved! Unfortunately, Siddi was not eating / pooping and so stayed in the vets until the Wednesday night (3rd), where he had started to appear brighter and eating, BUT he had not pooped. The vets thought by bringing home he would calm down as it's a noisy 24 hour vets and that he would be more comfortable at home. Unfortnately, Siddi suffered a severe seizure at 5am on the 5th May. As I've been sleeping next to his cage I managed to secure him in a blanket to stop him injuring himself anyworse, he was bouncing all over the place and it was one of the most horrible things I've seen. When he started to slow down I thought I was going to lose him, but in auto pilot I threw his bed into the travel box and got him in there and to the 24 hour vets within 20 minutes.

Since then, Sid has made a gradual recovery. You can barely notice he has a sore leg now. He left the vets having been CC fed with meds along with picking the odd veggy and hay while doing poops at about 1/3 his normal size. His personality really started to return and I was seeing him in the vets and got him back late night on the 10th. He has produced some good sized Cecotropes but not fecal pellets atm.

Since he's been home, we have managed to get him eating hay, pellets and dandelion leaves 1/2 times a day along with Critical Care 3-4 times a day (4-5ML).

It's the 15th today and while he's showed improvement in personality and wanting to explore a lot more at times of the day, he is still struggling in some elements.

His poops have not got any bigger

He has parts of the day where you can hear his tummy is quite loud with gas, I have a stethoscope to listen to his gut, it is going fine but some days it is loud enough to hear with out it. At this time, you can tell the poor guy is in pain and is grinding his teeth throughout the day and trying to lay down without putting weight on his belly or digging it into the floor. Eventually, he will get bored of it, yawn and start to roam, which I think means the heaviest of it is passing.

We think he is starting to get too skinny, I don't know what to do here, his belly is ok but there's really not a lot of fat left on him elsewhere, one of the pics on flickr you can really see that. He is also wobbly at times, sometimes on his hind legs he will lose balance and wobble over and shake slightly. I think the seizure took a lot out of him, not sure about his eyes yet, they're pretty clear but monitoring to make sure they don't go cloudy.

We have the vets house visiting in the week a few times to help with food & meds when there's only one at home, we are having to bunny burrito him as he's very very head strong and doesn't like it, once he gets going though hes fine.

His meds are: Metacam (0.5l one per day), Metoclopramide (1.0ml per 8 hours) , Baytril (1ml per day), Panacur (pea sized drop one per day), Zantac (0.5ml twice a day). ---- The panacur is to make sure he hasn't contracted e cuniculi which was given as a differential diagnosis.

Does anyone know how long it can take for his poops to pick up? He on Saturday, had a few that were of normalish size but not a consistent shape. I am really really worried about him, he has been my life for 7 years and because of his fit, I have slept only a few hours a day at the moment due worrying. I just want him to get better, I feel so guilty taking him to the vet in the first instance, because perhaps if we had waited and treated his leg from home, he may have continued to eat. He is a gorgeous little bun and I just want to know if theres anything else I can do to help him.

His meds are due to run out on Thursday as we has a week course for most of them, what will happen then? I've gone to boots to get infacol today just in case his gas gets so bad, we might be able to assist him with that. The vet didn't recommend it though so I'm sat in limbo. Also, they felt it was stasis and not a blockage, I've given him so many tummy massages I'm inclined to agree but can blockage cause these symptoms as well? Would he be able to poop though??

Thank you so much for sticking with the post, I wish you all the best.

Rich
 
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I am sorry that Siddi is unwell.

If I have understood the situation correctly, your vet is considering a diagnosis of EC and is treating that possibility with the Panacur and Metacam. Panacur should be given for 28 days btw for EC. The Baytril has been presumably prescribed in case the problem is one caused by infection (e.g. of the ear). Either EC or an ear infection could account for the unsteadiness. The other problem at the moment is Stasis with reduced eating by himself and smaller poo. I presume Siddi is a single rabbit?

As far as the unwillingness to eat is concerned, I would persist with lots of different options of food to try and tempt him. Rabbits in this situation normally prefer fresh foods instead of things like hay and pellets. I would gather lots of forage, including the Dandelions that he has been having and would include things like Bramble leaves, Plantain, fresh hand-cut grass. He might also be tempted by Hawthorn, Hazel, Apple and/or Willow leaves/twigs. Strongly-flavoured herbs are also sometimes successful such as Coriander and Parsley. It does take quite a while sometimes for the poo to return to normal and the more bulk you can get him to eat will help this and the increased fibre will get his digestive system back to normal.

Hopefully by the time you return to the vets on Thursday his eating and poos will have improved and you can discuss with the vet what the next steps should be. Getting his gut working properly would seem to be the important thing at the moment.

Sending vibes for Siddi.
 
Hi Omi,

Nice to meet you!

That's correct. I think with the stress of the vets given he was a full ft away from dogs and cats has done him no good either, whenever I got to see him at the vets, we would go to a private consultation room and it would take him 30 minutes to relax. He is far calmer at home now.

He was not presenting unsteadiness before his seizure, I've only ever noticed it post seizure. Its' not horrible, he can balance himself the majority of the time, but sometimes in certain postures he doesn't seem entirely stable/still, just.. slightly wobbly.

Ok, Dandelions we can do - it's spring here and that sounds a good idea. Is there anything in that list we should avoid as to not give him gas? I can get hold of Coriander and Parsley too. We managed to get him some willow twigs yesterday but he hasn't really had a go at them, I will see what I can get from the pet store on the way home tonight. Thankfully, as I'm trying to get a mortgage at the moment, I'm back with my parents, so he at least has constant monitoring.

I think there is a blackberry bramble tree nearby, are the leaves from there ok?

The visit from the vet on Thursday will be a house visit, to try to reduce the stress on him, agreed about his gut. Thank you for the post.

All the best.
 
I don't think any of the fresh foods suggested would cause problem with gas. They are usually very well tolerated. The fresh Bramble leaves would be excellent. They are extremely good for a rabbit's digestion. Regarding the Willow and any of the other twigs, I would try, if you can, to find some with fresh leaves. Perhaps your parents have something you could have in their garden?
 
Excellent, we will give it a go. Thank you.

Siddi is a single rabbit, we have tried to bond him with two buns and both time even in neutral terrority he's been too aggressive over a sustained period of time while trying to get them to bond. I would love for him to have a companion and certainly when we finally get a house and he's ok, we can explore it.

All the best
 
hi! :wave:

sorry to hear your little one is unwell :(

small poops is always concerning as you know. ever since Snoopy went downhill, for a good two months he was having tiny pea sized poops. however I have noticed, when buns are stressed they seem to have smaller poops too (anybody - feel free to correct me if im wrong!). since Luna lost her friend, she has been quite sad and stressed resulting in smaller darker poops. i'm hoping with time they go back to normal as I had just managed to get good golden ones!

I am wondering, what is he given for feed? possibly some rabbits have something that upsets their tummy. whether its the pellet or veggies/treats they are given. Snoopy seemed to have that if he had dandelions or too much pellet. so of course we changed his diet around.
also, did he have his teeth checked? possibly wondering if he has pain in his mouth resulting in a slowdown of eating possibly causing gas? I would want to have those looked at anyhow if he isn't eating as normal as spurs can cause many many issues.

as for the infacol, i would be inclined to give him a drop every day. maybe 1ml every day? that should keep gas at bay hopefully and then not cause any pain. prevention is better than curing. and as for the vet not recommending it, don't worry. its safe for buns. my vet said to me she used it for her buns and will sometimes tell others to use it. Snoopy had plenty of gripe water and would bounce back. I ended up giving him it every day to try and stop stasis from happening (I needed sleep!)

i hope you can solve your little ones issues. its always such a worry *hugs*
 
Hi, Nice to meet you!

I think poor Siddi was extremely stressed at the vets and by the car journeys to and from (20 minutes on Motorway) the 24 hour vet.

He has calmed down but he is often grinding his teeth in pain at the moment. His teeth were examined the day before he came out the vets and all was fine. I have got them to check again today on the home visit, so far the fronts are fine, they're going to come back later today to check the back.

His feed is normally 2 spoons of Pellets in the morning (7am) and then 2 spoons at 11pm. He has free roam of veggies (Carrot tops which he loves, Broccoli, Cali-flower leaves, sometimes the odd carrot slice, watercress, some others. NEVER lettuce. from 6pm left in his bowl when I'm back from work and his cage is replaced daily with fresh hay.

I've been giving him belly rubs constantly since he's been back, he really grinds his teeth in a purring way when I do this as if it's helping him.

I got some infacol from boots earlier today but I'm still not sure about it, if I see him really struggling to put his belly down or I can hear really loud gas coming from his belly, I guess that is as good as time to give him them as ever?

I read somewhere that while obviously they can't be sick, they can't burp either so it might not help him??

His poops day by day have made a little bit of progress but they look rather dry, he had a few on Saturday night that were larger, albeit not consistent. Like you said, it can really take time. It's just the worry and stress knowing how quickly they can tell.

Thank you for the hug, all the best
 
Hi, Nice to meet you!

I think poor Siddi was extremely stressed at the vets and by the car journeys to and from (20 minutes on Motorway) the 24 hour vet.

He has calmed down but he is often grinding his teeth in pain at the moment. His teeth were examined the day before he came out the vets and all was fine. I have got them to check again today on the home visit, so far the fronts are fine, they're going to come back later today to check the back.

His feed is normally 2 spoons of Pellets in the morning (7am) and then 2 spoons at 11pm. He has free roam of veggies (Carrot tops which he loves, Broccoli, Cali-flower leaves, sometimes the odd carrot slice, watercress, some others. NEVER lettuce. from 6pm left in his bowl when I'm back from work and his cage is replaced daily with fresh hay.

I've been giving him belly rubs constantly since he's been back, he really grinds his teeth in a purring way when I do this as if it's helping him.

I got some infacol from boots earlier today but I'm still not sure about it, if I see him really struggling to put his belly down or I can hear really loud gas coming from his belly, I guess that is as good as time to give him them as ever?

I read somewhere that while obviously they can't be sick, they can't burp either so it might not help him??

His poops day by day have made a little bit of progress but they look rather dry, he had a few on Saturday night that were larger, albeit not consistent. Like you said, it can really take time. It's just the worry and stress knowing how quickly they can tell.

Thank you for the hug, all the best

Infacol may not actually do any good, but some Vets still recommend it's use. Even if it does not help it wont do any harm.

Some of the Veg you are feeding can cause gas problems- all Veg from the brassica family in particular. Fresh herbs tend to be more gentle on the digestion, so perhaps you could try offering Siddi some of those instead of the Veg. Coriander is usually very popular. Fresh mint too.

This link may be useful to take a look at :

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv
 
I got some infacol from boots earlier today but I'm still not sure about it, if I see him really struggling to put his belly down or I can hear really loud gas coming from his belly, I guess that is as good as time to give him them as ever?

Infacol is used by several forum members to help with gas issues. It will not interfere with any other medicine you are giving to Siddi. The dosage is 1ml per hour for three doses, and then three times daily.

Another suggestion for you would be to rinse any fresh food in water and serve it wet. That way you will be getting some extra fluid into him, which is always beneficial with Stasis issues.
 
Some of the Veg you are feeding can cause gas problems- all Veg from the brassica family in particular. Fresh herbs tend to be more gentle on the digestion, so perhaps you could try offering Siddi some of those instead of the Veg. Coriander is usually very popular. Fresh mint too.

So should we try, Mint, Coriander, Watercress & Parsley along with wild growth like dandelion, bramble, plantain as Omi mentioned? See if anything takes his fancy?

Thaaaank you!
 
Reading this paper, Siddi had a glucose count of 23 at his seizure, hadn't pooped for >3 days on the 5th may. However, he can now albeit at 1/3 size. Now he's back home, is it easy for a home visit vet to obtain a count? This has worried me massively!

This is so stressful, just want the boy better. :cry:
 
Reading this paper, Siddi had a glucose count of 23 at his seizure, hadn't pooped for >3 days on the 5th may. However, he can now albeit at 1/3 size. Now he's back home, is it easy for a home visit vet to obtain a count? This has worried me massively!

This is so stressful, just want the boy better. :cry:

The Vet should be able to do a blood glucose test during a home visit as long as he/she brings a Blood Glucose monitor. But personally I'd want a full blood profile done to assess major organ function. The Liver in particular. So I'd want the Vet to take a blood sample to do this. Perhaps you could call the Vet to discuss this prior to the Home visit ?
 
Spoken to the vet, they can only do a full blood test at the local vet practice. (Only 3 streets away) Which again, would really creep him out.

He has gone from the day of having the seizure to not being able to balance without using a wall, to running around, thumping, semi binkys, the odd charge from one end of the room to another when he is feeling good. (See his twitter profile) > images > https://twitter.com/sidditherabbit

Surely, or rather hopefully that is a sign that he is feeling better within himself..? He has done these poops since he starting pooping again... On average 45-70 a day.

https://t.co/P7ypkULqOg (Twitter link) - the ones on the left are old ones from his cage, his normal poops.

I do agree about the bloodwork though, although they didn't take it after xrays didn't find a break or an obvious obstruction from what I gather..

Problem is, Thursday his meds run out, what the hell are we going to do then?!
 
Spoken to the vet, they can only do a full blood test at the local vet practice. (Only 3 streets away) Which again, would really creep him out.

He has gone from the day of having the seizure to not being able to balance without using a wall, to running around, thumping, semi binkys, the odd charge from one end of the room to another when he is feeling good. (See his twitter profile) > images > https://twitter.com/sidditherabbit

Surely, or rather hopefully that is a sign that he is feeling better within himself..? He has done these poops since he starting pooping again... On average 45-70 a day.

https://t.co/P7ypkULqOg (Twitter link) - the ones on the left are old ones from his cage, his normal poops.

I do agree about the bloodwork though, although they didn't take it after xrays didn't find a break or an obvious obstruction from what I gather..

Problem is, Thursday his meds run out, what the hell are we going to do then?!

When the Vet does the home visit he/she may well prescribe more ongoing treatment. The Panacur certainly needs to continue for 28 days. The Vet may want other medication to continue for longer too. It does seem that Siddi is making some progress, albeit slow.

Is he drinking a reasonable amount now ?
 
Yeah, he happily jumps over to his water bowl and drinks good levels day by day. Likewise, we have to bunny burrito him for his critcal care but we make that slightly runny and do 0.1/0.2 at a time to see if he spits it out and he gobbles it all up.

He seems to eat more around 7pm which is 2 hours after his metacam and metoclopridmide, although phoning home this afternoon, he has eaten a few pellets and timothy hay by himself and the poops have started for the day.. Just need his normal sized ones to appear and I would think he really is on the mend, at the moment I'm just fearful because of what happened to him. I know it's unlikely now but we all know how rabbits can change, so that linear progress needs to keep happening day by day!
 
Yeah, he happily jumps over to his water bowl and drinks good levels day by day. Likewise, we have to bunny burrito him for his critcal care but we make that slightly runny and do 0.1/0.2 at a time to see if he spits it out and he gobbles it all up.

He seems to eat more around 7pm which is 2 hours after his metacam and metoclopridmide, although phoning home this afternoon, he has eaten a few pellets and timothy hay by himself and the poops have started for the day.. Just need his normal sized ones to appear and I would think he really is on the mend, at the moment I'm just fearful because of what happened to him. I know it's unlikely now but we all know how rabbits can change, so that linear progress needs to keep happening day by day!

Things certainly seem to be moving in the right direction. Hopefully over the next few days his output will continue to improve :)
 
:D

The only fear is most of his meds are due to run out on Thurs night.

We will still have Panacur for another 20+ days but they want him off the rest.

We will have left over Metacam, Metoclopramide, Zantec and loads of Critical Care. Is it best to cold turkey him or to bring down his dosage post Thursday?

Thank you so much for your help!
 
:D

The only fear is most of his meds are due to run out on Thurs night.

We will still have Panacur for another 20+ days but they want him off the rest.

We will have left over Metacam, Metoclopramide, Zantec and loads of Critical Care. Is it best to cold turkey him or to bring down his dosage post Thursday?

Thank you so much for your help!

When is the Vet doing the home visit ? Only the Vet can advise you about the medication as it is 'prescription only'. I would want to ask the Vet if Siddi can remain on the prokinetics (Metoclopramide + Zantac) until his GI tract function is 100% back to normal.
 
The vet is doing 2 visits today, tomorrow and Thursday (working at home Weds) to assist with his CC feed/meds as I'm back at work.

Good idea, I think that would be good for him, would a low dose of metacam be good as well? Just to make sure, if it's still painful for him in any way, there might be a time of day when a small dose can hopefully assist him to eat and continue to get the ignition going in his gut.

Is there any risk to Siddi's health by prolonging these meds? Damage to Kidneys or Liver etc?

The vet said we have two options at this stage prior to your point about continuing his meds for a bit, it's just to carry on when his course is meant to expire or if he has a bad couple of days to refer him to a specialist (Royal Vet College in Potters Bar is only 15 miles away). That is an absolute last resort / backup but just in case, however I will ask the vet about extra days of M + Z & possibly Metacam.

Not that this should matter but we got in a very disputed insurance claim for him, in the end I have ended up paying for it all. As I've got savings from being at home, I will throw the kitchen sink at making sure my little fella gets the best quality of life as is possible at this point, his breed can live 12 years. In my mind, I want to make sure he gets those years!! :love: My point is, we will not give up on him. He's such good progress now and we have our fingers crossed & praying it continues.
 
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