Hi everyone,
I feel bad asking for advice because I'm not an active member on the forum anymore (lots of life stuff has been going on, but that's a whole other story). My poor Jellybean has just had an x-ray and I could really do with some advice and reassurance
Last night I noticed that she was a little off colour. Hamilton has been an absolute terror this week - despite being 8 years old, he has 'spring fever' around this time every year, so poor Jelly has been chased around a lot, with lots of fur pulling and mounting. When I went to put them to bed, she was very edgy and grunting, and didn't want her nibble stick treat (Hamilton was chasing her when I came into the shed). Obviously my first thought went to stasis, so I offered her some bramble leaves, she ate them immediately and seemed happy enough. So I went to bed.
This morning, she was scrunched up and seemed completely out of it. We brought her inside straight away and offered fluids and food. She drank lots of water but wasn't interested in the food. Feeling her stomach, it was quite hard, which concerned me. So I called the vets and we took her in. Vet was also concerned by the hard feeling of the stomach, so we had to go to the other practice for emergency x-rays. I was in tears thinking that she had a blockage.
Well they just called up to say that the x-ray showed no physical blockage, just a lot of gas. They want to try giving her the usual medication/gut stimulants first, before going any further. They're keeping her in for an hour or so to monitor this. If she shows no improvement then she will have to go to the out of hours hospital for surgery.
I have never experienced stasis this severe with my rabbits before, so I'm wondering if anyone else could advise me from their experience. Am I right in thinking that if it isn't a physical blockage, then the gas is decompressed out with a tube? Is this less risky/invasive than cutting out a physical blockage?
Also, does anyone else experience their male rabbits getting randy at this time of year, despite being neutered? I feel now that I should have split them up, but it was intermittent, and I worried that separating them might cause stress in a different way.
Thank you in advance as always for your support, and I'm sorry that I don't contribute here more often. You are all lovely people and I don't think I'd survive rabbit ownership without RU.
I feel bad asking for advice because I'm not an active member on the forum anymore (lots of life stuff has been going on, but that's a whole other story). My poor Jellybean has just had an x-ray and I could really do with some advice and reassurance
Last night I noticed that she was a little off colour. Hamilton has been an absolute terror this week - despite being 8 years old, he has 'spring fever' around this time every year, so poor Jelly has been chased around a lot, with lots of fur pulling and mounting. When I went to put them to bed, she was very edgy and grunting, and didn't want her nibble stick treat (Hamilton was chasing her when I came into the shed). Obviously my first thought went to stasis, so I offered her some bramble leaves, she ate them immediately and seemed happy enough. So I went to bed.
This morning, she was scrunched up and seemed completely out of it. We brought her inside straight away and offered fluids and food. She drank lots of water but wasn't interested in the food. Feeling her stomach, it was quite hard, which concerned me. So I called the vets and we took her in. Vet was also concerned by the hard feeling of the stomach, so we had to go to the other practice for emergency x-rays. I was in tears thinking that she had a blockage.
Well they just called up to say that the x-ray showed no physical blockage, just a lot of gas. They want to try giving her the usual medication/gut stimulants first, before going any further. They're keeping her in for an hour or so to monitor this. If she shows no improvement then she will have to go to the out of hours hospital for surgery.
I have never experienced stasis this severe with my rabbits before, so I'm wondering if anyone else could advise me from their experience. Am I right in thinking that if it isn't a physical blockage, then the gas is decompressed out with a tube? Is this less risky/invasive than cutting out a physical blockage?
Also, does anyone else experience their male rabbits getting randy at this time of year, despite being neutered? I feel now that I should have split them up, but it was intermittent, and I worried that separating them might cause stress in a different way.
Thank you in advance as always for your support, and I'm sorry that I don't contribute here more often. You are all lovely people and I don't think I'd survive rabbit ownership without RU.