Snow emergencys

Hi every bun,

I know a lot of you have poorly buns and buns that are in the middle of treatment etc.

I was just thinking last night with the snow, if Toby was to go in Stasis last night I would of had to walk around four hours with Toby in the carrier to a out of hours clinic.

I was just wondering what you would all do in the event of a emergency and what things would you recommend to stabilise a bunny etc?

I was researching for stasis and I don't know how accurate these are so please correct me if any of this is wrong.

For buns that you know are prone to stasis:
Infacol (please could someone provide dose)
Heat mat
Metacam
Gently lift hind legs to relieve gas
Gentle tummy massages
Critical care
Syringe water

Anything else to add including other emergencies?

Would you agree this in the event of an emergency where the vets are closed due to weather etc?

I have also learnt is that it's important to know how much your bunny weighs. I have ordered some baby scales so I can monitor the weight at home. This also means vets can prescribe meds etc over the phone without having to bring the bunny in.

I would also remind any one travelling to the vets to prepare incase of getting stuck over night, even if you don't have snow yet. I was going to travel last night with Toby (he's ok just had appointment with John for meds) and I packed him everything we needed in case we got stuck over night. The snow layed here very very quickly. Unfortunately we had to abort mission as was too dangerous.

I am just worrying about every bun, please stay safe.

Lucy and Toby xx

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loobers25 said:

Hi every bun,

I know a lot of you have poorly buns and buns that are in the middle of treatment etc.

I was just thinking last night with the snow, if Toby was to go in Stasis last night I would of had to walk around four hours with Toby in the carrier to a out of hours clinic.

I was just wondering what you would all do in the event of a emergency and what things would you recommend to stabilise a bunny etc?

I was researching for stasis and I don't know how accurate these are so please correct me if any of this is wrong.

For buns that you know are prone to stasis:
Infacol (please could someone provide dose)
Heat mat
Metacam
Gently lift hind legs to relieve gas
Gentle tummy massages
Critical care
Syringe water

Anything else to add including other emergencies?

Would you agree this in the event of an emergency where the vets are closed due to weather etc?

I have also learnt is that it's important to know how much your bunny weighs. I have ordered some baby scales so I can monitor the weight at home. This also means vets can prescribe meds etc over the phone without having to bring the bunny in.

I would also remind any one travelling to the vets to prepare incase of getting stuck over night, even if you don't have snow yet. I was going to travel last night with Toby (he's ok just had appointment with John for meds) and I packed him everything we needed in case we got stuck over night. The snow layed here very very quickly. Unfortunately we had to abort mission as was too dangerous.

I am just worrying about every bun, please stay safe.

Lucy and Toby xx

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I think fluids and warmth are the essentials initially. If the Bunny has not had any fecal output for several hours I would not syringe feed incase there were a full obstruction. If appropriate analgesia is available, often a Vet will allow a trusted client to have a supply of Metacam to use in an emergency situation, I would administer the appropriate dose. I would not administer any prokinetics unless I was 100% certain there was no chance of a full obstruction.

I'm very lucky, my OOH vet is a 10min walk and I can get to my vet in less than an hour's walk, so I don't really keep anything in: Lopsy's such an unhandleable bun and we're very unconfident handlers as well that it's not worth the stress all round :S I do usually keep critical care in though and I have a range of syringes!

All good stuff, for me I'd drive anywhere whatever the weather if I had to so I've never really thought about it - but keeping them warm and chilled out would be what I'd try to achieve whilst getting anywhere.

Earlier this year it snowed when Fleur was spayed and she had gas after and wasn't eating or pooping by herself for about a week, lots of vets trips, xrays, blood glucose tests etc, and I just had a snuggle safe in her carrier and lots of blankets also in the car she likes to curl up on the passenger seat with the heated seat on [emoji38] she's nothing like my other two who need to be in their carriers otherwise they'd probably destroy my car or decide to jump around everywhere or get spooked [emoji38] x

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loobers25 said:

Hi every bun,

I know a lot of you have poorly buns and buns that are in the middle of treatment etc.

I was just thinking last night with the snow, if Toby was to go in Stasis last night I would of had to walk around four hours with Toby in the carrier to a out of hours clinic.

I was just wondering what you would all do in the event of a emergency and what things would you recommend to stabilise a bunny etc?

I was researching for stasis and I don't know how accurate these are so please correct me if any of this is wrong.

For buns that you know are prone to stasis:
Infacol (please could someone provide dose)
Heat mat
Metacam
Gently lift hind legs to relieve gas
Gentle tummy massages
Critical care
Syringe water

Anything else to add including other emergencies?

Would you agree this in the event of an emergency where the vets are closed due to weather etc?

I have also learnt is that it's important to know how much your bunny weighs. I have ordered some baby scales so I can monitor the weight at home. This also means vets can prescribe meds etc over the phone without having to bring the bunny in.

I would also remind any one travelling to the vets to prepare incase of getting stuck over night, even if you don't have snow yet. I was going to travel last night with Toby (he's ok just had appointment with John for meds) and I packed him everything we needed in case we got stuck over night. The snow layed here very very quickly. Unfortunately we had to abort mission as was too dangerous.

I am just worrying about every bun, please stay safe.

Lucy and Toby xx

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Absolutely

It's one ml every hour for three doses, then one ml three times daily for as long as necessary.

And note, that even if a blockage is suspected, it's quite OK to keep giving Infacol

I think a heat mat in this weather is an absolute Godsend. I use a 24 hour one that has been recommended by my vet and used by her in her surgery :thumb:

I'm someone who has a go to of fluids and warmth. Mine all have chronic conditions and so I also have specific meds to give them if they go down. I'm a bit like Graciee in the sense that I'll just drive if there is a need (and have done), although, these days I can manage most of it at home.

I think it's something we all dread, isn't it!

Personally, if I was completely stuck, I would get the vet on the phone and talk to them about what I can see, feel, what the situation is and get some advice before administering anything at all.

I'm not a fan of tummy rubs; rabbit gut wall is incredibly thin and depending on the cause, you could easily accidentally burst the stomach or intestines with a misplaced rub, even a gentle one. I also think if someone tried to rub my tummy when I had bellyache I'd probably want to thump them!

Santa said:

I think it's something we all dread, isn't it!

Personally, if I was completely stuck, I would get the vet on the phone and talk to them about what I can see, feel, what the situation is and get some advice before administering anything at all.

I'm not a fan of tummy rubs; rabbit gut wall is incredibly thin and depending on the cause, you could easily accidentally burst the stomach or intestines with a misplaced rub, even a gentle one. I also think if someone tried to rub my tummy when I had bellyache I'd probably want to thump them!

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I agree !!

Santa said:

I think it's something we all dread, isn't it!

Personally, if I was completely stuck, I would get the vet on the phone and talk to them about what I can see, feel, what the situation is and get some advice before administering anything at all.

I'm not a fan of tummy rubs; rabbit gut wall is incredibly thin and depending on the cause, you could easily accidentally burst the stomach or intestines with a misplaced rub, even a gentle one. I also think if someone tried to rub my tummy when I had bellyache I'd probably want to thump them!

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Absolutely agree I think tummy rubs can be useful, but certainly not in an emergency situation.

Lucy, it's so wise to think about this in advance.

It happened to me last night. My mini lop buck, Archie, was refusing food, clearly in pain and not his normal bouncing self at all. It was 10.30pm, they live in a shed and I went outside to check on them before bed, which I do when it's cold to reheat their snuggle safes and give them more food. I live in the countryside, our village was cut off by the snow, it was so deep, it took me a while to fight my way out of the back door.

They are registered with three vets so I had some options but there was no way I was going to be able to drive to an emergency service and all three are far to far away to walk to even in nice weather. I called one and the nurse I spoke to said she thought the roads around them weren't passable either, she had walked in. She advised me to force feed him with a syringe.

You know how you know your own bunny? I knew force feeding would totally stress him out and I knew I'd caught it early as he'd eaten pellets, parsley, carrot leaves and hay around 5pm so I decided to just sit with him and try to get him to relax for a while first. I gave him Reiki, stroked him and talked him and after a while he started to respond. 15 minutes in he nibbled on a piece of hay and spat it out again but my heart leapt. About 10 minutes after that he ate a whole parsley sprig and made me a very happy woman. Two sprigs was beyond him but I stayed longer until he managed to tuck into some dried leaves. He's completely fine today.

So three things - one is that in weather like this check on your bunnies more frequently (which you're probably doing anyway), it makes such a difference when you catch it early, and the second is be careful about any changes. I think what brought it on is that I normally bring them a bowl full of grass that I've cut myself in the early evening and I didn't. I did try but it was so far under the snow! He had other greens instead but it's still a change so I plan to go back to growing some grass indoors on a windowsill in case of emergencies. The other thing was that their water bottles kept freezing up, I put one inside in the shed so it wouldn't but I don't know if they found it. He may have been dehydrated, I did offer him some water in a bowl at 5pm but he didn't want it. When I was offering it from a bottle later, Millie, the other bunny drank loads so I don't think she'd found the bottle. Little things like that can have such a big impact. They were both probably a little under the weather anyway because of it being so cold and snow being such a strange alien thing, it changed the way normal noises sounded even. The final thing is Reiki, which is absolutely not a substitute for medical treatment, but can be a useful adjunct. Good for calming animals, stopping babies crying, pain relief for humans, very handy skill to have! I'm going to make sure I get in everything on your list though, thank you.

MightyMax said:

Absolutely

It's one ml every hour for three doses, then one ml three times daily for as long as necessary.

And note, that even if a blockage is suspected, it's quite OK to keep giving Infacol

I think a heat mat in this weather is an absolute Godsend. I use a 24 hour one that has been recommended by my vet and used by her in her surgery :thumb:

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What's this heat mat? [emoji38] sounds great x

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Graciee said:

What's this heat mat? [emoji38] sounds great x

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I'll get you the details

We always give metacam at the first sign of stasis and tempt to eat.

It all depends on when we know they last ate if we will take to the vets right away, or monitor.

E.g. if we know bun ate around 4 hours ago but is now refusing food we'd give metacam and monitor for eating for an hour or two.
If bun last ate the night before and we've no idea if ate over night we give meds then take to the vets.

In bad weather, we'd find a way to get them to a local vets & ask them to speak with our vets over the phone.

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Graciee said:

What's this heat mat? [emoji38] sounds great x

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I was considering ordering the pet remedy heat mat. It even has a chew proof wire! It's around 40 pounds I believe

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loobers25 said:

I was considering ordering the pet remedy heat mat. It even has a chew proof wire! It's around 40 pounds I believe

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Ooo that does sound good x

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Graciee said:

Ooo that does sound good x

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Graciee said:

Ooo that does sound good x

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https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pet-Remedy...?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10&_mwBanner=1

£30 from Ebay

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daphnephoebe said:

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pet-Remedy...?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10&_mwBanner=1

£30 from Ebay

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Thanks Fleurs gunna love me x

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Cheapest I've seen it new is 22.99 on eBay. They are really good, I use them for my elderly cats in their baskets. They're really commonly used in vets practices, they're often used in theatre to keep the animals from losing too much heat during surgery. Personally I'm not sure I'd trust bunny teeth even around the reinforced bit but I've never really studied the cord in detail so I'm not sure quite how chew proof it is! They are definitely good bits of kit though, and safer than some of the cheaper imports which I'd worry may not thermostatically control themselves properly.

Santa said:

Cheapest I've seen it new is 22.99 on eBay. They are really good, I use them for my elderly cats in their baskets. They're really commonly used in vets practices, they're often used in theatre to keep the animals from losing too much heat during surgery. Personally I'm not sure I'd trust bunny teeth even around the reinforced bit but I've never really studied the cord in detail so I'm not sure quite how chew proof it is! They are definitely good bits of kit though, and safer than some of the cheaper imports which I'd worry may not thermostatically control themselves properly.

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So glad you mentioned them as I've been shot down in the past for recommending :thumb: